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Do you want to use a different disk to store data (blockchain and other databases) independently of the disk of the system? A step-by-step guide using a secondary disk to store the data (blockchain and other databases) independently of the disk of the system and using the Ubuntu Server guided installation. --- ### **What's changed** * Rebuilt the [Ubuntu Server installation guide](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/system/system/operating-system#ubuntu-server-installation) based on this bonus guide added. * Added GIFs to improve the illustration of the steps to follow. * [Case 1](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/static-ip-and-custom-dns-servers#option-1-at-the-beginning-during-the-ubuntu-server-installation-gui): during the Ubuntu server guided installation. * [Case 2](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/static-ip-and-custom-dns-servers#option-2-after-ubuntu-server-installation-by-command-line): build it after system installation (by command line). --- ~ > Link to the bonus guide [HERE](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/store-data-secondary-disk) --- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

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**Link to the bonus guide** ~> [HERE](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/bitcoin/btcpay-server) < ~ --- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

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The past 26 August, Tor [introduced officially](https://blog.torproject.org/introducing-proof-of-work-defense-for-onion-services/) a proof-of-work (PoW) defense for onion services designed to prioritize verified network traffic as a deterrent against denial of service (DoS) attacks. ~ > This feature at the moment, is [deactivate by default](https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/blob/main/doc/man/tor.1.txt#L3117), so you need to follow these steps to activate this on a MiniBolt node: * Make sure you have the latest version of Tor installed, at the time of writing this post, which is v0.4.8.6. Check your current version by typing ``` tor --version ``` **Example** of expected output: ``` Tor version 0.4.8.6. This build of Tor is covered by the GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html) Tor is running on Linux with Libevent 2.1.12-stable, OpenSSL 3.0.9, Zlib 1.2.13, Liblzma 5.4.1, Libzstd N/A and Glibc 2.36 as libc. Tor compiled with GCC version 12.2.0 ``` ~ > If you have v0.4.8.X, you are **OK**, if not, type `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade` and confirm to update. * Basic PoW support can be checked by running this command: ``` tor --list-modules ``` Expected output: ``` relay: yes dirauth: yes dircache: yes pow: **yes** ``` ~ > If you have `pow: yes`, you are **OK** * Now go to the torrc file of your MiniBolt and add the parameter to enable PoW for each hidden service added ``` sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc ``` Example: ``` # Hidden Service BTC RPC Explorer HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service_btcrpcexplorer/ HiddenServiceVersion 3 HiddenServicePoWDefensesEnabled 1 HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:3002 ``` ~ > Bitcoin Core and LND use the Tor control port to automatically create the hidden service, requiring no action from the user. We have submitted a feature request in the official GitHub repositories to explore the need for the integration of Tor's PoW defense into the automatic creation process of the hidden service. You can follow them at the following links: * Bitcoin Core: https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/issues/8002 * LND: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/28499 --- More info: * https://blog.torproject.org/introducing-proof-of-work-defense-for-onion-services/ * https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/onion-services/onion-support/-/wikis/Documentation/PoW-FAQ --- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

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It turns out that Ubuntu Linux installations of Ubuntu 23.04, 22.04.3 LTS, and installs done since April 2023 that accepted the Snap version update haven't been following Ubuntu's own recommended security best practices for their security pocket configuration for packages. A new Subiquity release [was issued](https://github.com/canonical/subiquity/releases/tag/23.09.1) to fix this problem while those on affected Ubuntu systems already installed are recommended to manually edit their `/etc/apt/sources.list` file. If you didn't install MiniBolt recently, **you are affected by this bug**, and we need to fix that manually if not we want to install all since cero. Anyway, if you installed Minibolt recently, we recommend you review that. Follow these easy steps to review and fix this: * Edit the `sources-list` file: ``` sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list ``` * Search now for every line that includes '-security' (without quotes) (normally at the end of the file) and change the URL to --> http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu ~ > For example, from http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu (or the extension corresponding to your country) to --> http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu ~> Real case, Spain location, **before fix**: ``` deb http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security main restricted # deb-src http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security main restricted deb http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security universe # deb-src http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security universe deb http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security multiverse # deb-src http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security multiverse ``` **After fix:** ``` deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security main restricted # deb-src http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security main restricted deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security universe # deb-src http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security universe deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security multiverse # deb-src http://es.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security multiverse ``` **Save and exit** **Note:** If you have already these lines changed, you are not affected by this bug, and is not necessary to do anything. Simply exit the editor by doing Ctrl-X * Finally, type the next command to refresh the repository pointers: ``` sudo apt update ``` * And optionally take the opportunity to update the system by doing: ``` sudo apt full-upgrade ``` More context: * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SecurityTeam/FAQ#What_repositories_and_pockets_should_I_use_to_make_sure_my_systems_are_up_to_date.3F * https://bugs.launchpad.net/subiquity/+bug/2033977 * https://www.phoronix.com/news/Ubuntu-Security-Pocket-Issue

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### **What's changed** * New method for Bitcoin Core signature check, click ~ >[HERE](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bitcoin/bitcoin/bitcoin-client#signature-check)< ~ * GitHub repo of Bitcoin Core release attestations (Guix), click ~ >[HERE](https://github.com/bitcoin-core/guix.sigs)< ~ --- **History:** ~ > PR that caused the broken and obsolescence of the old signature verification process, click ~ >[HERE](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/26598)< ~ ~ > New GitHub folder of Bitcoin Core repo that stores the signatures, click ~ >[HERE](https://github.com/bitcoin-core/guix.sigs/tree/main/builder-keys)< ~ --- Thanks to nostr:npub1gzuushllat7pet0ccv9yuhygvc8ldeyhrgxuwg744dn5khnpk3gs3ea5ds for building the command that made magic possible 🧙‍♂️🧡 --- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

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### **Important notice to MiniBolt node runners:** ~ > It turns out that the I2P devs have opened an issue on the Bitcoin Core GitHub repo commenting that because they gave the option to enable the `notransit=true` parameter in the official documentation: > [...] If you prefer not to relay any public I2P traffic and only allow I2P traffic from programs connecting through the SAM proxy, e.g. Bitcoin Core, you can set the no transit option to true [...] are having a heavy load on the I2P network since last December 19. Also comment that it is advisable to share as much bandwidth and transit tunnels as we can, to increase anonymity with coverage traffic, by contributing more to the I2p network than we consume. So they ask that we deactivate that option that you use activated. With all this, he already updated the "Privacy" section by removing that setting. The steps to delete this configuration once we have already configured it, are the following: * With the "admin" user, stop i2pd: ``` sudo systemctl stop i2pd ``` * Comment line 93 with "#" at the beginning of it (notransit = true), save and exit ``` sudo nano /var/lib/i2pd/i2pd.conf --line numbers ``` * Start i2pd again: ``` sudo systemctl start i2pd ``` * And that's it, you could take a look at Bitcoin Core to see that it has detected i2pd running again after the reboot with: ``` tail --lines 500 -f /home/bitcoin/.bitcoin/debug.log ``` ~ > If you don't see that I2P is up in Bitcoin Core after the restart, `sudo systemctl restart bitcoind` and look again at the logs of the same. --- More info in the rollback commit, see ~> [HERE](https://github.com/twofaktor/minibolt/commit/99cae67a5150bb5b7deae3674cc958eb31c74a75) < ~

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> Your MiniBolt is on a home local network, you want to expose it on the public Internet (clearnet) without exposing your public IP, without Firewall rules, without NAT port forwarding, without risk, easy and cheap? --- Go to the bonus guide by clicking ~ >[HERE](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/cloudflare-tunnel) <~ --- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

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> Build your nostr relay step by step on your MiniBolt node! (**easily adaptable to other environment**) No need to trust anyone else! Be sovereign! ~> Go to the bonus guide by clicking ~> [HERE](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/nostr/nostr-relay)< ~ ~> This guide includes a complete [extra section](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/nostr/nostr-relay#extras-optional) to cover the different processes for using nostr **as a user and relay operator**. --- PS: The MiniBolt project has its FREE relay, be free to connect by adding to your favorite client the next address: `wss://relay.minibolt.info` ~> Let a review on [noStrudel](https://nostrudel.ninja/#/r/wss%3A%2F%2Frelay.minibolt.info) or [Coracle](https://coracle.social/relays/relay.minibolt.info) of your experience using it. --- Remember, Nostr is freedom! Stay resilient! 💜 🛡️💪

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### What's changed A bonus guide to get a quick overview of the system status with the most relevant data about the services on the main guide. ----------- #### ➕Additional extra sections (optional) to: * [Show on login](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/system-overview#show-on-login-optional) * [Get the channel.db size of an old LND bbolt database backend](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/system-overview#get-the-channel.db-size-of-an-old-lnd-bbolt-database-backend) * [Use MobaXterm compatibility version](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/system-overview#use-the-mobaxterm-compatibility-version) 🔧 **GitHub PR related**: https://github.com/minibolt-guide/minibolt/pull/97 Σ **Dedicated GitHub repository**: https://github.com/minibolt-guide/system_overview ----------- #### 🫂Acknowledgments This is a fork of the [minibolt_info repository](https://github.com/rmnscb/minibolt_info), the main developer of this project is [rmnscb](https://github.com/rmnscb), a member of the MiniBolt community, all the merits go to him. Thank you for your contribution 🧡🫂 ----------- -> [CLICK HERE](https://minibolt.minibolt.info/bonus-guides/system/system-overview) <- to go to the bonus guide ----------- Enjoy it MiniBolter! 💙

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## Bitcoin: Um sistema de dinheiro eletrônico direto entre pessoas. Satoshi Nakamoto satoshin@gmx.com www.bitcoin.org --- ### Resumo O Bitcoin é uma forma de dinheiro digital que permite pagamentos diretos entre pessoas, sem a necessidade de um banco ou instituição financeira. Ele resolve um problema chamado **gasto duplo**, que ocorre quando alguém tenta gastar o mesmo dinheiro duas vezes. Para evitar isso, o Bitcoin usa uma rede descentralizada onde todos trabalham juntos para verificar e registrar as transações. As transações são registradas em um livro público chamado **blockchain**, protegido por uma técnica chamada **Prova de Trabalho**. Essa técnica cria uma cadeia de registros que não pode ser alterada sem refazer todo o trabalho já feito. Essa cadeia é mantida pelos computadores que participam da rede, e a mais longa é considerada a verdadeira. Enquanto a maior parte do poder computacional da rede for controlada por participantes honestos, o sistema continuará funcionando de forma segura. A rede é flexível, permitindo que qualquer pessoa entre ou saia a qualquer momento, sempre confiando na cadeia mais longa como prova do que aconteceu. --- ### 1. Introdução Hoje, quase todos os pagamentos feitos pela internet dependem de bancos ou empresas como processadores de pagamento (cartões de crédito, por exemplo) para funcionar. Embora esse sistema seja útil, ele tem problemas importantes porque é baseado em **confiança**. Primeiro, essas empresas podem reverter pagamentos, o que é útil em caso de erros, mas cria custos e incertezas. Isso faz com que pequenas transações, como pagar centavos por um serviço, se tornem inviáveis. Além disso, os comerciantes são obrigados a desconfiar dos clientes, pedindo informações extras e aceitando fraudes como algo inevitável. Esses problemas não existem no dinheiro físico, como o papel-moeda, onde o pagamento é final e direto entre as partes. No entanto, não temos como enviar dinheiro físico pela internet sem depender de um intermediário confiável. O que precisamos é de um **sistema de pagamento eletrônico baseado em provas matemáticas**, não em confiança. Esse sistema permitiria que qualquer pessoa enviasse dinheiro diretamente para outra, sem depender de bancos ou processadores de pagamento. Além disso, as transações seriam irreversíveis, protegendo vendedores contra fraudes, mas mantendo a possibilidade de soluções para disputas legítimas. Neste documento, apresentamos o **Bitcoin**, que resolve o problema do gasto duplo usando uma rede descentralizada. Essa rede cria um registro público e protegido por cálculos matemáticos, que garante a ordem das transações. Enquanto a maior parte da rede for controlada por pessoas honestas, o sistema será seguro contra ataques. --- ### 2. Transações Para entender como funciona o Bitcoin, é importante saber como as transações são realizadas. Imagine que você quer transferir uma "moeda digital" para outra pessoa. No sistema do Bitcoin, essa "moeda" é representada por uma sequência de registros que mostram quem é o atual dono. Para transferi-la, você adiciona um novo registro comprovando que agora ela pertence ao próximo dono. Esse registro é protegido por um tipo especial de assinatura digital. #### O que é uma assinatura digital? Uma assinatura digital é como uma senha secreta, mas muito mais segura. No Bitcoin, cada usuário tem duas chaves: uma "chave privada", que é secreta e serve para criar a assinatura, e uma "chave pública", que pode ser compartilhada com todos e é usada para verificar se a assinatura é válida. Quando você transfere uma moeda, usa sua chave privada para assinar a transação, provando que você é o dono. A próxima pessoa pode usar sua chave pública para confirmar isso. #### Como funciona na prática? Cada "moeda" no Bitcoin é, na verdade, uma cadeia de assinaturas digitais. Vamos imaginar o seguinte cenário: 1. A moeda está com o Dono 0 (você). Para transferi-la ao Dono 1, você assina digitalmente a transação com sua chave privada. Essa assinatura inclui o código da transação anterior (chamado de "hash") e a chave pública do Dono 1. 2. Quando o Dono 1 quiser transferir a moeda ao Dono 2, ele assinará a transação seguinte com sua própria chave privada, incluindo também o hash da transação anterior e a chave pública do Dono 2. 3. Esse processo continua, formando uma "cadeia" de transações. Qualquer pessoa pode verificar essa cadeia para confirmar quem é o atual dono da moeda. #### Resolvendo o problema do gasto duplo Um grande desafio com moedas digitais é o "gasto duplo", que é quando uma mesma moeda é usada em mais de uma transação. Para evitar isso, muitos sistemas antigos dependiam de uma entidade central confiável, como uma casa da moeda, que verificava todas as transações. No entanto, isso criava um ponto único de falha e centralizava o controle do dinheiro. O Bitcoin resolve esse problema de forma inovadora: ele usa uma rede descentralizada onde todos os participantes (os "nós") têm acesso a um registro completo de todas as transações. Cada nó verifica se as transações são válidas e se a moeda não foi gasta duas vezes. Quando a maioria dos nós concorda com a validade de uma transação, ela é registrada permanentemente na blockchain. #### Por que isso é importante? Essa solução elimina a necessidade de confiar em uma única entidade para gerenciar o dinheiro, permitindo que qualquer pessoa no mundo use o Bitcoin sem precisar de permissão de terceiros. Além disso, ela garante que o sistema seja seguro e resistente a fraudes. --- ### 3. Servidor Timestamp Para assegurar que as transações sejam realizadas de forma segura e transparente, o sistema Bitcoin utiliza algo chamado de "servidor de registro de tempo" (timestamp). Esse servidor funciona como um registro público que organiza as transações em uma ordem específica. Ele faz isso agrupando várias transações em blocos e criando um código único chamado "hash". Esse hash é como uma impressão digital que representa todo o conteúdo do bloco. O hash de cada bloco é amplamente divulgado, como se fosse publicado em um jornal ou em um fórum público. Esse processo garante que cada bloco de transações tenha um registro de quando foi criado e que ele existia naquele momento. Além disso, cada novo bloco criado contém o hash do bloco anterior, formando uma cadeia contínua de blocos conectados — conhecida como blockchain. Com isso, se alguém tentar alterar qualquer informação em um bloco anterior, o hash desse bloco mudará e não corresponderá ao hash armazenado no bloco seguinte. Essa característica torna a cadeia muito segura, pois qualquer tentativa de fraude seria imediatamente detectada. O sistema de timestamps é essencial para provar a ordem cronológica das transações e garantir que cada uma delas seja única e autêntica. Dessa forma, ele reforça a segurança e a confiança na rede Bitcoin. --- ### 4. Prova-de-Trabalho Para implementar o registro de tempo distribuído no sistema Bitcoin, utilizamos um mecanismo chamado prova-de-trabalho. Esse sistema é semelhante ao Hashcash, desenvolvido por Adam Back, e baseia-se na criação de um código único, o "hash", por meio de um processo computacionalmente exigente. A prova-de-trabalho envolve encontrar um valor especial que, quando processado junto com as informações do bloco, gere um hash que comece com uma quantidade específica de zeros. Esse valor especial é chamado de "nonce". Encontrar o nonce correto exige um esforço significativo do computador, porque envolve tentativas repetidas até que a condição seja satisfeita. Esse processo é importante porque torna extremamente difícil alterar qualquer informação registrada em um bloco. Se alguém tentar mudar algo em um bloco, seria necessário refazer o trabalho de computação não apenas para aquele bloco, mas também para todos os blocos que vêm depois dele. Isso garante a segurança e a imutabilidade da blockchain. A prova-de-trabalho também resolve o problema de decidir qual cadeia de blocos é a válida quando há múltiplas cadeias competindo. A decisão é feita pela cadeia mais longa, pois ela representa o maior esforço computacional já realizado. Isso impede que qualquer indivíduo ou grupo controle a rede, desde que a maioria do poder de processamento seja mantida por participantes honestos. Para garantir que o sistema permaneça eficiente e equilibrado, a dificuldade da prova-de-trabalho é ajustada automaticamente ao longo do tempo. Se novos blocos estiverem sendo gerados rapidamente, a dificuldade aumenta; se estiverem sendo gerados muito lentamente, a dificuldade diminui. Esse ajuste assegura que novos blocos sejam criados aproximadamente a cada 10 minutos, mantendo o sistema estável e funcional. --- ### 5. Rede A rede Bitcoin é o coração do sistema e funciona de maneira distribuída, conectando vários participantes (ou nós) para garantir o registro e a validação das transações. Os passos para operar essa rede são: 1. **Transmissão de Transações**: Quando alguém realiza uma nova transação, ela é enviada para todos os nós da rede. Isso é feito para garantir que todos estejam cientes da operação e possam validá-la. 2. **Coleta de Transações em Blocos**: Cada nó agrupa as novas transações recebidas em um "bloco". Este bloco será preparado para ser adicionado à cadeia de blocos (a blockchain). 3. **Prova-de-Trabalho**: Os nós competem para resolver a prova-de-trabalho do bloco, utilizando poder computacional para encontrar um hash válido. Esse processo é como resolver um quebra-cabeça matemático difícil. 4. **Envio do Bloco Resolvido**: Quando um nó encontra a solução para o bloco (a prova-de-trabalho), ele compartilha esse bloco com todos os outros nós na rede. 5. **Validação do Bloco**: Cada nó verifica o bloco recebido para garantir que todas as transações nele contidas sejam válidas e que nenhuma moeda tenha sido gasta duas vezes. Apenas blocos válidos são aceitos. 6. **Construção do Próximo Bloco**: Os nós que aceitaram o bloco começam a trabalhar na criação do próximo bloco, utilizando o hash do bloco aceito como base (hash anterior). Isso mantém a continuidade da cadeia. #### Resolução de Conflitos e Escolha da Cadeia Mais Longa Os nós sempre priorizam a cadeia mais longa, pois ela representa o maior esforço computacional já realizado, garantindo maior segurança. Se dois blocos diferentes forem compartilhados simultaneamente, os nós trabalharão no primeiro bloco recebido, mas guardarão o outro como uma alternativa. Caso o segundo bloco eventualmente forme uma cadeia mais longa (ou seja, tenha mais blocos subsequentes), os nós mudarão para essa nova cadeia. #### Tolerância a Falhas A rede é robusta e pode lidar com mensagens que não chegam a todos os nós. Uma transação não precisa alcançar todos os nós de imediato; basta que chegue a um número suficiente deles para ser incluída em um bloco. Da mesma forma, se um nó não receber um bloco em tempo hábil, ele pode solicitá-lo ao perceber que está faltando quando o próximo bloco é recebido. Esse mecanismo descentralizado permite que a rede Bitcoin funcione de maneira segura, confiável e resiliente, sem depender de uma autoridade central. --- ### 6. Incentivo O incentivo é um dos pilares fundamentais que sustenta o funcionamento da rede Bitcoin, garantindo que os participantes (nós) continuem operando de forma honesta e contribuindo com recursos computacionais. Ele é estruturado em duas partes principais: a recompensa por mineração e as taxas de transação. #### Recompensa por Mineração Por convenção, o primeiro registro em cada bloco é uma transação especial que cria novas moedas e as atribui ao criador do bloco. Essa recompensa incentiva os mineradores a dedicarem poder computacional para apoiar a rede. Como não há uma autoridade central para emitir moedas, essa é a maneira pela qual novas moedas entram em circulação. Esse processo pode ser comparado ao trabalho de garimpeiros, que utilizam recursos para colocar mais ouro em circulação. No caso do Bitcoin, o "recurso" consiste no tempo de CPU e na energia elétrica consumida para resolver a prova-de-trabalho. #### Taxas de Transação Além da recompensa por mineração, os mineradores também podem ser incentivados pelas taxas de transação. Se uma transação utiliza menos valor de saída do que o valor de entrada, a diferença é tratada como uma taxa, que é adicionada à recompensa do bloco contendo essa transação. Com o passar do tempo e à medida que o número de moedas em circulação atinge o limite predeterminado, essas taxas de transação se tornam a principal fonte de incentivo, substituindo gradualmente a emissão de novas moedas. Isso permite que o sistema opere sem inflação, uma vez que o número total de moedas permanece fixo. #### Incentivo à Honestidade O design do incentivo também busca garantir que os participantes da rede mantenham um comportamento honesto. Para um atacante que consiga reunir mais poder computacional do que o restante da rede, ele enfrentaria duas escolhas: 1. Usar esse poder para fraudar o sistema, como reverter transações e roubar pagamentos. 2. Seguir as regras do sistema, criando novos blocos e recebendo recompensas legítimas. A lógica econômica favorece a segunda opção, pois um comportamento desonesto prejudicaria a confiança no sistema, diminuindo o valor de todas as moedas, incluindo aquelas que o próprio atacante possui. Jogar dentro das regras não apenas maximiza o retorno financeiro, mas também preserva a validade e a integridade do sistema. Esse mecanismo garante que os incentivos econômicos estejam alinhados com o objetivo de manter a rede segura, descentralizada e funcional ao longo do tempo. --- ### 7. Recuperação do Espaço em Disco Depois que uma moeda passa a estar protegida por muitos blocos na cadeia, as informações sobre as transações antigas que a geraram podem ser descartadas para economizar espaço em disco. Para que isso seja possível sem comprometer a segurança, as transações são organizadas em uma estrutura chamada "árvore de Merkle". Essa árvore funciona como um resumo das transações: em vez de armazenar todas elas, guarda apenas um "hash raiz", que é como uma assinatura compacta que representa todo o grupo de transações. Os blocos antigos podem, então, ser simplificados, removendo as partes desnecessárias dessa árvore. Apenas a raiz do hash precisa ser mantida no cabeçalho do bloco, garantindo que a integridade dos dados seja preservada, mesmo que detalhes específicos sejam descartados. Para exemplificar: imagine que você tenha vários recibos de compra. Em vez de guardar todos os recibos, você cria um documento e lista apenas o valor total de cada um. Mesmo que os recibos originais sejam descartados, ainda é possível verificar a soma com base nos valores armazenados. Além disso, o espaço ocupado pelos blocos em si é muito pequeno. Cada bloco sem transações ocupa apenas cerca de 80 bytes. Isso significa que, mesmo com blocos sendo gerados a cada 10 minutos, o crescimento anual em espaço necessário é insignificante: apenas 4,2 MB por ano. Com a capacidade de armazenamento dos computadores crescendo a cada ano, esse espaço continuará sendo trivial, garantindo que a rede possa operar de forma eficiente sem problemas de armazenamento, mesmo a longo prazo. --- ### 8. Verificação de Pagamento Simplificada É possível confirmar pagamentos sem a necessidade de operar um nó completo da rede. Para isso, o usuário precisa apenas de uma cópia dos cabeçalhos dos blocos da cadeia mais longa (ou seja, a cadeia com maior esforço de trabalho acumulado). Ele pode verificar a validade de uma transação ao consultar os nós da rede até obter a confirmação de que tem a cadeia mais longa. Para isso, utiliza-se o ramo Merkle, que conecta a transação ao bloco em que ela foi registrada. Entretanto, o método simplificado possui limitações: ele não pode confirmar uma transação isoladamente, mas sim assegurar que ela ocupa um lugar específico na cadeia mais longa. Dessa forma, se um nó da rede aprova a transação, os blocos subsequentes reforçam essa aceitação. A verificação simplificada é confiável enquanto a maioria dos nós da rede for honesta. Contudo, ela se torna vulnerável caso a rede seja dominada por um invasor. Nesse cenário, um atacante poderia fabricar transações fraudulentas que enganariam o usuário temporariamente até que o invasor obtivesse controle completo da rede. Uma estratégia para mitigar esse risco é configurar alertas nos softwares de nós completos. Esses alertas identificam blocos inválidos, sugerindo ao usuário baixar o bloco completo para confirmar qualquer inconsistência. Para maior segurança, empresas que realizam pagamentos frequentes podem preferir operar seus próprios nós, reduzindo riscos e permitindo uma verificação mais direta e confiável. --- ### 9. Combinando e Dividindo Valor No sistema Bitcoin, cada unidade de valor é tratada como uma "moeda" individual, mas gerenciar cada centavo como uma transação separada seria impraticável. Para resolver isso, o Bitcoin permite que valores sejam combinados ou divididos em transações, facilitando pagamentos de qualquer valor. #### Entradas e Saídas Cada transação no Bitcoin é composta por: - **Entradas**: Representam os valores recebidos em transações anteriores. - **Saídas**: Correspondem aos valores enviados, divididos entre os destinatários e, eventualmente, o troco para o remetente. Normalmente, uma transação contém: - Uma única entrada com valor suficiente para cobrir o pagamento. - Ou várias entradas combinadas para atingir o valor necessário. O valor total das saídas nunca excede o das entradas, e a diferença (se houver) pode ser retornada ao remetente como **troco**. #### Exemplo Prático Imagine que você tem duas entradas: 1. 0,03 BTC 2. 0,07 BTC Se deseja enviar 0,08 BTC para alguém, a transação terá: - **Entrada**: As duas entradas combinadas (0,03 + 0,07 BTC = 0,10 BTC). - **Saídas**: Uma para o destinatário (0,08 BTC) e outra como troco para você (0,02 BTC). Essa flexibilidade permite que o sistema funcione sem precisar manipular cada unidade mínima individualmente. #### Difusão e Simplificação A difusão de transações, onde uma depende de várias anteriores e assim por diante, não representa um problema. Não é necessário armazenar ou verificar o histórico completo de uma transação para utilizá-la, já que o registro na blockchain garante sua integridade. --- ### 10. Privacidade O modelo bancário tradicional oferece um certo nível de privacidade, limitando o acesso às informações financeiras apenas às partes envolvidas e a um terceiro confiável (como bancos ou instituições financeiras). No entanto, o Bitcoin opera de forma diferente, pois todas as transações são publicamente registradas na blockchain. Apesar disso, a privacidade pode ser mantida utilizando **chaves públicas anônimas**, que desvinculam diretamente as transações das identidades das partes envolvidas. #### Fluxo de Informação - No **modelo tradicional**, as transações passam por um terceiro confiável que conhece tanto o remetente quanto o destinatário. - No **Bitcoin**, as transações são anunciadas publicamente, mas sem revelar diretamente as identidades das partes. Isso é comparável a dados divulgados por bolsas de valores, onde informações como o tempo e o tamanho das negociações (a "fita") são públicas, mas as identidades das partes não. #### Protegendo a Privacidade Para aumentar a privacidade no Bitcoin, são adotadas as seguintes práticas: 1. **Chaves Públicas Anônimas**: Cada transação utiliza um par de chaves diferentes, dificultando a associação com um proprietário único. 2. **Prevenção de Ligação**: Ao usar chaves novas para cada transação, reduz-se a possibilidade de links evidentes entre múltiplas transações realizadas pelo mesmo usuário. #### Riscos de Ligação Embora a privacidade seja fortalecida, alguns riscos permanecem: - Transações **multi-entrada** podem revelar que todas as entradas pertencem ao mesmo proprietário, caso sejam necessárias para somar o valor total. - O proprietário da chave pode ser identificado indiretamente por transações anteriores que estejam conectadas. --- ### 11. Cálculos Imagine que temos um sistema onde as pessoas (ou computadores) competem para adicionar informações novas (blocos) a um grande registro público (a cadeia de blocos ou blockchain). Este registro é como um livro contábil compartilhado, onde todos podem verificar o que está escrito. Agora, vamos pensar em um cenário: um atacante quer enganar o sistema. Ele quer mudar informações já registradas para beneficiar a si mesmo, por exemplo, desfazendo um pagamento que já fez. Para isso, ele precisa criar uma versão alternativa do livro contábil (a cadeia de blocos dele) e convencer todos os outros participantes de que essa versão é a verdadeira. Mas isso é extremamente difícil. #### Como o Ataque Funciona Quando um novo bloco é adicionado à cadeia, ele depende de cálculos complexos que levam tempo e esforço. Esses cálculos são como um grande quebra-cabeça que precisa ser resolvido. - Os “bons jogadores” (nós honestos) estão sempre trabalhando juntos para resolver esses quebra-cabeças e adicionar novos blocos à cadeia verdadeira. - O atacante, por outro lado, precisa resolver quebra-cabeças sozinho, tentando “alcançar” a cadeia honesta para que sua versão alternativa pareça válida. Se a cadeia honesta já está vários blocos à frente, o atacante começa em desvantagem, e o sistema está projetado para que a dificuldade de alcançá-los aumente rapidamente. #### A Corrida Entre Cadeias Você pode imaginar isso como uma corrida. A cada bloco novo que os jogadores honestos adicionam à cadeia verdadeira, eles se distanciam mais do atacante. Para vencer, o atacante teria que resolver os quebra-cabeças mais rápido que todos os outros jogadores honestos juntos. Suponha que: - A rede honesta tem **80% do poder computacional** (ou seja, resolve 8 de cada 10 quebra-cabeças). - O atacante tem **20% do poder computacional** (ou seja, resolve 2 de cada 10 quebra-cabeças). Cada vez que a rede honesta adiciona um bloco, o atacante tem que "correr atrás" e resolver mais quebra-cabeças para alcançar. #### Por Que o Ataque Fica Cada Vez Mais Improvável? Vamos usar uma fórmula simples para mostrar como as chances de sucesso do atacante diminuem conforme ele precisa "alcançar" mais blocos: P = (q/p)^z - **q** é o poder computacional do atacante (20%, ou 0,2). - **p** é o poder computacional da rede honesta (80%, ou 0,8). - **z** é a diferença de blocos entre a cadeia honesta e a cadeia do atacante. Se o atacante está 5 blocos atrás (z = 5): P = (0,2 / 0,8)^5 = (0,25)^5 = 0,00098, (ou, 0,098%) Isso significa que o atacante tem menos de 0,1% de chance de sucesso — ou seja, é muito improvável. Se ele estiver 10 blocos atrás (z = 10): P = (0,2 / 0,8)^10 = (0,25)^10 = 0,000000095, (ou, 0,0000095%). Neste caso, as chances de sucesso são praticamente **nulas**. #### Um Exemplo Simples Se você jogar uma moeda, a chance de cair “cara” é de 50%. Mas se precisar de 10 caras seguidas, sua chance já é bem menor. Se precisar de 20 caras seguidas, é quase impossível. No caso do Bitcoin, o atacante precisa de muito mais do que 20 caras seguidas. Ele precisa resolver quebra-cabeças extremamente difíceis e alcançar os jogadores honestos que estão sempre à frente. Isso faz com que o ataque seja inviável na prática. #### Por Que Tudo Isso é Seguro? - **A probabilidade de sucesso do atacante diminui exponencialmente.** Isso significa que, quanto mais tempo passa, menor é a chance de ele conseguir enganar o sistema. - **A cadeia verdadeira (honesta) está protegida pela força da rede.** Cada novo bloco que os jogadores honestos adicionam à cadeia torna mais difícil para o atacante alcançar. #### E Se o Atacante Tentar Continuar? O atacante poderia continuar tentando indefinidamente, mas ele estaria gastando muito tempo e energia sem conseguir nada. Enquanto isso, os jogadores honestos estão sempre adicionando novos blocos, tornando o trabalho do atacante ainda mais inútil. Assim, o sistema garante que a cadeia verdadeira seja extremamente segura e que ataques sejam, na prática, impossíveis de ter sucesso. --- ### 12. Conclusão Propusemos um sistema de transações eletrônicas que elimina a necessidade de confiança, baseando-se em assinaturas digitais e em uma rede peer-to-peer que utiliza prova de trabalho. Isso resolve o problema do gasto duplo, criando um histórico público de transações imutável, desde que a maioria do poder computacional permaneça sob controle dos participantes honestos. A rede funciona de forma simples e descentralizada, com nós independentes que não precisam de identificação ou coordenação direta. Eles entram e saem livremente, aceitando a cadeia de prova de trabalho como registro do que ocorreu durante sua ausência. As decisões são tomadas por meio do poder de CPU, validando blocos legítimos, estendendo a cadeia e rejeitando os inválidos. Com este mecanismo de consenso, todas as regras e incentivos necessários para o funcionamento seguro e eficiente do sistema são garantidos. --- Faça o download do whitepaper original em português: https://bitcoin.org/files/bitcoin-paper/bitcoin_pt_br.pdf

@ 50809a53:e091f164

For starters, anyone who is interested in curating and managing "notes, lists, bookmarks, kind-1 events, or other stuff" should watch this video: https://youtu.be/XRpHIa-2XCE Now, assuming you have watched it, I will proceed assuming you are aware of many of the applications that exist for a very similar purpose. I'll break them down further, following a similar trajectory in order of how I came across them, and a bit about my own path on this journey. We'll start way back in the early 2000s, before Bitcoin existed. We had https://zim-wiki.org/ It is tried and true, and to this day stands to present an option for people looking for a very simple solution to a potentially complex problem. Zim-Wiki works. But it is limited. Let's step into the realm of proprietary. Obsidian, Joplin, and LogSeq. The first two are entirely cloud-operative applications, with more of a focus on the true benefit of being a paid service. I will assume anyone reading this is capable of exploring the marketing of these applications, or trying their freemium product, to get a feeling for what they are capable of. I bring up Obsidian because it is very crucial to understand the market placement of publication. We know social media handles the 'hosting' problem of publishing notes "and other stuff" by harvesting data and making deals with advertisers. But- what Obsidian has evolved to offer is a full service known as 'publish'. This means users can stay in the proprietary pipeline, "from thought to web." all for $8/mo. See: https://obsidian.md/publish THIS IS NOSTR'S PRIMARY COMPETITION. WE ARE HERE TO DISRUPT THIS MARKET, WITH NOTES AND OTHER STUFF. WITH RELAYS. WITH THE PROTOCOL. Now, on to Joplin. I have never used this, because I opted to study the FOSS market and stayed free of any reliance on a paid solution. Many people like Joplin, and I gather the reason is because it has allowed itself to be flexible and good options that integrate with Joplin seems to provide good solutions for users who need that functionality. I see Nostr users recommending Joplin, so I felt it was worthwhile to mention as a case-study option. I myself need to investigate it more, but have found comfort in other solutions. LogSeq - This is my "other solutions." It seems to be trapped in its proprietary web of funding and constraint. I use it because it turns my desktop into a power-house of note archival. But by using it- I AM TRAPPED TOO. This means LogSeq is by no means a working solution for Nostr users who want a long-term archival option. But the trap is not a cage. It's merely a box. My notes can be exported to other applications with graphing and node-based information structure. Specifically, I can export these notes to: - Text - OPML - HTML - and, PNG, for whatever that is worth. Let's try out the PNG option, just for fun. Here's an exported PNG of my "Games on Nostr" list, which has long been abandoned. I once decided to poll some CornyChat users to see what games they enjoyed- and I documented them in a LogSeq page for my own future reference. You can see it here: https://i.postimg.cc/qMBPDTwr/image.png This is a very simple example of how a single "page" or "list" in LogSeq can be multipurpose. It is a small list, with multiple "features" or variables at play. First, I have listed out a variety of complex games that might make sense with "multiplayer" identification that relies on our npubs or nip-05 addresses to aggregate user data. We can ALL imagine playing games like Tetris, Snake, or Catan together with our Nostr identities. But of course we are a long way from breaking into the video game market. On a mostly irrelevant sidenote- you might notice in my example list, that I seem to be excited about a game called Dot.Hack. I discovered this small game on Itch.io and reached out to the developer on Twitter, in an attempt to purple-pill him, but moreso to inquire about his game. Unfortunately there was no response, even without mention of Nostr. Nonetheless, we pioneer on. You can try the game here: https://propuke.itch.io/planethack So instead let's focus on the structure of "one working list." The middle section of this list is where I polled users, and simply listed out their suggestions. Of course we discussed these before I documented, so it is note a direct result of a poll, but actually a working interaction of poll results! This is crucial because it separates my list from the aggregated data, and implies its relevance/importance. The final section of this ONE list- is the beginnings of where I conceptually connect nostr with video game functionality. You can look at this as the beginning of a new graph, which would be "Video Game Operability With Nostr". These three sections make up one concept within my brain. It exists in other users' brains too- but of course they are not as committed to the concept as myself- the one managing the communal discussion. With LogSeq- I can grow and expand these lists. These lists can become graphs. Those graphs can become entire catalogues of information than can be shared across the web. I can replicate this system with bookmarks, ideas, application design, shopping lists, LLM prompting, video/music playlists, friend lists, RELAY lists, the LIST goes ON forever! So where does that lead us? I think it leads us to kind-1 events. We don't have much in the way of "kind-1 event managers" because most developers would agree that "storing kind-1 events locally" is.. at the very least, not so important. But it could be! If only a superapp existed that could interface seamlessly with nostr, yada yada.. we've heard it all before. We aren't getting a superapp before we have microapps. Basically this means frameworking the protocol before worrying about the all-in-one solution. So this article will step away from the deep desire for a Nostr-enabled, Rust-built, FOSS, non-commercialized FREEDOM APP, that will exist one day, we hope. Instead, we will focus on simple attempts of the past. I encourage others to chime in with their experience. Zim-Wiki is foundational. The user constructs pages, and can then develop them into books. LogSeq has the right idea- but is constrained in too many ways to prove to be a working solution at this time. However, it is very much worth experimenting with, and investigating, and modelling ourselves after. https://workflowy.com/ is next on our list. This is great for users who think LogSeq is too complex. They "just want simple notes." Get a taste with WorkFlowy. You will understand why LogSeq is powerful if you see value in WF. I am writing this article in favor of a redesign of LogSeq to be compatible with Nostr. I have been drafting the idea since before Nostr existed- and with Nostr I truly believe it will be possible. So, I will stop to thank everyone who has made Nostr what it is today. I wouldn't be publishing this without you! One app I need to investigate more is Zettlr. I will mention it here for others to either discuss or investigate, as it is also mentioned some in the video I opened with. https://www.zettlr.com/ On my path to finding Nostr, before its inception, was a service called Deta.Space. This was an interesting project, not entirely unique or original, but completely fresh and very beginner-friendly. DETA WAS AN AWESOME CLOUD OS. And we could still design a form of Nostr ecosystem that is managed in this way. But, what we have now is excellent, and going forward I only see "additional" or supplemental. Along the timeline, Deta sunsetted their Space service and launched https://deta.surf/ You might notice they advertise that "This is the future of bookmarks." I have to wonder if perhaps I got through to them that bookmarking was what their ecosystem could empower. While I have not tried Surf, it looks interested, but does not seem to address what I found most valuable about Deta.Space: https://webcrate.app/ WebCrate was an early bookmarking client for Deta.Space which was likely their most popular application. What was amazing about WebCrate was that it delivered "simple bookmarking." At one point I decided to migrate my bookmarks from other apps, like Pocket and WorkFlowy, into WebCrate. This ended up being an awful decision, because WebCrate is no longer being developed. However, to much credit of Deta.Space, my WebCrate instance is still running and completely functional. I have since migrated what I deem important into a local LogSeq graph, so my bookmarks are safe. But, the development of WebCrate is note. WebCrate did not provide a working directory of crates. All creates were contained within a single-level directory. Essentially there were no layers. Just collections of links. This isn't enough for any user to effectively manage their catalogue of notes. With some pressure, I did encourage the German developer to flesh out a form of tagging, which did alleviate the problem to some extent. But as we see with Surf, they have pioneered in another direction. That brings us back to Nostr. Where can we look for the best solution? There simply isn't one yet. But, we can look at some other options for inspiration. HedgeDoc: https://hedgedoc.org/ I am eager for someone to fork HedgeDoc and employ Nostr sign-in. This is a small step toward managing information together within the Nostr ecosystem. I will attempt this myself eventually, if no one else does, but I am prioritizing my development in this way: 1. A nostr client that allows the cataloguing and management of relays locally. 2. A LogSeq alternative with Nostr interoperability. 3. HedgeDoc + Nostr is #3 on my list, despite being the easiest option. Check out HedgeDoc 2.0 if you have any interest in a cooperative Markdown experience on Nostr: https://docs.hedgedoc.dev/ Now, this article should catch up all of my dearest followers, and idols, to where I stand with "bookmarking, note-taking, list-making, kind-1 event management, frameworking, and so on..." Where it leads us to, is what's possible. Let's take a look at what's possible, once we forego ALL OF THE PROPRIETARY WEB'S BEST OPTIONS: https://denizaydemir.org/ https://denizaydemir.org/graph/how-logseq-should-build-a-world-knowledge-graph/ https://subconscious.network/ Nostr is even inspired by much of the history that has gone into information management systems. nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn I know looks up to Gordon Brander, just as I do. You can read his articles here: https://substack.com/@gordonbrander and they are very much worth reading! Also, I could note that the original version of Highlighter by nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft was also inspired partially by WorkFlowy. About a year ago, I was mesmerized coming across SubText and thinking I had finally found the answer Nostr might even be looking for. But, for now I will just suggest that others read the Readme.md on the SubText Gtihub, as well as articles by Brander. Good luck everyone. I am here to work with ANYONE who is interested in these type of solution on Nostr. My first order of business in this space is to spearhead a community of npubs who share this goal. Everyone who is interested in note-taking or list-making or bookmarking is welcome to join. I have created an INVITE-ONLY relay for this very purpose, and anyone is welcome to reach out if they wish to be added to the whitelist. It should be freely readable in the near future, if it is not already, but for now will remain a closed-to-post community to preemptively mitigate attack or spam. Please reach out to me if you wish to join the relay. https://logstr.mycelium.social/ With this article, I hope people will investigate and explore the options available. We have lots of ground to cover, but all of the right resources and manpower to do so. Godspeed, Nostr. #Nostr #Notes #OtherStuff #LogSec #Joplin #Obsidian

@ 129f5189:3a441803

Many believe that to buy #Bitcoin, they need to purchase 1 whole #Bitcoin, which may seem unaffordable for most people today. This belief is rooted in a misunderstanding of how #Bitcoin works. #Bitcoin is divisible up to eight decimal places, and the smallest unit is called a satoshi. 1 #Bitcoin equals 100 million satoshis. https://image.nostr.build/4c25abae971d2d817d2e9c38cac0ae7ea6a439e39bc7e2db46a610cc91a58e4b.jpg This means that anyone can start by purchasing a fraction of #Bitcoin, like 0.0001 #BTC (10,000 satoshis), for a much smaller amount than the price of 1 whole #Bitcoin. The mistake lies in comparing the value of 1 #Bitcoin to the price of 1 unit of traditional currency, such as the dollar or the real. This comparison ignores #Bitcoin’s divisibility and fungibility. Imagine if someone said they couldn’t buy gold because they couldn’t afford a whole gold bar. Does that make sense? Of course not. Just as gold can be bought in grams, #Bitcoin can be purchased in fractions. Another important point is understanding that the value of a satoshi is proportional to the value of #Bitcoin as a whole. If #Bitcoin reaches a price of $1 million, for example, 1 satoshi will be worth $0.01. What ultimately matters is the relative appreciation of the asset, not the number of units you own. Therefore, the unit bias is merely a psychological barrier. Instead of focusing on the price of 1 whole #Bitcoin, think about the opportunity to accumulate satoshis, which are just as valuable as any fraction of #Bitcoin. After all, every satoshi is part of the largest computational network in the world—scarce and decentralized—that is poised to transform the global financial system. Buying #Bitcoin isn’t about how much you can buy today, but about understanding the value it represents in the long term. Don’t let the unit bias stop you from being part of this monetary revolution.

@ df478568:2a951e67

Affiliate Links I earn a commission for these products and services, but I would recommend them even if they did not pay me. [BTCPins](https://btcpins.com/?aff=ex1GhhNeeU9-PQ1-ZVEkarU9bSnsNyq98Jy_lEUBLmsrWsCqa69PYohMWcCOGK9tK1rAqmuvT2KITFnAjhivbfOajnP3D8A8O09Hi-OY4K8) [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT) [Cash App](https://cash.app/app/MCLFTJT) [PayPerQ](https://ppq.ai/invite/b28d3a37) This is the cheapest way to use AI on the Internet. The pics are spectacular. It cost me about 20 sats to make the cover for this affiliate page. [Start9](https://start9.com/?ref=marc26z.npubpro.com/) I don’t really have an affiliate link for these guys, but I would like one. Anyway, they make the easiest home servers. I highly recommend them. I like that I can use the cloudflare tunnel app to host everythng on the clearnet. Let me know if you need any help with this. ## Recommendations These companies do not pay me, but I recommend them anyway. ### [Subscribe To Support My Work](https://app.paywithflash.com/subscription-page?flashId=1110&ref) I use [PayWithFlash](https://app.paywithflash.com) to create a Substack like subscription. You can subscribe for as little as 1,000 per month. If that is too many sats to ask, you could always zap my articles instead. Thank you. ### [The Leather Mint](https://theleathermint.com/) The Leathermint makes great, custom-sized leather belts and awesome-looking wallets. I have a belt and it fits better than any belt I’ve ever warn because it’s custom size. I have had mine for about a year. The chrome is coming off a little at the top but I don’t tuck in shirts anyway. ### [CoinKite](https://store.coinkite.com/store) They make my favorite products ever. I suggest getting a few SEEDPLATE® Kit’s no matter what hardware wallets you use. I also like using a dry-erase marker first because there are no second chances when punching a letter. It’s best to use a dry-erase marker first. If you make a mistake erase it. Then, after you double checked the first side, go over the dry-erase marker with a permanent marker. Then do the same to the other side. If you’re sure every letter is correct, punch the holes. There are many plates with sufficient heat resistance, but I like the SEEDPLATE because they are the easiest to destroy if you ever need to. Instead of etching out stamps on washers, you just add extra punches if you must destroy the seed. ### [Alby Hub](https://albyhub.com/) Look, if you want to run your own lightning node, this is the way to go. If you have a Start9 or are technical, you can run it yourself. If you’re less technical, they offer a cloud service. I was one of the early beta testers of this software and I think it’s the easiest way to run a lightning node. ## Free and Open Software ### [Primal.net](https://github.com/PrimalHQ/primal-web-app) os a corporation building stuff on nostr. If you’re technical, you can run it yourself. If not, you ca download the app for free. They charge a fee for premium services. I pay for this because I want to support companies that contribute to nostr development and help bitcoin be used as peer-to-peer electronic cash. I think of Primal as a custodial bitcoin wallet that allows anyone to participate in the biggest circular economy in the world. TikTok was banned in the United States which means it is no longer available for citizens of the United States to download the app. There are ways to get around these restrictions, but I choose not to because I do not want the CCP, or any government to have access to information if their goal is to use it against me. I believe every government, foreign or domestic wants to use your information against you. Nostr allows me to opt out of these stupid games with stupid likes. With Primal, I am the customer, not the product. I choose the algorithms I want to see, not the CCP , USG or corporations. Even if Primal decided to say, “Marc sucks. We will now censor him.” I will only lose the https://primal.net/marc, the OG status, and my primal lightning address. It also means they would stop getting my sats every month, so they are incentivized not to censor. You would have to do something really stupid to get banned from Primal. I’m not sure it’s been done yet, but even if it has, you will not get banned from the nostr protocol. ### [Portainer](https://github.com/portainer/portainer) Portainer makes it easy to run docker-containers. I first learned how to use it because it is an app on Umbrel. Eventually, I learned you can use Portainer on any Linux computer, so that’s what I do. It takes some time to learn, but once you do—you become a cloud computing super-wizard. ### [Mealie](https://github.com/mealie-recipes/mealie/) Mealie is one of my favorite pieces of free and open software that is not related to bitcoin in any shape or form...except it makes grocery shopping easier. I know what you’re thinking. WTF does that have to do with bitcoin? I assume you belong to the *I Want More Bitcoin Club*. You are in good company because ALL Bitcoiners are a member of this club. One way you can stasck more sats is to cut your grocery bill. I believe Mealie helps me do just that. When I’m grocery shopping, my goal is to get as much healthy food for my sats as possible. To accomplish this, I shop sales. Now, if you’re living in a van, this won’t do much for you, but no worries. You will stack even more sats by cutting your housing costs. If your wife will not agree to live under a bridge and stack sats, then get a freezer in your garage. Fill it with meat you buy on sale. Pork shoulder is 3,000 sats per pound and you don’t what to cook it with? Find a recipe online. Mealie will use machine learning to scrape the ingredients from the recipe. Then you can add it to a grocery list. In other words, you can automate your grocery list right at the grocery isle. This is one way I save sats with Mealie. I also keep the things my family eats on a regular basis in stock. This is part for emergency preparedness, but it is also for financial preparedness. If you are in a situation where no food is available, all the bitcoin in the world will not save you. I’m not talkig about super volcanos. Hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes happen. So I got this idea from Jack Spirko, but modified it to use with mealie. Spirko suggests building a 30 day supply of food and water for your family in case of an emergency. You should have a generator and a garden too, but I don’t want to get off track. Once you have this he says: write down every item you use on a notebook and replace it. This is good advice, but I just add it to my grocery list in mealie. #### [Shopstr](https://github.com/shopstr-eng/shopstr) Shopstr is like Facebook marketplace, Amazon, or eBay on nostr. This is what I use to build my store. I want to pause point out how big of a paradigm shift this is. The old web requires permission. Ebay needs permission from the government to become a corporation. They built infrastructure to create their online auction. Everyone on the site must pay eBay a tax. This results in a techno- feudalist society. When you sell on Shopster, you are selling your wares on nostr, a protocol, not a platform. This changes the relationship between the people and the technology because NO MIDDLEMAN IS REQUIRED. On nostr, there are no digital overlords. You own your data. You host your store. If the current digital overlords shut it down, you can run it yourself. You do not need to pay a tax to eBay, Amazon, or the PayPal mafia. #### Avocados I love avocados. They are kind of like free and open source software because you can grow them yourself. ;) I love avocados and **big avocado ag did not pay me to say this**.

@ 000002de:c05780a7

I just finished the audio book read by Norm himself. I must say, if you love Norm you will love this book. I highly recommend the audio book. I don't want to spoil anything but the book is like sitting down with Norm and listening to him tell you stories. You never know what is true or false and if the whole thing IS the joke. I laughed out loud many times.  originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/857482

@ 652d58ac:dc4cde60

**Introduction** We must rethink how we envision the future. In the short term, things may be worse than we expect, rising inflation, war, and health crises, but this is all part of the fiat dilemma. A system that cannibalizes itself. Yet, at the same time, a new system is emerging. Bitcoin and Artificial intelligence (AI) will be central to this foundation, providing humanity with the time and tools needed to thrive. How Technology Drives Deflation As Jeff Booth so masterfully explains, technology is inherently deflationary. Over time, through free market competition and productivity gains, prices should fall to their marginal cost of production. Yet, in our inflationary fiat system, productivity gains are eroded by the continuous increase in the money supply, driving prices higher. Instead of allowing prices to approach their marginal cost of production as they should, goods and services become more expensive due to monetary inflation. This principle, that an expanding money supply reduces the purchasing power of individual monetary units and ultimately undermines wealth creation, was recognized as early as 1517 by Copernicus in the quantity theory of money. Because bitcoin is limited in supply, productivity gains across the economy can lead to greater wealth for all participants in the system, as the price of goods and services falls to the marginal cost of production over time. Rather than rise due to an increase in the monetary supply. We need Bitcoin to ensure that the productivity gains that drive the economy forward can have a lasting, sustainable impact. **The Interplay of Bitcoin und AI** Since the existing system benefits from inflation, market participants are often manipulated into believing that AI is inherently dangerous. While there are significant risks associated with AI, particularly its potential for centralization and manipulation, the technology itself offers great opportunities. The real problem lies in the inflationary monetary system, not AI. Artificial intelligence is set to increasingly shape the workplace, trade, and finance. Consider the “Magnificent Seven”, a group of tech giants, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), Nvidia, and Tesla, that all leverage AI as a key driver of productivity. In 2023, the financial services industry alone invested an estimated $35 billion in AI, with banking leading the charge, accounting for approximately $21 billion. This is particularly relevant to Bitcoin, since it serves as both money and a financial system. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it will increasingly rely on a digital currency that aligns with its digital nature, such as bitcoin, which offers both scalability and speed through the Lightning Network. For instance, AI systems could use Bitcoin to facilitate microtransactions in real time, managing their wallets autonomously to process payments for services or data. This would unlock new opportunities for AI applications in sectors like actual decentralized finance (DeFi) and machine-to-machine transactions. The Lightning Network, as a second-layer protocol built on top of Bitcoin, enables transactions to be settled almost instantly and at low cost. This makes it particularly well-suited for AI applications that require fast and reliable transactions. While some AI and language models can exhibit programmed biases, AI systems, driven by algorithms and data, should strive to prioritize efficiency, minimizing biases wherever possible. If programmed without bias, AI seeks the best tools for operations and decision-making, and Bitcoin offers an optimal solution, providing both the asset and infrastructure needed for efficient, resilient, digital financial systems. In addition, AI is likely to also contribute to Bitcoin’s development, with algorithms optimizing mining efficiency, hardware usage, forecasting energy demand, and ensuring more efficient resource allocation, all of which will lead to more effective mining strategies. **Conclusion** The synergy between Bitcoin and AI has the potential to enable the creation of more efficient, intelligent and resilient systems. These developments will underpin bitcoin’s role as digital money in a digital world, potentially creating positive second-order effects on global financial markets. The impact will be especially profound in industries such as finance, insurance, robotics, lending, investments, architecture, housing, healthcare, logistics, and others, with effects accelerating over time. The free market is inherently deflationary, because of productivity gains, things, like housing, should become cheaper over time. Yet, this doesn't happen. Inflationary fiat currencies, like the dollar, lose purchasing power as their supply increases, eroding those gains. Bitcoin offers a framework in which productivity gains can have a lasting, sustainable impact. Bitcoin, as a disinflationary currency with a fixed supply, preserves the value of productivity improvements, allowing prices to fall to their marginal cost of production. This ensures that efficiency gains lead to greater wealth for all participants in the system. Moreover, since Bitcoin is accessible, it allows wealth to become more attainable for a wider range of people, enabling general living standards to increase more easily. The interplay between Bitcoin and AI is pretty exciting, and it’s becoming clear that the widespread adoption of AI will drive the widespread adoption of Bitcoin. This is necessary, as only Bitcoin, as a counterbalance to the self-destructive fiat system, can protect humanity from the negative effects of inflation. With the accelerated productivity gains of the AI age, Bitcoin becomes even more crucial as a solution, ensuring that these gains can be preserved and shared more equitably. **Originally published as the 28th edition of my n ewsletter, Bitcoin & AI:** https://leonwankum.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-ai **Photo Credit**: commonedge.org (An Optimist’s Take on AI and the Future of Architecture)

@ 011c780a:46e48b1d

Lake Erie is a paradise for anglers, boasting the world's largest walleye population and some of the highest catch rates in Ohio. For those eager to experience the thrill of fishing on these bountiful waters, booking a charter is the best way to go. However, with numerous options available, how do you choose the right one? Here are some essential tips to help you find the perfect charter for your Lake Erie adventure. ## 1. Look for Experienced Captains and Crews The expertise of the captain and crew can make or break your fishing trip. Experienced professionals know the best spots to find walleye, how to handle changing weather conditions, and how to ensure you have an enjoyable day on the water. ● Check the company's website for captain biographies or years of experience. ● Look for certifications or affiliations with reputable fishing organisations. ● Read reviews to see if other anglers had positive experiences with the crew. ## 2. Prioritize Safety Measures Safety should be a top priority when choosing an **[Ohio fishing charter company](https://eyesready.com/)**. Lake Erie can be unpredictable, so you need a charter that prioritises your well-being. ● Ensure the boat is equipped with life jackets, first aid kits, and emergency communication devices. ● Confirm that the captain holds a valid U.S. Coast Guard license. ● Ask about the company's safety protocols in case of adverse weather. ## 3. Assess the Equipment and Boats ● A well-maintained boat and quality fishing gear can elevate your experience. ● Look for charters that provide high-quality rods, reels, and tackle. ● Check if the boat is spacious, clean, and equipped with modern technology like fish finders. ● Ask if the company allows you to bring your gear if you have a preference. ## 4. Check for Customization Options Every angler has unique needs, whether they're a seasoned pro or a first-timer. Some charters offer tailored experiences to meet your preferences. ● Look for family-friendly charters if you're planning a trip with kids. ● Ask if the company offers half-day, full-day, or multi-day trips. ● Find out if they're willing to adjust their itinerary to focus on specific fishing techniques or areas. ## 5. Read Online Reviews and Testimonials ● The best way to gauge the quality of a charter is through the experiences of others. ● Visit online platforms like Google, Facebook, or TripAdvisor for honest reviews. ● Pay attention to consistent themes in feedback, such as exceptional service, skilled crew, or successful catches. ● Look for photos or videos shared by previous clients to get a better sense of what to expect. ## 6. Consider the Costs and Inclusions ● While price shouldn't be the sole factor, it's important to know what you're paying for. ● Compare prices among different [Lake Erie walleye charters](https://eyesready.com/walleye/) to get a sense of market rates. ● Check what the package includes, such as bait, fishing licenses, or cleaning and packaging your catch. ● Avoid the cheapest options if they seem to cut corners on quality or safety. ## 7. Verify Their Knowledge of Lake Erie ● Ohio's portion of Lake Erie is home to millions of walleye, and the best charters have in-depth knowledge of these waters. ● Ask about their familiarity with local hotspots for walleye. ● Find out if they follow sustainable fishing practices to preserve the lake's ecosystem. ● A knowledgeable crew can also share interesting facts about the lake, making your trip both fun and educational. ### Book Your Perfect Charter Today! Finding the right Ohio fishing charter company is the first step to an unforgettable Lake Erie adventure. By prioritising experience, safety, equipment quality, and customer reviews, you can ensure a successful and enjoyable trip. For those looking to create lasting memories on Lake Erie, Eyes Ready Charters is a trusted name offering top-notch services to anglers of all skill levels. Book your trip today and experience the thrill of walleye fishing like never before!

@ df478568:2a951e67

I took this picture at about block [416,220](https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/000000000000000003b64da342d6d24d066ea5c961e21fdf57cae4318eab3616)(June 13, 2016). The price of eggs on that day was $1.99, 16.5¢ per egg if you still measure stuff with the broken ruler we call fiat. What if we measured the price in sats instead? I found the price on that date from the bitbo calender. According to this website, $1.99 was worth 260,000 sats back then. Each egg cost 21,667 sats! Oh My Zeus!😱  I used this [mempool calculator](https://mempool.marc26z.com/tools/calculator) to see how much that is today. Turns out that it's $272.88 as of block 879,943. Since the fiat ruler is broken, the price of a dozen eggs also has NGU. I took this picture the last time I went to the grocery store. Eggs cost enough to shock fiat maxis. $8.99 OMZ!😱 What does a dozen eggs cost if you ignore the broken ruler? 8,572 sats today, just 714 sats per egg. Holy [Wiemar Republic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic) Batman! That's 30X cheaper! 😁 For some strange reason I can't pretend to understand, the [Federal reserve tracks the price of eggs denominated in bitcoin](https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2022/06/buying-eggs-with-bitcoins/). I guess they want to stay humble and stack money printer go brrrrrr. You can see the price of eggs drop off a cliff like Wile E Coyote on their website.  In The Price of Tommorrow and too many podcasts to mention, Jeff Booth argues the free market makes things cheaper over time, but the fiat syatem is syatematic theft. This theft occurs via inflation, which is really wage deflation. In other words, eggs are getting cheaper over time because egg producers become more efficient. We see tye fruits of this efficiency in Big screen TV's because the fiat price gets cut in half every ten years or so, but this is also a product of a broken ruler. The TV is probably 60X cheaper in bitcoin terms. It makes sense, TV's don't get bird flu, but when you begin using bitcoin as your unit of account, the measurement of value makes more sense than fiat clown world on the broken ruler standard. I remember when coffee was 100,000 sats. Now it's 16,699 sats. Living on the sat standards allows you to see Jeff Booth's thesis play out in real time  ## Life Gets More Expensive On The Broken Ruler Standard I see so many young people on the broken ruler standard bemoan about food and housing prices. There are people with master's degrees who have already lost hope of buying a single family home and achieving the "American dream." To be honest, I would be pretty bummed about it too if I was on the broken ruler standard. A few months ago I spoke with a woman who made at least twice as much fiat as I do say, "I hope this housing market crashes so I can buy a house!" That's sad. I have a lot of empathy for that feeling. Since the great financial crisis, I've only been able to get part time work, but my family wqs able to get a mortgage worth 12.5 bitcoin at the so-called "height of the market." We put as little money down as possible, 3% and I sold my old 401k for that "money." I also used some of it for repairs and taxes, but went all-in on bitcoin with everything else. Now our house is worth about 5 bitcoin. The way I see it, real estate is always crashing. People on the broken ruler standard cry, "Wah, Wah. I hope there's a housing crash! Wah! Wah! Muh egg prices!" Buy a brand spanking new car for $50,00 car with a 7% interest rate and they will say, "Congratulations!" The trouble is, the price of the car falls like eggs compared to bitcoin on the broken ruler standard. This is because prices are distorted when measured in a broken ruler standard. ### Get Off The Broken Ruler Standard  Before I met my wife, I played poker to supplement my income. I don't play much anymore, but poker taught me about risk management, probability, game theory, and many other things applicable to bitcoin. Poker gave me the background knowledge I needed to study bitcoin. [In a sly, round-about way](https://youtu.be/nswOYo0zUcI?si=iVjy6e-npEAo9lkH) , poker taught me how to spend less bitcoin than I make. In traditional technical finance terminology, this is called "fucking saving." If you were not taught how to save and spend more than you earn, no matter how many broken ruler bucks you may earn, bitcoin will not work for you. My wife makes a lot of broken ruler bucks. **Unfortunately, we were broke in 2016 because we both were in school**. Nevertheless, I'm proud of my stack amd I'm now at a point in life where I can get paid in bitcoin with very little risk because of my sugar mama, I mean wife, gets paid very well. I spend like almost every other American consumer, plastic broken ruler debt cards. I put my little Strike ACH number on the Discover app. I keep a couple million sats on Strike and pay my credit card every month. In other words, I use Strike like a four-letter word: bank. Sometimes I'll get a craving for tacos., I've never found a food truck that takes bitcoin, but they often use the Cash App. People on the broken ruler standard can't instantaneously send broken ruler bucks from PayPal to Zelle and vice-versa. They must first send broken ruler bucks from PayPal to the bank and then send the broken ruler bucks through Zelle. I can send sats directly from Strike to thr Cash App within seconds. #### Sats As A Unit Of Account  The price of bitcoin fluctuates which makes it difficult to use as a unit of account. Who wants to divide the price of bitcoin by 100 million. Ain't nobody got time for that. If a whole coin costs 100k, then 1,000 sats = $1.00. This means each 100 sats is worth 10¢. 10 sats = 1¢. If the price drops 50%, 1000 sats is 50¢. If it does a 10X, $1,000 sats is $10.00. Living on a sat standard requires a little math, but it's easy to estimate. For more precise calculations I use mem pools calculator. Money is a store of value, medium of exchange, and unit of account. If you use bitcoin on all three ways, you are using bitcoin as money. Saving becomes spending less bitcoin, not "buying more bitcoin." If you stack sats, your goal should be to leave the broken ruler standard and adopt sats as the standard. The world will still price your sats with a broken ruler. Sometimes this broken ruler makes you look like a fool. Other times, the broken ruler makes you look like a genius. Therefore, you must stay humble and stack sats. You'll need some savings before you can deal with the broken ruler fallacy, but once you consistently stack sats and NGU continues to U, you'll eventually see life gets easier when you make sats the standard. I will sell some sats to pay for my food and I send a tip to the food trucker in bitcoin using the Cash App gift button. It is actually very easy for them to accept bitcoin. They just don't know it yet. I don't proselytize the gospel of our lord and savior Satoshi Nakamoto. I just send them a few thousand sats. Good orange pilling is like good writing: **Show, don't tell**. ##### Does it require KYC? Yeah, but so does Bank of Broken Rulers. ##### Haven't you heard the phrase, **not your keys, not your bitcoin?** Yes. It's true. The 2 million sats or so is "not my bitcoin." From my perspective, however, it is the least risky way of paying my bills. I believe it is less risky than keeping broken ruler bucks in a bank. FDIC insurance sounds nice as canceled Insurance policies in the Pacific Palisades. I could keep my 2 million sats in self-custody in my own lightning wallet. I could use [Zap Planner](https://zapplanner.albylabs.com/) to schedule my payments to hit Strike moments before I pay my bill, but I know me. I've lost sats on the lightning network before. I am more likely to lose the sats on my self-custodial lightning wallet than lose them because Strike could possibly rug-pull me. So for now, I just keep 2 million sats on the app. If bitcoin does a 10X, I'll keep 200,000 sats on Strike. If it drops 50%, I will keep 4 million sats on there. I typically spend between $600- $1,000 in broken ruler bucks a month. This doesn't include my mortgage or food. My wife pretty much covers that stuff. Life happens though. Sometimes I need to pay a plumber, or a roofer or something, but most months, I have a sat surplus, a phenomena I like to call **sats savings**. My fiat check converts to bitcoin right on payday. I pay my credit cards off that day. If the sats are worth a little more, I pay taxes on that little bit. To make the math easy, say I get paid $1,000 on Friday. When I pay my bills, The broken ruler measurement now says I have $1,100. I pay my credit card. I owe capital gains on that $100 worth of sats. If my paycheck happens to be worth $900,I don’t pay any taxes because I have a loss. I won’t lie. I still get a bit perturbed when the price goes down 10% on payday, but it’s not the end of the world. If it doesn’t go back up by next payday, [good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdTMDpizis8). I earn more sats. If it goes up by next payday, [good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdTMDpizis8). All the sats I stacked before can buy more groceries. #### Get On The Sats Standard !;make sats the standard](https://gitea.marc26z.com/marc/BlogImprovementProposals/raw/branch/main/pics/Screenshot%20from%202025-01-19%2020-35-55.png) Making sats the standard does this for the individual on the microeconomic level. Each Bitcoiner gradually accumulates sats. Stack long enough, study long enough, and experience enough 80% dips and you too will develop an unwavering conviction. You get paid in sats. You spend sats. You save sats. You no longer give a damn about your local fiat currency. A dozen eggs cost less than half of a single egg cost 8 years ago. If you lose 50% of your spending power overnight, you can buy less eggs, but a dozen eggs still costs less than 1 egg 8 years ago. Bitcoin is just better money. If my fiat bank account takes more money out than I have in it, I can do an instant withdrawl on Strike. The fiat appears in my fiat bank account instantly. No more waiting 3-5 days for the money to get there. The bank does not get to keep charging you overdraft fee after overdraft fee for every little transaction. Bitcoin just works better. You can send it all over the world within seconds. You can buy stuff online with it or pay your credit cards. There is literally no reason to hold dollars anymore if you don’t want to. When you’re ready, make sats the standard. If you are not ready, keep stacking. Onward. [Marc](nostr:npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0) [880,018](https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/00000000000000000000bb39704f189da436d0adbed0da2bb334f93cdaa519d9) [Subscribe with Sats](https://app.paywithflash.com/subscription-page?flashId=1110&ref=p66dxywd2xpyyrdfxwilqcxmchmfw2ixmn2vm74q3atf22du7qmkihyd.onion) [Shop My Merch](nostr:npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0)

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

The advent of cryptocurrency has sparked a modern-day gold rush, with Bitcoin mining at the forefront of this digital revolution. The United States, with its vast resources and technological prowess, has become a fertile ground for these operations. However, the recent shift in the global mining landscape has brought a wave of Chinese mining companies to U.S. shores, fleeing a regulatory crackdown in their homeland. This migration has set off alarm bells within national security circles, as the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies is not just a tool for financial gain but also a potential vector for cyber espionage and other security threats. The dual-use nature of this technology, capable of both revolutionizing economies and potentially undermining national security, has placed it at the heart of a complex debate involving economic policy, technological innovation, and national defense. **Table Of Content** - The Economic Impact of Cryptocurrency Mining - National Security Risks and Strategic Concerns - Regulatory Responses to Foreign Mining Operations - The Path Forward: Innovation, Security, and Diplomacy - Conclusion - FAQs The economic allure of cryptocurrency mining is undeniable. In regions hit hard by economic downturns, the establishment of mining operations has been a boon, providing much-needed jobs and revitalizing local economies. These operations often take over abandoned industrial sites, turning them into hives of high-tech activity. The promise of a revitalized industrial base, however, comes with caveats. The energy-intensive nature of cryptocurrency mining has led to a surge in demand for electricity, straining local grids and raising concerns about the environmental impact of such operations. The long-term economic benefits are also questioned, as the volatility of the cryptocurrency market means that the stability of these jobs and the longevity of the operations are not guaranteed. As Chinese companies increasingly dominate this space, there is also the fear that the economic benefits may be offset by the outflow of profits to foreign entities. **National Security Risks and Strategic Concerns** The strategic implications of foreign-controlled cryptocurrency mining operations on U.S. soil are complex and troubling. The opaque nature of these operations, often shrouded in layers of corporate secrecy, makes it difficult to discern their true intentions. The proximity of some mining farms to sensitive sites, such as military bases and critical infrastructure, has compounded these fears, suggesting the potential for these facilities to be used for more than just mining. The vast computational power of mining operations could theoretically be repurposed for code-breaking and hacking, posing a direct threat to national security. The concern is not just hypothetical; it is rooted in a history of cyber incursions attributed to Chinese state-sponsored actors. The potential for these mining operations to serve as a front for such activities, intentionally or not, has put them in the crosshairs of U.S. security agencies. **Regulatory Responses to Foreign Mining Operations** The U.S. government's response to the influx of Chinese cryptocurrency mining operations has been measured yet firm. Recognizing the need to maintain an open economic environment that fosters innovation, regulators have nonetheless moved to establish guardrails to protect national interests. This has involved a multifaceted approach, including the proposal of legislation aimed at scrutinizing foreign investments in critical technologies and infrastructure. Agencies such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) have been at the forefront of these efforts, working to untangle the complex web of ownership and control that characterizes foreign mining operations. The goal is to ensure that while the U.S. remains a hub for technological innovation, it does not become a playground for foreign powers with adversarial intentions. **The Path Forward: Innovation, Security, and Diplomacy** The path forward for the United States in managing the rise of Chinese bitcoin mining operations is akin to walking a tightrope. On one side is the need to nurture innovation and maintain the U.S.'s competitive edge in the burgeoning field of cryptocurrency. On the other is the imperative to safeguard national security and ensure that the country's technological infrastructure is not compromised. This delicate balance requires a nuanced approach that includes fostering a robust domestic mining industry, investing in renewable energy sources to mitigate the environmental impact, and engaging in strategic diplomacy to manage the international dimensions of cryptocurrency governance. The U.S. must leverage its strengths in innovation, policy-making, and international relations to set standards that will shape the future of cryptocurrency mining and secure its digital economy. **Conclusion** The challenge of balancing the economic potential of cryptocurrency mining with the imperatives of national security is emblematic of the broader challenges facing policymakers in the digital age. As Chinese bitcoin mining operations continue to expand their footprint in the U.S., the need for a strategic, measured response becomes increasingly critical. This response must be multifaceted, engaging with all stakeholders, including the mining industry, environmental groups, energy providers, and security agencies. By striking a balance between economic growth and security, the U.S. can harness the potential of the digital economy while protecting its national interests. The stakes are high, and the decisions made today will have lasting implications for the security and prosperity of future generations. **FAQs** **How does Bitcoin mining impact local economies?** Bitcoin mining can provide jobs and economic investment in local communities, especially in areas with excess energy capacity or where industrial sites are underutilized. **What is the U.S. government's response to foreign cryptocurrency mining operations?** The U.S. government is considering stricter regulations on foreign investments in critical technologies, including cryptocurrency mining, to protect national security while fostering economic growth. **Can cryptocurrency mining operations be environmentally sustainable?** There are concerns about the high energy consumption of mining operations, but with investment in renewable energy and efficient technologies, mining can move towards greater sustainability. **How does the U.S. plan to balance innovation with security in cryptocurrency mining?** The U.S. aims to strike a balance by creating policies that encourage technological innovation and economic benefits while implementing security measures to protect against potential threats. **That's all for today** **If you want more, be sure to follow us on:** **NOSTR: croxroad@getalby.com** **X: [Instagram: @croxroadnews.co](https://x.com/croxroadnewsco)** **Instagram: [@croxroadnews.co](https://www.instagram.com/croxroadnews.co/)** **Youtube: [@croxroadnews](https://www.youtube.com/@croxroadnews)** **Store: https://croxroad.store** **Subscribe to CROX ROAD Bitcoin Only Daily Newsletter** **https://www.croxroad.co/subscribe** *DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.*

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

The recent shutdown of TikTok in the United States due to a potential government ban serves as a stark reminder how fragile centralized platforms truly are under the surface. While these platforms offer convenience, a more polished user experience, and connectivity, they are ultimately beholden to governments, corporations, and other authorities. This makes them vulnerable to censorship, regulation, and outright bans. In contrast, Nostr represents a shift in how we approach online communication and content sharing. Built on the principles of decentralization and user choice, Nostr cannot be banned, because it is not a platform—it is a protocol. **PROTOCOLS, NOT PLATFORMS.** At the heart of Nostr's philosophy is **user choice**, a feature that fundamentally sets it apart from legacy platforms. In centralized systems, the user experience is dictated by a single person or governing entity. If the platform decides to filter, censor, or ban specific users or content, individuals are left with little action to rectify the situation. They must either accept the changes or abandon the platform entirely, often at the cost of losing their social connections, their data, and their identity. What's happening with TikTok could never happen on Nostr. With Nostr, the dynamics are completely different. Because it is a protocol, not a platform, no single entity controls the ecosystem. Instead, the protocol enables a network of applications and relays that users can freely choose from. If a particular application or relay implements policies that a user disagrees with, such as censorship, filtering, or even government enforced banning, they are not trapped or abandoned. They have the freedom to move to another application or relay with minimal effort. **THIS IS POWERFUL.** Take, for example, the case of a relay that decides to censor specific content. On a legacy platform, this would result in frustration and a loss of access for users. On Nostr, however, users can simply connect to a different relay that does not impose such restrictions. Similarly, if an application introduces features or policies that users dislike, they can migrate to a different application that better suits their preferences, all while retaining their identity and social connections. The same principles apply to government bans and censorship. A government can ban a specific application or even multiple applications, just as it can block one relay or several relays. China has implemented both tactics, yet Chinese users continue to exist and actively participate on Nostr, demonstrating Nostr's ability to resistant censorship. How? Simply, it turns into a game of whack-a-mole. When one relay is censored, another quickly takes its place. When one application is banned, another emerges. Users can also bypass these obstacles by running their own relays and applications directly from their homes or personal devices, eliminating reliance on larger entities or organizations and ensuring continuous access. **AGAIN, THIS IS POWERUFL.** Nostr's open and decentralized design makes it resistant to the kinds of government intervention that led to TikTok's outages this weekend and potential future ban in the next 90 days. There is no central server to target, no company to regulate, and no single point of failure. (Insert your CEO jokes here). As long as there are individuals running relays and applications, users continue creating notes and sending zaps. Platforms like TikTok can be silenced with the stroke of a pen, leaving millions of users disconnected and abandoned. Social communication should not be silenced so incredibly easily. No one should have that much power over social interactions. Will we on-board a massive wave of TikTokers in the coming hours or days? I don't know. TikTokers may not be ready for Nostr yet, and honestly, Nostr may not be ready for them either. The ecosystem still lacks the completely polished applications, tools, and services they’re accustomed to. This is where we say "we're still early". They may not be early adopters like the current Nostr user base. Until we bridge that gap, they’ll likely move to the next centralized platform, only to face another government ban or round of censorship in the future. But eventually, there will come a tipping point, a moment when they’ve had enough. When that time comes, I hope we’re prepared. If we’re not, we risk missing a tremendous opportunity to onboard people who genuinely need Nostr’s freedom. Until then, to all of the Nostr developers out there, keep up the great work and keep building. Your hard work and determination is needed. ###

@ 41fa852b:af7b7706

> "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." -- Charles Darwin * * * **It's usually a big week when the 21st comes around, but this week we have 5 meetups that day!** Also, Trump takes office on Monday so there'll be loads to discuss at this week's meetups. Let's take a look… * * * [](https://bitcoinevents.uk/donate/) * * * _This week's sponsor is…_ [](https://www.orangepillapp.com?utm_source=BEUK&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BEUK) * * * ### **Upcoming Bitcoin Meetups** Happening this week… 1. [**Bitcoin Bristol**](https://bitcoinbristol.org/): Meeting at Little Martha Brewing, BS2 0QT. On Tuesday 21st at 18:15. 🍺 2. [**Bitcoin Surrey**](https://meetu.ps/e/NLBzr/v822r/i): It's a Bitcoin Pension Scheme Special this month at [Yiayias at The Fox](https://www.yiayias.co.uk/yiayiasatthefox/). A fireside chat and Q&A with Sam Roberts, Cartwright's Director of Investment Consulting (1st UK pension scheme to allocate 3% to Bitcoin). 18:00 - 23:00 on the 21st. Bitcoin accepted at the venue. 🎙️🍻 3. [**Newcastle upon Tyne Bitcoin Meetup**](https://bitcoinevents.uk/newcastle-bitcoin/): The next Newcastle meetup is on Tuesday 21st January at Kabin @ Kabannas, L2 6RE. 18:30 PM. 🍻 4. [**London Bitcoin Space**](https://meetu.ps/e/NNk9z/v822r/i): LBS will be at Cyphermunk house on Tuesday 21st from 18:30 till 22:00 for a social gathering, head along to share knowledge and meet some fellow Bitcoiners. 🫂 5. [**Oxbit**](https://x.com/oxbitmeetup): Celebrate Bitcoins 16th birthday with the Oxford meetup crew. You'll find them at [The Old Black Horse](https://www.oldblackhorse.com/) (bitcoin accepted) at 19:00 on the 21st. 🍺 6. [**Preston Bitcoin Meetup**](https://x.com/prestonbtcmeet/status/1880289279093666243): Join the Preston meetup for A Bitcoin chat and some amazing burgers. 18:30 on Thursday the 23rd January. At All Hopes No Promises, PR1 2US. 7. [**The Northamptonshire Bitcoin Network**](https://bitcoinevents.uk/northamptonshire-bitcoin-network/) : [BTC Citadel Engineering](https://btc-citadel.co.uk/) are hosting a 'Bitcoin Builders' space on Saturday the 25th. Head along to learn about Seedsigners and how to build one. Come and use the 3D printers, get a project started and chat about Bitcoin with everyone there. It all gets started at 12:00. No tech skills are necessary. ⚙️🧡 8. [**Bitcoin Walk - Edinburgh**](https://bitcoinevents.uk/bitcoinwalk/): Every Saturday they walk around Arthur's Seat in this historic city. Join them at 12 pm to chat about all things Bitcoin and keep fit. 🚶🏻🚶🏼‍♀️🚶🏽‍♂️ 9. [**Bitcoin East**](https://x.com/bitcoineastuk/status/1875867783457910895): Their first meetup of 2025 will be at Marzano Cafe in the beautiful city of Norwich. Join them at 11:00 on Sunday 26th Jan, there's a lot to discuss. ☕️ * * * **Get Involved** - **Volunteer Opportunities**: [Bridge2Bitcoin](https://bridge2bitcoin.com/) is actively seeking volunteers who share our passion for merchant adoption. We'd be delighted to connect if you're eager to contribute. Reach out to us on [Twitter](https://x.com/bridge2bitcoin) or through our [website](https://bridge2bitcoin.com/). - **Start Your Own Meetup**: Interested in launching a Bitcoin meetup? We're here to support you every step of the way. We've assisted numerous UK Bitcoin meetups in getting started. Get in touch via [Twitter](https://x.com/bitcoineventsuk). - [**Contribute to BTCMaps**](https://wiki.btcmap.org/general/tagging-instructions.html): BTCMaps is a vital part of the Bitcoin ecosystem. It's a perfect project to get involved with if you're not a coder or even that technical. A great way to give back to the community. Maintain an area of the UK and keep it up-to-date. - **Telegram users**: You might find our [Telegram Channel](https://t.me/BitcoinEventsUKHub) another useful way to keep up-to-date with UK meetups. - **Feedback and Suggestions**: We value your input! Share your ideas on how we can enhance this newsletter. * * * _This week's sponsors are…_ [](https://orangecoinstore.com/) [](https://lasereyes.cards/skins/leather-bitcoin-skin/) * * * Get out and support the meetups where you can, visit [Bitcoin Events UK](https://bitcoinevents.uk/) for more info on each meetup and to find your closest on the interactive map. Stay tuned for more updates next week! Simon. [](https://bitcoinevents.uk/donate/)

@ 18e3af1e:1d42e5df

Las comunidades son creadas mediante el esfuerzo de no solo un individuo, sino al trabajo de docenas; cientos o miles de personas. Mediante la especialización, como especie, logramos entender que: el saber hacer una sola cosa no significa morir de hambre, o no estar bien preparado para un ataque; por lo contrario, el dominio o maestría de una sola cosa... Puede crear una civilización entera. Permitirnos un enfoque certero para aprender, dominar y amaestrar nuestras actividades en un periodo de tiempo finito, permitió nuestro avance hacia nuevos campos, de hecho, movió nuestra meta en magnitud tal, que al imaginar el pasado (para muchos) parece mas bien una película cómica y sombría. Hoy en día, en un mundo regido por individualismo en el reino físico, la manifestación de constructores de comunidades sigue presente en el (reino) digital. ### La evolución de la construcción A lo largo de la historia de la humanidad, la construcción ha evolucionado desde simples refugios hasta monumentos arquitectónicos y estructuras vanguardistas. Los primeros humanos crearon refugios rudimentarios con materiales naturales. Con la civilización, surgieron las primeras estructuras permanentes, como pirámides y templos, reflejando la organización social y creencias religiosas. La antigua Roma introdujo la innovación en la ingeniería con acueductos y arcos. La Edad Media vio fortificaciones y catedrales góticas que fusionaban espiritualidad y técnica. El Renacimiento abrazó la proporción y la simetría en palacios y edificios renombrados. La Revolución Industrial marcó un cambio radical con el acero y el hormigón, permitiendo rascacielos y puentes icónicos. El siglo XX trajo consigo la era de los rascacielos y la arquitectura modernista, desafiando límites estructurales y estéticos. La sostenibilidad ganó importancia en el siglo XXI, impulsando la incorporación de tecnologías avanzadas, como la impresión 3D y la construcción modular. La historia de la construcción es un testimonio de la creatividad y la adaptabilidad humanas, reflejando no solo avances técnicos, sino también valores culturales y aspiraciones. En el día hoy, los desarrolladores de software y tecnología podrían considerarse como los constructores del próximo siglo. Al igual que los constructores en otras épocas históricas, los desarrolladores de software son responsables de crear estructuras digitales que moldean la forma en que interactuamos, comunicamos y vivimos en el mundo moderno. A medida que la tecnología continúa avanzando y la sociedad se vuelve cada vez más digital, el papel de los desarrolladores de software se vuelve crucial en la construcción de soluciones tecnológicas que abordan una amplia gama de desafíos. Así como los arquitectos y constructores antiguos debían entender la física, la estética y las necesidades humanas para diseñar y construir edificios funcionales y atractivos, los desarrolladores de software deben comprender la lógica de programación, la experiencia del usuario, la seguridad cibernética y la innovación tecnológica para crear aplicaciones, sistemas y plataformas que sean útiles y efectivos. ### Individuos que inspiran La inspiración individual es un poderoso motor de cambio que puede tener un impacto significativo en la mente colectiva de una comunidad o sociedad. Cuando una persona demuestra pasión, determinación y una visión positiva, puede influir en otros a nivel emocional y cognitivo. Aquí hay algunas formas en que la inspiración individual afecta a la mente colectiva: La gente puede verse reflejada en las luchas y logros de alguien más, lo que crea un sentido de unidad y comunidad. Esto puede generar un mayor apoyo y solidaridad en torno a ciertas causas o valores. Además, la inspiración individual puede llevar a la acción. Cuando las personas son testigos de un individuo que supera obstáculos o logra metas desafiantes, esto puede motivar a otros a enfrentar sus propios desafíos y trabajar hacia sus objetivos. El ejemplo de una sola persona puede encender la chispa de la acción en muchas más. La inspiración individual puede tener un efecto multiplicador. Cuando una persona inspirada comparte su historia o experiencia, puede inspirar a otros, creando una cadena de influencia que se extiende a través de redes sociales, comunidades y sociedades enteras. Esto puede tener un impacto a gran escala en la mente colectiva. El individuo inspirador tiene el potencial de influir profundamente en la mente colectiva al cambiar percepciones, motivar la acción y crear una sensación de comunidad y unidad. ### Comunidades: origen, inicios y progreso. Las comunidades han sido una parte fundamental de la experiencia humana a lo largo de la historia. Desde los primeros tiempos hasta la era moderna, las comunidades han evolucionado y cambiado en respuesta a las necesidades, avances tecnológicos y contextos culturales. Desde los primeros días de la humanidad, nuestros antepasados se agruparon en pequeñas comunidades para sobrevivir. Estas comunidades eran grupos familiares o tribus que compartían recursos y conocimientos para cazar, recolectar alimentos y protegerse de los peligros. La cooperación y la solidaridad eran esenciales para la supervivencia. Con el desarrollo de la agricultura, las comunidades evolucionaron hacia asentamientos más permanentes. La capacidad de cultivar alimentos permitió la formación de aldeas y pueblos, donde la gente podía establecerse y construir relaciones más complejas. Esto llevó al surgimiento de una división del trabajo más especializada y al desarrollo de habilidades artesanales. Las civilizaciones antiguas, como la sumeria, egipcia, griega y romana, dieron paso a la formación de ciudades y sociedades más organizadas. Las comunidades se convirtieron en centros de comercio, gobierno y cultura. Se construyeron estructuras monumentales, como templos y palacios, que unificaron a las personas en torno a creencias religiosas y sistemas políticos. Durante la Edad Media, las comunidades se organizaron en torno a sistemas feudales. Los señores feudales gobernaban sobre las tierras y las personas locales. Las aldeas y feudos eran autónomos en gran medida y se centraban en la agricultura y la autosuficiencia. La Revolución Industrial marcó un cambio importante en la estructura de las comunidades. La industrialización dio lugar a la urbanización, con muchas personas dejando las zonas rurales para trabajar en fábricas en las ciudades. En la era moderna, las comunidades han continuado evolucionando con avances tecnológicos y la globalización. Las redes sociales y las comunicaciones digitales han conectado a personas de todo el mundo, creando comunidades virtuales en línea. ### Bitcoin | Nostr y la chispa del constructor Como ya vimos, un solo individuo puede inspirar a muchos otros, teniendo un efecto multiplicador. Esto no solo se traduce al mundo físico, por el contrario, esta directamente ligado a nuestra psicología, incluso podemos decir que va aun mas allá, adentrándonos en el terreno ideológico y espiritual. Hasta hace no mucho, estábamos a merced de las grandes corporaciones que construían todo por nosotros, mientras esperábamos con ansias las nuevas actualizaciones de cada iteración de sus productos. Cada vez mas y mas nos hacíamos dependientes de dichas corporaciones sin quizás notarlo, poco a poco se fueron apoderando de nuestro tiempo y muy insidiosamente de nuestra personalidad e identidad. Gracias a las alternativas presentadas hoy en día y a los individuos que inspiran a otros, existe la posibilidad de construir algo que va mas allá de las grandes corporaciones, porque transciende no solo el nivel físico y digital, sino que también transciende a los individuos que aportan a la comunidad. Estoy hablando por supuesto de Nostr, y como los incentivos están alineados gracias a Bitcoin. Pongamos como ejemplo un par de nombres para ilustrar como individuos que inspirar pueden crear una chispa que se extiende a cada persona dentro de la comunidad. Personajes como nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft nostr:npub1utx00neqgqln72j22kej3ux7803c2k986henvvha4thuwfkper4s7r50e8 nostr:npub1v0lxxxxutpvrelsksy8cdhgfux9l6a42hsj2qzquu2zk7vc9qnkszrqj49 nostr:npub107jk7htfv243u0x5ynn43scq9wrxtaasmrwwa8lfu2ydwag6cx2quqncxg (entre muchos otros que podría mencionar pero todo el articulo seria una lista de nombres) han inspirado a otros desarrolladores, creadores de contenido (y todas las otras especializaciones que te puedas imaginar…) A construir sobre este protocolo. Incluso, personas como el caso mas reciente de nostr:npub1m64hnkh6rs47fd9x6wk2zdtmdj4qkazt734d22d94ery9zzhne5qw9uaks han encontrado inspiración para aprender a programar sobre estos mismos rieles. > nostr:nevent1qqs8fe938k7j5sxcprrv89ezpu09m9pzm90f0sq24hnwlwu0rmn09qcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxg5vtygh La chispa del constructor en palabras mas concisas es: **Inspiración multiplicadora en pos de la productividad y por ende, del crecimiento de una comunidad.** Sin Bitcoin y Lightning Network, esto seria posible, pero mucho menos efectivo debido a que las personas detrás de toda labor que este enfocada en creación de contenido, desarrollo, etc. Tienen que comer. ### Conclusión La chispa del constructor radica en la inspiración individual que impulsa a la acción colectiva. Desde la evolución de la construcción hasta las comunidades digitales, **el poder de un individuo inspirado puede moldear el presente y el futuro de las comunidades en todo el mundo.**

@ 604e96e0:20279eb2

notacomment allows you to zap nostr notes when you comment on them. In order to use notacomment, you have to run a script yourself either on your own computer or in the cloud somewhere. To get started open https://github.com/SamSamskies/notacomment in a browser tab. At this point, I'm sure a lot of you are feeling like this:  Let's breakdown the instructions from the README. ## Prerequisites Node.js and npm - I suggest installing the latest Node.js LTS version from https://nodejs.org. That should also install npm. Once installation is complete, open your terminal. On a Mac you can press cmd + spacebar and type in `terminal` to open the terminal. On other platforms, you'll have to ask ChatGPT 😂 . To verify installation of Node.js type `node -v`. To verify installation type `npm -v`. It should look something like this:  Leave the terminal open. ## Downloading the code to your computer The easiest way to download the code is to download the zip file from the GitHub repo. Remember that first link I told you to open? That's the GitHub repo. Click the green button that says `Code` on it and click `Download ZIP` from the menu.  Now unzip the file and then navigate to the folder in the terminal. To navigate to the folder use the `cd` command. If you unzipped the folder in the `Downloads` folder, you can navigate to the folder by typing `cd ~/Downloads/notacomment-main/`. ## Usage With Strike 1. Create an account with Strike if you don't already have one https://strike.me/download/ 1. Get a Strike API key with all the payment scopes from https://dashboard.strike.me/ 1. Create a .env file and provide NOSTR_NSEC and STRIKE_API_KEY values (see .env.example) 1. Install the dependencies using npm or yarn or whatever your heart desires 1. Make sure you have money in your Strike account 1. Run the script `npm start` Keep in mind that Strike pays the invoices from your cash balance. This means the payment rounds up to the nearest cent when paying an invoice, so if you set the zap amount to 1 sat, you'll be sending more money to Strike than the person you are zapping with every zap. ## Usage With LNbits I recommend making a separate wallet from your main LNbits wallet for usage with notacomment in case you accidentally leak the admin key. 1. Create a .env file and provide NOSTR_NSEC, LNBITS_ADMIN_KEY, and LNBITS_URL values (see .env.example) 1. Install the dependencies using npm or yarn or whatever your heart desires 1. Make sure you have sats in your LNbits wallet 1. Run the script `npm start` ## Usage With Nostr Wallet Connect 1. Create a NWC connection string using something like https://nwc.getalby.com/ 1. Create a .env file and provide NOSTR_NSEC and NWC_CONNECTION_STRING values (see .env.example) 1. Install the dependencies using npm or yarn or whatever your heart desires 1. Make sure you have sats in your wallet that you generated the NWC connection string with 1. Run the script `npm start` <br /> <br /> Screenshot of terminal with commands to install dependencies, create .env file, open .env file, and start the script: 

@ 71a4b7ff:d009692a

### The Problem with Preset Choices Switching sections around? Not an option—we’ve already decided for you, buddy. Remove bright colors? Come on, it’s already beautiful. Disable unnecessary features? Don’t be silly, you need everything here. Especially this algorithmic feed with built-in ads. ### Monetization Over User Experience The operators of digital services will always prioritize their primary goal: monetizing the product as efficiently as possible. They need to not only attract new users but also retain existing ones. And the best tool for this is the interface. That’s why most product decisions are far removed from ideas like “Let’s make it more convenient for people” or “Let’s give users more freedom.” Instead, we see the result of a recurring process: - We have a retention and monetization mechanism - Assign tasks to developers and designers - Integrate it into the product - Write a quarterly report. The outcome? Users end up with Reels tabs smack in the center of Instagram’s bottom navigation bar. Removing or rearranging those tabs? Not an option. And it likely never will be. ### Why Rigid Interfaces Persist Another reason for rigid and obligatory interfaces is that they’re easier to design. Just imagine how many combinations of colors, elements, and layouts developers would need to account for to make a product both customizable and functional without turning it into a garish mess. But that’s just nuance and excuses. ### The Myth of Perfect Design Services often justify their choices by claiming their design is “the most designed,” that they know what’s best and will make it work for everyone. They might even present solid arguments for this. But all those arguments fall apart against the reality we see on our screens every day. In my opinion, people should have the ability to turn a product into anything they want—whether it’s loud and kitschy or minimalistic and dull. This option wouldn’t just allow users to express themselves but could also help with digital detoxing. ### The Example of App Labels Here’s an example: why do app icons on smartphone home screens (not the app drawer) come with labels underneath? Apps on the home screen are easily recognizable by their icons. Why would I need a name tag for an app I intentionally placed there? Sure, for some users or scenarios, this might be helpful. But why is it the default option? The problem is that these labels are just visual noise—clusters of unnecessary text we already see plenty of. Removing them would make it slightly easier for the brain to process the screen every time you look at it. Now scale that to 3–8 hours of daily smartphone use. Then a month. Then a year. ### The Slow Shift Toward Customization For a long time, iOS didn’t allow you to hide icon labels. Now, the option exists, but it still requires more effort than a simple toggle. As a result, people are stuck looking at tons of unnecessary, subconscious information every day. And this is just the trivial issue of app labels on a product considered the gold standard of digital design. Imagine the horror of tackling more significant issues. Yes, Apple has softened its stance in recent years, offering custom icons and lock screens. Celebrate—you can now showcase your individuality! The company understands that customization is the future. We’ve reached a point where weak computing power is no longer an excuse, VR/metaverse adoption is still a way off, and new features are needed. So, this is an excellent opportunity for all of us. ### The Case for More Customization In a reasonable, ideal world, people should decide which sections of a service they need, where they’re located, and how they look. Companies, meanwhile, recognize that people want the ability to stand out and create something personal—even on a smartphone in their pocket. And as our integration with various devices deepens, this need will only grow. More customization is coming. Yes, it’ll be largely cosmetic, but even that can work to our advantage: removing jarring colors or hiding unnecessary labels can reduce the brain’s pointless load. ### Beyond Aesthetics: Customization as Freedom The ability to customize services isn’t just about playing amateur designer. It’s about mitigating informational irritants, reducing the addictive nature of interfaces, and weakening dark patterns. Which is likely why many companies no longer prioritize customization. ### Telegram: A Customizable Example In this context, Telegram is a decent example. I’m not a fan, but I’ve been using it for daily communication with loved ones for a long time—and it’s good for that. It can be vastly different for vastly different users. Despite starting to bend under the weight of its audience and introducing questionable decisions, its foundational design principles still allow for creating both minimalist spaces for peaceful content consumption or communication, as well as vibrant, noisy chats for virtual parties. Telegram can be a messenger, a feed, a file storage system, or whatever else you need—and it can look wildly different while doing so. ### Customization as the Key to Healthy Digital Relationships Customization should be at the core of the services we use daily. Yes, it can and will be used for marketing purposes. But even minimal customization is better than none because the ability to tailor a system to your needs is an expression of freedom and a cornerstone of healthy relationships with the digital world. **Stay Nostrous. Geo**

@ 96537107:334e9245

有多少人在排队中？产业趋势不可逆~~~

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

A new report from the National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF) shows that civilian firearm possession exceeded 490 million in 2022. The total from 1990 to 2022 is estimated at 491.3 million firearms. In 2022, over ten million firearms were domestically produced, leading to a total of 16,045,911 firearms available in the U.S. market. Of these, 9,873,136 were handguns, 4,195,192 were rifles, and 1,977,583 were shotguns. Handgun availability aligns with the concealed carry and self-defense market, as all states allow concealed carry, with 29 having constitutional carry laws.

@ f9cf4e94:96abc355

Para esse exemplo iremos usar: | Nome | Imagem | Descrição | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Raspberry PI B+ |  | **Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit a 1.4GHz e 1 GB de SDRAM LPDDR2,** | | Pen drive |  | **16Gb** | Recomendo que use o **Ubuntu Server** para essa instalação. Você pode baixar o Ubuntu para Raspberry Pi [aqui]( https://ubuntu.com/download/raspberry-pi). O passo a passo para a instalação do Ubuntu no Raspberry Pi está disponível [aqui]( https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-your-raspberry-pi). **Não instale um desktop** (como xubuntu, lubuntu, xfce, etc.). --- ## Passo 1: Atualizar o Sistema 🖥️ Primeiro, atualize seu sistema e instale o Tor: ```bash apt update apt install tor ``` --- ## Passo 2: Criar o Arquivo de Serviço `nrs.service` 🔧 Crie o arquivo de serviço que vai gerenciar o servidor Nostr. Você pode fazer isso com o seguinte conteúdo: ```unit [Unit] Description=Nostr Relay Server Service After=network.target [Service] Type=simple WorkingDirectory=/opt/nrs ExecStart=/opt/nrs/nrs-arm64 Restart=on-failure [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` --- ## Passo 3: Baixar o Binário do Nostr 🚀 Baixe o binário mais recente do Nostr [aqui no GitHub]( https://github.com/gabrielmoura/SimpleNosrtRelay/releases). --- ## Passo 4: Criar as Pastas Necessárias 📂 Agora, crie as pastas para o aplicativo e o pendrive: ```bash mkdir -p /opt/nrs /mnt/edriver ``` --- ## Passo 5: Listar os Dispositivos Conectados 🔌 Para saber qual dispositivo você vai usar, liste todos os dispositivos conectados: ```bash lsblk ``` --- ## Passo 6: Formatando o Pendrive 💾 Escolha o pendrive correto (por exemplo, `/dev/sda`) e formate-o: ```bash mkfs.vfat /dev/sda ``` --- ## Passo 7: Montar o Pendrive 💻 Monte o pendrive na pasta `/mnt/edriver`: ```bash mount /dev/sda /mnt/edriver ``` --- ## Passo 8: Verificar UUID dos Dispositivos 📋 Para garantir que o sistema monte o pendrive automaticamente, liste os UUID dos dispositivos conectados: ```bash blkid ``` --- ## Passo 9: Alterar o `fstab` para Montar o Pendrive Automáticamente 📝 Abra o arquivo `/etc/fstab` e adicione uma linha para o pendrive, com o UUID que você obteve no passo anterior. A linha deve ficar assim: ```fstab UUID=9c9008f8-f852 /mnt/edriver vfat defaults 0 0 ``` --- ## Passo 10: Copiar o Binário para a Pasta Correta 📥 Agora, copie o binário baixado para a pasta `/opt/nrs`: ```bash cp nrs-arm64 /opt/nrs ``` --- ## Passo 11: Criar o Arquivo de Configuração 🛠️ Crie o arquivo de configuração com o seguinte conteúdo e salve-o em `/opt/nrs/config.yaml`: ```yaml app_env: production info: name: Nostr Relay Server description: Nostr Relay Server pub_key: "" contact: "" url: http://localhost:3334 icon: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u= https://public.bnbstatic.com/image/cms/crawler/COINCU_NEWS/image-495-1024x569.png base_path: /mnt/edriver negentropy: true ``` --- ## Passo 12: Copiar o Serviço para o Diretório de Systemd ⚙️ Agora, copie o arquivo `nrs.service` para o diretório `/etc/systemd/system/`: ```bash cp nrs.service /etc/systemd/system/ ``` Recarregue os serviços e inicie o serviço `nrs`: ```bash systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable --now nrs.service ``` --- ## Passo 13: Configurar o Tor 🌐 Abra o arquivo de configuração do Tor `/var/lib/tor/torrc` e adicione a seguinte linha: ```torrc HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/nostr_server/ HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:3334 ``` --- ## Passo 14: Habilitar e Iniciar o Tor 🧅 Agora, ative e inicie o serviço Tor: ```bash systemctl enable --now tor.service ``` O Tor irá gerar um endereço `.onion` para o seu servidor Nostr. Você pode encontrá-lo no arquivo `/var/lib/tor/nostr_server/hostname`. --- ## Observações ⚠️ - Com essa configuração, **os dados serão salvos no pendrive**, enquanto o binário ficará no cartão SD do Raspberry Pi. - O endereço `.onion` do seu servidor Nostr será algo como: `ws://y3t5t5wgwjif<exemplo>h42zy7ih6iwbyd.onion`. --- Agora, seu servidor Nostr deve estar configurado e funcionando com Tor! 🥳 Se este artigo e as informações aqui contidas forem úteis para você, convidamos a considerar uma doação ao autor como forma de reconhecimento e incentivo à produção de novos conteúdos.

@ f88e6629:e5254dd5

...which allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. - Without sovereign and accessible payments we are loosing censorship resistance - Without censorship resistance even other core characteristics are in danger - including scarcity and durability. - This affects every bitcoiner including sworn hodlers and MSTR followers. | Property | Description | Fulfillment | | --- | --- | --- | | Scarce | Fixed supply forever. Instantly and costlessly verifiable | 🟢  Good, but can be harmed without censorship resistance | | Portable | Effortless to store and move, with negligible costs | 🟠 Onchain transactions can be expensive, other layers require onchain to be sovereign. Easy portability is offered by custodians only. | | Divisible | Infinitely divisible | 🟠 Smaller units than dust are available only for LN users, which most people can’t use in a sovereign way. | | Durable | Exists forever without deterioration | 🟢  Good, but can be harmed without censorship resistance | | Fungible | Every piece is forever the same as every other piece | 🟡 Onchain bitcoin is not fungible. | | Acceptable | Everyone, anywhere, can send and receive | 🟠 Most people are not able to send and receive in a sovereign way. | | Censorship Resistant | You hold it. Nobody can take it or stop you sending it | 🟠 Custodians are honey-pots that can and will be regulated | > ➡️ We need accessible, scalable, and sovereign payment methods

@ d9e9fb27:d5fe5e1a

Every 16th of January, the city of Varese, a small town at the feet of the Prealpine region, stops to participate in one of the most important ceremonies of the city: *The Falò of Sant'Antonio*. A *Falò* is the Italian word for *bonfire*. Imagine a 5-meters tall pyre of wood burning in the center of the city. For sure, an unmissable event!  The pyre is built by the so-called "*Monelli della Motta*". A *Monello* in Italian is a child that misbehaves. This nickname come from the fact that in the past, the pyre was created using wood stolen from the city, usually from tools, doors and shutters. This event takes place at the eve of the day of Sant'Antonio Abate in front of the homonymous church in the area called "*La Motta*", which stands for *small hill*, and comes from a several century old tradition. Thousands of people from all over the province come to the city to look at the bonfire created in honor of the Saint.  At 9PM the big event starts. The wood is set on fire!  An important tradition of this celebration is burning small pieces of paper containing wishes. People whish for health, love, friendship and luck. To make wishes come true, people have to give these pieces of paper to a firefighter or a "*Monello*" whom will launch it into the *Falò*. The show goes on for a couple of ours, during which thousands of Varesinians in awe contemplate the raging fire and try to receive some heat to fight the glacial cold of January. 

@ 5bdb0e24:0ccbebd7

In the world of networking, two fundamental models serve as the backbone for communication protocols and standards: the OSI model and the TCP/IP model. Both models are quite similar, providing frameworks for how data is transmitted across networks at various stages of the process. Understanding these models is crucial for anyone working in IT, cybersecurity, or any related tech field. But what exactly are they? # The OSI Model The OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model is a conceptual framework that standardizes the functions of a telecommunication or computing system into seven distinct layers. Each layer is responsible for specific tasks, such as data encapsulation, error detection, and routing. The layers of the OSI model are as follows: 1. **Physical Layer:** This layer deals with the physical connection between devices, such as cables and network interfaces. 2. **Data Link Layer:** Responsible for node-to-node communication, this layer ensures data integrity and manages access to the physical medium. 3. **Network Layer:** The network layer handles routing and forwarding of data packets between different networks. 4. **Transport Layer:** This layer provides end-to-end communication services for applications, including error detection and flow control. 5. **Session Layer:** Manages sessions between applications, establishing, maintaining, and terminating connections. 6. **Presentation Layer:** Responsible for data translation, encryption, and compression to ensure compatibility between different systems. 7. **Application Layer:** The topmost layer that interacts directly with applications and end-users, providing network services such as email and file transfer. Now, that's a lot to remember. So, an easy acronym you can use to remember these 7 layers is *"Please Do Not Touch Steve's Pet Alligator."* It's helped me quite a bit in trying to pinpoint a specific layer. Also, keep in mind that the layers are typically inverted from what you see above, with Layer 7 being at the top of the stack and Layer 1 being at the bottom. # The TCP/IP Model On the other hand, the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) model is a more streamlined approach to networking, consisting of only four layers: 1. **Link Layer:** Corresponding to the OSI model's data link and physical layers, the link layer deals with the physical connection and data framing. 2. **Internet Layer:** Similar to the OSI model's network layer, the internet layer focuses on routing packets across different networks. 3. **Transport Layer:** Combines the functions of the OSI model's transport and session layers, providing reliable data transfer services. 4. **Application Layer:** Equivalent to the OSI model's top three layers, the application layer in TCP/IP handles network services for applications. While the OSI model is more detailed and theoretical, the TCP/IP model is practical and widely used in modern networking. It's also a bit easier to remember than the OSI model. And, similar to the OSI model, the TCP/IP model is typically visualized with Layer 4 at the top of the stack and Layer 1 at the bottom, unlike what you see above. # Conclusion Both the TCP/IP and OSI models play essential roles in understanding how data is transmitted across networks. By grasping the functions of each layer and their interactions, network professionals can troubleshoot issues, design efficient networks, and ensure seamless communication between devices. Whether you're a seasoned systems administrator or you're just getting your start in IT, mastering these models is key to navigating the complex world of networking.

@ 6e75f797:a8eee74e

Last night I started a nostr community multiplayer instance for No Man's Sky [on ZapStream](https://zap.stream/) and before we knew it, we had 4 Nostrichs arriving on the genesis planet to join the fun.  NSM is an deterministic, procedurally generated open universe where players can explore, quest, build, combat and have fun together. Every new system discovered is generated when the first Traveller enters the system making the game a unique experience for any open world gaming fan. If you fancy joining us in the Nostrverse let me know and I'll friend you in #NMS and on Steam or Epic. If you just want to watch the fun, participate in naming systems, planets, fauna and flora come and hang out in my stream or the stream of [Oceanbee](nostr:npub1wqxxe0cjaxnvmrv4lkvx8d5dlft7ewswyn09w5v7fg7642fgzm7srucxws), [HolgerHatGarKeineNode](nostr:npub1pt0kw36ue3w2g4haxq3wgm6a2fhtptmzsjlc2j2vphtcgle72qesgpjyc6) or [taette](npub1yh0dl6pazf55025qvp860lstpscuy0kj2a5lfhxlk400m968vgpql5vsnd).  ### If you already own NMS, feel free to add me! My NMS friend code is: EMAZ-KMHT-ZPFXP See you in space Traveller! - TheGrinder

@ e8ed3798:67dd345a

Crowdsourcing subjective value is a great idea, but when no thought has been put into how to do it, the results are neither useful nor healthy. In this article we discuss the problems with the classic five star rating system and why it needs to be abolished in favor of better expressions of public sentiment. ## Part 1: What's In A Star? Let's start with a thought experiment: - Do you buy products on Amazon that have 3 stars? - Do you take rides from Uber drivers that have 3 stars? - Do you download apps on the App Store that have 3 stars? - Do you visit places on Google Maps that have 3 stars? "Not on purpose," is probably your answer. But why not? After all, a three out of five is better than the median; it's 60 percent! That is solidly "above average" by any usual measure. Although it makes sense in mathematical terms, it is not correct to say that a 3 star product is at least half as good as a 5 star product. The funny thing about the 5 star rating system is that nobody really knows exactly what the stars mean, mostly because they aren't ever explained. They are just a weak abstraction of a score out of 5, which itself is an abstraction of a score out of 100, and it is used to average all ratings for a thing into an average star rating. Presumably, 5 is the best and 1 is the worst, and somewhere in between is... what exactly? Mediocre? Passable? Acceptable? Average? Who knows! This is the first problem with this system; while the top and bottom of the scale may be implied (ambiguity still isn't great), the middle of the scale is entirely ambiguous. Most of the time, people start with a default supposition that a product ought to be 5 stars, and then they subtract stars according to their own perceived deficiencies of the product. On the flip side, people who are dissatisfied with a product tend to start at 1 star and perhaps award it a couple more if they are feeling charitable. This dualistic approach highlights another issue with this kind of rating system. Despite the pure quantitative mechanism, the feelings and disposition of the rater ultimately assign meaning to the numeric scale. Ultimately, any 5 star rating system ends up being a gamut ranging from hate it to love it with a lot of ambiguity in the middle. To put it simply, the stars mean nothing. But to be more precise, the stars are the *average* of the *numeric expression* of the public sentiment about a thing. OK, public sentiment. That's what we want right? We want to know what the public thinks about the product so we can make a good purchase decision. Except, unfortunately, the 5 star rating system does an incredibly imprecise job at capturing what the public actually thinks about a product. Let's dive into why this is. But first, to conclude our thought experiment, I'd like to establish an informal consensus that we instinctually seek out the highest rated items and avoid ratings less than 4.5 out of 5, with infrequent exceptions. If this sounds like you, then let's proceed. ## Part 2: Trash or Treasure How does one turn their feelings into a number? This is not something people are good at, or do naturally, or are even required to do very often. It is also completely subjective and arbitrary. Does "happy" mean 5 or 100 or 902,581? It really depends on what you are trying to measure. However, you've probably done this on a survey. Normally, a range of options is given with accompanying numbers. You may have heard a guiding explanation such as "Rate one through five, with one being 'least likely' and five being 'most likely' to recommend to a friend." Such explanations are useful in assisting a person in expressing their personal sentiments as a numeric range, and anecdotally I seem to provide more nuanced answers when I have guidance as to what each value actually means to me. However, such explanations are missing from most places where five star rating systems can make or break one's livelihood as a seller, developer, or musician. Users are normally given no guidance as to how a particular star value should correspond to their sentiment. Accordingly, this manifests in an all too common star rating smiley. Like the famed "smiley face curve" equalizer setting popularized in the 70's in which the frequencies of a song were engineered to grow from the midranges upward toward the treble and bass making a smile shape (who's midrange is the lowest), the star rating smile is a common sight on product reviews where the most common review ratings appear anecdotally to be 5 and 1, then 4 and 2, and lastly 3. The fact that the most common ratings are five stars and one star indicates that people most often do not think about their experience as a gradient between good and bad, but rather simply label their sentiment as only "good" or "bad" with little room for nuance. Having not received any guidance for expressing their sentiment numerically, this should be wholly unsurprising. But, I also feel like this binary outcome is a very natural expression that requires minimal mental energy to produce, and is therefore the most efficient expression of sentiment. I suspect that in another universe where we have a commonplace 15 star rating system but humans are the same, the most common ratings are 15 stars and 1 star respectively. Other factors influence this binary good/bad paradigm too. People know instinctively that leaving a bad review is bad for business, and often this is their vengeful response to any sense of feeling as if they have been mistreated, misled, or swindled by the seller. Often times the sheer excitement of the new product compels people to write reviews only minutes after they have received it, precluding them from providing an experienced and time-tested perspective of how the product performs. These quirks of human behavior can skew five star ratings severely. But the behaviors themselves are not bad! They are totally natural and expected. The real problem is how the five star rating system fails to capture these commonplace human sentiments accurately. We need to build a rating system that works for people rather than forcing people to fit into a poorly executed rating system. ## Part 3: Feast or Famine It is natural that when presented with a plethora of options, humans will be drawn to the options that are labeled as "the best". When "best" possible is five stars, then five stars naturally becomes the [Schelling point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_point_(game_theory))for all buyers and sellers, where the vast majority of economic activity is concentrated. When all ratings are seen from a five-based perspective, fours look barely adequate. Threes look unacceptable. Twos are abject. And ones are complete disasters. You may have heard about how [Uber would suspend drivers whose ratings fell below 4.6](https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/uber-rider-ratings-deactivation-lyft-rideshare.html). The tendency of five star rating systems is to create a gradient of sentiment where 1 to 4.5 stars is "bad" and 4.5 to 5 stars is "good". One rarely discussed outcome of this dynamic is that good ratings are nearly impossible to compare to each other. As alluded to in the introduction thought experiment, the narrow range between 4.5 and 5 leaves very little room to distinguish from a good product and an excellent product; both are simply "good" or "not bad". As highly rated products are usually the products people are most interested in, it is unfortunate that a favorable rating would actually provide less signal than a bad rating as to the product's relative quality in the spectrum of good ratings. Meanwhile, bad ratings have wide berth to compare numerically. The astronomical range between 1 and 4.5 is a very spacious gradient in which to assess how bad one product is versus another, except nobody actually cares because nobody is going to buy it anyway! In the five star rating system, the better a product is, the *less* information we get to compare it to other similarly good products. This is a critical design flaw, because the better a product is and the more people review it, the *more* information we should have about it versus other similar products. It would be better if the range of "good" ratings was wider so that good ratings could be compared to each other. I'd like to emphasize that the *loss of precision* as a product becomes more desirable is a truly ludicrous mechanic of the five star rating system. This poorly conceived rating paradigm completely pervades our digital economic systems and determines the success of millions of producers. Let's be clear about the stakes. Assigning subjective value to things is completely overlooked for what it really is: a absolutely critical and monumentally influential economic activity. Because the most important economic activity is how we assign value to things with money, the second most important economic activity is how we *inform* our economic value assignments with subjective value assignments such as these. We need to fix how we rate things. It could literally change how entire economies function. ## Part 4: Quality or Quantity Valve has obviously put thought into how they handle ratings for video games sold through their extremely popular and long-lived Steam platform. Reviews are not allowed until a certain amount of hours of the game have been played. The review must assign a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and then provide a minimum amount of text. Then, rather than simply providing an average of these binary ratings, Steam averages them over a recent period of time, creating a dynamic where if a game developer releases a new update, the reviews written more recently are sure to influence the overall rating of the game rather than old ratings that haven't taken the new update into consideration. Finally, the aggregated rating itself is displayed as "Overwhelming Negative", "Very Negative", "Mostly Negative", "Mixed", "Mostly Positive", "Very Positive", or "Overwhelmingly Positive". Ask yourself, which product would you be more likely to try? - 2.5/5 stars - "Mixed Reviews" Ironically, the Steam rating system gives users less flexibility to express their sentiment as a number, and yet provides more depth, nuance, and balance to the resulting ratings. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what it looks like when somebody gives a damn about how things work. It is a great system. Another interesting emergent behavior that accompanies many Steam reviews, as well as many reviews on other sites, are user generated pros/cons lists. These lists are helpful and offer qualitative labels that help to explain the quantitative rating assignment, although these labels are not mechanically related to the rating system itself. Steam has another mechanism to express qualitative judgements in the form of labels, although they had to be restricted because they were being abused in undesirable or nefarious ways. Now the labeling system does more to tell you about what the game is rather than what people think about it, which is fine, but I feel like it is a missed opportunity. Therefore, I'd like to propose a simple system that combines thumbs up/down and labeling to be used in the context of nostr's review system. ## Part 5: QTS I call this new review system QTS, or the "Qualitative Thumb System". [Originally I developed QTS when working at Arcade Labs.](https://github.com/ArcadeLabsInc/arcade/wiki/ArcadeSocial) [This PR for a new nostr review mechanism](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/879) allows for a lot of flexibility in how you apply ratings to things, so QTS is simply a method of applying rating values that creates a better human-oriented review system. QTS is a way of using reviews. In essence, QTS capitalizes on our very human instinct to assign a "good" or "bad" label by limiting the quantitative assessment to a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Then, QTS provides qualitative labels that describe possible positive sentiments that describe different aspects of the thing being rated. First, the user chooses thumbs-up or thumbs-down as their overall assessment. If they do nothing else, this is sufficient to capture their sentiment. However, labels should be provided which the user can check or toggle on to increase their rating further. The initial thumbs up is worth 0.5, and each label is worth (0.5 / number of labels). The minimum rating is 0 (thumbs down, no labels), and the maximum rating is 1 (thumbs up and all labels). Any rating 0.5 or above is trending toward good and below 0.5 is trending toward bad. The labels should be applicable in the context of the thing. So, for example, I might provide the following labels for place reviews in a Google Maps-style app: - Convenient - Clean - Affordable - Memorable - Inviting These labels could possibly describe any place. It's OK if a place doesn't have all of these qualities. Zero labels and at thumbs up is still a "good" rating. Each label selected is essentially a "cherry on top" and its absence may indicate that either it isn't applicable OR the place failed to earn it. Likewise, it is possible that you may give a place a thumbs-down and apply labels; this would result in a rating higher than 0 but still in the bad gradient (below 0.5). Here are the key benefits I want to highlight of QTS: - The 5 star rating system forces a user to do the work of translating their sentiment into a quantity. With QTS, the user never has to translate their feelings into a number! They only express good or bad and pick labels, and the QTS mechanism does the work of translating this into a computation-friendly value. - The 5 star rating system generally results in a "bad" range from 1 to 4.5 and a "good" range from 4.5 to 5. QTS balances this with a "bad" rating at 0, a "good" rating at 0.5, and an excellent rating is anything above 0.5 (up to 1.0). This creates the maximum possible gradient between good and bad which makes it easier to compare similar ratings. Recall this in contrast to the 5 star rating system which actually _loses precision_ as more ratings are provided. - It is also helpful that similar QTS ratings may have different labels, which will allow people to make easy qualitative assessments that do not depend on users generating their own pros/cons list. ## Part 6: Implementing QTS Here is how it works: You give the user the option to rate a thumbs up or thumbs down. Then, you also give your user the option to choose from a predefined set of positive labels. You can have any number of labels but try to keep it below 10 so as not to overwhelm your users. Keep the labels general enough that they could potentially apply to any thing being rated. For example, if you were providing labels for Amazon.com, some good labels would be: - Good Value - Good Quality - As Described - Durable - Right Size These labels are general enough that they could apply to almost any product. It is important to create labels that are general so that when comparing product ratings you are comparing the same labels. It is possible however that something like Amazon.com could define a different QTS label subset for each product category, and then the labels could be more specific to that category. For example, a product category of Candles could have "Long Burning", "Good smell", "Safe", etc. These labels are much more specific, but appropriate for the Candle product category. The main point is that products which should be compared should use the same QTS label set. Some poor examples of labels would be: - Orange (not really relevant to the product's assessment) - Easy to Lift (only relevant to certain products) - Made in USA (not really relevant to the product's assessment) - Cheap (not descriptive enough and could be interpreted as negative) A score is derived as follows: - a thumbs-down is a score of 0.00 - a thumbs-up is a score of 0.50 - a label is worth 0.50 ÷ the number of labels available. So, if there are 3 labels to pick from, each label is worth 0.1666. The labels should all have the same value. Here is an example by calvadev being used on Shopstr: https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/879#issuecomment-2502210146 You can adjust the weights however you want. The fundamental thing that QTS prescribes is that a thumbs up gives a 50% score, and labels each contribute an equal share up to another 50%. # Conclusion With nostr we have a great opportunity to improve the economic information available to the planet. A more efficient market based on higher quality information will improve civilization in ways we may not expect, but definitely deserve! If you like this post, be sure to give it a thumbs up ✌😁

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

Bitcoin is more than money, more than an asset, and more than a store of value. Bitcoin is a Prime Mover, an enabler and it ignites imaginations. It certainly fueled an idea in my mind. The idea integrates sensors, computational prowess, actuated machinery, power conversion, and electronic communications to form an autonomous, machined creature roaming forests and harvesting the most widespread and least energy-dense fuel source available. I call it the Forest Walker and it eats wood, and mines Bitcoin. I know what you're thinking. Why not just put Bitcoin mining rigs where they belong: in a hosted facility sporting electricity from energy-dense fuels like natural gas, climate-controlled with excellent data piping in and out? Why go to all the trouble building a robot that digests wood creating flammable gasses fueling an engine to run a generator powering Bitcoin miners? It's all about synergy. Bitcoin mining enables the realization of multiple, seemingly unrelated, yet useful activities. Activities considered un-profitable if not for Bitcoin as the Prime Mover. This is much more than simply mining the greatest asset ever conceived by humankind. It’s about the power of synergy, which Bitcoin plays only one of many roles. The synergy created by this system can stabilize forests' fire ecology while generating multiple income streams. That’s the realistic goal here and requires a brief history of American Forest management before continuing. # Smokey The Bear In 1944, the Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention Campaign began in the United States. “Only YOU can prevent forest fires” remains the refrain of the Ad Council’s longest running campaign. The Ad Council is a U.S. non-profit set up by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers in 1942. It would seem that the U.S. Department of the Interior was concerned about pesky forest fires and wanted them to stop. So, alongside a national policy of extreme fire suppression they enlisted the entire U.S. population to get onboard via the Ad Council and it worked. Forest fires were almost obliterated and everyone was happy, right? Wrong. Smokey is a fantastically successful bear so forest fires became so few for so long that the fuel load - dead wood - in forests has become very heavy. So heavy that when a fire happens (and they always happen) it destroys everything in its path because the more fuel there is the hotter that fire becomes. Trees, bushes, shrubs, and all other plant life cannot escape destruction (not to mention homes and businesses). The soil microbiology doesn’t escape either as it is burned away even in deeper soils. To add insult to injury, hydrophobic waxy residues condense on the soil surface, forcing water to travel over the ground rather than through it eroding forest soils. Good job, Smokey. Well done, Sir! Most terrestrial ecologies are “fire ecologies”. Fire is a part of these systems’ fuel load and pest management. Before we pretended to “manage” millions of acres of forest, fires raged over the world, rarely damaging forests. The fuel load was always too light to generate fires hot enough to moonscape mountainsides. Fires simply burned off the minor amounts of fuel accumulated since the fire before. The lighter heat, smoke, and other combustion gasses suppressed pests, keeping them in check and the smoke condensed into a plant growth accelerant called wood vinegar, not a waxy cap on the soil. These fires also cleared out weak undergrowth, cycled minerals, and thinned the forest canopy, allowing sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. Without a fire’s heat, many pine tree species can’t sow their seed. The heat is required to open the cones (the seed bearing structure) of Spruce, Cypress, Sequoia, Jack Pine, Lodgepole Pine and many more. Without fire forests can’t have babies. The idea was to protect the forests, and it isn't working. So, in a world of fire, what does an ally look like and what does it do? # Meet The Forest Walker  For the Forest Walker to work as a mobile, autonomous unit, a solid platform that can carry several hundred pounds is required. It so happens this chassis already exists but shelved. Introducing the Legged Squad Support System (LS3). A joint project between Boston Dynamics, DARPA, and the United States Marine Corps, the quadrupedal robot is the size of a cow, can carry 400 pounds (180 kg) of equipment, negotiate challenging terrain, and operate for 24 hours before needing to refuel. Yes, it had an engine. Abandoned in 2015, the thing was too noisy for military deployment and maintenance "under fire" is never a high-quality idea. However, we can rebuild it to act as a platform for the Forest Walker; albeit with serious alterations. It would need to be bigger, probably. Carry more weight? Definitely. Maybe replace structural metal with carbon fiber and redesign much as 3D printable parts for more effective maintenance. The original system has a top operational speed of 8 miles per hour. For our purposes, it only needs to move about as fast as a grazing ruminant. Without the hammering vibrations of galloping into battle, shocks of exploding mortars, and drunken soldiers playing "Wrangler of Steel Machines", time between failures should be much longer and the overall energy consumption much lower. The LS3 is a solid platform to build upon. Now it just needs to be pulled out of the mothballs, and completely refitted with outboard equipment. # The Small Branch Chipper  When I say “Forest fuel load” I mean the dead, carbon containing litter on the forest floor. Duff (leaves), fine-woody debris (small branches), and coarse woody debris (logs) are the fuel that feeds forest fires. Walk through any forest in the United States today and you will see quite a lot of these materials. Too much, as I have described. Some of these fuel loads can be 8 tons per acre in pine and hardwood forests and up to 16 tons per acre at active logging sites. That’s some big wood and the more that collects, the more combustible danger to the forest it represents. It also provides a technically unlimited fuel supply for the Forest Walker system. The problem is that this detritus has to be chewed into pieces that are easily ingestible by the system for the gasification process (we’ll get to that step in a minute). What we need is a wood chipper attached to the chassis (the LS3); its “mouth”. A small wood chipper handling material up to 2.5 - 3.0 inches (6.3 - 7.6 cm) in diameter would eliminate a substantial amount of fuel. There is no reason for Forest Walker to remove fallen trees. It wouldn’t have to in order to make a real difference. It need only identify appropriately sized branches and grab them. Once loaded into the chipper’s intake hopper for further processing, the beast can immediately look for more “food”. This is essentially kindling that would help ignite larger logs. If it’s all consumed by Forest Walker, then it’s not present to promote an aggravated conflagration. I have glossed over an obvious question: How does Forest Walker see and identify branches and such? LiDaR (Light Detection and Ranging) attached to Forest Walker images the local area and feed those data to onboard computers for processing. Maybe AI plays a role. Maybe simple machine learning can do the trick. One thing is for certain: being able to identify a stick and cause robotic appendages to pick it up is not impossible. Great! We now have a quadrupedal robot autonomously identifying and “eating” dead branches and other light, combustible materials. Whilst strolling through the forest, depleting future fires of combustibles, Forest Walker has already performed a major function of this system: making the forest safer. It's time to convert this low-density fuel into a high-density fuel Forest Walker can leverage. Enter the gasification process. # The Gassifier  The gasifier is the heart of the entire system; it’s where low-density fuel becomes the high-density fuel that powers the entire system. Biochar and wood vinegar are process wastes and I’ll discuss why both are powerful soil amendments in a moment, but first, what’s gasification? Reacting shredded carbonaceous material at high temperatures in a low or no oxygen environment converts the biomass into biochar, wood vinegar, heat, and Synthesis Gas (Syngas). Syngas consists primarily of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. All of which are extremely useful fuels in a gaseous state. Part of this gas is used to heat the input biomass and keep the reaction temperature constant while the internal combustion engine that drives the generator to produce electrical power consumes the rest. Critically, this gasification process is “continuous feed”. Forest Walker must intake biomass from the chipper, process it to fuel, and dump the waste (CO2, heat, biochar, and wood vinegar) continuously. It cannot stop. Everything about this system depends upon this continual grazing, digestion, and excretion of wastes just as a ruminal does. And, like a ruminant, all waste products enhance the local environment. When I first heard of gasification, I didn’t believe that it was real. Running an electric generator from burning wood seemed more akin to “conspiracy fantasy” than science. Not only is gasification real, it’s ancient technology. A man named Dean Clayton first started experiments on gasification in 1699 and in 1901 gasification was used to power a vehicle. By the end of World War II, there were 500,000 Syngas powered vehicles in Germany alone because of fossil fuel rationing during the war. The global gasification market was $480 billion in 2022 and projected to be as much as $700 billion by 2030 (Vantage Market Research). Gasification technology is the best choice to power the Forest Walker because it’s self-contained and we want its waste products. # Biochar: The Waste  Biochar (AKA agricultural charcoal) is fairly simple: it’s almost pure, solid carbon that resembles charcoal. Its porous nature packs large surface areas into small, 3 dimensional nuggets. Devoid of most other chemistry, like hydrocarbons (methane) and ash (minerals), biochar is extremely lightweight. Do not confuse it with the charcoal you buy for your grill. Biochar doesn’t make good grilling charcoal because it would burn too rapidly as it does not contain the multitude of flammable components that charcoal does. Biochar has several other good use cases. Water filtration, water retention, nutrient retention, providing habitat for microscopic soil organisms, and carbon sequestration are the main ones that we are concerned with here. Carbon has an amazing ability to adsorb (substances stick to and accumulate on the surface of an object) manifold chemistries. Water, nutrients, and pollutants tightly bind to carbon in this format. So, biochar makes a respectable filter and acts as a “battery” of water and nutrients in soils. Biochar adsorbs and holds on to seven times its weight in water. Soil containing biochar is more drought resilient than soil without it. Adsorbed nutrients, tightly sequestered alongside water, get released only as plants need them. Plants must excrete protons (H+) from their roots to disgorge water or positively charged nutrients from the biochar's surface; it's an active process. Biochar’s surface area (where adsorption happens) can be 500 square meters per gram or more. That is 10% larger than an official NBA basketball court for every gram of biochar. Biochar’s abundant surface area builds protective habitats for soil microbes like fungi and bacteria and many are critical for the health and productivity of the soil itself. The “carbon sequestration” component of biochar comes into play where “carbon credits” are concerned. There is a financial market for carbon. Not leveraging that market for revenue is foolish. I am climate agnostic. All I care about is that once solid carbon is inside the soil, it will stay there for thousands of years, imparting drought resiliency, fertility collection, nutrient buffering, and release for that time span. I simply want as much solid carbon in the soil because of the undeniably positive effects it has, regardless of any climactic considerations. # Wood Vinegar: More Waste  Another by-product of the gasification process is wood vinegar (Pyroligneous acid). If you have ever seen Liquid Smoke in the grocery store, then you have seen wood vinegar. Principally composed of acetic acid, acetone, and methanol wood vinegar also contains ~200 other organic compounds. It would seem intuitive that condensed, liquefied wood smoke would at least be bad for the health of all living things if not downright carcinogenic. The counter intuition wins the day, however. Wood vinegar has been used by humans for a very long time to promote digestion, bowel, and liver health; combat diarrhea and vomiting; calm peptic ulcers and regulate cholesterol levels; and a host of other benefits. For centuries humans have annually burned off hundreds of thousands of square miles of pasture, grassland, forest, and every other conceivable terrestrial ecosystem. Why is this done? After every burn, one thing becomes obvious: the almost supernatural growth these ecosystems exhibit after the burn. How? Wood vinegar is a component of this growth. Even in open burns, smoke condenses and infiltrates the soil. That is when wood vinegar shows its quality. This stuff beefs up not only general plant growth but seed germination as well and possesses many other qualities that are beneficial to plants. It’s a pesticide, fungicide, promotes beneficial soil microorganisms, enhances nutrient uptake, and imparts disease resistance. I am barely touching a long list of attributes here, but you want wood vinegar in your soil (alongside biochar because it adsorbs wood vinegar as well). # The Internal Combustion Engine  Conversion of grazed forage to chemical, then mechanical, and then electrical energy completes the cycle. The ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) converts the gaseous fuel output from the gasifier to mechanical energy, heat, water vapor, and CO2. It’s the mechanical energy of a rotating drive shaft that we want. That rotation drives the electric generator, which is the heartbeat we need to bring this monster to life. Luckily for us, combined internal combustion engine and generator packages are ubiquitous, delivering a defined energy output given a constant fuel input. It’s the simplest part of the system. The obvious question here is whether the amount of syngas provided by the gasification process will provide enough energy to generate enough electrons to run the entire system or not. While I have no doubt the energy produced will run Forest Walker's main systems the question is really about the electrons left over. Will it be enough to run the Bitcoin mining aspect of the system? Everything is a budget. # CO2 Production For Growth  Plants are lollipops. No matter if it’s a tree or a bush or a shrubbery, the entire thing is mostly sugar in various formats but mostly long chain carbohydrates like lignin and cellulose. Plants need three things to make sugar: CO2, H2O and light. In a forest, where tree densities can be quite high, CO2 availability becomes a limiting growth factor. It’d be in the forest interests to have more available CO2 providing for various sugar formation providing the organism with food and structure. An odd thing about tree leaves, the openings that allow gasses like the ever searched for CO2 are on the bottom of the leaf (these are called stomata). Not many stomata are topside. This suggests that trees and bushes have evolved to find gasses like CO2 from below, not above and this further suggests CO2 might be in higher concentrations nearer the soil. The soil life (bacterial, fungi etc.) is constantly producing enormous amounts of CO2 and it would stay in the soil forever (eventually killing the very soil life that produces it) if not for tidal forces. Water is everywhere and whether in pools, lakes, oceans or distributed in “moist” soils water moves towards to the moon. The water in the soil and also in the water tables below the soil rise toward the surface every day. When the water rises, it expels the accumulated gasses in the soil into the atmosphere and it’s mostly CO2. It’s a good bet on how leaves developed high populations of stomata on the underside of leaves. As the water relaxes (the tide goes out) it sucks oxygenated air back into the soil to continue the functions of soil life respiration. The soil “breathes” albeit slowly. The gasses produced by the Forest Walker’s internal combustion engine consist primarily of CO2 and H2O. Combusting sugars produce the same gasses that are needed to construct the sugars because the universe is funny like that. The Forest Walker is constantly laying down these critical construction elements right where the trees need them: close to the ground to be gobbled up by the trees. # The Branch Drones  During the last ice age, giant mammals populated North America - forests and otherwise. Mastodons, woolly mammoths, rhinos, short-faced bears, steppe bison, caribou, musk ox, giant beavers, camels, gigantic ground-dwelling sloths, glyptodons, and dire wolves were everywhere. Many were ten to fifteen feet tall. As they crashed through forests, they would effectively cleave off dead side-branches of trees, halting the spread of a ground-based fire migrating into the tree crown ("laddering") which is a death knell for a forest. These animals are all extinct now and forests no longer have any manner of pruning services. But, if we build drones fitted with cutting implements like saws and loppers, optical cameras and AI trained to discern dead branches from living ones, these drones could effectively take over pruning services by identifying, cutting, and dropping to the forest floor, dead branches. The dropped branches simply get collected by the Forest Walker as part of its continual mission. The drones dock on the back of the Forest Walker to recharge their batteries when low. The whole scene would look like a grazing cow with some flies bothering it. This activity breaks the link between a relatively cool ground based fire and the tree crowns and is a vital element in forest fire control. # The Bitcoin Miner  Mining is one of four monetary incentive models, making this system a possibility for development. The other three are US Dept. of the Interior, township, county, and electrical utility company easement contracts for fuel load management, global carbon credits trading, and data set sales. All the above depends on obvious questions getting answered. I will list some obvious ones, but this is not an engineering document and is not the place for spreadsheets. How much Bitcoin one Forest Walker can mine depends on everything else. What amount of biomass can we process? Will that biomass flow enough Syngas to keep the lights on? Can the chassis support enough mining ASICs and supporting infrastructure? What does that weigh and will it affect field performance? How much power can the AC generator produce? Other questions that are more philosophical persist. Even if a single Forest Walker can only mine scant amounts of BTC per day, that pales to how much fuel material it can process into biochar. We are talking about millions upon millions of forested acres in need of fuel load management. What can a single Forest Walker do? I am not thinking in singular terms. The Forest Walker must operate as a fleet. What could 50 do? 500? What is it worth providing a service to the world by managing forest fuel loads? Providing proof of work to the global monetary system? Seeding soil with drought and nutrient resilience by the excretion, over time, of carbon by the ton? What did the last forest fire cost? # The Mesh Network  What could be better than one bitcoin mining, carbon sequestering, forest fire squelching, soil amending behemoth? Thousands of them, but then they would need to be able to talk to each other to coordinate position, data handling, etc. Fitted with a mesh networking device, like goTenna or Meshtastic LoRa equipment enables each Forest Walker to communicate with each other. Now we have an interconnected fleet of Forest Walkers relaying data to each other and more importantly, aggregating all of that to the last link in the chain for uplink. Well, at least Bitcoin mining data. Since block data is lightweight, transmission of these data via mesh networking in fairly close quartered environs is more than doable. So, how does data transmit to the Bitcoin Network? How do the Forest Walkers get the previous block data necessary to execute on mining? # Back To The Chain  Getting Bitcoin block data to and from the network is the last puzzle piece. The standing presumption here is that wherever a Forest Walker fleet is operating, it is NOT within cell tower range. We further presume that the nearest Walmart Wi-Fi is hours away. Enter the Blockstream Satellite or something like it. A separate, ground-based drone will have two jobs: To stay as close to the nearest Forest Walker as it can and to provide an antennae for either terrestrial or orbital data uplink. Bitcoin-centric data is transmitted to the "uplink drone" via the mesh networked transmitters and then sent on to the uplink and the whole flow goes in the opposite direction as well; many to one and one to many. We cannot transmit data to the Blockstream satellite, and it will be up to Blockstream and companies like it to provide uplink capabilities in the future and I don't doubt they will. Starlink you say? What’s stopping that company from filtering out block data? Nothing because it’s Starlink’s system and they could decide to censor these data. It seems we may have a problem sending and receiving Bitcoin data in back country environs. But, then again, the utility of this system in staunching the fuel load that creates forest fires is extremely useful around forested communities and many have fiber, Wi-Fi and cell towers. These communities could be a welcoming ground zero for first deployments of the Forest Walker system by the home and business owners seeking fire repression. In the best way, Bitcoin subsidizes the safety of the communities. # Sensor Packages ### LiDaR  The benefit of having a Forest Walker fleet strolling through the forest is the never ending opportunity for data gathering. A plethora of deployable sensors gathering hyper-accurate data on everything from temperature to topography is yet another revenue generator. Data is valuable and the Forest Walker could generate data sales to various government entities and private concerns. LiDaR (Light Detection and Ranging) can map topography, perform biomass assessment, comparative soil erosion analysis, etc. It so happens that the Forest Walker’s ability to “see,” to navigate about its surroundings, is LiDaR driven and since it’s already being used, we can get double duty by harvesting that data for later use. By using a laser to send out light pulses and measuring the time it takes for the reflection of those pulses to return, very detailed data sets incrementally build up. Eventually, as enough data about a certain area becomes available, the data becomes useful and valuable. Forestry concerns, both private and public, often use LiDaR to build 3D models of tree stands to assess the amount of harvest-able lumber in entire sections of forest. Consulting companies offering these services charge anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars per square kilometer for such services. A Forest Walker generating such assessments on the fly while performing its other functions is a multi-disciplinary approach to revenue generation. ### pH, Soil Moisture, and Cation Exchange Sensing  The Forest Walker is quadrupedal, so there are four contact points to the soil. Why not get a pH data point for every step it takes? We can also gather soil moisture data and cation exchange capacities at unheard of densities because of sampling occurring on the fly during commission of the system’s other duties. No one is going to build a machine to do pH testing of vast tracts of forest soils, but that doesn’t make the data collected from such an endeavor valueless. Since the Forest Walker serves many functions at once, a multitude of data products can add to the return on investment component. ### Weather Data  Temperature, humidity, pressure, and even data like evapotranspiration gathered at high densities on broad acre scales have untold value and because the sensors are lightweight and don’t require large power budgets, they come along for the ride at little cost. But, just like the old mantra, “gas, grass, or ass, nobody rides for free”, these sensors provide potential revenue benefits just by them being present. I’ve touched on just a few data genres here. In fact, the question for universities, governmental bodies, and other institutions becomes, “How much will you pay us to attach your sensor payload to the Forest Walker?” # Noise Suppression  Only you can prevent Metallica filling the surrounds with 120 dB of sound. Easy enough, just turn the car stereo off. But what of a fleet of 50 Forest Walkers operating in the backcountry or near a township? 500? 5000? Each one has a wood chipper, an internal combustion engine, hydraulic pumps, actuators, and more cooling fans than you can shake a stick at. It’s a walking, screaming fire-breathing dragon operating continuously, day and night, twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year. The sound will negatively affect all living things and that impacts behaviors. Serious engineering consideration and prowess must deliver a silencing blow to the major issue of noise. It would be foolish to think that a fleet of Forest Walkers could be silent, but if not a major design consideration, then the entire idea is dead on arrival. Townships would not allow them to operate even if they solved the problem of widespread fuel load and neither would governmental entities, and rightly so. Nothing, not man nor beast, would want to be subjected to an eternal, infernal scream even if it were to end within days as the fleet moved further away after consuming what it could. Noise and heat are the only real pollutants of this system; taking noise seriously from the beginning is paramount. # Fire Safety  A “fire-breathing dragon” is not the worst description of the Forest Walker. It eats wood, combusts it at very high temperatures and excretes carbon; and it does so in an extremely flammable environment. Bad mix for one Forest Walker, worse for many. One must take extreme pains to ensure that during normal operation, a Forest Walker could fall over, walk through tinder dry brush, or get pounded into the ground by a meteorite from Krypton and it wouldn’t destroy epic swaths of trees and baby deer. I envision an ultimate test of a prototype to include dowsing it in grain alcohol while it’s wrapped up in toilet paper like a pledge at a fraternity party. If it runs for 72 hours and doesn’t set everything on fire, then maybe outside entities won’t be fearful of something that walks around forests with a constant fire in its belly. # The Wrap  How we think about what can be done with and adjacent to Bitcoin is at least as important as Bitcoin’s economic standing itself. For those who will tell me that this entire idea is without merit, I say, “OK, fine. You can come up with something, too.” What can we plug Bitcoin into that, like a battery, makes something that does not work, work? That’s the lesson I get from this entire exercise. No one was ever going to hire teams of humans to go out and "clean the forest". There's no money in that. The data collection and sales from such an endeavor might provide revenues over the break-even point but investment demands Alpha in this day and age. But, plug Bitcoin into an almost viable system and, voilà! We tip the scales to achieve lift-off. Let’s face it, we haven’t scratched the surface of Bitcoin’s forcing function on our minds. Not because it’s Bitcoin, but because of what that invention means. The question that pushes me to approach things this way is, “what can we create that one system’s waste is another system’s feedstock?” The Forest Walker system’s only real waste is the conversion of low entropy energy (wood and syngas) into high entropy energy (heat and noise). All other output is beneficial to humanity. Bitcoin, I believe, is the first product of a new mode of human imagination. An imagination newly forged over the past few millennia of being lied to, stolen from, distracted and otherwise mis-allocated to a black hole of the nonsensical. We are waking up. What I have presented is not science fiction. Everything I have described here is well within the realm of possibility. The question is one of viability, at least in terms of the detritus of the old world we find ourselves departing from. This system would take a non-trivial amount of time and resources to develop. I think the system would garner extensive long-term contracts from those who have the most to lose from wildfires, the most to gain from hyperaccurate data sets, and, of course, securing the most precious asset in the world. Many may not see it that way, for they seek Alpha and are therefore blind to other possibilities. Others will see only the possibilities; of thinking in a new way, of looking at things differently, and dreaming of what comes next.

@ 17538dc2:71ed77c4

Sci-Hub 2024 year end review is translated to English by Kagi Translate from Russian. Original text can be found in Sci-Hub's telegram channel https://t.me/freescience. ### RESULTS OF 2024 First. The project received donations totaling 2 million dollars in meme coins. The project is actively used by many students in China, which is why a group of Sci-Hub fans has emerged there. As far as I understand, the organizer of the group is actively interested in the topic of cryptocurrencies (even wrote a book). Somewhere in mid-November, the Chinese launched a meme coin in honor of the Sci-Hub project. At its peak, the coin's price reached 5 cents, and now it is somewhere around 1-2 cents. This means that the exchange rate of the Sci-Hub cryptocurrency is now almost equal to the ruble exchange rate (100 to one or so). In general, I converted part of these donations into normal, traditional cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) and paid for servers several months in advance. The other part is still sitting in meme coins—I hope that the token will still grow in price (there is a promotion plan). Of course, this is risky, but Sci-Hub is a project that is not afraid of risk. Therefore, anyone who wants to invest in Sci-Hub by purchasing this token can do so here: www.coingecko.com/en/coins/sci-hub Second. A dissertation on the topic of open scientific knowledge has been defended at the Institute of Philosophy. For those interested in the history and philosophy of science, I defended a dissertation in April at the Institute of Philosophy on the topic that scientific knowledge should be open (otherwise, it is strange to call it scientific at all). The work shows that open communication is one of the basic traditional values of science when considering science as a social institution. In other words, journals that charge for access to scientific articles are a kind of 'non-traditional orientation journals.' Moreover, openness is an important prerequisite for rationality. Rationality is not limited to the criterion of falsification (hello Popper); it is a much more complex concept. You can familiarize yourself with the text of the dissertation here: web.archive.org/web/20240425100014/https://iphras.ru/page26414303.htm (I provide the link through the web archive because the Institute's website, strangely enough, is glitching again at the time of writing this post). All criticism and comments (as well as praise) regarding the dissertation can be sent to my email. Third. Work has begun on a new declaration of open access to scientific knowledge. Currently, all discussions on the topic of open science are conducted within the frameworks defined by the so-called BBB declarations back in 2001-2003. Within these frameworks, two main types of open access are recognized: gold, meaning open journals with an author-pays model, and green, which refers to repositories like the well-known arXiv. We can also add the so-called diamond open access, which includes open journals that are free for both authors and readers. However, since 2003, internet technologies have advanced significantly. Today, we can already talk about such types of open access as blue (through academic social networks) or red (your beloved Sci-Hub). It is time to adopt a new declaration of open access to scientific knowledge that corresponds to the current state of scientific and technological progress. A preliminary version of the declaration can be read and signed here: open.science.do We will be more actively engaged in this in the coming year. Signing the declaration is an important step towards recognizing access to scientific knowledge through sites like Sci-Hub or Libgen as completely legal and ceasing to pursue them—first in the former USSR, and then in all countries of the world. Fourth. In 2024, about one billion articles were downloaded through Sci-Hub. Despite the fact that this is unfiltered statistics, the fact remains: the popularity of the project has not decreased but only grown, despite the fact that Sci-Hub has not been updated for quite a long time. Of course, this does not mean that the site will not be updated at all now—just that the patient is more alive than dead (no matter how much some haters might wish otherwise). The cause of open access to scientific knowledge will definitely prevail—because good always triumphs over evil. In the new year, I wish all scientists new discoveries and large grants. Happy New Year, comrades!

@ e3168078:10f13b2c

ノス！ 最近Umbrel上のn8nを使ってstacker newsの記事を要約するNostr botを作ってみました。 その際にFirecrawlというスクレイピングのSaaSを使っていたんですがセルフホストできるようなので試してみました。 Firecrawlは動的なページも読めたりマークダウンへの変換をしてくれますが無料プランだと1ヶ月500ページの制限があり、セルフホストすれば気兼ねなく使えます！ 今回はUmbrel上のPortainerというアプリを使ってFirecrawlを動かせたのでその記録です。 ## 手順 まずはUmbrelにPortainerアプリをインストールします。 Poratinerは今回初めて使ったんですが独自のDockerコンテナをUmbrelで動かす際に推奨されているアプリのようです。  アプリを開いてパスワードの初期設定などを済ませるとダッシュボードが表示されるかと思います。 ここでStackという機能を使ってFirecrawlのDocker composeを一括で取り込むことができます。 新しいStackを作成する画面で以下を入力します。 Repository URL: https://github.com/mendableai/firecrawl Repository reference: refs/heads/main Compose path: docker-compose.**yaml** (デフォルトがymlになっててハマりました…）  上記に加えてenv varを設定する必要があるんですがPortainerでは上記の画像下部にあるように "Load Variables from .env file" からenvファイルを選択できます。 [Firecrawlのgithub](https://github.com/mendableai/firecrawl/blob/main/SELF_HOST.md)にあるように apps/api/.env.example をダウンロードし以下の内容を更新しPortainerに取り込ませます。 ``` USE_DB_AUTHENTICATION=false TEST_API_KEY=fc-test-key ``` あとはDeploy the stackを押して少し待つとfirecrawlのセットアップ完了です。 ## 確認 動作テストにはUmbrelの設定からAdvanced Settings -> Terminal -> Umbrel OSを開き以下のコマンドを実行ししマークダウンが返って来れば成功です。 ``` $ curl -X POST http://localhost:3002/v1/scrape -H 'Authorization: Bearer fc-test-key' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{ "url": "https://example.com", "formats": ["markdown"] }' {"success":true,"data":{"markdown":"Example Domain\n==============\n\nThis domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for permission.\n\n[More information...](https://www.iana.org/domains/example)","metadata":{"title":"Example Domain","ogLocaleAlternate":[],"scrapeId":"7c196348-6561-4ebb-bb8a-9121a29c64b5","viewport":"width=device-width, initial-scale=1","sourceURL":"https://example.com","url":"https://example.com/","statusCode":200}}} ``` またn8n等のUmbrelの他のアプリ（コンテナ）から利用する場合はlocalhostがコンテナ自身になってしまうので別のIP等（172.17.0.1）を使う必要があるのでご注意ください。 （[参考](https://community.n8n.io/t/the-service-refused-the-connection-perhaps-it-is-offline-n8n-and-nocodb/33587?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) 以上でUmbrel上でのFirecrawlセルフホストができるようになりn8nからも制限なく使えるようになりました。

@ cff1720e:15c7e2b2

**Einleitung**\ \ Schwierige Dinge einfach zu erklären ist der Anspruch von ELI5 (explain me like I'm 5). Das ist in unserer hoch technisierten Welt dringend erforderlich, denn nur mit dem Verständnis der Technologien können wir sie richtig einsetzen und weiter entwickeln.\ Ich starte meine Serie mit Nostr, einem relativ neuen Internet-Protokoll. Was zum Teufel ist ein Internet-Protokoll? Formal beschrieben sind es internationale Standards, die dafür sorgen, dass das Internet seit über 30 Jahren ziemlich gut funktioniert. Es ist die Sprache, in der sich die Rechner miteinander unterhalten und die auch Sie täglich nutzen, vermutlich ohne es bewusst wahrzunehmen. http(s) transportiert ihre Anfrage an einen Server (z.B. Amazon), und html sorgt dafür, dass aus den gelieferten Daten eine schöne Seite auf ihrem Bildschirm entsteht. Eine Mail wird mit smtp an den Mailserver gesendet und mit imap von ihm abgerufen, und da alle den Standard verwenden, funktioniert das mit jeder App auf jedem Betriebssystem und mit jedem Mail-Provider. Und mit einer Mail-Adresse wie <roland@pareto.space> können sie sogar jederzeit umziehen, egal wohin. **Cool, das ist state of the art!** Aber warum funktioniert das z.B. bei Chat nicht, gibt es da kein Protokoll? Doch, es heißt IRC (Internet Relay Chat → merken sie sich den Namen), aber es wird so gut wie nicht verwendet. Die Gründe dafür sind nicht technischer Natur, vielmehr wurden mit Apps wie Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, TikTok u.a. bewusst Inkompatibilitäten und Nutzerabhängigkeiten geschaffen um Profite zu maximieren.  **Warum Nostr?** Da das Standard-Protokoll nicht genutzt wird, hat jede App ihr eigenes, und wir brauchen eine handvoll Apps um uns mit allen Bekannten auszutauschen. Eine Mobilfunknummer ist Voraussetzung für jedes Konto, damit können die App-Hersteller die Nutzer umfassend tracken und mit dem Verkauf der Informationen bis zu 30 USD je Konto und Monat verdienen. Der Nutzer ist nicht mehr Kunde, er ist das Produkt! Der Werbe-SPAM ist noch das kleinste Problem bei diesem Geschäftsmodell. Server mit Millionen von Nutzerdaten sind ein “honey pot”, dementsprechend oft werden sie gehackt und die Zugangsdaten verkauft. 2024 wurde auch der Twitter-Account vom damaligen Präsidenten Joe Biden gehackt, niemand wusste mehr wer die Nachrichten verfasst hat (vorher auch nicht), d.h. die Authentizität der Inhalte ist bei keinem dieser Anbieter gewährleistet. Im selben Jahr wurde der Telegram-Gründer in Frankreich in Beugehaft genommen, weil er sich geweigert hatte Hintertüren in seine Software einzubauen. Nun kann zum Schutz **"unserer Demokratie”** praktisch jeder mitlesen, was sie mit wem an Informationen austauschen, z.B. darüber welches Shampoo bestimmte Politiker verwenden.   Und wer tatsächlich glaubt er könne Meinungsfreiheit auf sozialen Medien praktizieren, findet sich schnell in der Situation von Donald Trump wieder (seinerzeit amtierender Präsident), dem sein Twitter-Konto 2021 abgeschaltet wurde (Cancel-Culture). Die Nutzerdaten, also ihr Profil, ihre Kontakte, Dokumente, Bilder, Videos und Audiofiles - gehören ihnen ohnehin nicht mehr sondern sind Eigentum des Plattform-Betreibers; lesen sie sich mal die AGB's durch. Aber nein, keine gute Idee, das sind hunderte Seiten und sie werden permanent geändert. Alle nutzen also Apps, deren Technik sie nicht verstehen, deren Regeln sie nicht kennen, wo sie keine Rechte haben und die ihnen die Resultate ihres Handelns stehlen. Was würde wohl der Fünfjährige sagen, wenn ihm seine ältere Schwester anbieten würde, alle seine Spielzeuge zu “verwalten” und dann auszuhändigen wenn er brav ist? “Du spinnst wohl”, und damit beweist der Knirps mehr Vernunft als die Mehrzahl der Erwachsenen. \ \ **Resümee:** keine Standards, keine Daten, keine Rechte = keine Zukunft!  \ **Wie funktioniert Nostr?** Die Entwickler von Nostr haben erkannt dass sich das Server-Client-Konzept in ein Master-Slave-Konzept verwandelt hatte. Der Master ist ein Synonym für Zentralisierung und wird zum **“single point of failure”**, der zwangsläufig Systeme dysfunktional macht. In einem verteilten Peer2Peer-System gibt es keine Master mehr sondern nur gleichberechtigte Knoten (Relays), auf denen die Informationen gespeichert werden. Indem man Informationen auf mehreren Relays redundant speichert, ist das System in jeglicher Hinsicht resilienter. Nicht nur die Natur verwendet dieses Prinzip seit Jahrmillionen erfolgreich, auch das Internet wurde so konzipiert (das ARPAnet wurde vom US-Militär für den Einsatz in Kriegsfällen unter massiven Störungen entwickelt). Alle Nostr-Daten liegen auf Relays und der Nutzer kann wählen zwischen öffentlichen (zumeist kostenlosen) und privaten Relays, z.B. für geschlossene Gruppen oder zum Zwecke von Daten-Archivierung. Da Dokumente auf mehreren Relays gespeichert sind, werden statt URL's (Locator) eindeutige Dokumentnamen (URI's = Identifier) verwendet, broken Links sind damit Vergangenheit und Löschungen / Verluste ebenfalls.\ \ Jedes Dokument (Event genannt) wird vom Besitzer signiert, es ist damit authentisch und fälschungssicher und kann nur vom Ersteller gelöscht werden. Dafür wird ein Schlüsselpaar verwendet bestehend aus privatem (nsec) und öffentlichem Schlüssel (npub) wie aus der Mailverschlüsselung (PGP) bekannt. Das repräsentiert eine Nostr-Identität, die um Bild, Namen, Bio und eine lesbare Nostr-Adresse ergänzt werden kann (z.B. <roland@pareto.space> ), mehr braucht es nicht um alle Ressourcen des Nostr-Ökosystems zu nutzen. Und das besteht inzwischen aus über hundert Apps mit unterschiedlichen Fokussierungen, z.B. für persönliche verschlüsselte Nachrichten (DM → OxChat), Kurznachrichten (Damus, Primal), Blogbeiträge (Pareto), Meetups (Joinstr), Gruppen (Groups), Bilder (Olas), Videos (Amethyst), Audio-Chat (Nostr Nests), Audio-Streams (Tunestr), Video-Streams (Zap.Stream), Marktplätze (Shopstr) u.v.a.m. Die Anmeldung erfolgt mit einem Klick (single sign on) und den Apps stehen ALLE Nutzerdaten zur Verfügung (Profil, Daten, Kontakte, Social Graph → Follower, Bookmarks, Comments, etc.), im Gegensatz zu den fragmentierten Datensilos der Gegenwart.\ \ **Resümee:** ein offener Standard, alle Daten, alle Rechte = große Zukunft!  \ **Warum ist Nostr die Zukunft des Internet?** “Baue Dein Haus nicht auf einem fremden Grundstück” gilt auch im Internet - für alle App-Entwickler, Künstler, Journalisten und Nutzer, denn auch ihre Daten sind werthaltig. Nostr garantiert das Eigentum an den Daten, und überwindet ihre Fragmentierung. Weder die Nutzung noch die kreativen Freiheiten werden durch maßlose Lizenz- und Nutzungsbedingungen eingeschränkt. Aus passiven Nutzern werden durch Interaktion aktive Teilnehmer, Co-Creatoren in einer Sharing-Ökonomie **(Value4Value)**. OpenSource schafft endlich wieder Vertrauen in die Software und ihre Anbieter. Offene Standards ermöglichen den Entwicklern mehr Kooperation und schnellere Entwicklung, für die Anwender garantieren sie Wahlfreiheit. Womit wir letztmalig zu unserem Fünfjährigen zurückkehren. Kinder lieben Lego über alles, am meisten die Maxi-Box “Classic”, weil sie damit ihre Phantasie im Kombinieren voll ausleben können. Erwachsene schenken ihnen dann die viel zu teuren Themenpakete, mit denen man nur eine Lösung nach Anleitung bauen kann. “Was stimmt nur mit meinen Eltern nicht, wann sind die denn falsch abgebogen?" fragt sich der Nachwuchs zu Recht. Das Image lässt sich aber wieder aufpolieren, wenn sie ihren Kindern Nostr zeigen, denn die Vorteile verstehen sogar Fünfjährige.  \ **Das neue Internet ist dezentral. Das neue Internet ist selbstbestimmt. Nostr ist das neue Internet.** <https://nostr.net/> \ <https://start.njump.me/> **Hier das Interview zum Thema mit Radio Berliner Morgenröte** <https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-yxc36-17bb4be>

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

## Black Locust can grow up to 170 ft tall ## Grows 3-4 ft. per year ## Native to North America ## Cold hardy in zones 3 to 8  ## Firewood - BLT wood, on a pound for pound basis is roughly half that of Anthracite Coal - Since its growth is fast, firewood can be plentiful ## Timber  - Rot resistant due to a naturally produced robinin in the wood - 100 year life span in full soil contact! (better than cedar performance) - Fence posts - Outdoor furniture - Outdoor decking - Sustainable due to its fast growth and spread - Can be coppiced (cut to the ground) - Can be pollarded (cut above ground) - Its dense wood makes durable tool handles, boxes (tool), and furniture - The wood is tougher than hickory, which is tougher than hard maple, which is tougher than oak. -  A very low rate of expansion and contraction - Hardwood flooring - The highest tensile beam strength of any American tree - The wood is beautiful ## Legume - Nitrogen fixer - Fixes the same amount of nitrogen per acre as is needed for 200-bushel/acre corn - Black walnuts inter-planted with locust as “nurse” trees were shown to rapidly increase their growth [[Clark, Paul M., and Robert D. Williams. (1978) Black walnut growth increased when interplanted with nitrogen-fixing shrubs and trees. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, vol. 88, pp. 88-91.]] ## Bees  - The edible flower clusters are also a top food source for honey bees ## Shade Provider  - Its light, airy overstory provides dappled shade - Planted on the west side of a garden it provides relief during the hottest part of the day - (nitrogen provider) - Planted on the west side of a house, its quick growth soon shades that side from the sun ## Wind-break  - Fast growth plus it's feathery foliage reduces wind for animals, crops, and shelters ## Fodder - Over 20% crude protein - 4.1 kcal/g of energy - Baertsche, S.R, M.T. Yokoyama, and J.W. Hanover (1986) Short rotation, hardwood tree biomass as potential ruminant feed-chemical composition, nylon bag ruminal degradation and ensilement of selected species. J. Animal Sci. 63 2028-2043

@ b8851a06:9b120ba1

## **It Begins with a Click** It starts with a click: *“Do you agree to our terms and conditions?”*\ You scroll, you click, you comply. A harmless act, right? But what if every click was a surrender? What if every "yes" was another link in the chain binding you to a life where freedom requires approval? This is the age of permission. Every aspect of your life is mediated by gatekeepers. Governments demand forms, corporations demand clicks, and algorithms demand obedience. You’re free, of course, as long as you play by the rules. But who writes the rules? Who decides what’s allowed? Who owns your life? --- ## **Welcome to Digital Serfdom** We once imagined the internet as a digital frontier—a vast, open space where ideas could flow freely and innovation would know no bounds. But instead of creating a decentralized utopia, we built a new feudal system. - Your data? Owned by the lords of Big Tech. - Your money? Controlled by banks and bureaucrats who can freeze it on a whim. - Your thoughts? Filtered by algorithms that reward conformity and punish dissent. The modern internet is a land of serfs and lords, and guess who’s doing the farming? You. Every time you agree to the terms, accept the permissions, or let an algorithm decide for you, you till the fields of a system designed to control, not liberate. They don’t call it control, of course. They call it *“protection.”* They say, “We’re keeping you safe,” as they build a cage so big you can’t see the bars. --- ## **Freedom in Chains** But let’s be honest: we’re not just victims of this system—we’re participants. We’ve traded freedom for convenience, sovereignty for security. It’s easier to click “I Agree” than to read the fine print. It’s easier to let someone else hold your money than to take responsibility for it yourself. It’s easier to live a life of quiet compliance than to risk the chaos of true independence. We tell ourselves it’s no big deal. What’s one click? What’s one form? But the permissions pile up. The chains grow heavier. And one day, you wake up and realize you’re free to do exactly what the system allows—and nothing more. --- ## **The Great Unpermissioning** It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t need their approval. You don’t need their systems. You don’t need their permission. The Great Unpermissioning is not a movement—it’s a mindset. It’s the refusal to accept a life mediated by gatekeepers. It’s the quiet rebellion of saying, *“No.”* It’s the realization that the freedom you seek won’t be granted—it must be reclaimed. - **Stop asking.** Permission is their tool. Refusal is your weapon. - **Start building.** Embrace tools that decentralize power: Bitcoin, encryption, open-source software, decentralized communication. Build systems they can’t control. - **Stand firm.** They’ll tell you it’s dangerous. They’ll call you a radical. But remember: the most dangerous thing you can do is comply. The path won’t be easy. Freedom never is. But it will be worth it. --- ## **The New Frontier** The age of permission has turned us into digital serfs, but there’s a new frontier on the horizon. It’s a world where you control your money, your data, your decisions. It’s a world of encryption, anonymity, and sovereignty. It’s a world built not on permission but on principles. This world won’t be given to you. You have to build it. You have to fight for it. And it starts with one simple act: refusing to comply. --- ## **A Final Word** They promised us safety, but what they delivered was submission. The age of permission has enslaved us to the mundane, the monitored, and the mediocre. The Great Unpermissioning isn’t about tearing down the old world—it’s about walking away from it. You don’t need to wait for their approval. You don’t need to ask for their permission. The freedom you’re looking for is already yours. Permission is their power—refusal is yours.

@ df173277:4ec96708

> OpenSecret is a backend for app developers that turns private encryption on by default. When sensitive data is readable only by the user, it protects both the user and the developer, creating a more free and open internet. We'll be launching in 2025. [Join our waitlist to get early access.](https://opensecret.cloud) In today's digital age, personal data is both an asset and a liability. With the rise of data breaches and cyber attacks, individuals and companies struggle to protect sensitive information. The consequences of a data breach can be devastating, resulting in financial losses, reputational damage, and compromised user trust. In 2023, the average data breach cost was $5 million, with some resulting in losses of over $1 billion. Meanwhile, individuals face problems related to identity theft, personal safety, and public embarrassment. Think about the apps on your phone, even the one you're using to read this. How much data have you trusted to other people, and how would it feel if that data were leaked online? Thankfully, some incredibly talented cypherpunks years ago gave the world cryptography. We can encrypt data, rendering it a secret between two people. So why then do we have data breaches? > Cryptography at scale is hard. #### The Cloud The cloud has revolutionized how we store and process data, but it has limitations. While cloud providers offer encryption, it mainly protects data in transit. Once data is stored in the cloud, it's often encrypted with a shared key, which can be accessed by employees, third-party vendors, or compromised by hackers. The solution is to generate a personal encryption password for each user, make sure they write it down, and, most importantly, hope they don't lose it. If the password is lost, the data is forever unreadable. That can be overwhelming, leading to low app usage. > Private key encryption needs a UX upgrade. ## Enter OpenSecret OpenSecret is a developer platform that enables encryption by default. Our platform provides a suite of security tools for app developers, including private key management, encrypted sync, private AI, and confidential compute. Every user has a private vault for their data, which means only they can read it. Developers are free to store less sensitive data in a shared manner because there is still a need to aggregate data across the system.  ### Private Key Management Private key management is the superpower that enables personal encryption per user. When each user has a unique private key, their data can be truly private. Typically, using a private key is a challenging experience for the user because they must write down a long autogenerated number or phrase of 12-24 words. If they lose it, their data is gone. OpenSecret uses secure enclaves to make private keys as easy as an everyday login experience that users are familiar with. Instead of managing a complicated key, the user logs in with an email address or a social media account. The developer doesn't have to manage private keys and can focus on the app's user experience. The user doesn't have to worry about losing a private key and can jump into using your app.  ### Encrypted Sync With user keys safely managed, we can synchronize user data to every device while maintaining privacy. The user does not need to do complicated things like scanning QR codes from one device to the next. Just log in and go. The user wins because the data is available on all their devices. The developer wins because only the user can read the data, so it isn't a liability to them. ### Private AI Artificial intelligence is here and making its way into everything. The true power of AI is unleashed when it can act on personal and company data. The current options are to run your own AI locally on an underpowered machine or to trust a third party with your data, hoping they don't read it or use it for anything. OpenSecret combines the power of cloud computing with the privacy and security of a machine running on your desk. **Check out Maple AI**\ Try private AI for yourself! We built an app built with this service called [Maple AI](https://trymaple.ai). It is an AI chat that is 100% private in a verifiable manner. Give it your innermost thoughts or embarrassing ideas; we can't judge you. We built Maple using OpenSecret, which means you have a private key that is automatically managed for you, and your chat history is synchronized to all your devices. [Learn more about Maple AI - Private chat in the announcement post.](https://blog.opensecret.cloud/maple-ai-private-encrypted-chat/)  ### Confidential Compute Confidential computing is a game-changer for data security. It's like the secure hardware that powers Apple Pay and Google Pay on your phone but in the cloud. Users can verify through a process called attestation that their data is handled appropriately. OpenSecret can help you run your own custom app backend code that would benefit from the security of an enclave. It's the new version of that lock on your web browser. When you see it, you know you're secure.  #### **But do we want our secrets to be open?** OpenSecret renders a data breach practically useless. If hackers get into the backend, they enter a virtual hallway of locked private vaults. The leaked data would be gibberish, a secret in the open that is unreadable. On the topic of openness, OpenSecret uses the power of open source to enable trust in the service. We publish our code in the open, and, using attestation, anyone can verify that private data is being handled as expected. This openness also provides developers with a backup option to safely and securely export their data. > Don't trust, verify. ### **Join the Movement** We're currently building out OpenSecret, and we invite you to join us on the journey. Our platform can work with your existing stack, and you can pick and choose the features you need. If you want to build apps with encryption enabled, [send us a message to get early access.](https://opensecret.cloud) Users and companies deserve better encryption and privacy.\ Together, let's make that a reality. [](https://opensecret.cloud)

@ 58937958:545e6994

I made croquettes inspired by Spiral's character "Bitcoin (Puppet)."  The method is the same as making regular croquettes. I also tried making a version (right) with the arms and legs attached while shaping the filling, but they fell off before I could coat them in flour.  The face is made with seaweed and sliced cheese. The arms and legs are made with fish cake (hanpen). I brushed soy sauce on the legs and lightly toasted them in a toaster, which gave them a brown color.  The arms and legs are attached using thin spaghetti. When I searched for character-themed bentos (kyaraben), I came across the idea of using dried pasta, which made sense. I used fried spaghetti sticks for attachment. Here’s Bitcoin Croquette squished into a bento box:  Halving  Notes - I tried freezing the filling to help it hold its shape, but it backfired. It stuck to the plate and the cooking paper, and once partially thawed, it became way too watery. Freezing might work with better preparation. - The filling was quite dry when shaping, so it might be better to add a binder (this time, I only used potatoes and sautéed onions). The shape of Bitcoin Puppet was really easy and fun to make, so I’d love to try creating something else next time! nostr:nevent1qqsxgpjvf9g9suhzx5asqhvnlvnarl43kuhas8v5g2ryjr9yjjp0z5ctkh5pt

@ f88e6629:e5254dd5

- Send a transaction, and the recipient uses the coin for another payment. You then merge these two transactions together and save on fees. 🔥  If you have a Trezor, you can try this out on: https://coiner-mu.vercel.app/ _But be cautious. This is a hobby project without any guarantee._ <img width="1772" alt="Screenshot 2025-01-08 at 20 14 17" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/36412edb-9c62-4c5f-8f82-b41c118a3aa6" /> ## How does it work? 1. Connect Trezor, enter the passphrase, and select an account. 2. The application display your coins, pending transactions, and descendant transactions. 4. Then app shows you how much you can save by merging all transactions and removing duplicate information. 5. Finally, you can sign and broadcast this more efficient transaction

@ 23b0e2f8:d8af76fc

## **Necessário** - Um Android que você não use mais (a câmera deve estar funcionando). - Um cartão microSD (opcional, usado apenas uma vez). - Um dispositivo para acompanhar seus fundos (provavelmente você já tem um). ## **Algumas coisas que você precisa saber** - O dispositivo servirá como um assinador. Qualquer movimentação só será efetuada após ser assinada por ele. - O cartão microSD será usado para transferir o APK do Electrum e garantir que o aparelho não terá contato com outras fontes de dados externas após sua formatação. Contudo, é possível usar um cabo USB para o mesmo propósito. - A ideia é deixar sua chave privada em um dispositivo offline, que ficará desligado em 99% do tempo. Você poderá acompanhar seus fundos em outro dispositivo conectado à internet, como seu celular ou computador pessoal. --- ## **O tutorial será dividido em dois módulos:** - Módulo 1 - Criando uma carteira fria/assinador. - Módulo 2 - Configurando um dispositivo para visualizar seus fundos e assinando transações com o assinador. --- ## **No final, teremos:** - Uma carteira fria que também servirá como assinador. - Um dispositivo para acompanhar os fundos da carteira.  --- ## **Módulo 1 - Criando uma carteira fria/assinador** 1. Baixe o APK do Electrum na aba de **downloads** em <https://electrum.org/>. Fique à vontade para [verificar as assinaturas](https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/gpg-check.html) do software, garantindo sua autenticidade. 2. Formate o cartão microSD e coloque o APK do Electrum nele. Caso não tenha um cartão microSD, pule este passo.  3. Retire os chips e acessórios do aparelho que será usado como assinador, formate-o e aguarde a inicialização.  4. Durante a inicialização, pule a etapa de conexão ao Wi-Fi e rejeite todas as solicitações de conexão. Após isso, você pode desinstalar aplicativos desnecessários, pois precisará apenas do Electrum. Certifique-se de que Wi-Fi, Bluetooth e dados móveis estejam desligados. Você também pode ativar o **modo avião**.\ *(Curiosidade: algumas pessoas optam por abrir o aparelho e danificar a antena do Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, impossibilitando essas funcionalidades.)*  5. Insira o cartão microSD com o APK do Electrum no dispositivo e instale-o. Será necessário permitir instalações de fontes não oficiais.  6. No Electrum, crie uma carteira padrão e gere suas palavras-chave (seed). Anote-as em um local seguro. Caso algo aconteça com seu assinador, essas palavras permitirão o acesso aos seus fundos novamente. *(Aqui entra seu método pessoal de backup.)*  --- ## **Módulo 2 - Configurando um dispositivo para visualizar seus fundos e assinando transações com o assinador.** 1. Criar uma carteira **somente leitura** em outro dispositivo, como seu celular ou computador pessoal, é uma etapa bastante simples. Para este tutorial, usaremos outro smartphone Android com Electrum. Instale o Electrum a partir da aba de downloads em <https://electrum.org/> ou da própria Play Store. *(ATENÇÃO: O Electrum não existe oficialmente para iPhone. Desconfie se encontrar algum.)* 2. Após instalar o Electrum, crie uma carteira padrão, mas desta vez escolha a opção **Usar uma chave mestra**.  3. Agora, no assinador que criamos no primeiro módulo, exporte sua chave pública: vá em **Carteira &gt; Detalhes da carteira &gt; Compartilhar chave mestra pública**.  4. Escaneie o QR gerado da chave pública com o dispositivo de consulta. Assim, ele poderá acompanhar seus fundos, mas sem permissão para movimentá-los. 5. Para receber fundos, envie Bitcoin para um dos endereços gerados pela sua carteira: **Carteira &gt; Addresses/Coins**. 6. Para movimentar fundos, crie uma transação no dispositivo de consulta. Como ele não possui a chave privada, será necessário assiná-la com o dispositivo assinador.  7. No assinador, escaneie a transação não assinada, confirme os detalhes, assine e compartilhe. Será gerado outro QR, desta vez com a transação já assinada.  8. No dispositivo de consulta, escaneie o QR da transação assinada e transmita-a para a rede. --- ## **Conclusão** **Pontos positivos do setup:** - **Simplicidade:** Basta um dispositivo Android antigo. - **Flexibilidade:** Funciona como uma ótima carteira fria, ideal para holders. **Pontos negativos do setup:** - **Padronização:** Não utiliza seeds no padrão BIP-39, você sempre precisará usar o electrum. - **Interface:** A aparência do Electrum pode parecer antiquada para alguns usuários. Nesse ponto, temos uma carteira fria que também serve para assinar transações. O fluxo de assinar uma transação se torna: ***Gerar uma transação não assinada &gt; Escanear o QR da transação não assinada &gt; Conferir e assinar essa transação com o assinador &gt; Gerar QR da transação assinada &gt; Escanear a transação assinada com qualquer outro dispositivo que possa transmiti-la para a rede.*** Como alguns devem saber, uma transação assinada de Bitcoin é praticamente impossível de ser fraudada. Em um cenário catastrófico, você pode mesmo que sem internet, repassar essa transação assinada para alguém que tenha acesso à rede por qualquer meio de comunicação. Mesmo que não queiramos que isso aconteça um dia, esse setup acaba por tornar essa prática possível. ---

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

The following is a collection of Tweets posted on Twitter that documented my entire heart surgery process, from finding out I had an issue, through the surgery, and finally throughout my recovery process. If Elon decides to remove old and unpaid content, I do not want this part of my life to vanish from the Internet. At the time, it was extremely important for my mental health to talk about this whole process and it was therapeutic in my recovery process, reading all of the responses as all of Bitcoin Twitter was behind my success. Thank you all of your kind words, love, and support during this whole process. May my Tweets live on through nostr. ... Nov 28, 2021 I had open heart surgery 4 days before my 3rd b-day. I've led a healthy & active life since then, zero issues. I had an echocardiogram last week. The results were not good. Heart valve replacement may be in my near future. I am freaking the fuck out. I'll know more on Dec 6th. 😫 Dec 6, 2021 Update: I had my cardiologist appointment today. He said to not worry for now and continue to exercise and live life. In 3 months get another echo done. He doesn't believe the previous other results since I have zero symptoms and wants to do his own interpretation. Dec 6, 2021 He said if the other results were correct, I may need valve replacement in 6 months to 3 years. However, he doesn't believe the local hospital's results as I said above. He can't form an opinion just yet. He said not to worry over and over again. For now, I'm staying positive! Mar 7, 2022 Well, it's been three months. I had my follow up this morning. I have severe pulmonic regurgitation. I now need to speak with a specialist and see what my options are for surgery. Neat. 😭 Apr 12, 2022 Well, it looks like I'll need full open heart surgery again to replace my pulmonic valve. Bonus: I'll be part pig. So, I have that going for me. I was assuming that if I had to have this done it would be much less invasive, so I'm not overly impressed at the moment. 🫤 May 11, 2022 Today I had to get a CT scan of my heart in preparation for the May 27th surgery. All went well. I have no other heart issues. It's looking like I'll be in the hospital for 4-7 days, depending on how fast I recover. I should be fully 100% recovered by the end of August. ❤️ May 20, 2022 My grandfather with me 39 years ago, days after my open heart surgery. He taught me to hunt, fish, golf, and I'm sure taught me a thing or two about drinking beer and partying. 😂 He was a great man. He won't physically be with me next Friday, but I'm sure he'll be watching over. May 25, 2022 Two more sleeps. My mind is racing with an incredible amount of thoughts and emotions now. It's overwhelming. I love you all. Thanks for all of your replies and DMs over the last couple days, weeks, and months. I appreciate it immensely. ❤️❤️❤️ May 25, 2022 Two more sleeps. My mind is racing with an incredible amount of thoughts and emotions now. It's overwhelming. I love you all. Thanks for all of your replies and DMs over the last couple days, weeks, and months. I appreciate it immensely. ❤️❤️❤️ May 27, 2022 LET'S GO! I am alive and doing well. I was on a ventilator until 8pm. That was horrible. I will read all of the comments that you all posted on Katie's updates. Now I need to rest. They want to get me up and walk at 11pm. 🤯 I love you all and your support had helped so much 🧡🧡 May 28, 2022 The amount of love, compassion, caring, and appreciation from everyone blows my mind. Thanks for all of your comments and DMs. The positivity though all is this has helped me get through dark times and now it's helping me get through pain. You are helping me immensely. 🤯❤️🧡💪 May 28, 2022 Today has been a rough day. Lots of chest pain when breathing. But, I apparently am doing something right, because I have been upgraded to a regular room. No more ICU for this guy! My ICU nurse told my new nurse that I'm strong. ❤️💪🔥 May 29, 2022 Using this to document my journey. Last night was not good at all. I had tachycardia and AFib for hours. It was scary as fuck having my heart beat the way it was at 160bpm. They gave me new medication to bring it down and stop the AFib irregular heartbeat. It's now at 101. May 29, 2022 I was very scared. Katie was able to come and stay the night with me and be my personal care nurse. That made me feel much better having her here with me. Hopefully the meds continue to do what they're supposed to. Fuck. Anyways, I may not Tweet much today. Love you all. ❤️ May 30, 2022 Today has mostly been a great day progress wise. I ate a lot. I've walked more today than I have previously. My doctor told me I might be going home tomorrow, it all depends on what happens with my last drainage tube. Fingers crossed that it's draining properly now. 💪❤️ May 31, 2022 Morning walk crushed. Breakfast crushed. Feeling stronger. My drainage tube is still draining so we'll see what the surgeon says, but I probably won't be coming home today according to my nurse. It may be another day. Better to be safe. I'm feeling good though. Let's go! 💪💪❤️❤️ Jun 1, 2022 Today's plans: Crush morning walk, crush breakfast, CRUSH MY LAST X-RAY AND HEAD THE HELL HOME! Fingers crossed. 🤞🤞❤️❤️💪💪 Jun 1, 2022 On my morning walk I went into a slight AFib. The nurse and PA said since I hadn't had my morning meds to control that yet, that that could be the cause. They're going to increase meds and monitor me for another 24 hours. That sucks, but again, I'd rather be safe. Ugh. Jun 2, 2022 GM! I miss my kids. I miss wearing normal clothes. I miss my house. I miss my doggy. I better go home today or I guess I'll just keep working to get well enough to go home. 😂 I'm still progressing forward. I have a chest x-ray scheduled later this morning. Fingers crossed. Jun 2, 2022 I JUST GOT CLEARED TO HEAD HOME AFTER LUNCH. FUCK YEAH. LET'S GOOOOOO💪💪💪 Jun 2, 2022 I am home! I have some family that needs some loving. Enjoy the rest of your day! Jun 4, 2022 Last night I slept in bed thanks to a reclining pillow, the first night our living room chair. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed. I walked around our yard about 9 times yesterday. My goal is to do that plus a little more every day. I'm still in a lot of pain, but meds help. Jun 4, 2022 I still have a long way to go recovery wise, but having Katie and the kids here helping me along the way makes it easier and gives me a reason to keep pushing forward through this. Thanks again for all of your past and future support. You all are fantastic. Jun 6, 2022 My wife went back to work today. My son and daughter are in charge of taking care of me. My kids are fantastic. They made me breakfast already and helped me check all of my vitals. My daughter really shines here. She's such a little nurse and caretaker. ❤️❤️ Jun 6, 2022 I'm still in pain, but I'm not in as much pain as I was a couple days ago. I'm walking around a little better and a little more every day. I really hate just sitting around and not doing anything, but it's hard to do much else besides watch TV. I am enjoying my patio though. 💪 Jun 16, 2022 It's been a while. It's time to update this thread! I am doing great, IMO. I have lots of energy. I feel great. I can do a lot more than I previously could. I still have a limited range of motion due to my sternum being broken and still healing. i.e. I can't wash my back or legs. Jun 16, 2022 I started back to work yesterday. I was cleared to do 20 hours this week by my doctor and I'm hoping to be cleared full time next week. I work from home, so if I can sit in front of a TV, I can sit in front of a computer, right? Jun 16, 2022 My home nurses have been absolutely fantastic.😂 My kids make me breakfast every morning. And I could not have done any of this without my rock star wife. Words can't describe how much she's done for me throughout all of this. I am looking forward to continuing to improve. ♥️ Jun 16, 2022 You all have been absolutely wonderful through all of this too. I appreciate all of your love, support, and check-ins. Seriously. It means more than you know. I have a check-up at the end of the month to make sure all is well. I'll update again in a couple weeks after that appt. Jun 28, 2022 My doctor said everything looks great. He said it doesn't look like I had open heart surgery a month ago.💪 He said I have zero restrictions and that I can resume normal life. I can drive and I can go out on my boat! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm so happy right now! 🔥🚀 Jul 15, 2022 I started cardiac rehab this week. After 2 sessions the nurse said I'm on "Week 4" already. She doesn't believe with my initial intake stress test if I'll really be able to improve on it that much. 🤣 TL;DR I am a rock star and kicking ass. Feeling great. Life's great. 😍 Aug 28, 2022 Yesterday was 3 months since my open heart surgery. I'm going great! I'd guess essentially back to normal. My sternum is still not fully healed, that'll take more time, but energy and capability are basically back to what I was like last summer. I'm very happy with the results. Aug 28, 2022 I'm very happy to be able to exercise daily, go boating on the weekends AND swim and paddleboard. I was annoyed that I couldn't do these things a month ago. I had a cardiologist appt. two weeks ago. He said he hopes the valve lasts me the rest of my life and to see him in a year. Aug 28, 2022 As a final post to this thread, I want to thank each and every one of you again that commented, liked, shared and DMed me throughout all of this. The love and support from Twitter and the #Bitcoin community was unfathomable. You all made a difference in my life and my recovery.❤️

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# China ## I might be wrong, but this is how I see it This is a post within a series I am going to call "I might be wrong, but this is how I see it" I have repeatedly found that my understanding of China is quite different from that of many libertarian-minded Americans. And so I make this post to explain how I see it. Maybe you will learn something. Maybe I will learn something. It seems to me that many American's see America as a shining beacon of freedom with a few small problems, and China is an evil communist country spreading communism everywhere. From my perspective, America *was* a shining beacon of freedom that has fallen to being typical in most ways, and which is now acting as a falling empire, and China *was* communist for about a decade, but turned and ran away from that as fast as they could (while not admitting it) and the result is that the US and China are not much different anymore when it comes to free markets. Except they are very different in some other respects. ## China has a big problem China has a big problem. But it is not the communism problem that most Westerners diagnose. I argue that China is no longer communist, it is only communist in name. And that while it is not a beacon of free market principles, it is nearly as free market now as Western nations like Germany and New Zealand are (being somewhat socialist themselves). No, China's real problem is authoritarian one-party rule. And that core problem causes all of the other problems, including its human rights abuses. ## Communism and Socialism Communism and Socialism are bad ideas. I don't want to argue it right here, but most readers will already understand this. The last thing I intend to do with this post is to bolster or defend those bad ideas. If you dear reader hold a candle for socialism, let me know and I can help you extinguish it with a future "I might be wrong, but this is how I see it" installment. Communism is the idea of structuring a society around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the idea of allocating goods and services based on need. It eliminates the concept of private property, of social classes, ultimately of money and finally of the state itself. Back under Mao in 1958-1962 (The Great Leap Forward), China tried this (in part). Some 50+ million people died. It was an abject failure. But due to China's real problem (authoritarianism, even worship of their leaders), the leading classes never admitted this. And even today they continue to use the word "Communist" for things that aren't communist at all, as a way to save face, and also in opposition to the United States of America and Europe. Authorities are not eager to admit their faults. But this is not just a Chinese fault, it is a fault in human nature that affects all countries. The USA still refuses to admit they assassinated their own president JFK. They do not admit they bombed the Nord Stream pipeline. China defines "socialism with Chinese characteristics" to mean "the leadership of the Communist Party of China". So they still keep the words socialism and communism, but they long ago dropped the meanings of those words. I'm not sure if this is a political ploy against us in the West or not. ### China's Marketplace Today Today China exhibits very few of the properties of communism. They have some common ownership and state enterprises, but not much differently than Western countries (New Zealand owns Air New Zealand and Kiwibank and Kiwirail, etc). And there are private enterprises all over China. They compete and some succeed and some fail. You might hear about a real-estate bank collapsing. China has private property. They have mostly free markets. They have money, and the most definitely have social classes and a very strong state. None of that is inline with what communist thinkers want. Communist thinkers in China moan that China has turned away from communism. Deng Xiaoping who succeeded Mao and attempted to correct the massive mistake, did much when he said "to get rich is glorious." China achieved staggering rates of economic growth. 10% annually on average since 1977. Chinese economic reform started in 1979 and has continued through successive administrations (Deng, Jiang, Hu and now Xi). China is now the world's largest economy (by GDP in PPP terms) since 2016. I was first made aware of China's economic growth by Jim Rogers, an American commodities expert who travelled through China (and the rest of the world from 1990-1992) and in 2007 moved to Singapore where he ensured his daughters learned to speak Mandarin, because Jim knew where the economic growth was going to happen. Jim always spoke positively of China's economic prospects, and his view was so different from the "China is a nasty communist place" view that I had grown up with that my mind opened. How can anybody believe they are still a communist country? In what world does it make sense that communism can produce such a massively booming economy? It doesn't make sense because it is simply wrong. What *does* happen is that the CPC interferes. It lets the market do what markets do, but it interferes where it thinks oversight and regulation would produce a better result. Western nations interfere with their markets too. They have oversight and regulation. In fact some of China's planned reforms had to be put on hold by Xi due to Donald Trump's trade war with China. That's right, they were trying to be even more free market than America, but America's protectionism prodded Xi to keep control so he could fight back efficiently. Government oversight and regulation IMHO is mostly bad because it gets out of control, and there are no market forces to correct this. This gets even more extreme in a one-party system, so I can judge that China's oversight and regulation problems are very likely worse than those in Western nations (but I have no first hand experience or evidence). ## Why do you keep saying CPC? The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the ruling party in China. That is their official name. To call them the CCP is to concede to the idea that the British and Americans get to name everybody. I'm not sure who is right, since CPC or CCP is their "English" name (in Chinese it is 中国共产党 and Westernized it is Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng). Nonetheless, I'll call them CPC because that is their wish. ## Social Credit System China moved from a planned economy to a market economy in stages. They didn't want any more sudden changes (can you blame them?). In the process, many institutions that have existed in the West for a long time didn't exist in China and they had to arise somehow. IMHO market forces would have brought these about in the private sector, but the one-party CP of China instead decided to create these. One of those institutions was a credit score system. In the West we have TransUnion and Equifax that maintain credit ratings on people, and we have S&P, Moody's and Fitch that maintain credit ratings on companies. The domain of these ratings is their financial credit-worthiness. So the People's Bank of China developed a credit information database for it's own needs. The government picked up on the idea and started moving towards a National Credit Management System. In 2004 it became an official goal to establish a credit system compatible with a modern market system. By 2006 banks were required to report on consumer creditworthiness. But unchecked one-party governmental power will often take a good idea (credit worthiness data shared among private parties) and systematize it and apply it top-down, creating a solution and a new problem at the same time. Nonetheless, originally it was about credit worthiness and also criminal convictions. That is no big scary thing that some right-wing American commentators will lead you to believe. In the US for example criminal records are public, so China's Social Credit System started out being no more over-reaching in scope than what Americans have lived under their entire lives, its only fault (a severe one) being centrally planned. And that remained the case up until about 2016 (in my estimation). But of course there is always scope creep. As it exists today, I have reason to believe that CPC officials and even A.I. use judgement calls to score someone on how moral that person has been! Of course that is not a good idea, and IMHO the problem stems from one-party rule, and authoritarian administration of ideas that should instead be handled by the private sector. ## Environmental, Social, and Governance ESG is a system that came out of a couple basic ideas. The first is that many two-party transactions actually have externalities. They don't just affect the two parties, they also affect everybody else. When you fly in an airplane, you increase the CO2 in the atmosphere that everybody has to pay for (eventually). You may dispute that example, but that is no doubt one of the motivations of ESG. But of course the recognition of this basic issue didn't lead all people towards market solutions (well it did, but those have been mostly messed up by others), but instead led many people towards ESG, which is a social credit scoring system which applies scores based on environmental and social side-effects of market transactions. This is not at all the same as China's social credit system, which I described above. I hope you can see the difference. In fact, China imported ESG from the West. Chinese companies, of their free will, in an attempt to court Western capital, achieve ESG goals for those Western investors. They have been playing this ESG game for 20 years just like the entire world has, because the West has imposed this faux-morality upon them. It isn't something China exported to us, it is something we exported to them. ## I think China has avoided Woke-ism My understanding of Chinese people, based on what I've heard many Chinese people say, is that China isn't affected by the Western woke-ism epidemic. They deride Western white woke people with the term "Baizuo". They have never sent an incompetent break dancer to the Olympics because of wok-ism. Competence is highly respected as is the competition to be the most competent, which (when augmented by a one-child policy which is no longer) has produced child prodigies like no other country has. ## What about predatory loans of the Belt and Road initiative? Predatory is an odd name for loans to people in need. The World Bank makes loans to people in need. China does too. China stands in opposition to Western Empire, and in that regard they produce their own alternative BRICS institutions. This is one of them. There is AFAIK nothing more predatory about them. It is just that in some cases the borrowers have trouble paying them back and they get foreclosed upon. I don't think this is worthy of much discussion, except that the term "predatory" seems to me to be a propaganda device. ## What about foreign influence from China? China wants to influence the world, especially its own trading partners and potential trading partners. Doing that above board is fine by me. But some of it is undoubtedly covert. Sometimes Chinese-born people run for public office in Western countries. In New Zealand we stood down some when it became clear they were being influenced too much by the CPC while being charged with representing their local town (dual loyalty issues). If only the USA would do the same thing to their dually-loyal politicians. And all large nations run influence operations. The USA has the CIA, for example, and claims this "soft power" is actually the better alternative to what would otherwise be military intervention (but IMHO shouldn't be either). I'm not defending such operations (I despise them), I'm just explaining how China's position of exerting influence is not only no big deal and totally expected, it pales in comparison to the United States' influence operations which often become military excursions (something China rarely ever does). ## What about the Great Firewall? Yeah, that sucks. Again, single-party authoritarian control gone to extremes. ## What about Human Rights Abuses? What about the Uyghur Genocide? I don't like them. To the extent they are occurring (and I lean towards the belief that they are occurring), I condemn them. China has anti-terrorism and anti-extremism policies that go too far. They end up oppressing and/or criminalizing cultures that aren't Chinese enough. But especially, China punishes dissent. Disagreement with the CPC is the high crime. It is the one-party rule that causes this problem. Anybody who speaks out against the CPC or goes against the state in any way is harshly punished. This happens to Uyghurs, to Falun Gong, to Tibetans, and to any religion that is seen as subversive. Amnesty International and the UN OHCHR have documented issues around the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, Tibet, LGBT rights, death penalty, workers rights, and the Hong Kong special administrative region. I am not about to pretend I know better than they do, but to some extent they go too far. Amnesty International says this about the USA: Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people were widespread and anti-LGBTI legislation increased. Bills were introduced to address reparations regarding slavery and its legacies. Multiple states implemented total bans on abortion or severely limited access to it. Gender-based violence disproportionately affected Indigenous women. Access to the USA for asylum seekers and migrants was still fraught with obstacles, but some nationalities continued to enjoy Temporary Protected Status. Moves were made to restrict the freedom to protest in a number of states. Black people were disproportionately affected by the use of lethal force by police. No progress was made in the abolition of the death penalty, apart from in Washington. Arbitrary and indefinite detention in the US naval base Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, continued. Despite extensive gun violence, no further firearm reform policies were considered, but President Biden did announce the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The USA continued to use lethal force in countries around the world. Black people, other racialized groups and low-income people bore the brunt of the health impacts of the petrochemical industry, and the use of fossil fuels continued unabated. Amnesty international didn't even point out that the US government quashes free speech via pressure on social media corporations (because Amnesty International is far too lefty). So who is worse, China or the US? I'm not going to make that judgement call, but suffice it to say that in my mind, China is not obviously worse. China violates freedom of expression, association, and assembly of all people. This is bad, and a consequence mainly of one-party rule (again, what I think is the root cause of most of their ills). They arrest, detain, potentially kill anybody who publicly disagrees openly with their government. Clearly this is an excess of authoritarianism, a cancer that is very advanced in China. As to organ harvesting of Uyghur Muslims, I think this is a myth. China has dealt harshly with Muslim extremism. They don't offer freedom of religion to ISIS. And Amnesty International complains about that. But practically speaking you probably shouldn't respect the extremist religion of people who want to force everybody into a global caliphate through threat of violence. As you are well aware, some extremist Muslims (<1% of Islam) believe in using violence to bring about a global caliphate. Those extremists pop up in every country and are usually dealt with harshly. China has had to deal with them too. I have watched two different Western YouTubers travel to Xinjiang province trying to find the oppressed Uyghurs and interview them. They can't find them. What they find instead are Uyghur Muslims doing their prayers five times a day at the local mosque. And also stories that the CPC pitched in some money to help them renovate the mosque. Maybe they were afraid it was a CPC trap and so they wouldn't speak freely. Amnesty International and the UN OHCHR say more than a million are "arbitrarily detained" and I'm not going to argue otherwise. But I'd be more convinced if there were a stream of pictures and news like there is out of Gaza, and it is suspicious that there isn't. ## Conclusion China is more like a Western nation that Westerners realize. Economically, militarily, socially. It still has a very serious obstacle to overcome: one-party rule. I don't think the one-party is going to voluntarily give up power. So most probably at some point in the future there will be a revolution. But in my opinion it won't happen anytime soon. For the most part Chinese people are living high on the hog, getting rich, enjoying the good life, in positive spirits about life, and are getting along with their government quite well at present.

@ 58937958:545e6994

Spiralのキャラクター「ビットコイン（パペット）」のコロッケを作りました  作り方は一般的なコロッケです 試しにタネの状態で手足をくっつけたバージョン（右）も作りましたが 粉をつける前に手足がもげました  顔はのりとスライスチーズ 手足ははんぺんです 足は醤油をつけてトースターで軽く焼いたら茶色になりました  手足はサラスパでくっつけてます 細いスパゲッティ キャラ弁でググったらサラスパが出てきてなるほどな～と思いました 自分は揚げパスタにして刺しました 弁当箱に押し込まれてるコロッケくん  半減期  メモ - タネを作った時に形を保たせるために冷凍してみたんですけど逆効果だった（皿とクッキングペーパーにくっついて取れなくなった＆半解凍したら水分がすごいことになった）ので冷凍するなら対策が必要そう - 形作るときにかなりパサパサだったので、つなぎがあった方がいいのかも（今回はじゃがいも＆炒めタマネギだけ） ビットコインくんの形はすごく作りやすくて面白いのでまた何か作りたいなぁと思いました nostr:nevent1qqsxgpjvf9g9suhzx5asqhvnlvnarl43kuhas8v5g2ryjr9yjjp0z5ctkh5pt

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# Nostr 2? ## Breaking Changes in Nostr Nostr was a huge leap forward. But it isn't perfect. When developers notice a problem with nostr, they confer with each other to work out a solution to the problem. This is usually in the form of a NIP PR on the nips repo. Some problems are easy. Just add something new and optional. No biggie. Zaps, git stuff, bunkers... just dream it up and add it. Other problems can only be fixed by breaking changes. With a breaking change, the overall path forward is like this: Add the new way of doing it while preserving the old way. Push the major software to switch to the new way. Then deprecate the old way. This is a simplification, but it is the basic idea. It is how we solved markers/quotes/root and how we are upgrading encryption, among other things. This process of pushing through a breaking change becomes more difficult as we have more and more existing nostr software out there that will break. Most of the time what happens is that the major software is driven to make the change (usually by nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6), and the smaller software is left to fend for itself. A while back I introduced the BREAKING.md file to help people developing smaller lesser-known software keep up with these changes. ## Big Ideas But some ideas just can't be applied to nostr. The idea is too big. The change is too breaking. It changes something fundamental. And nobody has come up with a smooth path to move from the old way to the new way. And so we debate a bunch of things, and never settle on anything, and eventually nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 makes a post saying that we don't really want it anyways 😉. As we encounter good ideas that are hard to apply to nostr, I've been filing them away in a repository I call "nostr-next", so we don't forget about them, in case we ever wanted to start over. It seems to me that starting over every time we encountered such a thing would be unwise. However, once we collect enough changes that we couldn't reasonably phase into nostr, then a tipping point is crossed where it becomes worthwhile to start over. In terms of the "bang for the buck" metaphor, the bang becomes bigger and bigger but the buck (the pain and cost of starting over) doesn't grow as rapidly. ## WHAT? Start over? IMHO starting over could be very bad if done in a cavalier way. The community could fracture. The new protocol could fail to take off due to lacking the network effect. The odds that a new protocol catches on are low, irrespective of how technically superior it could be. So the big question is: can we preserve the nostr community and it's network effect while making a major step-change to the protocol and software? I don't know the answer to that one, but I have an idea about it. I think the new-protocol clients can be dual-stack, creating events in both systems and linking those events together via tags. The nostr key identity would still be used, and the new system identity too. This is better than things like the mostr bridge because each user would remain in custody of their own keys. ## The nitty gritty Here are some of the things I think would make nostr better, but which nostr can't easily fix. A lot of these ideas have been mentioned before by multiple people and I didn't give credit to all of you (sorry) because my brain can't track it all. But I've been collecting these over time at https://github.com/mikedilger/nostr-next * Events as CBOR or BEVE or MsgPack or a fixed-schema binary layout... anything but JSON text with its parsing, it's encoding ambiguity, it's requirement to copy fields before hashing them, its unlimited size constraints. (me, nostr:npub1xtscya34g58tk0z605fvr788k263gsu6cy9x0mhnm87echrgufzsevkk5s) * EdDSA ed25519 keys instead of secp256k1, to enable interoperability with a bunch of other stuff like ssh, pgp, TLS, Mainline DHT, and many more, plus just being better cryptography (me, Nuh, Orlovsky, except Orlovsky wanted Ristretto25519 for speed) * Bootstrapping relay lists (and relay endpoints) from Mainline DHT (nostr:npub1jvxvaufrwtwj79s90n79fuxmm9pntk94rd8zwderdvqv4dcclnvs9s7yqz) * Master keys and revocable subkeys / device keys (including having your nostr key as a subkey) * Encryption to use different encryption-specific subkeys and ephemeral ones from the sender. * Relay keypairs, TLS without certificates, relays known by keypair instead of URL * Layered protocol (separate core from applications) * Software remembering when they first saw an event, for 2 reasons, the main one being revocation (don't trust the date in the event, trust when you first saw it), the second being more precise time range queries. * Upgrade/feature negotiation (HTTP headers prior to starting websockets) * IDs starting with a timestamp so they are temporally adjacent (significantly better database performance) (Vitor's idea) * Filters that allow boolean expressions on tag values, and also ID exclusions. Removing IDs from filters and moving to a GET command. * Changing the transport (I'm against this but I know others want to) ## What would it look like? Someone (Steve Farroll) has taken my nostr-next repo and turned it into a proposed protocol he calls [Mosaic](https://github.com/SteveFarroll/mosaic-spec). I think it is quite representative of that repo, as it already includes most of those suggestions, so I've been contributing to it. Mosaic spec is rendered [here](https://stevefarroll.github.io/mosaic-spec/). Of course, where Mosaic stands right now it is mostly my ideas (and Steve's), it doesn't have feedback or input from other nostr developers yet. That is what this blog post is about. I think it is time for other nostr devs to be made aware of this thing. It is currently in the massive breaking changes phase. It might not look that way because of the detail and refinement of the documentation, but indeed everything is changing rapidly. It probably has some bad ideas and is probably missing some great ideas that you have. Which is why this is a good time for other devs to start taking a look at it. It is also the time to debate meta issues like "are you crazy Mike?" or "no we have to just break nostr but keep it nostr, we can't dual-stack" or whatever. Personally I think mosaic-spec should develop and grow for quite a while before the "tipping point" happens. That is, I'm not sure we should jump in feet first yet, but rather we build up and refine this new protocol and spend a lot of time thinking about how to migrate smoothly, and break it a lot while nobody is using it. So you can just reply to this, or DM me, or open issues or PRs at [Mosaic](https://github.com/SteveFarroll/mosaic-spec), or just whisper to each other while giving me the evil eye.

@ 84b0c46a:417782f5

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qqs0df2mwnp2q6hm6zjrthkmx3fudwsuwrmgnwrdavpzgjy8nnuqm5cqpd06k nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qqs2muhvnev5367ywuzkhell9my86jlnzhsnuszwl46tnc3fpsx9mtgjkqnu7 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qqsznnkrl8qdwzgp7ry2hc7a77kwhg440gv9xtmvyfawggrpz3rhwvcx4rckf nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qqsyjf80k3djt96qncgvwl2yem09fdqcc0y9l8t657yc9qg2yhmg7kcnua8vn nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qqs0s3lp0w0yclk64j0tpc5fvrulv78g2lfjz3gcgacw9mt6czek26qtqxuck nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qywhwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnrdakhq6tvv5kk2unjdaezumn9wsqs6amnwvaz7tmev9382tndv5qjqamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fddfczumn0wd68ytnhd9ex2erwv46zu6nsqqs89tst72clc60wse3zq4qfs0976y7areffnhx26atvu6pv58hg6dsxvcc79 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtt2wqhxummnw3ezuamfwfjkgmn9wshx5uqpr3mhxue69uhhxun5wfjkccte9e3j6um5v4kxcctj9ehx2aqqyp5k40r3ug02yz5y0tn67tm2lwevuwac54qyw3yyct8n8uzr7pjz2q92pyt nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtt2wqhxummnw3ezuamfwfjkgmn9wshx5uqqyp9pennjwq2qk4dxpr440wxqm5cfwah4qccd8la62hantxdelkk82ty9mr8 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qqsz9w30kxzjshwd8sq7jg2hsy2hwqg3zu7gyvxnsyrgfw0ur4rkhsg9v0re4 nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qqs8wkx2r8txt9q69c3zvpqs2em2s40nc8tajmcc5l8ngxn8v2ng3sc43xvzu nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtt2wqhxummnw3ezuamfwfjkgmn9wshx5uqqyzdkacpjqvv2y79zgvufx9jh39rd7xa8v056rgn4xelmnmrq9u2tuguswek nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qy2hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnyv96xztngv96hxqpqmdtjrs38fv8r20deplrlt8fma54gu43keuzquzks7673a27ud58slunr8y nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpp9sc34tdxdvxh4jeg5xgu9ctcypmvsg0n00vwfjydkrjaqh0qh4qyxhwumn8ghj77tpvf6jumt9qys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtt2wqhxummnw3ezuamfwfjkgmn9wshx5uqpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucm0d4cxjmr994jhyun0wghxuet5qqsxzpx2r5hd36pruzn2e58wh947y2t0t205fp5xtstqp5wq0qgcjuq07rqlk

@ 07804b78:c375c543

Japanese follows. 日本語はあとで。 This article is for the 14th day of [Nostr Advent Calendar 2024](https://adventar.org/calendars/10004) (relay blogging). The article for the 13th day was "[Open Sats 申請編](https://zenn.dev/konemono/articles/cb39fb7f302551)" (Applying for Open Sats) by mono-san. The article for the 14th day will be "[Nostrはじめました。](https://bewith.bz/?p=121)" (I started Nostr) by bro-san. # Thinking of Thingstr I've come up with an idea for Other Staff that I think is interesting (at least, for me), so I'm going to write about it. I actually wanted to show you the implementation and brag about it, but it's not solid enough to be implemented yet. The key idea is just “add a reaction to the WikiData ID”. ## WikiData There is a service called [WikiData](https://www.wikidata.org/). It is a knowledge base that provides structured data. You may be wondering what it is, but the important thing to understand here is that WikiData assigns identifiers to a fairly wide range of “objects” and “things”. So, if you can react to this, you can think of various applications just by thinking of it for a moment, right? For example, the anime series “There are too many losing heroines!” is assigned the ID `Q123819103`. The corresponding page is https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123819103 . (NOTE: The canonical URI for entities on Wikidata is http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1142841. This is in accordance with Semantic Web conventions, and is not https, but http. Also, this URI does not necessarily match the actual address of the correspnding web page. Just an identifier. In most cases, it will redirect). ## What can wd do? For example, what about a website that records your anime viewing history? You can record what you want to watch with 👀, what you've already watched with ✅, and your favorites with ☆. You can also express your “likes” for production companies, staff, voice actors, etc. In this way, you can see what a particular user likes. This could be a movie, a book, a comic, an author, music, an idol group, a place, or food (Someone likes pork cutlet `Q1142841`). The fact that you can record everything in the same framework is what makes it interesting. ## What form of event should it be recorded as? There is probably room for discussion about how to record this information in a concrete way. The simplest way would be to use NIP-25's "Reactions to a website" kind:17 (a.k.a. Makibishi). How about something like this? ```json [ ["i", "wd:Q123819103", "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q123819103"], ] ``` Since NIP-73 has External Content IDs, it would be good if we could include WikiData here so that we could write `wd:Q123819103`. Actually, `isbn:` and other identifiers have already been defined, so it is possible to use the current NIP range to describe books (however, the authors do not have IDs. If we use WikiData as an ID, we can also describe reactions related to the author). Of course, it is not a matter of choosing one or the other, and it is also fine to add the ISBN tag at the same time as the WikiData tag for books. ## Search for recorded reactions So far, this is all very simple, but it would be inconvenient if we didn't include tags to mark subsets of reactions (for example, only those related to anime) so that we can query them together. When we try to create a site that is specialized for a certain purpose, we need to be able to extract the reactions that are necessary. On Wikidata, the predicate `wdt:P31` (instance of) is used to group together concepts that represent the same thing. For example, how about including this in the `l` tag? "There are too many losing heroines!" is a "Japanese television anime series (`Q63952888`)", so: ```json [ ["i", "wd:Q1142841", "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1142841"], ["l", "wdt:P31 wd:Q63952888"] ] ``` UPDATE(2024-12-15): rnurachue-san suggested that `#l` or `#L` might be better for labeling (the first version used `#a`). I think that's a good idea, so I've updated the article. nostr:nevent1qgswamu0rsela0kwhj87p24ueapxdp04vzz7ar0pp6lfyq923t3l02cqyr9786635s60ra0f973nwv2sln2l74lqx4twdlgxfz2jgevpvsgtc9zwn6d However, when you think about creating an anime website, you may want to query both TV anime and anime films. This makes things more complicated. "Japanese TV anime series (`Q63952888`)" is a subclass (subclass of; `wdt:P279`) of "Anime series (`Q117467261`)", which is in turn a subclass of "Anime (`Q1107`)". However, if you were to embed this hierarchy in each reaction, it would waste a lot of space. The following query will get all the superclasses of "Japanese TV anime series (`Q63952888`)", but there are 54 of them. https://query.wikidata.org/#%23%20Subclass%20hierarchy%20traversal%20for%20Q63952888%0ASELECT%20%3Fitem%20%3FitemLabel%20%3Fsuperclass%20%3FsuperclassLabel%0AWHERE%20%7B%0A%20%20%23%20Starting%20class%0A%20%20wd%3AQ63952888%20wdt%3AP279%2a%20%3Fsuperclass%20.%0A%20%20BIND%28wd%3AQ63952888%20AS%20%3Fitem%29%0A%20%20SERVICE%20wikibase%3Alabel%20%7B%20bd%3AserviceParam%20wikibase%3Alanguage%20%22%5BAUTO_LANGUAGE%5D%2Cen%22.%20%7D%0A%7D%0AORDER%20BY%20%3Fsuperclass%0A So, I think it should be okay for practical purposes to embed `P31`s of the reaction target. In other words, if you search for "anime series `Q63952888`" and "anime movie `Q20650540`", that should be enough. Fortunately, the conditions for single-character tags work with OR, so you can query multiple tags at once. we'll have to try it to see how well it works in practice, though. ## Discussion: Which kind should I use? So far we have considered using kind:17, but we have not yet decided whether it is a good idea to mix Thingstr events with reactions to web pages. Also, there may be a debate over whether to record regular events or addressable events, depending on the purpose of use. For example, if you want to record the transition of viewing results and impressions on an anime viewing site, you should use regular events, and if you want to maintain the viewing status, you should use addressable events. What do you think? ## Other ideas If we can react to Nodes on [OpenStreetMap](https://www.openstreetmap.org/) using the same framework, we might be able to create something like [Swarm](https://swarmapp.com/). Since the views you want to see will differ depending on the purpose, it would be good to create various sites while having a consistent way of recording. Wouldn't that be the most Nostr-like thing? ## Summary I discussed how to use WikiData and OpenStreetMap as an ID infrastructure and realize various check-in and review services with a unified data model by using them on Nostr. Please let us know if you have any feedback. Or why not try implementing it? ---- この記事は [Nostr Advent Calendar 2024](https://adventar.org/calendars/10004) の14日目の記事です。13日目の記事はmonoさんによる「[Open Sats 申請編](https://zenn.dev/konemono/articles/cb39fb7f302551)」でした。15日目の記事はbroさんによる「[Nostrはじめました。](https://bewith.bz/?p=121)」です。 # Thingstrについて考えた 面白そうな（と勝手に思ってる） Other Staff のアイディアを思いついたので、書いてみます。 本当は実装を持ってきて自慢したかったのですが、まだふわっとしていて実装に落ちていません。 コアになるアイディアは「WikiData の ID に対して、Reactionをつける」これだけです。 ## WikiData [WikiData](https://www.wikidata.org/) というサービスがあります。構造化データを提供する知識ベースです。 なにそれ？という感じですが、ここで大事なのはWikiDataはかなり広範な「もの」「こと」に識別子(Identifier)を付与している、ということです。 だから、これにリアクションできれば、ぱっと思いつくだけでもいろいろな応用ができそうじゃないですか。 例えば、アニメシリーズ「負けヒロインが多すぎる！」には `Q123819103` というIDが振られています。これに対応するページとして https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123819103 があります。 （ただし、WikiData のエンティティに対する canonical な URI は http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1142841 であることには注意が必要です。セマンティックウェブの作法で https ではなく http になっています。そして、このURIは必ずしもWebページのアドレス一致しません。大抵の場合はリダイレクトされます）。 ## なにができるの たとえば、アニメの視聴記録サイトはどうでしょう。👀は見たい作品、✅は視聴済み、☆はお気に入り、みたいに記録していく。制作会社、スタッフ、声優、...に対してLikeを表明したりできそうです。そうすると、あるユーザが何にLikeしているかわかります。 これが映画でもいいし、書籍、漫画、作家でもいいし、音楽でもいいし、アイドルグループでもいいし、場所でもいいし、食べ物でもいい（とんかつ `Q1142841` が好き、とか）。全部同じ枠組みで記録できるのが面白そうなところです。 ## どういうNostrイベントで記録する？ 具体的な記録の仕方には議論の余地があるでしょう。一番単純なのは、NIP-25の "Reactions to a website" kind:17 (Makibishi) を使う方法でしょうか。こんなのはどうでしょう。 ```json [ ["i", "wd:Q123819103", "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q123819103"], ] ``` NIP-73にExternal Content IDsがあるので、ここにWikiDataを入れられるようにして `wd:Q123819103` と書けるとよさそうです。実は `isbn:` などはすでに定義されているので、書籍に関しては現行のNIPの範囲でもうまいことできます（ただ、著者にはIDが振られていません。WikiDataをIDに使うと著者に関するリアクションも記述できます）。もちろん、どちらか一方を選ぶというものでもなくて、書籍にはWikiDataのタグと当時にISBNのタグを付与しておいてもいいと思います。 ## 記録されたリアクションを検索する ここまではシンプルでよいのですが、リアクションの部分集合（たとえばアニメに関連するものだけ、とか）をまとめてクエリできるように、目印となるタグを入れておかないと不便です。ある目的に特化したサイトを作ろうとしたとき、必要になるリアクションが抽出できるようにしておかないといけません。 WikiData では `wdt:P31` (instance of) という述語で、ある概念が何を表しているかをグルーピングしてくれています。例えばこれを`l`タグとかに含めておくのはどうでしょうか。 負けヒロインが多すぎる！は「日本のテレビアニメシリーズ(`Q63952888`)」なので、 ```json [ ["i", "wd:Q1142841", "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1142841"], ["l", "wdt:P31 wd:Q63952888"] ] ``` みたいな感じで付与します。 UPDATE(2024-12-15): rnurachueさんからラベル付けには `#l` または `#L` のほうがよいかもという提案をいただきました。最初のバージョンでは `#a` を使用していました。そのとおりだと思ったので更新しました。 nostr:nevent1qgswamu0rsela0kwhj87p24ueapxdp04vzz7ar0pp6lfyq923t3l02cqyr9786635s60ra0f973nwv2sln2l74lqx4twdlgxfz2jgevpvsgtc9zwn6d ただ、アニメサイトを作ることを考えると、テレビアニメも劇場版アニメも両方クエリしたいこともありそうですよね。そうなると話が複雑になってきます。 「日本のテレビアニメシリーズ(`Q63952888`)」は「アニメシリーズ(`Q117467261`)」のサブクラス(subclass of; `wdt:P279`)で、それがさらに「アニメ(`Q1107`)」 のサブクラスになっています。ただ、この階層をいちいちリアクションに埋め込むのと大変なことになります。以下のようなクエリで「日本のテレビアニメシリーズ(`Q63952888`)」のすべての上位クラスが取れるのですが、54件もあります。 https://query.wikidata.org/#%23%20Subclass%20hierarchy%20traversal%20for%20Q63952888%0ASELECT%20%3Fitem%20%3FitemLabel%20%3Fsuperclass%20%3FsuperclassLabel%0AWHERE%20%7B%0A%20%20%23%20Starting%20class%0A%20%20wd%3AQ63952888%20wdt%3AP279%2a%20%3Fsuperclass%20.%0A%20%20BIND%28wd%3AQ63952888%20AS%20%3Fitem%29%0A%20%20SERVICE%20wikibase%3Alabel%20%7B%20bd%3AserviceParam%20wikibase%3Alanguage%20%22%5BAUTO_LANGUAGE%5D%2Cen%22.%20%7D%0A%7D%0AORDER%20BY%20%3Fsuperclass%0A なので、リアクション対象の`P31`を埋め込む、くらいで実用上は問題ないような気がします。つまり、検索するときに 「アニメシリーズ `Q63952888`」と「アニメ映画 `Q20650540`」を対象にすれば、十分では、ということです。幸い、一文字タグの条件はORで効くので、複数を並べて一度にクエリできます。実際にどのくらいうまく行くかはやってみないとわからないですが。 ## 議論: どの kind を使うべきか？ 一旦 kind 17 を使うことを考えてきましたが、Thingstr のイベントが Web ページに対するリアクションと混ざるのが良いことなのか、いまいち判断がついていません。 また、用途によって regular event で記録するべきか、それとも addressable event で記録すべきか、という議論もありそうです。 アニメ視聴サイトを例にあげるなら、視聴実績とか感想の変遷を記録したいならば regular event でしょうし、視聴の状態を保持したいならば addressable とするのがよさそうです。 どう思いますか？ ## 他のアイディア これと同じ枠組みで [OpenStreetMap](https://www.openstreetmap.org/) の Node に対してリアクションできるようにすれば [Swarm](https://swarmapp.com/) のようなものも実現できるかもしれません。 用途ごとに見たいビューは違うだろうから、一貫した記録の仕方を持ちつつ、色々なサイトを作ったらいいんじゃないでしょうか。それって最高にNostrっぽくないですか？ ## まとめ WikiDataやOpenStreetMapをID基盤として活用し、Nostr上でreactすることで、様々なチェックインサービス、レビューサービスを統一的なデータモデルで実現する方法について議論しました。フィードバックがあったら教えてください。むしろ実装してみてください。

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

This is a list of nostr clients exposed as onion services. The list is currently actively maintained on [GitHub](https://github.com/0xtrr/onion-service-nostr-clients). Contributions are always appreciated! | Client name | Onion URL | Source code URL | Admin | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Snort | http://agzj5a4be3kgp6yurijk4q7pm2yh4a5nphdg4zozk365yirf7ahuctyd.onion | https://git.v0l.io/Kieran/snort | [operator](nostr:nprofile1qyvhwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnndehhyapwwdhkx6tpdshszxnhwden5te0wpuhyctdd9jzuenfv96x5ctx9e3k7mf0qqsx8lnrrrw9skpulctgzruxm5y7rzlaw64tcf9qpqww9pt0xvzsfmg9umdvr) | N/A | | moStard | http://sifbugd5nwdq77plmidkug4y57zuqwqio3zlyreizrhejhp6bohfwkad.onion/ | https://github.com/rafael-xmr/nostrudel/tree/mostard | [operator](nostr:nprofile1qyv8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgctjvshx7un89uq36amnwvaz7tmzdaehgu3wvf5hgcm0d9h8g7r0ddhjucm0d5hsqgy8wvyzw6l9pn5m47n7tcm5un7t7h5ctx3pjx8nfwh06qq8g6max5zadtyx) | minimalist monero friendly nostrudel fork | | Nostrudel | http://oxtrnmb4wsb77rmk64q3jfr55fo33luwmsyaoovicyhzgrulleiojsad.onion/ | https://github.com/hzrd149/nostrudel | [operator](nostrnpub1ktt8phjnkfmfrsxrgqpztdjuxk3x6psf80xyray0l3c7pyrln49qhkyhz0) | Runs latest tagged docker image | | Nostrudel Next | http://oxtrnnumsflm7hmvb3xqphed2eqpbrt4seflgmdsjnpgc3ejd6iycuyd.onion/ | https://github.com/hzrd149/nostrudel | [operator](nostr:npub1ktt8phjnkfmfrsxrgqpztdjuxk3x6psf80xyray0l3c7pyrln49qhkyhz0) | Runs latest "next" tagged docker image | | Nsite | http://q457mvdt5smqj726m4lsqxxdyx7r3v7gufzt46zbkop6mkghpnr7z3qd.onion/ | https://github.com/hzrd149/nsite-ts | [operator](nostr:nprofile1qqszv6q4uryjzr06xfxxew34wwc5hmjfmfpqn229d72gfegsdn2q3fgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsxx2q3a) | Runs nsite. You can read more about nsite [here](https://github.com/lez/nsite). |

@ 599f67f7:21fb3ea9

### ¿Qué es un canal? Un canal Lightning es simplemente una multifirma 2-de-2 en la cadena. Para abrir un canal, solo enviamos fondos a una transacción multifirma 2-de-2. Esto crea un UTXO y el canal está abierto hasta que este UTXO se gaste. Durante la vida del canal, se crean un montón de transacciones que gastan doblemente la transacción de financiamiento, pero eventualmente una (y solo una) de estas se publicará en la cadena para cerrar el canal. Así que, idealmente, un canal Lightning condensa efectivamente un montón de transacciones en dos transacciones en la cadena: la que lo abre y la que lo cierra. Podríamos decir que así es como Lightning "eleva" las transacciones fuera de la cadena. ### Creando un canal Una **transacción de financiamiento** para un canal entre Alice y Bob es simplemente una transacción que tiene una salida como sigue: ``` 2 <pubkeyA> <pubkeyB> 2 OP_CHECKMULTISIG ``` Donde `<pubkeyA>` es la clave pública de Alice y `<pubkeyB>` es la de Bob. Entonces, si Alice quiere abrir un canal con Bob, ¿simplemente le envía fondos al script anterior? La respuesta es no, es un poco más complicado que eso. Existe la posibilidad de que Bob desaparezca para siempre y nunca vuelva a firmar ninguna transacción que intente gastar de la transacción de financiamiento. Esto significa que, efectivamente, los fondos de Alice quedarían atrapados en este UTXO para siempre. ¡No es ideal! Aquí es donde entra una **transacción de compromiso**. Cubriremos la transacción de compromiso con más detalle en el futuro, pero por ahora lo importante que hay que saber es que una vez que una transacción de financiamiento es confirmada, las transacciones de compromiso definen el **estado** del canal (es decir, cómo se distribuyen los fondos entre los participantes del canal). Así que, esencialmente, cada transacción de compromiso gasta la transacción de financiamiento como entrada y tiene salidas que definen la distribución de fondos entre los participantes del canal. Para ver cómo se utilizan estos dos conceptos para negociar la apertura de un canal, se intercambiará una serie de mensajes entre los nodos de Alice y Bob, como se muestra en el diagrama a continuación.  Es un poco como negociar un contrato; cada parte solo firma cuando está contento con los términos. Vamos a revisar cada uno de estos mensajes con más detalle. #### open_channel Alice envía este mensaje a Bob para indicar que quiere abrir un canal con él. Este mensaje contiene varios detalles sobre los requisitos de Alice para el canal. El más importante es `funding_pubkey`. Esta es la clave pública que Alice tiene la intención de usar como su clave pública en el script de la transacción de financiamiento.  #### accept_channel Si Bob está contento con los requisitos que Alice ha presentado en su oferta de canal, puede enviar de vuelta el mensaje `accept_channel`, que también contiene algunos de sus requisitos junto con su `funding_pubkey`.  En este punto, Alice tiene todo lo que necesita para construir la transacción de financiamiento. Sin embargo, aún no tiene garantía de que Bob no desaparecerá, lo que haría que sus fondos no se pudieran gastar. Por lo tanto, aún no transmite la transacción de financiamiento. En cambio, lo que necesita es una transacción de compromiso firmada por Bob que gaste de la transacción de financiamiento y divida el saldo del canal en consecuencia. La transacción de financiamiento podría asignar algunos fondos a Bob también, por lo que Bob también querría una transacción de compromiso válida firmada por Alice, en caso de que ella desaparezca. Entonces, lo que Alice hace ahora es construir la transacción de financiamiento y enviar a Bob el siguiente mensaje: #### funding_created  Este mensaje contiene el TXID de la transacción de financiamiento, el índice de salida relevante de la transacción de financiamiento junto con una firma de la transacción de compromiso de Bob. Alice puede construir la transacción de compromiso exacta de Bob utilizando la información que ya conoce. Ten en cuenta que Bob no puede hacer nada aún con su transacción de compromiso porque está gastando de una transacción que aún no está en la blockchain. #### funding_signed  Si Bob está contento, entonces puede enviar a Alice un mensaje `funding_signed`, que contiene la firma de Bob para la transacción de compromiso de Alice. Ahora, Alice tiene una transacción de compromiso válida firmada por Bob que puede usar para gastar sus fondos de vuelta a sí misma en caso de que Bob desaparezca. Por lo tanto, es seguro para ella transmitir la transacción de financiamiento. #### channel_ready Tanto Alice como Bob estarán ahora observando la blockchain esperando que la transacción de financiamiento alcance el número deseado de confirmaciones. Una vez que cada uno lo vea, se enviarán mutuamente el mensaje `channel_ready` que contiene el ID del canal.  ¡El canal ahora está abierto y listo para transacciones! ### Revisión Terminaremos con un breve resumen de los conceptos importantes que hemos aprendido en este capítulo. Siéntete libre de volver aquí en el futuro en caso de que necesites un recordatorio. - **canal**: un contrato multifirma 2-de-2 en la cadena utilizado para elevar transacciones fuera de la cadena - **transacción de financiamiento**: una transacción multifirma 2-de-2 con un script de salida P2WSH que contiene las claves públicas de ambos participantes del canal - **transacción de compromiso**: una transacción que define el estado de un canal, es decir, la distribución de fondos entre los participantes del canal ### Referencias - [BOLT2](https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lightning-rfc/blob/master/02-peer-protocol.md) - [LN Things Part 1: Creating a channel](https://ellemouton.com/posts/creating-a-channel/) por nostr:nprofile1qqswrt9pnxatlplu49h6meld8svmwqt87wwvk256rqk07n6eu4qeh5gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dszpfjtz

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# Bye-Bye Reply Guy There is a camp of nostr developers that believe spam filtering needs to be done by relays. Or at the very least by DVMs. I concur. In this way, once you configure what you want to see, it applies to all nostr clients. But we are not there yet. In the mean time we have ReplyGuy, and gossip needed some changes to deal with it. ## Strategies in Short 1. **WEB OF TRUST**: Only accept events from people you follow, or people they follow - this avoids new people entirely until somebody else that you follow friends them first, which is too restrictive for some people. 2. **TRUSTED RELAYS**: Allow every post from relays that you trust to do good spam filtering. 3. **REJECT FRESH PUBKEYS**: Only accept events from people you have seen before - this allows you to find new people, but you will miss their very first post (their second post must count as someone you have seen before, even if you discarded the first post) 4. **PATTERN MATCHING**: Scan for known spam phrases and words and block those events, either on content or metadata or both or more. 5. **TIE-IN TO EXTERNAL SYSTEMS**: Require a valid NIP-05, or other nostr event binding their identity to some external identity 6. **PROOF OF WORK**: Require a minimum proof-of-work All of these strategies are useful, but they have to be combined properly. ## filter.rhai Gossip loads a file called "filter.rhai" in your gossip directory if it exists. It must be a Rhai language script that meets certain requirements (see the example in the gossip source code directory). Then it applies it to filter spam. This spam filtering code is being updated currently. It is not even on unstable yet, but it will be there probably tomorrow sometime. Then to master. Eventually to a release. Here is an example using all of the techniques listed above: ```rhai // This is a sample spam filtering script for the gossip nostr // client. The language is called Rhai, details are at: // https://rhai.rs/book/ // // For gossip to find your spam filtering script, put it in // your gossip profile directory. See // https://docs.rs/dirs/latest/dirs/fn.data_dir.html // to find the base directory. A subdirectory "gossip" is your // gossip data directory which for most people is their profile // directory too. (Note: if you use a GOSSIP_PROFILE, you'll // need to put it one directory deeper into that profile // directory). // // This filter is used to filter out and refuse to process // incoming events as they flow in from relays, and also to // filter which events get/ displayed in certain circumstances. // It is only run on feed-displayable event kinds, and only by // authors you are not following. In case of error, nothing is // filtered. // // You must define a function called 'filter' which returns one // of these constant values: // DENY (the event is filtered out) // ALLOW (the event is allowed through) // MUTE (the event is filtered out, and the author is // automatically muted) // // Your script will be provided the following global variables: // 'caller' - a string that is one of "Process", // "Thread", "Inbox" or "Global" indicating // which part of the code is running your // script // 'content' - the event content as a string // 'id' - the event ID, as a hex string // 'kind' - the event kind as an integer // 'muted' - if the author is in your mute list // 'name' - if we have it, the name of the author // (or your petname), else an empty string // 'nip05valid' - whether nip05 is valid for the author, // as a boolean // 'pow' - the Proof of Work on the event // 'pubkey' - the event author public key, as a hex // string // 'seconds_known' - the number of seconds that the author // of the event has been known to gossip // 'spamsafe' - true only if the event came in from a // relay marked as SpamSafe during Process // (even if the global setting for SpamSafe // is off) fn filter() { // Show spam on global // (global events are ephemeral; these won't grow the // database) if caller=="Global" { return ALLOW; } // Block ReplyGuy if name.contains("ReplyGuy") || name.contains("ReplyGal") { return DENY; } // Block known DM spam // (giftwraps are unwrapped before the content is passed to // this script) if content.to_lower().contains( "Mr. Gift and Mrs. Wrap under the tree, KISSING!" ) { return DENY; } // Reject events from new pubkeys, unless they have a high // PoW or we somehow already have a nip05valid for them // // If this turns out to be a legit person, we will start // hearing their events 2 seconds from now, so we will // only miss their very first event. if seconds_known <= 2 && pow < 25 && !nip05valid { return DENY; } // Mute offensive people if content.to_lower().contains(" kike") || content.to_lower().contains("kike ") || content.to_lower().contains(" nigger") || content.to_lower().contains("nigger ") { return MUTE; } // Reject events from muted people // // Gossip already does this internally, and since we are // not Process, this is rather redundant. But this works // as an example. if muted { return DENY; } // Accept if the PoW is large enough if pow >= 25 { return ALLOW; } // Accept if their NIP-05 is valid if nip05valid { return ALLOW; } // Accept if the event came through a spamsafe relay if spamsafe { return ALLOW; } // Reject the rest DENY } ```

@ c6f7077f:ad5d48fd

***“The more you learn about something, the more you realize you know nothing.”*** This saying resonates deeply with me. The truth is, **no one really has all the big answers**. Many in the scientific community seem to pretend they do. Let’s explore this further. #### ***Consider the Most Fundamental Questions*** 1. **The Origin of the Universe** 2. **The Origin of Life on Earth** #### ***The Origin of the Universe*** You might think we have a solid answer: **the Big Bang**. However, this explanation has its limitations, and calling it a “start” can be misleading. In fact, this theory might be entirely wrong. New research challenges the Big Bang theory, and I highly recommend listening to **Sir Roger Penrose** for a deeper understanding. The only substantial evidence we have is the universe's expansion. Penrose proposes a different hypothesis: **the endless expansion and contraction of the universe**. This idea doesn’t contradict our current understanding. Thus, the evidence for the Big Bang and Penrose’s theory are both radically different, yet **neither can be definitively proven** over the other. This highlights the **limitations of our current understanding**. #### ***The Origin of Life on Earth*** The origin of life is even more complex. Life requires three essential components: - **Proteins** for basic functioning - **RNA** for storing and replicating genes - **Lipids** (cell walls) to create separation from the environment Mathematical models suggest that while proteins and lipids have a reasonable probability of forming, the creation of RNA seems nearly impossible through random mutations in a short time frame. The best explanations indicate that we either lack crucial information or that these RNA molecules—and life as a whole—might have come from **outside sources**. Some scholars even question the entire **random mutation model**. #### ***The Question of Certainty*** If scientists don’t know the answers, **why do they pretend they do?** In my humble opinion, **It seems they do this to distance science from religion and to close the discussion before the wealthiest can fit God into the narrative,** Interestingly, I’m not alone in believing they closed the books too early. #### ***Reclaiming Control of Science and Education*** The best way to reclaim control of science and education is to **learn**. If you’re looking for a starting point, I highly recommend: - **“A Brief History of Time”** by **Stephen Hawking** for physics - **“Sapiens”** or **“The Selfish Gene”** for evolutionary biology All three are excellent starting points—densely packed with information and covering a wide range of topics in a concise and accessible manner.

@ 78b3c1ed:5033eea9

※ライトニングノード保有者向け Alby Hubをインストールした時なんもわからずポチポチしているとMegatlith LSPノードからインバウンドを購入してチャネルを開くことになります。2万sats(2024/12/4 午後7時時点で三千円ほど)かかります。 そこで誰もが思うに違いない 「高いなぁ。だれかタダで無料で私のHubにチャネル開いてくれないかなぁ...」 その願望をかなえる献身的なノードランナー(笑)がAlby Hubへチャネルを開いてあげるための手順書みたいなものがこの記事です。 ~~ppmをうんと高くしてぼったくってやりましょう！~~ ※AlbyHubにオンチェーン資金が無くてもLNDから開く方法を発見しました。末尾に追記しました。 《これはアンカーアウトプットを利用するタイプのチャネル》 条件 ・チャネルを開く側 　Clearnet IPアドレスで着信可能であること。Torノードは不可。ノードURIを公開していなくても良い。AlbyHubでピア登録できるClearnet IPアドレスと着信ポートがあればOK。 ・開いてもらうAlby Hub側 　オンチェーン資金25,000sats以上をデポジットしておく。ないと開けません。 手順 1. [Alby Hub側] オンチェーン資金をデポジット Hubログイン後の左メニューからNodeを選択。Saving BalanceのDepositを選択。するとbc1qではじまるオンチェーンアドレスが表示される。ここへ送金してオンチェーンをデポジットしておく。 2. [Alby Hub側] 開く側のノードをピア登録 左メニューからNodeを選択。右上のAdvancedからConnected Peersを選択。 右上のConnect Peerを選択。欄にノードURI (ノードID@IPアドレス:着信ポート番号)を入力してConnect。 3. [開く側ノード] AlbyHubを確認、チャネルを開く ThunderhubやRide-The-Lightningなどを使い、Alby Hubのノードが表示されていることを確認。Hubにエイリアスは無いのでノードIDで表示される。 このノードに対してチャネルを開く。Private channelが望ましいと思われる。 6conf後に開設完了。 終わり！ メモ - Alby Hubではbase feeは設定可能だがrateが設定できない。そもそもAlby Hubはルーティング向けノードとして設計されてない。セルフカストディアルウォレットです。 - public channelだとchannel_update, channel_announcementがゴシップされるまでHubへ送金できない(no route)。上記の通りウォレットとしてのノードならprivate channelだけにしてルートヒント付きインボイスが発行できるようにしとくのが望ましい。 - LDKにおいて相手からチャネルを開いてもらう場合にオンチェーン資金が必要。相手がチャネルリザーブ無しのチャネルでもOKなら不要。現にメガリスLSPからチャネルを開いてもらう時オンチェーン資金が0satsでも開けているのがその実例。 - オンチェーン資金が必要なのはチャネルタイプがanchorの場合。オンチェーン資金でアンカーアウトプットをCPFPするためみたい。anchorが登場する前のstatic-remotekeyのタイプならオンチェーン資金は不要。 ----------- ＜ここからが追加＞ 《これはアンカーアウトプットを利用しないタイプのチャネル》 LNDからチャネルを開くときにstatic remote keyを利用するタイプを指定します。 条件 ・チャネルを開く側　※上記と同様。 ・開いてもらうAlby Hub側　無し。 手順 1. [Alby Hub側] 開く側のノードをピア登録 左メニューからNodeを選択。右上のAdvancedからConnected Peersを選択。右上のConnect Peerを選択。欄にノードURI (ノードID@IPアドレス:着信ポート番号)を入力してConnect。 2. [開く側ノード] AlbyHubを確認、チャネルを開く SSHログイン、UmbrelならLightningのターミナルで以下のコマンドを実行します。 <ノードID>は開きたいAlbyHubのノードIDで置き換えてください。 <チャネルサイズ>は開きたいチャネルの金額、例えば20万satsなら200000としましょう。 <手数料率>はチャネル開設のトランザクションに掛ける手数料率です。mempool. spaceなどで手数料水準を確認して指定しましょう。 --channel_type tweaklessがキモです。デフォルトだとanchorになります。RTLやTHで開くとこのanchorになります。なのでlncli openchannelでやります。 ``` lncli openchannel --node_key <ノードID> \ --local_amt <チャネルサイズ> \ --sat_per_vbyte <手数料率> \ --private --channel_type tweakless ``` 終わり！

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# What Can We Get by Breaking NOSTR? "What if we just started over? What if we took everything we have learned while building nostr and did it all again, but did it right this time?" That is a question I've heard quite a number of times, and it is a question I have pondered quite a lot myself. My conclusion (so far) is that I believe that we can fix all the important things without starting over. There are different levels of breakage, starting over is the most extreme of them. In this post I will describe these levels of breakage and what each one could buy us. ## Cryptography Your key-pair is the most fundamental part of nostr. That is your portable identity. If the cryptography changed from secp256k1 to ed25519, all current nostr identities would not be usable. This would be a complete start over. Every other break listed in this post could be done as well to no additional detriment (save for reuse of some existing code) because we would be starting over. Why would anyone suggest making such a break? What does this buy us? - [Curve25519 is a safe curve](https://safecurves.cr.yp.to/) meaning a bunch of specific cryptography things that us mortals do not understand but we are assured that it is somehow better. - Ed25519 is more modern, said to be faster, and has more widespread code/library support than secp256k1. - Nostr keys could be used as TLS server certificates. [TLS 1.3](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8446#section-4.4.2) using [RFC 7250 Raw Public Keys](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7250) allows raw public keys as certificates. No DNS or certification authorities required, removing several points of failure. These ed25519 keys could be used in TLS, whereas secp256k1 keys cannot as no TLS algorithm utilizes them AFAIK. Since relays currently don't have assigned nostr identities but are instead referenced by a websocket URL, this doesn't buy us much, but it is interesting. This idea is explored further below (keep reading) under a lesser level of breakage. Besides breaking everything, another downside is that people would not be able to manage nostr keys with bitcoin hardware. I am fairly strongly against breaking things this far. I don't think it is worth it. ## Signature Scheme and Event Structure Event structure is the next most fundamental part of nostr. Although events can be represented in many ways (clients and relays usually parse the JSON into data structures and/or database columns), the nature of the content of an event is well defined as seven particular fields. If we changed those, that would be a hard fork. This break is quite severe. All current nostr events wouldn't work in this hard fork. We would be preserving identities, but all content would be starting over. It would be difficult to bridge between this fork and current nostr because the bridge couldn't create the different signature required (not having anybody's private key) and current nostr wouldn't be generating the new kind of signature. Therefore any bridge would have to do identity mapping just like bridges to entirely different protocols do (e.g. mostr to mastodon). What could we gain by breaking things this far? - We could have a faster event hash and id verification: the current signature scheme of nostr requires lining up 5 JSON fields into a JSON array and using that as hash input. There is a performance cost to copying this data in order to hash it. - We could introduce a subkey field, and sign events via that subkey, while preserving the pubkey as the author everybody knows and searches by. Note however that we can already get a remarkably similar thing using something like NIP-26 where the actual author is in a tag, and the pubkey field is the signing subkey. - We could refactor the kind integer into composable bitflags (that could apply to any application) and an application kind (that specifies the application). - Surely there are other things I haven't thought of. I am currently against this kind of break. I don't think the benefits even come close to outweighing the cost. But if I learned about other things that we could "fix" by restructuring the events, I could possibly change my mind. ## Replacing Relay URLs Nostr is defined by relays that are addressed by websocket URLs. If that changed, that would be a significant break. Many (maybe even most) current event kinds would need superseding. The most reasonable change is to define relays with nostr identities, specifying their pubkey instead of their URL. What could we gain by this? - We could ditch reliance on DNS. Relays could publish events under their nostr identity that advertise their current IP address(es). - We could ditch certificates because relays could generate ed25519 keypairs for themselves (or indeed just self-signed certificates which might be much more broadly supported) and publish their public ed25519 key in the same replaceable event where they advertise their current IP address(es). This is a gigantic break. Almost all event kinds need redefining and pretty much all nostr software will need fairly major upgrades. But it also gives us a kind of Internet liberty that many of us have dreamt of our entire lives. I am ambivalent about this idea. ## Protocol Messaging and Transport The protocol messages of nostr are the next level of breakage. We could preserve keypair identities, all current events, and current relay URL references, but just break the protocol of how clients and relay communicate this data. This would not necessarily break relay and client implementations at all, so long as the new protocol were opt-in. What could we get? - The new protocol could transmit events in binary form for increased performance (no more JSON parsing with it's typical many small memory allocations and string escaping nightmares). I think event throughput could double (wild guess). - It could have clear expectations of who talks first, and when and how AUTH happens, avoiding a lot of current miscommunication between clients and relays. - We could introduce bitflags for feature support so that new features could be added later and clients would not bother trying them (and getting an error or timing out) on relays that didn't signal support. This could replace much of NIP-11. - We could then introduce something like negentropy or negative filters (but not that... probably something else solving that same problem) without it being a breaking change. - The new protocol could just be a few websocket-binary messages enhancing the current protocol, continuing to leverage the existing websocket-text messages we currently have, meaning newer relays would still support all the older stuff. The downsides are just that if you want this new stuff you have to build it. It makes the protocol less simple, having now multiple protocols, multiple ways of doing the same thing. Nonetheless, this I am in favor of. I think the trade-offs are worth it. I will be pushing a draft PR for this soon. ## The path forward I propose then the following path forward: 1. A new nostr protocol over websockets binary (draft PR to be shared soon) 2. Subkeys brought into nostr via NIP-26 (but let's use a single letter tag instead, OK?) via a big push to get all the clients to support it (the transition will be painful - most major clients will need to support this before anybody can start using it). 3. Some kind of solution to the negative-filter-negentropy need added to the new protocol as its first optional feature. 4. We seriously consider replacing Relay URLs with nostr pubkeys assigned to the relay, and then have relays publish their IP address and TLS key or certificate. We sacrifice these: 1. Faster event hash/verification 2. Composable event bitflags 3. Safer faster more well-supported crypto curve 4. Nostr keys themselves as TLS 1.3 RawPublicKey certificates

@ 4523be58:ba1facd0

NIP-116 ======= Event paths ----------- ### Description Event kind `30079` denotes an event defined by its *event path* rather than its event kind. The *event directory path* is included in the event path, specified in the event's `d` tag. For example, an event path might be `user/profile/name`, where `user/profile` is the directory path. Relays should parse the event directory from the event path `d` tag and index the event by it. Relays should support "directory listing" of kind `30079` events using the `#f` filter, such as `{"#f": ["user/profile"]}`. For backward compatibility, the event directory should also be saved in the event's `f` tag (for "folder"), which is already indexed by some relay implementations, and can be queried using the `#f` filter. Event content should be a JSON-encoded value. An empty object `{}` signifies that the entry at the event path is itself a directory. For example, when saving `user/profile/name`: `Bob`, you should also save `user/profile`: `{}` so the subdirectory can be listed under `user`. In directory names, slashes should be escaped with a double slash. ### Example #### Event ```json { "tags": [ ["d", "user/profile/name"], ["f", "user/profile"] ], "content": "\"Bob\"", "kind": 30079, ... } ``` #### Query ```json { "#f": ["user/profile"], "authors": ["[pubkey]"] } ``` ### Motivation To make Nostr an "everything app," we need a sustainable way to support new kinds of applications. Browsing Nostr data by human-readable nested directories and paths rather than obscure event kind numbers makes the data more manageable. Numeric event kinds are not sustainable for the infinite number of potential applications. With numeric event kinds, developers need to find an unused number for each new application and announce it somewhere, which is cumbersome and not scalable. Directories can also replace monolithic list events like follow lists or profile details. You can update a single directory entry such as `user/profile/name` or `groups/follows/[pubkey]` without causing an overwrite of the whole profile or follow list when your client is out-of-sync with the most recent list version, as often happens on Nostr. Using `d`-tagged replaceable events for reactions, such as `{tags: [["d", "reactions/[eventId]"]], content: "\"👍\"", kind: 30079, ...}` would make un-reacting trivial: just publish a new event with the same `d` tag and an empty content. Toggling a reaction on and off would not cause a flurry of new reaction & delete events that all need to be persisted. ### Implementations - Relays that support tag-replaceable events and indexing by arbitrary tags (in this case `f`) already support this feature. - [IrisDB](https://github.com/irislib/irisdb) client side library: treelike data structure with subscribable nodes. https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1266

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

# Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant Peter Todd has been [saying this](nostr:nevent1qqsq5zzu9ezhgq6es36jgg94wxsa2xh55p4tfa56yklsvjemsw7vj3cpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ez6ur4vgh8wetvd3hhyer9wghxuet5qy8hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnddaksz9rhwden5te0dehhxarj9ehhsarj9ejx2aspzfmhxue69uhk7enxvd5xz6tw9ec82cspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwdehhxarj9e3xzmnyqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfnsz9nhwden5te0wfjkccte9ec8y6tdv9kzumn9wspzpn92tr3hexwgt0z7w4qz3fcch4ryshja8jeng453aj4c83646jxvxkyvs4) for a long time and all the time I've been thinking he is misunderstanding everything, but I guess a more charitable interpretation is that he is right. Nostr _today_ is indeed centralized. Yesterday I published two harmless notes with the exact same content at the same time. In two minutes the notes had a noticeable difference in responses:  The top one was published to `wss://nostr.wine`, `wss://nos.lol`, `wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com`. The second was published to the relay where I generally publish all my notes to, `wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com`, and that is announced on my [NIP-05 file](https://fiatjaf.com/.well-known/nostr.json) and on my [NIP-65](https://nips.nostr.com/65) relay list. A few minutes later I published that screenshot again in two identical notes to the same sets of relays, asking if people understood the implications. The difference in quantity of responses can still be seen today:  These results are skewed now by the fact that the two notes got rebroadcasted to multiple relays after some time, but the fundamental point remains. What happened was that a huge lot more of people saw the first note compared to the second, and if Nostr was really censorship-resistant that shouldn't have happened at all. Some people implied in the comments, with an air of obviousness, that publishing the note to "more relays" should have predictably resulted in more replies, which, again, shouldn't be the case if Nostr is really censorship-resistant. What happens is that most people who engaged with the note are _following me_, in the sense that they have instructed their clients to fetch my notes on their behalf and present them in the UI, and clients are failing to do that despite me making it clear in multiple ways that my notes are to be found on `wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com`. If we were talking not about me, but about some public figure that was being censored by the State and got banned (or shadowbanned) by the 3 biggest public relays, the sad reality would be that the person would immediately get his reach reduced to ~10% of what they had before. This is not at all unlike what happened to dozens of personalities that were banned from the corporate social media platforms and then moved to other platforms -- how many of their original followers switched to these other platforms? Probably some small percentage close to 10%. In that sense Nostr today is similar to what we had before. Peter Todd is right that if the way Nostr works is that you just subscribe to a small set of relays and expect to get everything from them then it tends to get very centralized very fast, and this is the reality today. Peter Todd is wrong that Nostr is _inherently_ centralized or that it needs a _protocol change_ to become what it has always purported to be. He is in fact wrong today, because what is written above is not valid for all clients of today, and if we [drive in the right direction](nostr:naddr1qqykycekxd3nxdpcvgq3zamnwvaz7tmxd9shg6npvchxxmmdqgsrhuxx8l9ex335q7he0f09aej04zpazpl0ne2cgukyawd24mayt8grqsqqqa2803ksy8) we can successfully make Peter Todd be more and more wrong as time passes, instead of the contrary. --- See also: - [Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr](nostr:naddr1qqykycekxd3nxdpcvgq3zamnwvaz7tmxd9shg6npvchxxmmdqgsrhuxx8l9ex335q7he0f09aej04zpazpl0ne2cgukyawd24mayt8grqsqqqa2803ksy8) - [A vision for content discovery and relay usage for basic social-networking in Nostr](nostr:naddr1qqyrxe33xqmxgve3qyghwumn8ghj7enfv96x5ctx9e3k7mgzyqalp33lewf5vdq847t6te0wvnags0gs0mu72kz8938tn24wlfze6qcyqqq823cywwjvq)

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# Implementing The Gossip Model version 2 (2024-03-23) ## Introduction ### History The gossip model is a general concept that allows clients to dynamically follow the content of people, without specifying which relay. The clients have to figure out where each person puts their content. Before NIP-65, the gossip client did this in multiple ways: 1. Checking kind-3 contents, which had relay lists for configuring some clients (originally Astral and Damus), and recognizing that wherever they were writing our client could read from. 2. NIP-05 specifying a list of relays in the `nostr.json` file. I added this to NIP-35 which got merged down into NIP-05. 3. Recommended relay URLs that are found in 'p' tags 4. Users manually making the association 5. History of where events happen to have been found. Whenever an event came in, we associated the author with the relay. Each of these associations were given a score (recommended relay urls are 3rd party info so they got a low score). Later, NIP-65 made a new kind of relay list where someone could advertise to others which relays they use. The flag "write" is now called an OUTBOX, and the flag "read" is now called an INBOX. The idea of inboxes came about during the development of NIP-65. They are a way to send an event to a person to make sure they get it... because putting it on your own OUTBOX doesn't guarantee they will read it -- they may not follow you. The *outbox model* is the use of NIP-65. It is a subset of the *gossip model* which uses every other resource at it's disposal. ### Rationale The gossip model keeps nostr decentralized. If all the (major) clients were using it, people could spin up small relays for both INBOX and OUTBOX and still be fully connected, have their posts read, and get replies and DMs. This is not to say that many people *should* spin up small relays. But the task of being decentralized necessitates that people *must be able* to spin up their own relay in case everybody else is censoring them. We must *make it possible*. In reality, congregating around 30 or so popular relays as we do today is not a problem. Not until somebody becomes very unpopular with bitcoiners (it will probably be a shitcoiner), and then that person is going to need to leave those popular relays and that person shouldn't lose their followers or connectivity in any way when they do. A lot more rationale has been discussed elsewhere and right now I want to move on to implementation advice. ## Implementation Advice ### Read NIP-65 [NIP-65](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/65.md) will contain great advice on which relays to consult for which purposes. This post does not supersede NIP-65. NIP-65 may be getting some smallish changes, mostly the addition of a private inbox for DMs, but also changes to whether you should read or write to just some or all of a set of relays. ### How often to fetch kind-10002 relay lists for someone This is up to you. Refreshing them every hour seems reasonable to me. Keeping track of when you last checked so you can check again every hour is a good idea. ### Where to fetch events from If your user follows another user (call them jack), then you should fetch jack's events from jack's OUTBOX relays. I think it's a good idea to use 2 of those relays. If one of those choices fails (errors), then keep trying until you get 2 of them that worked. This gives some redundancy in case one of them is censoring. You can bump that number up to 3 or 4, but more than that is probably just wasting bandwidth. To find events tagging your user, look in your user's INBOX relays for those. In this case, look into *all* of them because some clients will only write to *some* of them (even though that is no longer advised). ### Picking relays dynamically Since your user follows many other users, it is very useful to find a small subset of all of their OUTBOX relays that cover everybody followed. I wrote some code to do this as (it is used by gossip) that you can look at for [an example](https://github.com/mikedilger/gossip-relay-picker). ### Where to post events to Post all events (except DMs) to *all* of your users OUTBOX relays. Also post the events to *all* the INBOX relays of anybody that was tagged or mentioned in the contents in a nostr bech32 link (if desired). That way all these mentioned people are aware of the reply (or quote or repost). DMs should be posted only to INBOX relays (in the future, to PRIVATE INBOX relays). You should post it to your own INBOX relays also, because you'll want a record of the conversation. In this way, you can see all your DMs inbound and outbound at your INBOX relay. ### Where to publish your user's kind-10002 event to This event was designed to be small and not require moderation, plus it is replaceable so there is only one per user. For this reason, at the moment, just spread it around to lots of relays especially the most popular relays. For example, the gossip client automatically determines which relays to publish to based on whether they seem to be working (several hundred) and does so in batches of 10. ### How to find replies If all clients used the gossip model, you could find all the replies to any post in the author's INBOX relays for any event with an 'e' tag tagging the event you want replies to... because gossip model clients will publish them there. But given the non-gossip-model clients, you should also look where the event was seen and look on those relays too. ### Clobbering issues Please read your users kind 10002 event before clobbering it. You should look many places to make sure you didn't miss the newest one. If the old relay list had tags you don't understand (e.g. neither "read" nor "write"), then preserve them. ### How users should pick relays Today, nostr relays are not uniform. They have all kinds of different rule-sets and purposes. We severely lack a way to advice non-technical users as to which relays make good OUTBOX relays and which ones make good INBOX relays. But you are a dev, you can figure that out pretty well. For example, INBOX relays must accept notes from *anyone* meaning they can't be paid-subscription relays. ### Bandwidth isn't a big issue The outbox model doesn't require excessive bandwidth when done right. You shouldn't be downloading the same note many times... only 2-4 times depending on the level of redundancy your user wants. Downloading 1000 events from 100 relays is in theory the same amount of data as downloading 1000 events from 1 relay. But in practice, due to redundancy concerns, you will end up downloading 2000-3000 events from those 100 relays instead of just the 1000 you would in a single relay situation. Remember, per person followed, you will only ask for their events from 2-4 relays, not from all 100 relays!!! Also in practice, the cost of opening and maintaining 100 network connections is more than the cost of opening and maintaining just 1. But this isn't usually a big deal unless... ### Crypto overhead on Low-Power Clients Verifying Schnorr signatures in the secp256k1 cryptosystem is not cheap. Setting up SSL key exchange is not cheap either. But most clients will do a lot more event signature validations than they will SSL setups. For this reason, connecting to 50-100 relays is NOT hugely expensive for clients that are already verifying event signatures, as the number of events far surpasses the number of relay connections. But for low-power clients that can't do event signature verification, there is a case for them not doing a lot of SSL setups either. Those clients would benefit from a different architecture, where half of the client was on a more powerful machine acting as a proxy for the low-power half of the client. These halves need to trust each other, so perhaps this isn't a good architecture for a business relationship, but I don't know what else to say about the low-power client situation. ### Unsafe relays Some people complain that the outbox model directs their client to relays that their user has not approved. I don't think it is a big deal, as such users can use VPNs or Tor if they need privacy. But for such users that still have concerns, they may wish to use clients that give them control over this. As a client developer you can choose whether to offer this feature or not. The gossip client allows users to require whitelisting for connecting to new relays and for AUTHing to relays. ## See Also [The Gossip Model: Outstanding Issues](https://habla.news/u/mike@mikedilger.com/gossip-model-outstanding-issues)

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

I'm glad to see more activity and discussion about the gossip model. Glad to see [fiatjaf](nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6) and [Jack](nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m) posting about it, as well as many developers pitching in in the replies. There are difficult problems we need to overcome, and finding notes while remaining decentralized without huge note copying overhead was just the first. While the gossip model (including the outbox model which is just the NIP-65 part) completely eliminates the need to copy notes around to lots of relays, and keeps us decentralized, it brings about it's own set of new problems. No community is ever of the same mind on any issue, and this issue is no different. We have a lot of divergent opinions. This note will be my updated thoughts on these topics. COPYING TO CENTRAL RELAYS IS A NON-STARTER: The idea that you can configure your client to use a few popular "centralized" relays and everybody will copy notes into those central relays is a non-starter. It destroys the entire raison d'être of nostr. I've heard people say that more decentralization isn't our biggest issue. But decentralization is THE reason nostr exists at all, so we need to make sure we live up to the hype. Otherwise we may as well just all join Bluesky. It has other problems too: the central relays get overloaded, and the notes get copied to too many relays, which is both space-inefficient and network bandwith inefficient. ISSUE 1: Which notes should I fetch from which relays? This is described pretty well now in NIP-65. But that is only the "outbox" model part. The "gossip model" part is to also work out what relays work for people who don't publish a relay list. ISSUE 2: Automatic failover. Apparently Peter Todd's definition of decentralized includes a concept of automatic failover, where new resources are brought up and users don't need to do anything. Besides this not being part of any definition of decentralized I have never heard of, we kind of have this. If a user has 5 outboxes, and 3 fail, everything still works. Redundancy is built in. No user intervention needed in most cases, at least in the short term. But we also don't have any notion of administrators who can fix this behind the scenes for the users. Users are sovereign and that means they have total control, but also take on some responsibility. This is obvious when it comes to keypair management, but it goes further. Users have to manage where they post and where they accept incoming notes, and when those relays fail to serve them they have to change providers. Putting the users in charge, and not having administrators, is kinda necessary to be truly decentralized. ISSUE 3: Connecting to unvetted relays feels unsafe. It might even be the NSA tracking you! First off, this happens with your web browser all the time: you go visit a web page and it instructs your browser to fetch a font from google. If you don't like it, you can use uBlock origin and manage it manually. In the nostr world, if you don't like it, you can use a client that puts you more in control of this. The gossip client for example has options for whether you want to manually approve relay connections and AUTHs, just once or always, and always lets you change your mind later. If you turn those options on, initially it is a giant wall of approval requests... but that situation resolves rather quickly. I've been running with these options on for a long time now, and only about once a week do I have to make a decision for a new relay. But these features aren't really necessary for the vast majority of users who don't care if a relay knows their IP address. Those users use VPNs or Tor when they want to be anonymous, and don't bother when they don't care (me included). ISSUE 4: Mobile phone clients may find the gossip model too costly in terms of battery life. Bandwidth is actually not a problem: under the gossip model (if done correctly) events for user P are only downloaded from N relays (default for gossip client is N=2), which in general is FEWER events retrieved than other models which download the same event maybe 8 or more times. Rather, the problem here is the large number of network connections and in particular, the large number of SSL setups and teardowns. If it weren't for SSL, this wouldn't be much of a problem. But setting up and tearing down SSL on 50 simultaneous connections that drop and pop up somewhat frequently is a battery drain. The solution to this that makes the most sense to me is to have a client proxy. What I mean by that is a piece of software on a server in a data centre. The client proxy would be a headless nostr client that uses the gossip model and acts on behalf of the phone client. The phone client doesn't even have to be a nostr client, but it might as well be a nostr client that just connects to this fixed proxy to read and write all of its events. Now the SSL connection issue is solved. These proxies can serve many clients and have local storage, whereas the phones might not even need local storage. Since very few users will set up such things for themselves, this is a business opportunity for people, and a better business opportunity IMHO than running a paid-for relay. This doesn't decentralize nostr as there can be many of these proxies. It does however require a trust relationship between the phone client and the proxy. ISSUE 5: Personal relays still need moderation. I wrongly thought for a very long time that personal relays could act as personal OUTBOXes and personal INBOXes without needing moderation. Recently it became clear to me that clients should probably read from other people's INBOXes to find replies to events written by the user of that INBOX (which outbox model clients should be putting into that INBOX). If that is happening, then personal relays will need to serve to the public events that were just put there by the public, thus exposing them to abuse. I'm greatly disappointed to come to this realization and not quite settled about it yet, but I thought I had better make this known.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

A lot of terms have been bandied about regarding relay models: Gossip relay model, outbox relay model, and inbox relay model. But this term "relay model" bothers me. It sounds stuffy and formal and doesn't actually describe what we are talking about very well. Also, people have suggested maybe there are other relay models. So I thought maybe we should rethink this all from first principles. That is what this blog post attempts to do. Nostr is notes and other stuff transmitted by relays. A client puts an event onto a relay, and subsequently another client reads that event. OK, strictly speaking it could be the same client. Strictly speaking it could even be that no other client reads the event, that the event was intended for the relay (think about nostr connect). But in general, the reason we put events on relays is for other clients to read them. Given that fact, I see two ways this can occur: 1) The reader reads the event from the same relay that the writer wrote the event to (this I will call relay rendezvous), 2) The event was copied between relays by something. This second solution is perfectly viable, but it less scalable and less immediate as it requires copies which means that resources will be consumed more rapidly than if we can come up with workable relay rendezvous solutions. That doesn't mean there aren't other considerations which could weigh heavily in favor of copying events. But I am not aware of them, so I will be discussing relay rendezvous. We can then divide the relay rendezvous situation into several cases: one-to-one, one-to-many, and one-to-all, where the many are a known set, and the all are an unbounded unknown set. I cannot conceive of many-to-anything for nostr so we will speak no further of it. For a rendezvous to take place, not only do the parties need to agree on a relay (or many relays), but there needs to be some way that readers can become aware that the writer has written something. So the one-to-one situation works out well by the writer putting the message onto a relay that they know the reader checks for messages on. This we call the INBOX model. It is akin to sending them an email into their inbox where the reader checks for messages addressed to them. The one-to-(known)-many model is very similar, except the writer has to write to many people's inboxes. Still we are dealing with the INBOX model. The final case, one-to-(unknown)-all, there is no way the writer can place the message into every person's inbox because they are unknown. So in this case, the writer can write to their own OUTBOX, and anybody interested in these kinds of messages can subscribe to the writer's OUTBOX. Notice that I have covered every case already, and that I have not even specified what particular types of scenarios call for one-to-one or one-to-many or one-to-all, but that every scenario must fit into one of those models. So that is basically it. People need INBOX and OUTBOX relays and nothing else for relay rendezvous to cover all the possible scenarios. That is not to say that other kinds of concerns might not modulate this. There is a suggestion for a DM relay (which is really an INBOX but with a special associated understanding), which is perfectly fine by me. But I don't think there are any other relay models. There is also the case of a live event where two parties are interacting over the same relay, but in terms of rendezvous this isn't a new case, it is just that the shared relay is serving as both parties' INBOX (in the case of a closed chat) and/or both parties' OUTBOX (in the case of an open one) at the same time. So anyhow that's my thinking on the topic. It has become a fairly concise and complete set of concepts, and this makes me happy. Most things aren't this easy.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# Gossip: The HTTP Fetcher Gossip is a desktop nostr client. This post is about the code that fetches HTTP resources. Gossip fetches HTTP resources. This includes images, videos, nip05 json files, etc. The part of gossip that does this is called the **fetcher**. We have had a fetcher for some time, but it was poorly designed and had problems. For example, it was never expiring items in the cache. We've made a lot of improvements to the fetcher recently. It's pretty good now, but there is still room for improvement. ## Caching Our fetcher caches data. Each URL that is fetched is hashed, and the content is stored under a file in the cache named by that hash. If a request is in the cache, we don't do an HTTP request, we serve it directly from the cache. But cached data gets stale. Sometimes resources at a URL change. We generally check resources again after three days. We save the server's *ETag* value for content, and when we check the content again we supply an *If-None-Match* header with the *ETag* so the server could respond with *304 Not Modified* in which case we don't need to download the resource again, we just bump the filetime to now. In the event that our cache data is stale, but the server gives us an error, we serve up the stale data (stale is better than nothing). ## Queueing We used to fire off HTTP GET requests as soon as we knew that we needed a resource. This was not looked on too kindly by servers and CDNs who were giving us either *403 Forbidden* or *429 Too Many Requests*. So we moved into a queue system. The host is extracted from each URL, and each host is only given up to 3 requests at a time. If we want 29 images from the same host, we only ask for three, and the remaining 26 remain in the queue for next time. When one of those requests completes, we decrement the *host load* so we know that we can send it another request later. We process the queue in an infinite loop where we wait 1200 milliseconds between passes. Passes take time themselves and sometimes must wait for a timeout. Each pass fetches potentially multiple HTTP resources in parallel, asynchronously. If we have 300 resources at 100 different hosts, three per host, we could get them all in a single pass. More likely a bunch of resources are at the same host, and we make multiple passes at it. ## Timeouts When we fetch URLs in parallel asynchronously, we wait until all of the fetches complete before waiting another 1200 ms and doing another loop. Sometimes one of the fetches times out. In order to keep things moving, we use short timeouts of 10 seconds for a connect, and 15 seconds for a response. ## Handling Errors Some kinds of errors are more serious than others. When we encounter these, we *sin bin* the server for a period of time where we don't try fetching from it until a specified period elapses.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# Gossip: Switching to LMDB Unlike a number of other nostr clients, Gossip has always cached events and related data in a local data store. Up until recently, SQLite3 has served this purpose. SQLite3 offers a full ACID SQL relational database service. Unfortunately however it has presented a number of downsides: 1. It is not as parallel as you might think. 2. It is not as fast as you might hope. 3. If you want to preserve the benefit of using SQL and doing joins, then you must break your objects into columns, and map columns back into objects. The code that does this object-relational mapping (ORM) is not trivial and can be error prone. It is especially tricky when working with different types (Rust language types and SQLite3 types are not a 1:1 match). 4. Because of the potential slowness, our UI has been forbidden from direct database access as that would make the UI unresponsive if a query took too long. 5. Because of (4) we have been firing off separate threads to do the database actions, and storing the results into global variables that can be accessed by the interested code at a later time. 6. Because of (4) we have been caching database data in memory, essentially coding for yet another storage layer that can (and often did) get out of sync with the database. LMDB offers solutions: 1. It is highly parallel. 2. It is ridiculously fast when used appropriately. 3. Because you cannot run arbitrary SQL, there is no need to represent the fields within your objects separately. You can serialize/deserialize entire objects into the database and the database doesn't care what is inside of the blob (yes, you can do that into an SQLite field, but if you did, you would lose the power of SQL). 4. Because of the speed, the UI can look stuff up directly. 5. We no longer need to fork separate threads for database actions. 6. We no longer need in-memory caches of data. The LMDB data is already in-memory (it is memory mapped) so we just access it directly. The one obvious downside is that we lose SQL. We lose the query planner. We cannot ask arbitrary question and get answers. Instead, we have to pre-conceive of all the kinds of questions we want to ask, and we have to write code that answers them efficiently. Often this involves building and maintaining indices. ## Indices Let's say I want to look at fiatjaf's posts. How do I efficiently pull out just his recent feed-related events in reverse chronological order? It is easy if we first construct the following index **key**: EventKind + PublicKey + ReverseTime **value**: Event Id In the above, '+' is just a concatenate operator, and ReverseTime is just some distant time minus the time so that it sorts backwards. Now I just ask LMDB to start from (EventKind=1 + PublicKey=fiatjaf + now) and scan until either one of the first two fields change, or more like the time field gets too old (e.g. one month ago). Then I do it again for the next event kind, etc. For a generalized feed, I have to scan a region for each person I follow. Smarter indexes can be imagined. Since we often want only feed-related event kinds, that can be implicit in an index that only indexes those kinds of events. You get the idea. ## A Special Event Map At first I had stored events into a K-V database under the Id of the event. Then I had indexes on events that output a set of Ids (as in the example above). But when it comes to storing and retrieving events, we can go even faster than LMDB. We can build an append-only memory map that is just a sequence of all the events we have, serialized, and in no particular order. Readers do not need a lock and multiple readers can read simultaneously. Writers will need to acquire a lock to append to the map and there may only be one writer at a time. However, readers can continue reading even while a writer is writing. We can then have a K-V database that maps Id -> Offset. To get the event you just do a direct lookup in the event memory map at that offset. The real benefit comes when we have other indexes that yield events, they can yield offsets instead of ids. Then we don't need to do a second lookup from the Id to the Event, we can just look directly at the offset. ## Avoiding deserialization Deserialization has a price. Sometimes it requires memory allocation (if the object is not already linear, e.g. variable lengthed data like strings and vectors are allocated on the heap) which can be very expensive if you are trying to scan 150,000 or so events. We serialize events (and other objects where we can) with a serialization library called speedy. It does its best to preserve the data much like it is represented in memory, but linearized. Because events start with fixed-length fields, we know the offset into the serialized event where these first fields occur and we can directly extract the value of those fields without deserializing the data before it. This comes in useful whenever we need to scan a large number of events. Search is the one situation where I know that we must do this. We can search by matching against the content of every feed-related event without fully deserialing any of them.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# Gossip: Zaps Gossip is a desktop nostr client. This post is about the code that lets users send lightning zaps to each other (NIP-57). Gossip implemented Zaps initially on 20th of June, 2023. Gossip maintains a state of where zapping is at, one of: *None*, *CheckingLnurl*, *SeekingAmount*, *LoadingInvoice*, and *ReadyToPay*. When you click the zap lightning bolt icon, Gossip moves to the *CheckingLnurl* state while it looks up the LN URL of the user. If this is successful, it moves to the *SeekingAmount* state and presents amount options to the user. Once a user chooses an amount, it moves to the *LoadingInvoice* state where it interacts with the lightning node and receives and checks an invoice. Once that is complete, it moves to the *ReadyToPay* state, where it presents the invoice as a QR code for the user to scan with their phone. There is also a copy button so they can pay it from their desktop computer too. Gossip also loads zap receipt events and associates them with the event that was zapped, tallying a zap total on that event. Gossip is unfortunately not validating these receipts very well currently, so fake zap receipts can cause an incorrect total to show. This remains an open issue. Another open issue is the implementation of NIP-46 Nostr Connect and NIP-47 Wallet Connect.

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

My blog posts and reading material have both been on a decidedly economics-heavy slant recently. The topic today, incentives, squarely falls into the category of economics. However, when I say economics, I’m not talking about “analyzing supply and demand curves.” I’m talking about the true basis of economics: understanding how human beings make decisions in a world of scarcity. A fair definition of incentive is “a reward or punishment that motivates behavior to achieve a desired outcome.” When most people think about economic incentives, they’re thinking of money. If I offer my son $5 if he washes the dishes, I’m incentivizing certain behavior. We can’t guarantee that he’ll do what I want him to do, but we can agree that the incentive structure itself will guide and ultimately determine what outcome will occur. The great thing about monetary incentives is how easy they are to talk about and compare. “Would I rather make $5 washing the dishes or $10 cleaning the gutters?” But much of the world is incentivized in non-monetary ways too. For example, using the “punishment” half of the definition above, I might threaten my son with losing Nintendo Switch access if he doesn’t wash the dishes. No money is involved, but I’m still incentivizing behavior. And there are plenty of incentives beyond our direct control\! My son is *also* incentivized to not wash dishes because it’s boring, or because he has some friends over that he wants to hang out with, or dozens of other things. Ultimately, the conflicting array of different incentive structures placed on him will ultimately determine what actions he chooses to take. ## Why incentives matter A phrase I see often in discussions—whether they are political, parenting, economic, or business—is “if they could **just** do…” Each time I see that phrase, I cringe a bit internally. Usually, the underlying assumption of the statement is “if people would behave contrary to their incentivized behavior then things would be better.” For example: * If my kids would just go to bed when I tell them, they wouldn’t be so cranky in the morning. * If people would just use the recycling bin, we wouldn’t have such a landfill problem. * If people would just stop being lazy, our team would deliver our project on time. In all these cases, the speakers are seemingly flummoxed as to why the people in question don’t behave more rationally. The problem is: each group is behaving perfectly rationally. * The kids have a high time preference, and care more about the joy of staying up now than the crankiness in the morning. Plus, they don’t really suffer the consequences of morning crankiness, their parents do. * No individual suffers much from their individual contribution to a landfill. If they stopped growing the size of the landfill, it would make an insignificant difference versus the amount of effort they need to engage in to properly recycle. * If a team doesn’t properly account for the productivity of individuals on a project, each individual receives less harm from their own inaction. Sure, the project may be delayed, company revenue may be down, and they may even risk losing their job when the company goes out of business. But their laziness individually won’t determine the entirety of that outcome. By contrast, they greatly benefit from being lazy by getting to relax at work, go on social media, read a book, or do whatever else they do when they’re supposed to be working.  My point here is that, as long as you ignore the reality of how incentives drive human behavior, you’ll fail at getting the outcomes you want. If everything I wrote up until now made perfect sense, you understand the premise of this blog post. The rest of it will focus on a bunch of real-world examples to hammer home the point, and demonstrate how versatile this mental model is. ## Running a company Let’s say I run my own company, with myself as the only employee. My personal revenue will be 100% determined by my own actions. If I decide to take Tuesday afternoon off and go fishing, I’ve chosen to lose that afternoon’s revenue. Implicitly, I’ve decided that the enjoyment I get from an afternoon of fishing is greater than the potential revenue. You may think I’m being lazy, but it’s my decision to make. In this situation, the incentive–money–is perfectly aligned with my actions. Compare this to a typical company/employee relationship. I might have a bank of Paid Time Off (PTO) days, in which case once again my incentives are relatively aligned. I know that I can take off 15 days throughout the year, and I’ve chosen to use half a day for the fishing trip. All is still good. What about unlimited time off? Suddenly incentives are starting to misalign. I don’t directly pay a price for not showing up to work on Tuesday. Or Wednesday as well, for that matter. I might ultimately be fired for not doing my job, but that will take longer to work its way through the system than simply not making any money for the day taken off. Compensation overall falls into this misaligned incentive structure. Let’s forget about taking time off. Instead, I work full time on a software project I’m assigned. But instead of using the normal toolchain we’re all used to at work, I play around with a new programming language. I get the fun and joy of playing with new technology, and potentially get to pad my resume a bit when I’m ready to look for a new job. But my current company gets slower results, less productivity, and is forced to subsidize my extracurricular learning. When a CEO has a bonus structure based on profitability, he’ll do everything he can to make the company profitable. This might include things that actually benefit the company, like improving product quality, reducing internal red tape, or finding cheaper vendors. But it might also include destructive practices, like slashing the R\&D budget to show massive profits this year, in exchange for a catastrophe next year when the next version of the product fails to ship.  Or my favorite example. My parents owned a business when I was growing up. They had a back office where they ran operations like accounting. All of the furniture was old couches from our house. After all, any money they spent on furniture came right out of their paychecks\! But in a large corporate environment, each department is generally given a budget for office furniture, a budget which doesn’t roll over year-to-year. The result? Executives make sure to spend the entire budget each year, often buying furniture far more expensive than they would choose if it was their own money. There are plenty of details you can quibble with above. It’s in a company’s best interest to give people downtime so that they can come back recharged. Having good ergonomic furniture can in fact increase productivity in excess of the money spent on it. But overall, the picture is pretty clear: in large corporate structures, you’re guaranteed to have mismatches between the company’s goals and the incentive structure placed on individuals. Using our model from above, we can lament how lazy, greedy, and unethical the employees are for doing what they’re incentivized to do instead of what’s right. But that’s simply ignoring the reality of human nature. # Moral hazard Moral hazard is a situation where one party is incentivized to take on more risk because another party will bear the consequences. Suppose I tell my son when he turns 21 (or whatever legal gambling age is) that I’ll cover all his losses for a day at the casino, but he gets to keep all the winnings. What do you think he’s going to do? The most logical course of action is to place the largest possible bets for as long as possible, asking me to cover each time he loses, and taking money off the table and into his bank account each time he wins.  But let’s look at a slightly more nuanced example. I go to a bathroom in the mall. As I’m leaving, I wash my hands. It will take me an extra 1 second to turn off the water when I’m done washing. That’s a trivial price to pay. If I *don’t* turn off the water, the mall will have to pay for many liters of wasted water, benefiting no one. But I won’t suffer any consequences at all. This is also a moral hazard, but most people will still turn off the water. Why? Usually due to some combination of other reasons such as: 1. We’re so habituated to turning off the water that we don’t even consider *not* turning it off. Put differently, the mental effort needed to not turn off the water is more expensive than the 1 second of time to turn it off. 2. Many of us have been brought up with a deep guilt about wasting resources like water. We have an internal incentive structure that makes the 1 second to turn off the water much less costly than the mental anguish of the waste we created. 3. We’re afraid we’ll be caught by someone else and face some kind of social repercussions. (Or maybe more than social. Are you sure there isn’t a law against leaving the water tap on?) Even with all that in place, you may notice that many public bathrooms use automatic water dispensers. Sure, there’s a sanitation reason for that, but it’s also to avoid this moral hazard. A common denominator in both of these is that the person taking the action that causes the liability (either the gambling or leaving the water on) is not the person who bears the responsibility for that liability (the father or the mall owner). Generally speaking, the closer together the person making the decision and the person incurring the liability are, the smaller the moral hazard. It’s easy to demonstrate that by extending the casino example a bit. I said it was the father who was covering the losses of the gambler. Many children (though not all) would want to avoid totally bankrupting their parents, or at least financially hurting them. Instead, imagine that someone from the IRS shows up at your door, hands you a credit card, and tells you you can use it at a casino all day, taking home all the chips you want. The money is coming from the government. How many people would put any restriction on how much they spend? And since we’re talking about the government already… ## Government moral hazards As I was preparing to write this blog post, the California wildfires hit. The discussions around those wildfires gave a *huge* number of examples of moral hazards. I decided to cherry-pick a few for this post. The first and most obvious one: California is asking for disaster relief funds from the federal government. That sounds wonderful. These fires were a natural disaster, so why shouldn’t the federal government pitch in and help take care of people? The problem is, once again, a moral hazard. In the case of the wildfires, California and Los Angeles both had ample actions they could have taken to mitigate the destruction of this fire: better forest management, larger fire department, keeping the water reservoirs filled, and probably much more that hasn’t come to light yet. If the federal government bails out California, it will be a clear message for the future: your mistakes will be fixed by others. You know what kind of behavior that incentivizes? More risky behavior\! Why spend state funds on forest management and extra firefighters—activities that don’t win politicians a lot of votes in general—when you could instead spend it on a football stadium, higher unemployment payments, or anything else, and then let the feds cover the cost of screw-ups. You may notice that this is virtually identical to the 2008 “too big to fail” bail-outs. Wall Street took insanely risky behavior, reaped huge profits for years, and when they eventually got caught with their pants down, the rest of us bailed them out. “Privatizing profits, socializing losses.”  And here’s the absolute best part of this: I can’t even truly blame either California *or* Wall Street. (I mean, I *do* blame them, I think their behavior is reprehensible, but you’ll see what I mean.) In a world where the rules of the game implicitly include the bail-out mentality, you would be harming your citizens/shareholders/investors if you didn’t engage in that risky behavior. Since everyone is on the hook for those socialized losses, your best bet is to maximize those privatized profits. There’s a lot more to government and moral hazard, but I think these two cases demonstrate the crux pretty solidly. But let’s leave moral hazard behind for a bit and get to general incentivization discussions. # Non-monetary competition At least 50% of the economics knowledge I have comes from the very first econ course I took in college. That professor was amazing, and had some very colorful stories. I can’t vouch for the veracity of the two I’m about to share, but they definitely drive the point home. In the 1970s, the US had an oil shortage. To “fix” this problem, they instituted price caps on gasoline, which of course resulted in insufficient gasoline. To “fix” this problem, they instituted policies where, depending on your license plate number, you could only fill up gas on certain days of the week. (Irrelevant detail for our point here, but this just resulted in people filling up their tanks more often, no reduction in gas usage.) Anyway, my professor’s wife had a friend. My professor described in *great* detail how attractive this woman was. I’ll skip those details here since this is a PG-rated blog. In any event, she never had any trouble filling up her gas tank any day of the week. She would drive up, be told she couldn’t fill up gas today, bat her eyes at the attendant, explain how helpless she was, and was always allowed to fill up gas. This is a demonstration of *non-monetary compensation*. Most of the time in a free market, capitalist economy, people are compensated through money. When price caps come into play, there’s a limit to how much monetary compensation someone can receive. And in that case, people find other ways of competing. Like this woman’s case: through using flirtatious behavior to compensate the gas station workers to let her cheat the rules. The other example was much more insidious. Santa Monica had a problem: it was predominantly wealthy and white. They wanted to fix this problem, and decided to put in place rent controls. After some time, they discovered that Santa Monica had become *wealthier and whiter*, the exact opposite of their desired outcome. Why would that happen? Someone investigated, and ended up interviewing a landlady that demonstrated the reason. She was an older white woman, and admittedly racist. Prior to the rent controls, she would list her apartments in the newspaper, and would be legally obligated to rent to anyone who could afford it. Once rent controls were in place, she took a different tact. She knew that she would only get a certain amount for the apartment, and that the demand for apartments was higher than the supply. That meant she could be picky. She ended up finding tenants through friends-of-friends. Since it wasn’t an official advertisement, she wasn’t legally required to rent it out if someone could afford to pay. Instead, she got to interview people individually and then make them an offer. Normally, that would have resulted in receiving a lower rental price, but not under rent controls. So who did she choose? A young, unmarried, wealthy, white woman. It made perfect sense. Women were less intimidating and more likely to maintain the apartment better. Wealthy people, she determined, would be better tenants. (I have no idea if this is true in practice or not, I’m not a landlord myself.) Unmarried, because no kids running around meant less damage to the property. And, of course, white. Because she was racist, and her incentive structure made her prefer whites. You can deride her for being racist, I won’t disagree with you. But it’s simply the reality. Under the non-rent-control scenario, her profit motive for money outweighed her racism motive. But under rent control, the monetary competition was removed, and she was free to play into her racist tendencies without facing any negative consequences. ## Bureaucracy These were the two examples I remember for that course. But non-monetary compensation pops up in many more places. One highly pertinent example is bureaucracies. Imagine you have a government office, or a large corporation’s acquisition department, or the team that apportions grants at a university. In all these cases, you have a group of people making decisions about handing out money that has no monetary impact on them. If they give to the best qualified recipients, they receive no raises. If they spend the money recklessly on frivolous projects, they face no consequences. Under such an incentivization scheme, there’s little to encourage the bureaucrats to make intelligent funding decisions. Instead, they’ll be incentivized to spend the money where they recognize non-monetary benefits. This is why it’s so common to hear about expensive meals, gift bags at conferences, and even more inappropriate ways of trying to curry favor with those that hold the purse strings. Compare that ever so briefly with the purchases made by a small mom-and-pop store like my parents owned. Could my dad take a bribe to buy from a vendor who’s ripping him off? Absolutely he could\! But he’d lose more on the deal than he’d make on the bribe, since he’s directly incentivized by the deal itself. It would make much more sense for him to go with the better vendor, save $5,000 on the deal, and then treat himself to a lavish $400 meal to celebrate. # Government incentivized behavior This post is getting longer in the tooth than I’d intended, so I’ll finish off with this section and make it a bit briefer. Beyond all the methods mentioned above, government has another mechanism for modifying behavior: through directly changing incentives via legislation, regulation, and monetary policy. Let’s see some examples: * Artificial modification of interest rates encourages people to take on more debt than they would in a free capital market, leading to [malinvestment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinvestment) and a consumer debt crisis, and causing the boom-bust cycle we all painfully experience. * Going along with that, giving tax breaks on interest payments further artificially incentivizes people to take on debt that they wouldn’t otherwise. * During COVID-19, at some points unemployment benefits were greater than minimum wage, incentivizing people to rather stay home and not work than get a job, leading to reduced overall productivity in the economy and more printed dollars for benefits. In other words, it was a perfect recipe for inflation. * The tax code gives deductions to “help” people. That might be true, but the real impact is incentivizing people to make decisions they wouldn’t have otherwise. For example, giving out tax deductions on children encourages having more kids. Tax deductions on childcare and preschools incentivizes dual-income households. Whether or not you like the outcomes, it’s clear that it’s government that’s encouraging these outcomes to happen. * Tax incentives cause people to engage in behavior they wouldn’t otherwise (daycare+working mother, for example). * Inflation means that the value of your money goes down over time, which encourages people to spend more today, when their money has a larger impact. (Milton Friedman described this as [high living](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwNDd2_beTU).) # Conclusion The idea here is simple, and fully encapsulated in the title: incentives determine outcomes. If you want to know how to get a certain outcome from others, incentivize them to want that to happen. If you want to understand why people act in seemingly irrational ways, check their incentives. If you’re confused why leaders (and especially politicians) seem to engage in destructive behavior, check their incentives. We can bemoan these realities all we want, but they *are* realities. While there are some people who have a solid internal moral and ethical code, and that internal code incentivizes them to behave against their externally-incentivized interests, those people are rare. And frankly, those people are self-defeating. People *should* take advantage of the incentives around them. Because if they don’t, someone else will. (If you want a literary example of that last comment, see the horse in Animal Farm.) How do we improve the world under these conditions? Make sure the incentives align well with the overall goals of society. To me, it’s a simple formula: * Focus on free trade, value for value, as the basis of a society. In that system, people are always incentivized to provide value to other people. * Reduce the size of bureaucracies and large groups of all kinds. The larger an organization becomes, the farther the consequences of decisions are from those who make them. * And since the nature of human beings will be to try and create areas where they can control the incentive systems to their own benefits, make that as difficult as possible. That comes in the form of strict limits on government power, for example. And even if you don’t want to buy in to this conclusion, I hope the rest of the content was educational, and maybe a bit entertaining\!

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

I’ve been using Notedeck for several months, starting with its extremely early and experimental alpha versions, all the way to its current, more stable alpha releases. The journey has been fascinating, as I’ve had the privilege of watching it evolve from a concept into a functional and promising tool. In its earliest stages, Notedeck was raw—offering glimpses of its potential but still far from practical for daily use. Even then, the vision behind it was clear: a platform designed to redefine how we interact with Nostr by offering flexibility and power for all users. I'm very bullish on Notedeck. Why? Because Will Casarin is making it! Duh! 😂 Seriously though, if we’re reimagining the web and rebuilding portions of the Internet, it’s important to recognize [the potential of Notedeck](https://damus.io/notedeck/). If Nostr is reimagining the web, then Notedeck is reimagining the Nostr client. Notedeck isn’t just another Nostr app—it’s more a Nostr browser that functions more like an operating system with micro-apps. How cool is that? Much like how Google's Chrome evolved from being a web browser with a task manager into ChromeOS, a full blown operating system, Notedeck aims to transform how we interact with the Nostr. It goes beyond individual apps, offering a foundation for a fully integrated ecosystem built around Nostr. As a Nostr evangelist, I love to scream **INTEROPERABILITY** and tout every application's integrations. Well, Notedeck has the potential to be one of the best platforms to showcase these integrations in entirely new and exciting ways. Do you want an Olas feed of images? Add the media column. Do you want a feed of live video events? Add the zap.stream column. Do you want Nostr Nests or audio chats? Add that column to your Notedeck. Git? Email? Books? Chat and DMs? It's all possible. Not everyone wants a super app though, and that’s okay. As with most things in the Nostr ecosystem, flexibility is key. Notedeck gives users the freedom to choose how they engage with it—whether it’s simply following hashtags or managing straightforward feeds. You'll be able to tailor Notedeck to fit your needs, using it as extensively or minimally as you prefer. Notedeck is designed with a local-first approach, utilizing Nostr content stored directly on your device via the local nostrdb. This will enable a plethora of advanced tools such as search and filtering, the creation of custom feeds, and the ability to develop personalized algorithms across multiple Notedeck micro-applications—all with unparalleled flexibility. Notedeck also supports multicast. Let's geek out for a second. Multicast is a method of communication where data is sent from one source to multiple destinations simultaneously, but only to devices that wish to receive the data. Unlike broadcast, which sends data to all devices on a network, multicast targets specific receivers, reducing network traffic. This is commonly used for efficient data distribution in scenarios like streaming, conferencing, or large-scale data synchronization between devices. > In a local first world where each device holds local copies of your nostr nodes, and each device transparently syncs with each other on the local network, each node becomes a backup. Your data becomes antifragile automatically. When a node goes down it can resync and recover from other nodes. Even if not all nodes have a complete collection, negentropy can pull down only what is needed from each device. All this can be done without internet. > > \-Will Casarin In the context of Notedeck, multicast would allow multiple devices to sync their Nostr nodes with each other over a local network without needing an internet connection. Wild. Notedeck aims to offer full customization too, including the ability to design and share custom skins, much like Winamp. Users will also be able to create personalized columns and, in the future, share their setups with others. This opens the door for power users to craft tailored Nostr experiences, leveraging their expertise in the protocol and applications. By sharing these configurations as "Starter Decks," they can simplify onboarding and showcase the best of Nostr’s ecosystem. Nostr’s “Other Stuff” can often be difficult to discover, use, or understand. Many users doesn't understand or know how to use web browser extensions to login to applications. Let's not even get started with nsecbunkers. Notedeck will address this challenge by providing a native experience that brings these lesser-known applications, tools, and content into a user-friendly and accessible interface, making exploration seamless. However, that doesn't mean Notedeck should disregard power users that want to use nsecbunkers though - hint hint. For anyone interested in watching Nostr be [developed live](https://github.com/damus-io/notedeck), right before your very eyes, Notedeck’s progress serves as a reminder of what’s possible when innovation meets dedication. The current alpha is already demonstrating its ability to handle complex use cases, and I’m excited to see how it continues to grow as it moves toward a full release later this year.

@ 0d97beae:c5274a14

This article hopes to complement the article by Lyn Alden on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk_HWmmwiAs ## The reason why we have broken money Before the invention of key technologies such as the printing press and electronic communications, even such as those as early as morse code transmitters, gold had won the competition for best medium of money around the world. In fact, it was not just gold by itself that became money, rulers and world leaders developed coins in order to help the economy grow. Gold nuggets were not as easy to transact with as coins with specific imprints and denominated sizes. However, these modern technologies created massive efficiencies that allowed us to communicate and perform services more efficiently and much faster, yet the medium of money could not benefit from these advancements. Gold was heavy, slow and expensive to move globally, even though requesting and performing services globally did not have this limitation anymore. Banks took initiative and created derivatives of gold: paper and electronic money; these new currencies allowed the economy to continue to grow and evolve, but it was not without its dark side. Today, no currency is denominated in gold at all, money is backed by nothing and its inherent value, the paper it is printed on, is worthless too. Banks and governments eventually transitioned from a money derivative to a system of debt that could be co-opted and controlled for political and personal reasons. Our money today is broken and is the cause of more expensive, poorer quality goods in the economy, a larger and ever growing wealth gap, and many of the follow-on problems that have come with it. ## Bitcoin overcomes the "transfer of hard money" problem Just like gold coins were created by man, Bitcoin too is a technology created by man. Bitcoin, however is a much more profound invention, possibly more of a discovery than an invention in fact. Bitcoin has proven to be unbreakable, incorruptible and has upheld its ability to keep its units scarce, inalienable and counterfeit proof through the nature of its own design. Since Bitcoin is a digital technology, it can be transferred across international borders almost as quickly as information itself. It therefore severely reduces the need for a derivative to be used to represent money to facilitate digital trade. This means that as the currency we use today continues to fare poorly for many people, bitcoin will continue to stand out as hard money, that just so happens to work as well, functionally, along side it. Bitcoin will also always be available to anyone who wishes to earn it directly; even China is unable to restrict its citizens from accessing it. The dollar has traditionally become the currency for people who discover that their local currency is unsustainable. Even when the dollar has become illegal to use, it is simply used privately and unofficially. However, because bitcoin does not require you to trade it at a bank in order to use it across borders and across the web, Bitcoin will continue to be a viable escape hatch until we one day hit some critical mass where the world has simply adopted Bitcoin globally and everyone else must adopt it to survive. Bitcoin has not yet proven that it can support the world at scale. However it can only be tested through real adoption, and just as gold coins were developed to help gold scale, tools will be developed to help overcome problems as they arise; ideally without the need for another derivative, but if necessary, hopefully with one that is more neutral and less corruptible than the derivatives used to represent gold. ## Bitcoin blurs the line between commodity and technology Bitcoin is a technology, it is a tool that requires human involvement to function, however it surprisingly does not allow for any concentration of power. Anyone can help to facilitate Bitcoin's operations, but no one can take control of its behaviour, its reach, or its prioritisation, as it operates autonomously based on a pre-determined, neutral set of rules. At the same time, its built-in incentive mechanism ensures that people do not have to operate bitcoin out of the good of their heart. Even though the system cannot be co-opted holistically, It will not stop operating while there are people motivated to trade their time and resources to keep it running and earn from others' transaction fees. Although it requires humans to operate it, it remains both neutral and sustainable. Never before have we developed or discovered a technology that could not be co-opted and used by one person or faction against another. Due to this nature, Bitcoin's units are often described as a commodity; they cannot be usurped or virtually cloned, and they cannot be affected by political biases. ## The dangers of derivatives A derivative is something created, designed or developed to represent another thing in order to solve a particular complication or problem. For example, paper and electronic money was once a derivative of gold. In the case of Bitcoin, if you cannot link your units of bitcoin to an "address" that you personally hold a cryptographically secure key to, then you very likely have a derivative of bitcoin, not bitcoin itself. If you buy bitcoin on an online exchange and do not withdraw the bitcoin to a wallet that you control, then you legally own an electronic derivative of bitcoin. Bitcoin is a new technology. It will have a learning curve and it will take time for humanity to learn how to comprehend, authenticate and take control of bitcoin collectively. Having said that, many people all over the world are already using and relying on Bitcoin natively. For many, it will require for people to find the need or a desire for a neutral money like bitcoin, and to have been burned by derivatives of it, before they start to understand the difference between the two. Eventually, it will become an essential part of what we regard as common sense. ## Learn for yourself If you wish to learn more about how to handle bitcoin and avoid derivatives, you can start by searching online for tutorials about "Bitcoin self custody". There are many options available, some more practical for you, and some more practical for others. Don't spend too much time trying to find the perfect solution; practice and learn. You may make mistakes along the way, so be careful not to experiment with large amounts of your bitcoin as you explore new ideas and technologies along the way. This is similar to learning anything, like riding a bicycle; you are sure to fall a few times, scuff the frame, so don't buy a high performance racing bike while you're still learning to balance.

@ 37fe9853:bcd1b039

yoyoaa

@ 62033ff8:e4471203

收录的内容中 kind=1的部分，实话说 质量不高。 所以我增加了kind=30023 长文的article，但是更新的太少，多个relays 的服务器也没有多少长文。 所有搜索nostr如果需要产生价值，需要有高质量的文章和新闻。 而且现在有很多机器人的文章充满着浪费空间的作用，其他作用都用不上。 https://www.duozhutuan.com 目前放的是给搜索引擎提供搜索的原材料。没有做UI给人类浏览。所以看上去是粗糙的。 我并没有打算去做一个发microblog的 web客户端，那类的客户端太多了。 我觉得nostr社区需要解决的还是应用。如果仅仅是microblog 感觉有点够呛 幸运的是npub.pro 建站这样的，我觉得有点意思。 yakihonne 智能widget 也有意思 我做的TaskQ5 我自己在用了。分布式的任务系统，也挺好的。

@ 207ad2a0:e7cca7b0

*Quick context: I wanted to check out Nostr's longform posts and this blog post seemed like a good one to try and mirror. It's originally from my [free to read/share attempt to write a novel](https://untitlednovel.dns7.top/contents/), but this post here is completely standalone - just describing how I used AI image generation to make a small piece of the work.* Hold on, put your pitchforks down - outside of using Grammerly & Emacs for grammatical corrections - not a single character was generated or modified by computers; a non-insignificant portion of my first draft originating on pen & paper. No AI is ~~weird and crazy~~ imaginative enough to write like I do. The only successful AI contribution you'll find is a single image, the map, which I heavily edited. This post will go over how I generated and modified an image using AI, which I believe brought some value to the work, and cover a few quick thoughts about AI towards the end. Let's be clear, I can't draw, but I wanted a map which I believed would improve the story I was working on. After getting abysmal results by prompting AI with text only I decided to use "Diffuse the Rest," a Stable Diffusion tool that allows you to provide a reference image + description to fine tune what you're looking for. I gave it this Microsoft Paint looking drawing:  and after a number of outputs, selected this one to work on:  The image is way better than the one I provided, but had I used it as is, I still feel it would have decreased the quality of my work instead of increasing it. After firing up Gimp I cropped out the top and bottom, expanded the ocean and separated the landmasses, then copied the top right corner of the large landmass to replace the bottom left that got cut off. Now we've got something that looks like concept art: not horrible, and gets the basic idea across, but it's still due for a lot more detail.  The next thing I did was add some texture to make it look more map like. I duplicated the layer in Gimp and applied the "Cartoon" filter to both for some texture. The top layer had a much lower effect strength to give it a more textured look, while the lower layer had a higher effect strength that looked a lot like mountains or other terrain features. Creating a layer mask allowed me to brush over spots to display the lower layer in certain areas, giving it some much needed features.  At this point I'd made it to where I felt it may improve the work instead of detracting from it - at least after labels and borders were added, but the colors seemed artificial and out of place. Luckily, however, this is when PhotoFunia could step in and apply a sketch effect to the image.  At this point I was pretty happy with how it was looking, it was close to what I envisioned and looked very visually appealing while still being a good way to portray information. All that was left was to make the white background transparent, add some minor details, and add the labels and borders. Below is the exact image I wound up using:  Overall, I'm very satisfied with how it turned out, and if you're working on a creative project, I'd recommend attempting something like this. It's not a central part of the work, but it improved the chapter a fair bit, and was doable despite lacking the talent and not intending to allocate a budget to my making of a free to read and share story. #### The AI Generated Elephant in the Room If you've read my non-fiction writing before, you'll know that I think AI will find its place around the skill floor as opposed to the skill ceiling. As you saw with my input, I have absolutely zero drawing talent, but with some elbow grease and an existing creative direction before and after generating an image I was able to get something well above what I could have otherwise accomplished. Outside of the lowest common denominators like stock photos for the sole purpose of a link preview being eye catching, however, I doubt AI will be wholesale replacing most creative works anytime soon. I can assure you that I tried numerous times to describe the map without providing a reference image, and if I used one of those outputs (or even just the unedited output after providing the reference image) it would have decreased the quality of my work instead of improving it. I'm going to go out on a limb and expect that AI image, text, and video is all going to find its place in slop & generic content (such as AI generated slop replacing article spinners and stock photos respectively) and otherwise be used in a supporting role for various creative endeavors. For people working on projects like I'm working on (e.g. intended budget $0) it's helpful to have an AI capable of doing legwork - enabling projects to exist or be improved in ways they otherwise wouldn't have. I'm also guessing it'll find its way into more professional settings for grunt work - think a picture frame or fake TV show that would exist in the background of an animated project - likely a detail most people probably wouldn't notice, but that would save the creators time and money and/or allow them to focus more on the essential aspects of said work. Beyond that, as I've predicted before: I expect plenty of emails will be generated from a short list of bullet points, only to be summarized by the recipient's AI back into bullet points. I will also make a prediction counter to what seems mainstream: AI is about to peak for a while. The start of AI image generation was with Google's DeepDream in 2015 - image recognition software that could be run in reverse to "recognize" patterns where there were none, effectively generating an image from digital noise or an unrelated image. While I'm not an expert by any means, I don't think we're too far off from that a decade later, just using very fine tuned tools that develop more coherent images. I guess that we're close to maxing out how efficiently we're able to generate images and video in that manner, and the hard caps on how much creative direction we can have when using AI - as well as the limits to how long we can keep it coherent (e.g. long videos or a chronologically consistent set of images) - will prevent AI from progressing too far beyond what it is currently unless/until another breakthrough occurs.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

New Year’s resolutions often feel boring and repetitive. Most revolve around getting in shape, eating healthier, or giving up alcohol. While the idea is interesting—using the start of a new calendar year as a catalyst for change—it also seems unnecessary. Why wait for a specific date to make a change? If you want to improve something in your life, you can just do it. You don’t need an excuse. That’s why I’ve never been drawn to the idea of making a list of resolutions. If I wanted a change, I’d make it happen, without worrying about the calendar. At least, that’s how I felt until now—when, for once, the timing actually gave me a real reason to embrace the idea of New Year’s resolutions. Enter [Olas](https://olas.app). If you're a visual creator, you've likely experienced the relentless grind of building a following on platforms like Instagram—endless doomscrolling, ever-changing algorithms, and the constant pressure to stay relevant. But what if there was a better way? Olas is a Nostr-powered alternative to Instagram that prioritizes community, creativity, and value-for-value exchanges. It's a game changer. Instagram’s failings are well-known. Its algorithm often dictates whose content gets seen, leaving creators frustrated and powerless. Monetization hurdles further alienate creators who are forced to meet arbitrary follower thresholds before earning anything. Additionally, the platform’s design fosters endless comparisons and exposure to negativity, which can take a significant toll on mental health. Instagram’s algorithms are notorious for keeping users hooked, often at the cost of their mental health. I've spoken about this extensively, most recently at Nostr Valley, explaining how legacy social media is bad for you. You might find yourself scrolling through content that leaves you feeling anxious or drained. Olas takes a fresh approach, replacing "doomscrolling" with "bloomscrolling." This is a common theme across the Nostr ecosystem. The lack of addictive rage algorithms allows the focus to shift to uplifting, positive content that inspires rather than exhausts. Monetization is another area where Olas will set itself apart. On Instagram, creators face arbitrary barriers to earning—needing thousands of followers and adhering to restrictive platform rules. Olas eliminates these hurdles by leveraging the Nostr protocol, enabling creators to earn directly through value-for-value exchanges. Fans can support their favorite artists instantly, with no delays or approvals required. The plan is to enable a brand new Olas account that can get paid instantly, with zero followers - that's wild. Olas addresses these issues head-on. Operating on the open Nostr protocol, it removes centralized control over one's content’s reach or one's ability to monetize. With transparent, configurable algorithms, and a community that thrives on mutual support, Olas creates an environment where creators can grow and succeed without unnecessary barriers. Join me on my New Year's resolution. Join me on Olas and take part in the [#Olas365](https://olas.app/search/olas365) challenge! It’s a simple yet exciting way to share your content. The challenge is straightforward: post at least one photo per day on Olas (though you’re welcome to share more!). [Download on iOS](https://testflight.apple.com/join/2FMVX2yM). [Download on Android](https://github.com/pablof7z/olas/releases/) or download via Zapstore. Let's make waves together.

@ dffd3ffc:5ade7be1

# Nostr 利用開始から 1 年を迎えて ## はじめに みなさんこんにちは。おっぱぴぃです。 [ハッカーのおもちゃとしての Nostr のススメ](https://qiita.com/gpsnmeajp/items/2f95d4adf188276146d8) と [Nostr の面白さをエンジニア目線で解説してみる](https://zenn.dev/mattn/articles/cf43423178d65c)をみて Nostr にはじめて投稿をしたのが 2024/01/04 09:04:18 でした。 nostr:nevent1qqsd5v80f9zazxd4kq2r2dls5znd40ht6c7cj4slt6wtlv483vkmxdcjvq66c Nostr で私が 1 年間をどう過ごしてきたか、振り返ってみようと思います。 ## 初投稿日  今見たら 10 リポスト、20 そこそこのリアクションをいただいてたんですね。初投稿というだけでこんなおバズリあそばすことあるんだって思いました。~~みんな年始で暇やったんかな~~ これだけリアクションがあって、フォローもしていただいたおかげで Nostr の印象がよくなったこと、日本人話者にすぐたどり着けてことが Nostr を続けられている要因になっていると思います。あとはエアリプ文化が懐かしい＆近すぎず遠すぎずで居心地がよくて沼ったところがあると思います。 その日は[Nostr の Scrapbox（現 Cosense）](https://scrapbox.io/nostr/)をその日中にざっと読み漁って、記事の誤字修正したり、WoS を設定してみたり、Lightning Address を設定したりしていたようです。 nostr:nevent1qqsxml4ak7g3u8gjcyuhy89sd8vlk3fu6we9ecgey69jltd42dr0etcvt0l3w ~~おまえ、このころから大欲情を…~~ ## のす会でのオン会（？） Nostr 日本人ユーザーの集まる Discord サーバとして、「のす会」というものがあります。 過去ログを漁ってるとどうやら 2024/01/15 ごろにボイチャに入りはじめ、 nostr:nevent1qqszm0kv7aulxnmxr2fdxg5cvme7nyv3j6rgfa30cat8cs3npnsep9caz0xyc その翌日にはのす会にて Geo guesser で遊んだりしていたようです。こじらさんが尋常じゃない強さでどういう事なの…となった覚えがあります。 nostr:nevent1qqs9knrf4ww8g0fsu4l74gxeeh3s9pwpnf47xn8pf5u8pplkz4yatjg03ufd5 こうした経験を経て、徐々に Nostr ユーザーの方と直接会話することのハードルが下がってきた所でした。 ## 初のオフ会参加 2 月頭、TL で話題になっていた火鍋を食べた経験がないなぁ…ということで、2024/02/10、[ゴリラ.vim#30~四谷ラボコラボ~](https://gorillavim.connpass.com/event/307622/)の参加と併せて、海底撈火鍋でオフ会を開催したのが Nostr における初めてのオフ会参加＆幹事でした。 この日は中国の春節初日だったのもあって異様に店舗が混んでおり、18:00 に予約したのに一行に案内されず、 nostr:nevent1qqspcttj4gv2ey7vkt0wp2nehqfwxjnp55vm4agnwu9kullep88ysccpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsyg87v060ssxrpew6a0vrhkcy36hqppvrwjmlqnrgqrrvf8fghgg0pypsgqqqqqqs07ajzp 顔面が痙攣したり、 nostr:nevent1qqs9d5vycslspatsnx6u5qqqwpfmdt33w2v7xkytljzsfwv56acs79czyr0l60lu824k9yc63jcg7z32fzx6w3cr6zx3mmuns69wxr66mea7zp6f7wn 詫び菓子を貰ったり、 nostr:nevent1qqs8a0u47alv9vexd5r5s5vygs77ecadm6dl9vlky32hjywdx8f3gtczyr0l60lu824k9yc63jcg7z32fzx6w3cr6zx3mmuns69wxr66mea7zgjxmhl 病院待合室みたいな場所で検尿コップで水飲んだりと nostr:nevent1qqsq44zs04g5zng35ks6jrvrv6uel2f9ls26d7nsc6svuggrlfnvtcgzyp4kuxwwg7530jlp8fn7adq982dnq8ncajv3gyl824y4xzyw6cknkvj37gy トラウマになりそうなオフ会でした。当時の様子は[nosli でまとめています](https://nostter.app/naddr1qqfkummnd35j6vfhxqmn2dejxuurqvpjxcpzphla8l7r42mzjvdgevy0pg4y3rd8gupaprgaa7fcdzhrpaddu7lpqvzqqqr4gu92anwm)。 今振り返ってもくちゃくちゃの体験してるなと思いますが、 ~~クレーターを作りそうな青ウサギがいたものの~~ nostr:nevent1qqsrs8y3phadhcukwjlkjkgdcs43ndkc8a42m88zayfj6p2lex6a6tgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsygrtdcvuu3afzl97zwn8a66q2w5mxq083myezsf7w42f2vyga43d8vpsgqqqqqqsyfx7da 誰も怒らないし宴会自体は楽しかったので、Nostr のオフ会の原体験としては良かったな、と感じています。ひどい思い出ほど振り返ったら美化されるやつかもしれない。 ## 各種イベント参加 Nostr には[四谷ラボ](https://428lab.net/)参加者の方が沢山いらっしゃったこと、お声かけいただいた縁などもあり、いろいろなイベントにスタッフとして参加する経験ができました。例えば… - [Bluesky Meetup in Tokyo Vol.2](https://428lab.connpass.com/event/312335/) - [技術書典 16](https://techbookfest.org/event/tbf16) ⇒ 関わらせていただいた[のぶこ本](https://books.428lab.net/book/003/) - [Nostrasia2024](https://nostrasia.com/) など。 微力ながら、自らの役割に合わせてイベントに貢献させていただけて、とても楽しめました。 自分に自信がなく、私生活では責任が発生する立場を回避しがちであったこともあって、自分としてはこれらのイベント参加はとても貴重な経験になりました。 関係されている方々が思い思いの仕事のやりようでイベントに取り組んでいる様が刺激になったなと思います。 ## オフ会履歴 私を Nostr でフォローいただいている方であれば、「こいつ、やたらオフ会行ってないか…？」と思われるでしょう。ということで、自分でも一度整理をしてみました。  **うわっ...私のオフ会参加、多すぎ…？** ~~1 年間は52週しかないねんぞ~~ このように、火鍋のオフ会を皮切りに、相当な数のオフ会に参加させていただきました。オフ会というかもう普通に Nostr で知り合っただけの友人との集まりみたいな感覚になっているかも。 ちなみに、人単位でお会いした回数もまとめています。  ※：Nostrasia などのイベントでお会いした回数は除いています。 こうみるとしおと神（かすてらふぃさん）と会った回数めちゃくちゃ多いですね。28,26回だとほぼ2週に1回ペースですが、過去どんなに親しい友人でもこんな頻度で会ってたことないかも。 ## 思い出深かった出来事 nostr:nevent1qqsyeyycax9qgrr4qvtty4h62x96vc6lydh8yg7jl5er99zg7wlpdrcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduhsygxll5llcw4tv2f34r9s3u9z5jyd5ars85ydrhhe8p52uv844hnmuypsgqqqqqqskevt6r nostr:nevent1qqs0sqhtzc4p3vysz5k7l29x2lcnedeys55t7mqp2mz7ugrmw0v725cppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qgsdllfllsa2kc5nr2xtprc29fygmf68q0gg6800jwrg4cc0tt08hcgrqsqqqqqpaua8e8 この誤字投稿を経て、私の（たまにほかの人も）誤字は大欲情と呼ばれるようになりました。~~毎回思うけど新しく入ってきた人は何だこれってなるよなこれ~~ その後も酔ってる時を中心に結構誤字をやらかすので、[那月さんによるまとめが作られています](https://nosli.vercel.app/li/naddr1qqfkummnd35j6vfhxgurgdpk8q6nzd3exypzpq4np5cygstsu65vsx0ggphrv23kj4z553sh39xwyur08pqvdsqrqvzqqqr4gupk0ng5)。 名前としては不名誉かもしれませんが、面白いのでOKです。 ## おわりに 振り返ってみれば Nostr 日本人ユーザーコミュニティの心地良さに浸った 1 年だったと思います。 Nostr の仕組み自体も好きですが、私はコミュニティの方に目が行っている気がします。 Nostr 歴 1 歳になったので、今後は私が Nostr を使う人々に心地良いと思ってもらえるような人になれるとよいなと思います。 これからもよろしくお願いします。

@ 58937958:545e6994

January 3, 2024 I made a Bitcoin-inspired Osechi to celebrate Bitcoin's birthday. Everything was handmade! Osechi: A traditional Japanese New Year’s feast, typically served in stacked boxes. ## First Layer (Ichino-jū)  - Tazukuri: Dried sardines, symbolizing a wish for a bountiful harvest. - Simmered Kuai: A vegetable with large sprouts, symbolizing growth and success. - Kombu Rolls: A play on words with the Japanese term yorokobu ("to be joyful"), making it a good luck dish. - Matsukazeyaki: Ground meat coated with sesame or poppy seeds on one side, symbolizing honesty (no "hidden side"). - Black Beans: Represent hard work and good health. - Datemaki: Sweet rolled omelet resembling scrolls, symbolizing knowledge and learning. - Grilled Yellowtail: A fish whose name changes as it grows, symbolizing success. Salmon Terrine: A classic addition to Western-style Osechi. Salmon symbolizes success, avoiding misfortune (sakeru), and prosperity for future generations. - Tataki Gobo: Burdock root with deep roots, symbolizing family stability and prosperity. ## Second Layer (Nino-jū)  - Candied Kumquat: A dish symbolizing wealth and good fortune. - Namash: Pickled daikon and carrot, resembling celebratory red and white decorations. - Chestnut Kinton: Golden in color, symbolizing wealth and a prosperous year. Bitcoin-themed additions: - Pumpkin Yokan - Chicken and Spinach Terrine - Kinako Sticks ## Third Layer (Sanno-jū)  Nishime: A simmered dish with various ingredients, symbolizing family harmony and long-lasting prosperity. I used snow peas to represent Bitcoin, and I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. ## Dishes Inspired by Bitcoin ### Pumpkin Yokan  I made firm milk jelly, cut it into a "B" shape with a knife, and filled it with pumpkin yokan. ### Chicken and Spinach Terrine  It was my first attempt, and I think with more care, the shape could be even better. ### Kinako Sticks  A simple snack made with honey and roasted soybean flour (kinako). Roll it out, cut it into sticks, and coat with more kinako. ### Candied Kumquat  Candied Kumquat: A dish symbolizing wealth and good fortune. In Japan, 金柑 (kumquat) includes the kanji 金, which represents "gold." nostr:nevent1qqspu8gegzdamtx2rsm4995t3sg8qssw3vn3yn25ru8plghsqyrwtkcn0u7vy I wonder what Satoshi might have eaten on the day Bitcoin was born. Wouldn't it be amusing to imagine him snacking on Osechi while working on his computer? (Satoshi chose a Japanese name, so perhaps he might have an interest in Japanese culture.) Maybe, right now, Satoshi is relaxing and enjoying some Osechi... though probably not! In any case, I hope Satoshi is living peacefully somewhere.

@ 58937958:545e6994

2024年1月3日 ビットコインのお誕生日に合わせて ビットコインっぽい具材を入れたおせちを作りました 全部手作りです ## 1の重  （左上から） - 田作り…田んぼに田作り（カタクチイワシ）を肥料として撒いたことから、豊作祈願の意味合いがある。 - くわいの煮物…大きく芽が出る野菜で、出世や成功を祈る。 - 昆布巻き…「喜ぶ（よろこぶ）」の語呂合わせで縁起物。 - 松風焼き…表面だけケシの実やゴマをまぶす＝裏がない→隠し事のない正直な生き方ができるように、という意味が込められている - 黒豆…「まめに働く」ことや健康を祈る。 - 伊達巻き…巻物に似ていることから、知識が豊富になるようにと願いが込められている。 - ぶりの幽庵焼き…ぶりは成長とともに名前が変わる出世魚で、将来の出世を願う。 - 鮭のテリーヌ…洋風おせちの定番。鮭には「出世」「災いを避け（サケ）る」「子孫繁栄」などの意味がある - たたきごぼう…根が深く張るごぼうは家族や子孫繁栄の象徴。 ## 2の重  - 金柑の甘露煮…金柑の「金」の文字から、金運や財運を祈る。 - なます…紅白の水引のような形状で祝いの意味がある - 栗きんとん…黄金色が金運を表し、豊かな1年を願う。 以下はビットコイン具材として入れました - カボチャようかん - 鶏とほうれん草のテリーヌ - きな粉棒 ## 3の重  煮しめ…様々な具材を一緒に煮ることから、「皆で仲良く、末永く繁栄するように」という願いが込められている きぬさやのBは我ながらちょっと笑ってしまった ## ビットコインを意識して作った具材 ### カボチャようかん  固めの牛乳かんを作り、包丁でBの形に切り抜いて、カボチャのようかんを流す感じです ### 鶏とほうれん草のテリーヌ  鶏むね肉とはんぺんをミンチにして、半分にほうれん草を入れて形作りました 初めて作ったので不安でしたが丁寧に作ればもっと良い形になると思いました ### きな粉棒  はちみつときな粉だけで作る駄菓子的なおやつです のばして包丁で切り抜いてきな粉をまぶします ### 金柑の甘露煮  丸くてオレンジ色なので作ってみました しかも名前に「金（ゴールド）」が入っているのでビットコイン食材のポテンシャルがあると思います とろける感じでめっちゃおいしかったです nostr:nevent1qqspu8gegzdamtx2rsm4995t3sg8qssw3vn3yn25ru8plghsqyrwtkcn0u7vy サトシはビットコインが生まれたその日に何を食べていたのかなぁと おせちをつまみながらパソコンに向かっていたりしたら面白いなぁと思いながら作りました （日本文化が好きだから日本名にした可能性はあるかな～とか） 今頃のんびりおせちを食べてくつろいでいる・・・なんてことはないですかね 何にせよサトシが平和に暮らしていればいいなぁと思います

@ 101b30ee:18a46a45

--- ### ハンドシェイク - HTTPリクエスト解析 - [ ] HTTPリクエストラインのパーサー関数作成 - [x] HTTPヘッダーのパーサー関数作成 - [ ] HTTPリクエストボディのパーサー関数作成 - [ ] WebSocket関連ヘッダーの検証 - [ ] `Upgrade: websocket` - [ ] `Connection: Upgrade` - [ ] `Sec-WebSocket-Key` の取得と検証 - [ ] `Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13` の検証 - HTTPレスポンス作成 - [ ] `Sec-WebSocket-Accept` の生成 - [x] `Sec-WebSocket-Key` にSHA-1適用(外部依存) - [ ] `Sec-WebSocket-Key` にSHA-1適用(非依存) - [x] `Sec-WebSocket-Key` にBase64エンコードを適用 - [x] HTTP 101 Switching Protocolsレスポンスの構築と送信 --- ### データ転送 #### WebSocketフレームの処理 - フレーム解析 - [x] `fin` ビットの取り出しと解釈 - [x] `rsv1`, `rsv2`, `rsv3` の取り出しと検証 - [ ] `opcode` の取り出しと処理 - [ ] 0x0: 継続フレーム - [ ] 0x1: テキストフレーム - [ ] 0x2: バイナリフレーム - [ ] 0x8: 接続終了 - [ ] 0x9: Ping - [ ] 0xA: Pong - [x] `mask` フラグの取得と検証 - [x] `payload_len` の取り出しと解析 - [x] 拡張されたペイロード長（`extended payload len`）の取り出し - [x] `masking key` の取得とデコード - [x] `payload` データの取り出し - [ ] `fin` に基づく分割パケット対応 - デコード - [x] `masking key` を使用したペイロードデコード - opcode別処理 - [ ] テキストフレーム(0x1)のUTF-8デコードと処理 - [ ] バイナリフレーム(0x2)のデータ処理 - [ ] Ping(0x9)フレームへのPong応答 - [ ] 接続終了(0x8)の処理 - [ ] 不正なopcodeに対するエラー応答 #### フレーム生成 - フレーム構築 - [ ] `fin` フラグ設定 - [ ] `opcode` の設定 - [ ] ペイロードのマスキング処理（クライアント向けのみ） - [ ] ペイロード長の設定（拡張ペイロード長を含む） - [ ] フレーム全体のバイトストリーム化 --- ### 接続管理 - [x] クライアント接続の確立 - [x] 2クライアント以上の接続の確立 - [ ] 接続中のクライアントのリスト管理 - [ ] 接続のタイムアウト処理 - [ ] 不正なクライアントからの接続拒否 - [ ] 接続終了時のクリーンアップ処理 - [ ] ハートビート機能（Ping/Pong）による接続維持 --- ### セキュリティ - [ ] WebSocket Originヘッダーの検証（許可されたオリジンのみ受け入れる） - [ ] メッセージサイズの上限設定（大規模メッセージ攻撃の防御） - [ ] 不正なフレーム/データに対するエラーハンドリング - [ ] SSL/TLSサポート（wssプロトコル用） --- ### 拡張機能とプロトコルアップグレード - [ ] サブプロトコル（Sec-WebSocket-Protocol）の処理 - [ ] 拡張（Sec-WebSocket-Extensions）のサポート - 圧縮データのデコード (例: permessage-deflate) --- ### テストとデバッグ - [ ] 単体テスト - [ ] ハンドシェイクのテスト - [ ] フレーム解析と生成のテスト - [ ] 各opcode処理のテスト - [ ] 負荷テスト（高負荷時の動作確認） - [ ] プロトコルコンフォーマンステスト - [ ] RFC 6455に準拠しているかの確認 - [ ] ロギングとデバッグツールの実装 --- ### ドキュメント - [ ] コードベースのコメントとドキュメント化 - [ ] WebSocketサーバーの設定と使用法についてのユーザーガイド作成 ### タグ #RFC6455

@ 58937958:545e6994

May 22, 2024 I made Badger-kun’s pizza bread to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day. Badger-kun: A character from the Japanese YouTube channel "Bitcoiner Hanseikai." Making the pizza bread was quite a challenge: ## Attempt 1: Rice Flour Bread  I thought it might be difficult to shape the character using yeast-based dough (since fermentation might turn it into just a plain round shape). So, I tried rice flour bread with psyllium, but it didn’t feel quite right. ## Attempt 2: Cream Bread Style  The rice flour bread was too firm, so I wanted to try something softer. It ended up burning. ## Attempt 3: Cheese Naan Style  I wanted to capture that melty cheese vibe and finally thought of cheese naan. For a character-themed pizza bread, this cheese naan approach seemed to work pretty well. I realized that simpler character designs might be easier (and clearer) to make. nostr:nevent1qqsd3a7thkzqde4sp4hx7qjwrjp4kxsnl66kytx40mk73djfvxfkspgu2fw34

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

**Originally published on October 15, 2022. Moving from my personal blog to Nostr 🙌** ## Don't trust, verify Some people find this very annoying. But I've realized that most people are winging it in life. Human psychology and power dynamics influences how people think and what they say. People want to seem right so they copy what others say, and expect you to believe it. One way people consume information is through media - news and articles. They'll read something and assume it's true. Cited by a "study"? Must be true. "Experts say"? Gotta be true. Except, if you check the sources and do some critical thinking, you might uncover that the study is flawed or that the experts are biased. Simple things like statistical significance are thrown out the window in some studies. People overlook personal biases. This all leads to poor data and misrepresentation. This is how you get click-bait headlines. The only way to know what's true is to try and verify it for yourself. Even if you are not able to verify the facts, you can come away with a range of certainty about what you learned. Is it probably true? May be true. Certainly true? Or maybe there is a grain of truth to it? The level of confidence can vary. You don't need to be 100% confident in your newly acquired knowledge. ## Treat new knowledge as data points "It depends" is the most appropriate answer to all questions in life. The actual answer is very nuanced and depends on all sorts of things. But, the way media presents information and the way our minds try to categorize it is by replacing past beliefs. Once you learn something new, it's tempting to disregard your past knowledge. I don't see information this way. To me, all new information is a data point in my life-long accumulated collection of other data points. Think of it like a toolbox. You have many tools in your toolbox and they are all useful for some specific task. You don't throw away a tool you bought because you acquired another. Information is much the same. You source information from your mind to understand some subject. Consider existing beliefs, while looking at the new information. The goal is to connect the dots. Sooner or later the data points (dots) start connecting, and you get a better picture of the subject. ## Seek out incentives Incentives drive human behavior. Incentive to earn. Incentive to love. Incentive to feel good about yourself (generosity). If you can figure out a person's incentives, you will start to understand their behavior. People suck at understanding this. They blame the wrong things. They assign responsibility to people who are not responsible. They create made up reasons for why someone did something. All the whole ignoring incentives. Incentives drive everything. Ask the following questions: * What is the ultimate goal of this person by saying or doing this? * What do they seek to gain? * How does it make them feel? * What will they do at the prospect of failure? * Who are the people they care for? * What do they stand to lose? * What motivates their actions? * In almost all cases the answer to these questions involves a personal gain / loss. ## Give people the benefit of the doubt When trying to decide whether something was said or done with good intent, assume that's the case. With exceptions such as career politicians or criminals, it is best to assume that people mean well and people are default=nice. Otherwise it becomes difficult to have faith in systems, processes and humanity. I know the world can be an ugly place, but it can also be a beautiful place. I'd rather assume people are seeking to build a better future for themselves. If they act against everyone's best interest, it is best to assume they do so out of personal gain rather than some sinister plot. Look at the incentives that drive their behavior and figure out how to modify them to best serve everyone. ## Acknowledge that material wealth does not bring happiness and strive for what matters to you. Money does not bring happiness no matter what anyone says. It does relieve you of despair and help live a better, more peaceful and enjoyable life, but it will not make you happy. Very few people in the world, if any, know true happiness because they confuse happiness (the process) with happiness (the end state). There is no end state for happiness. When people ask you if you are happy, it's hard to answer, right? Your instinct is to say "yes, of course". After all, your day is going fine, you have every comfort you desire and you had a pleasant lunch with a friend. You feel "happy". But, this happiness fades. Tomorrow you get in a car accident, your car damaged, insurance won't pay out and you miss 2 weeks of work. You are "unhappy". Some people confuse happiness with being content. You can be content with your place in life, but that doesn't mean you're happy. The whole debate over happiness is a mute point. Since happiness is a process which is more akin to enjoyment, ultimately there is no such thing as happiness. The word itself should disappear from dictionaries. Ok, I'm joking. But, you get the point. When it comes to my life, I strive for satisfaction and contentment. If I'm satisfied that day, that week, that month, that year, or the last decade, then I've met my "happiness" goals. If I am content with my life, then I'm "happy". While material wealth can provide satisfaction, the contentment piece is often missing. With wealth, the goal post moves from one spot to another. Once you've achieved a satisfying moment, you have to move to the next, and the next. Each time you have to introduce higher states of satisfaction that require more effort and money. Eventually, you plateau and satisfying moments from the physical world no longer matter. You seek out emotional attachment and relationships. This is why so many wealthy people are depressed. No matter how much they spend, they can never reach that emotional attachment provided by love and relationships. In fact, wealth only complicates those things. Instead of people seeing you for who you are as a person, a new variable is introduced and they see you for your status. With misaligned incentives, it becomes more difficult to form genuine relationships. Thus, contentment is hard to achieve. I'm going to let you in on the biggest secret everyone is asking about - the secret to happiness. The secret to happiness is charitable work. Doing things for others, without expecting anything in return. Charitable acts are secretly selfish acts, whether that person acknowledges it or not. All humans act in self-preservation. The need to feel good about ourselves. The need for approval. The need for comfort and safety. The need for recognition. All of these needs are driven by self-preservation. Charity is no different. While we may feel that we do good things for others out of the goodness of our hearts, the evolutionary incentive is to feel satisfied by our deeds. There's nothing wrong with doing good things to feel good, as long as you understand why you're doing it, instead of performing mental gymnastics. ## We are not designed for our digital world and should not strive to adapt to it Evolution took hundreds of thousands of years to shape humans into what we are today. But technology accelerated the process by many magnitudes all within about 100 years. Except, it hasn't. The evolutionary clock is still catching up, out of breath and exhausted with your daily activity. While we adapt rather well, humans are not capable of processing the amount of data and connections offered by the internet. This ultimately messes with our minds. Think about your current physical world social circle. Small, yes? Now think about your digital social circle. Much larger? How many people do you think about out of your larger digital social circle? My guess is not that many. While you may recognize the individuals you interact with, the meaning connections formed in the digital world are somewhat closely mirrored to the physical world. I hypothesize this is because we have innate evolutionary boundaries that limit our ability to expand beyond a certain natural limit. Going beyond the invisible evolutionary boundaries places a burden on your mind. It feels unhealthy. Remember the last time you thought to yourself "I need a break. I need to unplug"? That's your evolutionary boundary telling you it is not capable of processing any more data. You need a purge to get back to equilibrium. We are not designed to be always-on, always-connected, always-responsive. At least not yet. It's possible the evolutionary process catches up and prepares us to handle all of it, but I am not confident it will be any time soon. I try to remind myself that I am not meant to have 50,000 followers and expect to keep everyone happy. I am not meant to follow everyone's updates and be expected to respond. To stay healthy, I need to unplug. ## Life is what you make of it, do what you wish to do and ignore the rest There's no "right way" to do anything. Everything is a figment of human imagination. To do things "the right way" means doing it by someone else's definition of right. I found it incredibly freeing to realize that the only thing that is pure in this world is the natural world and your mind. The world is a canvas. You are the paint brush. Everyone is capable of everything and nothing at the same time. Everything else is noise. Yes, we have society. Yes, we have rules. These artificial, human-invented boundaries act to preserve harmony. But, ultimately, the only pure forms of existence are the human mind and the natural world. What you do is the only thing within your boundary of control (to an extent). Since we experience the world with our minds, we are all that is true. Everything else is a projection of some entity or experience that seeks to change our behavior (intentionally or unintentionally). With this in mind, I look at people's experiences as unique to them and do not assume that they will translate in the same way to my life if I apply them. ## Only worry about things that are in my control I can't control what people do. I can try to influence them, but ultimately they will do what they decide to do. Since I can only control myself, I don't worry about what others think or do. ## Never regret It's easy to say "I don't regret things" but in reality emotions take us there and we think about what we regret. I would be lying if I said I don't have feelings of regret. But, I forget about them quickly so I can focus on the things I can control. What passed is now behind me and there's no way to change it back, so there's no point in regretting. Reflection is not the same as regret. One can reflect by looking at the past, and make changes for the future. Regrets are bitter feelings an no action. ## Truth is relative Even as I write this, my own truths are relative. What is true for me, or is true now, may not be true for you or true when you read it. It may be wrong. People used to believe earth was the center of the universe. That the sun went around the earth. That to ward off bad spirits you had to offer sacrifices. These were all truths to the people who held those beliefs. Now we know different. Given what we know now, it is only logical to assume that our current truths may be false in the future. Even physics, the foundation upon we base so many truths may be proven to be wrong or incompatible with other parts of the universe. ## Most things are not the best version of themselves therefore there is always room for improvement. Since things get better all the time, it is only logical to assume that even the best thing we can think of is not the best version of that thing. The "best" is relative to time, technology and imagination. Whenever someone says "but we already have X that works great", that doesn't mean that Y cannot be better than X, nobody just thought of it yet. Stay curious, stay hungry and know that you can create something better. ## Take experts with a grain of salt Even the top experts in their fields are often incorrect. For example - I know a lot about conversion optimization, but if you were to take every advice I dish out, some of it will inevitably flop. When you get to an expert level, when someone asks you something you don't know, it is tempting to give an answer. When many people ask you for something, it's even more tempting to respond. Saying "I don't know" is difficult even if you feel that you should say it. Before you can utter the words, your mind says "I should know this..." The second factor that makes experts not as credible as they may have been in the past, is the speed at which technology moves. Think about a specialized doctor. This doctor may be the top expert in their field, but it is impossible for them to read the thousands of medical journals published every day. So many breakthroughs could happen in a year without this doctor ever knowing about them. By the time an expert weighs in, the "truth" of the matter may have already shifted. Knowing this, you can assume that not everything an expert says is correct, especially if they step outside of their lane. Elon Musk is a great example of this. While Elon is a successful entrepreneur and perhaps knows a thing or two about rocket engines, when he steps outside of his lane and talks about crypto, he is no more coherent than someone who spent a lot of time in the space. He uses his influence to prop up things like dogecoin for fun and games, while people lose their life savings following his doge tweets. I'm not saying that he is responsible for people's personal decisions, but he does influence them.

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

## The Rise of Graph RAGs and the Quest for Data Quality As we enter a new year, it’s impossible to ignore the boom of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems, particularly those leveraging graph-based approaches. The previous year saw a surge in advancements and discussions about Graph RAGs, driven by their potential to enhance large language models (LLMs), reduce hallucinations, and deliver more reliable outputs. Let’s dive into the trends, challenges, and strategies for making the most of Graph RAGs in artificial intelligence. ## Booming Interest in Graph RAGs Graph RAGs have dominated the conversation in AI circles. With new research papers and innovations emerging weekly, it’s clear that this approach is reshaping the landscape. These systems, especially those developed by tech giants like Microsoft, demonstrate how graphs can: * **Enhance LLM Outputs:** By grounding responses in structured knowledge, graphs significantly reduce hallucinations. * **Support Complex Queries:** Graphs excel at managing linked and connected data, making them ideal for intricate problem-solving. Conferences on linked and connected data have increasingly focused on Graph RAGs, underscoring their central role in modern AI systems. However, the excitement around this technology has brought critical questions to the forefront: How do we ensure the quality of the graphs we’re building, and are they genuinely aligned with our needs? ## Data Quality: The Foundation of Effective Graphs A high-quality graph is the backbone of any successful RAG system. Constructing these graphs from unstructured data requires attention to detail and rigorous processes. Here’s why: * **Richness of Entities:** Effective retrieval depends on graphs populated with rich, detailed entities. * **Freedom from Hallucinations:** Poorly constructed graphs amplify inaccuracies rather than mitigating them. Without robust data quality, even the most sophisticated Graph RAGs become ineffective. As a result, the focus must shift to refining the graph construction process. Improving data strategy and ensuring meticulous data preparation is essential to unlock the full potential of Graph RAGs. ## Hybrid Graph RAGs and Variations While standard Graph RAGs are already transformative, hybrid models offer additional flexibility and power. Hybrid RAGs combine structured graph data with other retrieval mechanisms, creating systems that: * Handle diverse data sources with ease. * Offer improved adaptability to complex queries. Exploring these variations can open new avenues for AI systems, particularly in domains requiring structured and unstructured data processing. ## Ontology: The Key to Graph Construction Quality Ontology — defining how concepts relate within a knowledge domain — is critical for building effective graphs. While this might sound abstract, it’s a well-established field blending philosophy, engineering, and art. Ontology engineering provides the framework for: * **Defining Relationships:** Clarifying how concepts connect within a domain. * **Validating Graph Structures:** Ensuring constructed graphs are logically sound and align with domain-specific realities. Traditionally, ontologists — experts in this discipline — have been integral to large enterprises and research teams. However, not every team has access to dedicated ontologists, leading to a significant challenge: How can teams without such expertise ensure the quality of their graphs? ## How to Build Ontology Expertise in a Startup Team For startups and smaller teams, developing ontology expertise may seem daunting, but it is achievable with the right approach: 1. **Assign a Knowledge Champion:** Identify a team member with a strong analytical mindset and give them time and resources to learn ontology engineering. 2. **Provide Training:** Invest in courses, workshops, or certifications in knowledge graph and ontology creation. 3. **Leverage Partnerships:** Collaborate with academic institutions, domain experts, or consultants to build initial frameworks. 4. **Utilize Tools:** Introduce ontology development tools like Protégé, OWL, or SHACL to simplify the creation and validation process. 5. **Iterate with Feedback:** Continuously refine ontologies through collaboration with domain experts and iterative testing. So, it is not always affordable for a startup to have a dedicated oncologist or knowledge engineer in a team, but you could involve consulters or build barefoot experts. You could read about barefoot experts in my article : Even startups can achieve robust and domain-specific ontology frameworks by fostering in-house expertise. ## How to Find or Create Ontologies For teams venturing into Graph RAGs, several strategies can help address the ontology gap: 1. **Leverage Existing Ontologies:** Many industries and domains already have open ontologies. For instance: * **Public Knowledge Graphs:** Resources like Wikipedia’s graph offer a wealth of structured knowledge. * **Industry Standards:** Enterprises such as Siemens have invested in creating and sharing ontologies specific to their fields. * **Business Framework Ontology (BFO):** A valuable resource for enterprises looking to define business processes and structures. 1. **Build In-House Expertise:** If budgets allow, consider hiring knowledge engineers or providing team members with the resources and time to develop expertise in ontology creation. 2. **Utilize LLMs for Ontology Construction:** Interestingly, LLMs themselves can act as a starting point for ontology development: * **Prompt-Based Extraction:** LLMs can generate draft ontologies by leveraging their extensive training on graph data. * **Domain Expert Refinement:** Combine LLM-generated structures with insights from domain experts to create tailored ontologies. ## Parallel Ontology and Graph Extraction An emerging approach involves extracting ontologies and graphs in parallel. While this can streamline the process, it presents challenges such as: * **Detecting Hallucinations:** Differentiating between genuine insights and AI-generated inaccuracies. * **Ensuring Completeness:** Ensuring no critical concepts are overlooked during extraction. Teams must carefully validate outputs to ensure reliability and accuracy when employing this parallel method. ## LLMs as Ontologists While traditionally dependent on human expertise, ontology creation is increasingly supported by LLMs. These models, trained on vast amounts of data, possess inherent knowledge of many open ontologies and taxonomies. Teams can use LLMs to: * **Generate Skeleton Ontologies:** Prompt LLMs with domain-specific information to draft initial ontology structures. * **Validate and Refine Ontologies:** Collaborate with domain experts to refine these drafts, ensuring accuracy and relevance. However, for validation and graph construction, formal tools such as OWL, SHACL, and RDF should be prioritized over LLMs to minimize hallucinations and ensure robust outcomes. ## Final Thoughts: Unlocking the Power of Graph RAGs The rise of Graph RAGs underscores a simple but crucial correlation: improving graph construction and data quality directly enhances retrieval systems. To truly harness this power, teams must invest in understanding ontologies, building quality graphs, and leveraging both human expertise and advanced AI tools. As we move forward, the interplay between Graph RAGs and ontology engineering will continue to shape the future of AI. Whether through adopting existing frameworks or exploring innovative uses of LLMs, the path to success lies in a deep commitment to data quality and domain understanding. Have you explored these technologies in your work? Share your experiences and insights — and stay tuned for more discussions on ontology extraction and its role in AI advancements. Cheers to a year of innovation!

@ a4a6b584:1e05b95b

## The Four-Layer Framework ### Layer 1: Zoom Out  Start by looking at the big picture. What’s the subject about, and why does it matter? Focus on the overarching ideas and how they fit together. Think of this as the 30,000-foot view—it’s about understanding the "why" and "how" before diving into the "what." **Example**: If you’re learning programming, start by understanding that it’s about giving logical instructions to computers to solve problems. - **Tip**: Keep it simple. Summarize the subject in one or two sentences and avoid getting bogged down in specifics at this stage. _Once you have the big picture in mind, it’s time to start breaking it down._ --- ### Layer 2: Categorize and Connect  Now it’s time to break the subject into categories—like creating branches on a tree. This helps your brain organize information logically and see connections between ideas. **Example**: Studying biology? Group concepts into categories like cells, genetics, and ecosystems. - **Tip**: Use headings or labels to group similar ideas. Jot these down in a list or simple diagram to keep track. _With your categories in place, you’re ready to dive into the details that bring them to life._ --- ### Layer 3: Master the Details  Once you’ve mapped out the main categories, you’re ready to dive deeper. This is where you learn the nuts and bolts—like formulas, specific techniques, or key terminology. These details make the subject practical and actionable. **Example**: In programming, this might mean learning the syntax for loops, conditionals, or functions in your chosen language. - **Tip**: Focus on details that clarify the categories from Layer 2. Skip anything that doesn’t add to your understanding. _Now that you’ve mastered the essentials, you can expand your knowledge to include extra material._ --- ### Layer 4: Expand Your Horizons  Finally, move on to the extra material—less critical facts, trivia, or edge cases. While these aren’t essential to mastering the subject, they can be useful in specialized discussions or exams. **Example**: Learn about rare programming quirks or historical trivia about a language’s development. - **Tip**: Spend minimal time here unless it’s necessary for your goals. It’s okay to skim if you’re short on time. --- ## Pro Tips for Better Learning ### 1. Use Active Recall and Spaced Repetition Test yourself without looking at notes. Review what you’ve learned at increasing intervals—like after a day, a week, and a month. This strengthens memory by forcing your brain to actively retrieve information. ### 2. Map It Out Create visual aids like [diagrams or concept maps](https://excalidraw.com/) to clarify relationships between ideas. These are particularly helpful for organizing categories in Layer 2. ### 3. Teach What You Learn Explain the subject to someone else as if they’re hearing it for the first time. Teaching **exposes any gaps** in your understanding and **helps reinforce** the material. ### 4. Engage with LLMs and Discuss Concepts Take advantage of tools like ChatGPT or similar large language models to **explore your topic** in greater depth. Use these tools to: - Ask specific questions to clarify confusing points. - Engage in discussions to simulate real-world applications of the subject. - Generate examples or analogies that deepen your understanding. **Tip**: Use LLMs as a study partner, but don’t rely solely on them. Combine these insights with your own critical thinking to develop a well-rounded perspective. --- ## Get Started Ready to try the Four-Layer Method? Take 15 minutes today to map out the big picture of a topic you’re curious about—what’s it all about, and why does it matter? By building your understanding step by step, you’ll master the subject with less stress and more confidence.

@ 1bda7e1f:bb97c4d9

### Tldr - Nostr is an open and interoperable protocol - You can integrate it with workflow automation tools to augment your experience - n8n is a great low/no-code workflow automation tool which you can host yourself - Nostrobots allows you to integrate Nostr into n8n - In this blog I create some workflow automations for Nostr - A simple form to delegate posting notes - Push notifications for mentions on multiple accounts - Push notifications for your favourite accounts when they post a note - All workflows are provided as open source with MIT license for you to use ### Inter-op All The Things Nostr is a new open social protocol for the internet. This open nature exciting because of the opportunities for interoperability with other technologies. In [Using NFC Cards with Nostr]() I explored the `nostr:` URI to launch Nostr clients from a card tap. The interoperability of Nostr doesn't stop there. The internet has many super-powers, and Nostr is open to all of them. Simply, there's no one to stop it. There is no one in charge, there are no permissioned APIs, and there are no risks of being de-platformed. If you can imagine technologies that would work well with Nostr, then any and all of them can ride on or alongside Nostr rails. My mental model for why this is special is Google Wave ~2010. Google Wave was to be the next big platform. Lars was running it and had a big track record from Maps. I was excited for it. Then, Google pulled the plug. And, immediately all the time and capital invested in understanding and building on the platform was wasted. This cannot happen to Nostr, as there is no one to pull the plug, and maybe even no plug to pull. So long as users demand Nostr, Nostr will exist, and that is a pretty strong guarantee. It makes it worthwhile to invest in bringing Nostr into our other applications. All we need are simple ways to plug things together. ### Nostr and Workflow Automation Workflow automation is about helping people to streamline their work. As a user, the most common way I achieve this is by connecting disparate systems together. By setting up one system to trigger another or to move data between systems, I can solve for many different problems and become way more effective. #### n8n for workflow automation Many workflow automation tools exist. My favourite is [n8n](https://n8n.io/). n8n is a low/no-code workflow automation platform which allows you to build all kinds of workflows. You can use it for free, you can self-host it, it has a user-friendly UI and useful API. Vs Zapier it can be far more elaborate. Vs Make.com I find it to be more intuitive in how it abstracts away the right parts of the code, but still allows you to code when you need to. Most importantly you can plug anything into n8n: You have built-in nodes for specific applications. HTTP nodes for any other API-based service. And community nodes built by individual community members for any other purpose you can imagine. #### Eating my own dogfood It's very clear to me that there is a big design space here just demanding to be explored. If you could integrate Nostr with anything, what would you do? In my view the best way for anyone to start anything is by solving their own problem first (aka "scratching your own itch" and "eating your own dogfood"). As I get deeper into Nostr I find myself controlling multiple Npubs – to date I have a personal Npub, a brand Npub for a community I am helping, an AI assistant Npub, and various testing Npubs. I need ways to delegate access to those Npubs without handing over the keys, ways to know if they're mentioned, and ways to know if they're posting. I can build workflows with n8n to solve these issues for myself to start with, and keep expanding from there as new needs come up. ### Running n8n with Nostrobots I am mostly non-technical with a very helpful AI. To set up n8n to work with Nostr and operate these workflows should be possible for anyone with basic technology skills. - I have a cheap VPS which currently runs my [HAVEN Nostr Relay](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/8ca68889/) and [Albyhub Lightning Node](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/setting-up-payments-on-nostr-7o6ls7/) in Docker containers, - My objective was to set up n8n to run alongside these in a separate Docker container on the same server, install the required nodes, and then build and host my workflows. #### Installing n8n Self-hosting n8n could not be easier. I followed n8n's [Docker-Compose installation docs](https://docs.n8n.io/hosting/installation/server-setups/docker-compose/)– - Install Docker and Docker-Compose if you haven't already, - Create your ``docker-compose.yml`` and `.env` files from the docs, - Create your data folder `sudo docker volume create n8n_data`, - Start your container with `sudo docker compose up -d`, - Your n8n instance should be online at port `5678`. n8n is free to self-host but does require a license. Enter your credentials into n8n to get your free license key. You should now have access to the Workflow dashboard and can create and host any kind of workflows from there. #### Installing Nostrobots To integrate n8n nicely with Nostr, I used the [Nostrobots](https://github.com/ocknamo/n8n-nodes-nostrobots?tab=readme-ov-file) community node by [Ocknamo](nostr:npub1y6aja0kkc4fdvuxgqjcdv4fx0v7xv2epuqnddey2eyaxquznp9vq0tp75l). In n8n parlance a "node" enables certain functionality as a step in a workflow e.g. a "set" node sets a variable, a "send email" node sends an email. n8n comes with all kinds of "official" nodes installed by default, and Nostr is not amongst them. However, n8n also comes with a framework for community members to create their own "community" nodes, which is where Nostrobots comes in. You can only use a community node in a self-hosted n8n instance (which is what you have if you are running in Docker on your own server, but this limitation does prevent you from using n8n's own hosted alternative). To install a community node, [see n8n community node docs](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/community-nodes/installation/gui-install/). From your workflow dashboard– - Click the "..." in the bottom left corner beside your username, and click "settings", - Cilck "community nodes" left sidebar, - Click "Install", - Enter the "npm Package Name" which is `n8n-nodes-nostrobots`, - Accept the risks and click "Install", - Nostrobots is now added to your n8n instance. #### Using Nostrobots Nostrobots gives you nodes to help you build Nostr-integrated workflows– - **Nostr Write** – for posting Notes to the Nostr network, - **Nostr Read** – for reading Notes from the Nostr network, and - **Nostr Utils** – for performing certain conversions you may need (e.g. from bech32 to hex). Nostrobots has [good documentation](https://github.com/ocknamo/n8n-nodes-nostrobots?tab=readme-ov-file) on each node which focuses on simple use cases. Each node has a "convenience mode" by default. For example, the "Read" Node by default will fetch Kind 1 notes by a simple filter, in Nostrobots parlance a "Strategy". For example, with Strategy set to "Mention" the node will accept a pubkey and fetch all Kind 1 notes that Mention the pubkey within a time period. This is very good for quick use. What wasn't clear to me initially (until Ocknamo helped me out) is that advanced use cases are also possible. Each node also has an advanced mode. For example, the "Read" Node can have "Strategy" set to "RawFilter(advanced)". Now the node will accept json (anything you like that complies with [NIP-01](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/01.md)). You can use this to query Notes (Kind 1) as above, and also Profiles (Kind 0), Follow Lists (Kind 3), Reactions (Kind 7), Zaps (Kind 9734/9735), and anything else you can think of. #### Creating and adding workflows With n8n and Nostrobots installed, you can now create or add any kind of Nostr Workflow Automation. - Click "Add workflow" to go to the workflow builder screen, - If you would like to build your own workflow, you can start with adding any node. Click "+" and see what is available. Type "Nostr" to explore the Nostrobots nodes you have added, - If you would like to add workflows that someone else has built, click "..." in the top right. Then click "import from URL" and paste in the URL of any workflow you would like to use (including the ones I share later in this article). ### Nostr Workflow Automations It's time to build some things! #### A simple form to post a note to Nostr I started very simply. I needed to delegate the ability to post to Npubs that I own in order that a (future) team can test things for me. I don't want to worry about managing or training those people on how to use keys, and I want to revoke access easily. I needed a basic form with credentials that posted a Note. For this I can use a very simple workflow– - **A n8n Form node** – Creates a form for users to enter the note they wish to post. Allows for the form to be protected by a username and password. This node is the workflow "trigger" so that the workflow runs each time the form is submitted. - **A Set node** – Allows me to set some variables, in this case I set the relays that I intend to use. I typically add a Set node immediately following the trigger node, and put all the variables I need in this. It helps to make the workflows easier to update and maintain. - **A Nostr Write node** (from Nostrobots) – Writes a Kind-1 note to the Nostr network. It accepts Nostr credentials, the output of the Form node, and the relays from the Set node, and posts the Note to those relays. Once the workflow is built, you can test it with the testing form URL, and set it to "Active" to use the production form URL. That's it. You can now give posting access to anyone for any Npub. To revoke access, simply change the credentials or set to workflow to "Inactive". It may also be the world's simplest Nostr client. You can find the [Nostr Form to Post a Note workflow here](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Form_to_Post_a_Note.json). #### Push notifications on mentions and new notes One of the things Nostr is not very good at is push notifications. Furthermore I have some unique itches to scratch. I want– - **To make sure I never miss a note addressed to any of my Npubs** – For this I want a push notification any time any Nostr user mentions any of my Npubs, - **To make sure I always see all notes from key accounts** – For this I need a push notification any time any of my Npubs post any Notes to the network, - **To get these notifications on all of my devices** – Not just my phone where my Nostr regular client lives, but also on each of my laptops to suit wherever I am working that day. I needed to build a Nostr push notifications solution. To build this workflow I had to string a few ideas together– - **Triggering the node on a schedule** – Nostrobots does not include a trigger node. As every workflow starts with a trigger we needed a different method. I elected to run the workflow on a schedule of every 10-minutes. Frequent enough to see Notes while they are hot, but infrequent enough to not burden public relays or get rate-limited, - **Storing a list of Npubs in a Nostr list** – I needed a way to store the list of Npubs that trigger my notifications. I initially used an array defined in the workflow, this worked fine. Then I decided to try Nostr lists ([NIP-51, kind 30000](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/51.md)). By defining my list of Npubs as a list published to Nostr I can control my list from within a Nostr client (e.g. [Listr.lol](https://listr.lol/npub1r0d8u8mnj6769500nypnm28a9hpk9qg8jr0ehe30tygr3wuhcnvs4rfsft) or [Nostrudel.ninja](https://nostrudel.ninja/#/lists)). Not only does this "just work", but because it's based on Nostr lists automagically Amethyst client allows me to browse that list as a Feed, and everyone I add gets notified in their Mentions, - **Using specific relays** – I needed to query the right relays, including my own HAVEN relay inbox for notes addressed to me, and wss://purplepag.es for Nostr profile metadata, - **Querying Nostr events** (with Nostrobots) – I needed to make use of many different Nostr queries and use quite a wide range of what Nostrobots can do– - I read the EventID of my Kind 30000 list, to return the desired pubkeys, - For notifications on mentions, I read all Kind 1 notes that mention that pubkey, - For notifications on new notes, I read all Kind 1 notes published by that pubkey, - Where there are notes, I read the Kind 0 profile metadata event of that pubkey to get the displayName of the relevant Npub, - I transform the EventID into a Nevent to help clients find it. - **Using the Nostr URI** – As I did with my NFC card article, I created a link with the `nostr:` URI prefix so that my phone's native client opens the link by default, - **Push notifications solution** – I needed a push notifications solution. I found many with n8n integrations and chose to go with [Pushover](https://pushover.net/) which supports all my devices, has a free trial, and is unfairly cheap with a $5-per-device perpetual license. Once the workflow was built, lists published, and Pushover installed on my phone, I was fully set up with push notifications on Nostr. I have used these workflows for several weeks now and made various tweaks as I went. They are feeling robust and I'd welcome you to give them a go. You can find the [Nostr Push Notification If Mentioned here](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json) and [If Posts a Note here](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Post_a_Note.json). In speaking with other Nostr users while I was building this, there are all kind of other needs for push notifications too – like on replies to a certain bookmarked note, or when a followed Npub starts streaming on zap.stream. These are all possible. #### Use my workflows I have open sourced all my workflows at my [Github](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n) with MIT license and tried to write complete docs, so that you can import them into your n8n and configure them for your own use. To import any of my workflows– - Click on the workflow of your choice, e.g. "[Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json](https://github.com/r0d8lsh0p/nostr-n8n/blob/main/Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json "Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json")", - Click on the "raw" button to view the raw JSON, ex any Github page layout, - Copy that URL, - Enter that URL in the "import from URL" dialog [mentioned above](#creating-and-adding-workflows). To configure them– - Prerequisites, credentials, and variables are all stated, - In general any variables required are entered into a Set Node that follows the trigger node, - Pushover has some extra setup but is very straightforward and documented in the workflow. ### What next? Over my first four blogs I explored creating a good Nostr setup with [Vanity Npub](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/mining-your-vanity-pubkey-4iupbf/), [Lightning Payments](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/setting-up-payments-on-nostr-7o6ls7/), [Nostr Addresses at Your Domain](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/ee8a46bc/), and [Personal Nostr Relay](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/8ca68889/). Then in my latest two blogs I explored different types of interoperability [with NFC cards](https://rodbishop.npub.pro/post/edde8387/) and now n8n Workflow Automation. Thinking ahead n8n can power any kind of interoperability between Nostr and any other legacy technology solution. On my mind as I write this: - Further enhancements to posting and delegating solutions and forms (enhanced UI or different note kinds), - Automated or scheduled posting (such as auto-liking everything [Lyn Alden](nostr:npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a) posts), - Further enhancements to push notifications, on new and different types of events (such as notifying me when I get a new follower, on replies to certain posts, or when a user starts streaming), - All kinds of bridges, such as bridging notes to and from Telegram, Slack, or Campfire. Or bridging RSS or other event feeds to Nostr, - All kinds of other automation (such as [BlackCoffee](nostr:npub1dqepr0g4t3ahvnjtnxazvws4rkqjpxl854n29wcew8wph0fmw90qlsmmgt) [controlling a coffee machine](https://primal.net/e/note16fzhh5yfc3u4kufx0mck63tsfperdrlpp96am2lmq066cnuqutds8retc3)), - All kinds of AI Assistants and Agents, In fact I have already released an open source workflow for an [AI Assistant](https://primal.net/p/npub1ahjpx53ewavp23g5zj9jgyfrpr8djmgjzg5mpe4xd0z69dqvq0kq2lf353), and will share more about that in my next blog. Please be sure to let me know if you think there's another Nostr topic you'd like to see me tackle. GM Nostr.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Here are my predictions for Nostr in 2025: **Decentralization:** The outbox and inbox communication models, sometimes referred to as the Gossip model, will become the standard across the ecosystem. By the end of 2025, all major clients will support these models, providing seamless communication and enhanced decentralization. Clients that do not adopt outbox/inbox by then will be regarded as outdated or legacy systems. **Privacy Standards:** Major clients such as Damus and Primal will move away from NIP-04 DMs, adopting more secure protocol possibilities like NIP-17 or NIP-104. These upgrades will ensure enhanced encryption and metadata protection. Additionally, NIP-104 MLS tools will drive the development of new clients and features, providing users with unprecedented control over the privacy of their communications. **Interoperability:** Nostr's ecosystem will become even more interconnected. Platforms like the Olas image-sharing service will expand into prominent clients such as Primal, Damus, Coracle, and Snort, alongside existing integrations with Amethyst, Nostur, and Nostrudel. Similarly, audio and video tools like Nostr Nests and Zap.stream will gain seamless integration into major clients, enabling easy participation in live events across the ecosystem. **Adoption and Migration:** Inspired by early pioneers like Fountain and Orange Pill App, more platforms will adopt Nostr for authentication, login, and social systems. In 2025, a significant migration from a high-profile application platform with hundreds of thousands of users will transpire, doubling Nostr’s daily activity and establishing it as a cornerstone of decentralized technologies.

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Último dia do ano, momento para tirar o pó da bola de cristal, para fazer reflexões, previsões e desejos para o próximo ano e seguintes. Ano após ano, o Bitcoin evoluiu, foi ultrapassando etapas, tornou-se cada vez mais _mainstream_. Está cada vez mais difícil fazer previsões sobre o Bitcoin, já faltam poucas barreiras a serem ultrapassadas e as que faltam são altamente complexas ou tem um impacto profundo no sistema financeiro ou na sociedade. Estas alterações profundas tem que ser realizadas lentamente, porque uma alteração rápida poderia resultar em consequências terríveis, poderia provocar um retrocesso. # Código do Bitcoin No final de 2025, possivelmente vamos ter um _fork_, as discussões sobre os _covenants_ já estão avançadas, vão acelerar ainda mais. Já existe um consenso relativamente alto, a favor dos _covenants_, só falta decidir que modelo será escolhido. Penso que até ao final do ano será tudo decidido. Depois dos _covenants,_ o próximo foco será para a criptografia post-quantum, que será o maior desafio que o Bitcoin enfrenta. Criar uma criptografia segura e que não coloque a descentralização em causa. Espero muito de Ark, possivelmente a inovação do ano, gostaria de ver o Nostr a furar a bolha bitcoinheira e que o Cashu tivesse mais reconhecimento pelos _bitcoiners_. Espero que surjam avanços significativos no BitVM2 e BitVMX. Não sei o que esperar das layer 2 de Bitcoin, foram a maior desilusão de 2024. Surgiram com muita força, mas pouca coisa saiu do papel, foi uma mão cheia de nada. Uma parte dos projetos caiu na tentação da _shitcoinagem_, na criação de tokens, que tem um único objetivo, enriquecer os devs e os VCs. Se querem ser levados a sério, têm que ser sérios. > “À mulher de César não basta ser honesta, deve parecer honesta” Se querem ter o apoio dos _bitcoiners_, sigam o _ethos_ do Bitcoin. Neste ponto a atitude do pessoal da Ark é exemplar, em vez de andar a chorar no Twitter para mudar o código do Bitcoin, eles colocaram as mãos na massa e criaram o protocolo. É claro que agora está meio “coxo”, funciona com uma _multisig_ ou com os _covenants_ na Liquid. Mas eles estão a criar um produto, vão demonstrar ao mercado que o produto é bom e útil. Com a adoção, a comunidade vai perceber que o Ark necessita dos _covenants_ para melhorar a interoperabilidade e a soberania. É este o pensamento certo, que deveria ser seguido pelos restantes e futuros projetos. É seguir aquele pensamento do J.F. Kennedy: > “Não perguntem o que é que o vosso país pode fazer por vocês, perguntem o que é que vocês podem fazer pelo vosso país” Ou seja, não fiquem à espera que o bitcoin mude, criem primeiro as inovações/tecnologia, ganhem adoção e depois demonstrem que a alteração do código camada base pode melhorar ainda mais o vosso projeto. A necessidade é que vai levar a atualização do código. # Reservas Estratégicas de Bitcoin ## Bancos centrais Com a eleição de Trump, emergiu a ideia de uma Reserva Estratégia de Bitcoin, tornou este conceito _mainstream_. Foi um _pivot_, a partir desse momento, foram enumerados os políticos de todo o mundo a falar sobre o assunto. A Senadora Cynthia Lummis foi mais além e propôs um programa para adicionar 200 mil bitcoins à reserva ao ano, até 1 milhão de Bitcoin. Só que isto está a criar uma enorme expectativa na comunidade, só que pode resultar numa enorme desilusão. Porque no primeiro ano, o Trump em vez de comprar os 200 mil, pode apenas adicionar na reserva, os 198 mil que o Estado já tem em sua posse. Se isto acontecer, possivelmente vai resultar numa forte queda a curto prazo. Na minha opinião os bancos centrais deveriam seguir o exemplo de El Salvador, fazer um DCA diário. Mais que comprar bitcoin, para mim, o mais importante é a criação da Reserva, é colocar o Bitcoin ao mesmo nível do ouro, o impacto para o resto do mundo será tremendo, a teoria dos jogos na sua plenitude. Muitos outros bancos centrais vão ter que comprar, para não ficarem atrás, além disso, vai transmitir uma mensagem à generalidade da população, que o Bitcoin é “afinal é algo seguro, com valor”. Mas não foi Trump que iniciou esta teoria dos jogos, mas sim foi a primeira vítima dela. É o próprio Trump que o admite, que os EUA necessitam da reserva para não ficar atrás da China. Além disso, desde que os EUA utilizaram o dólar como uma arma, com sanção contra a Rússia, surgiram boatos de que a Rússia estaria a utilizar o Bitcoin para transações internacionais. Que foram confirmados recentemente, pelo próprio governo russo. Também há poucos dias, ainda antes deste reconhecimento público, Putin elogiou o Bitcoin, ao reconhecer que “Ninguém pode proibir o bitcoin”, defendendo como uma alternativa ao dólar. A narrativa está a mudar. Já existem alguns países com Bitcoin, mas apenas dois o fizeram conscientemente (El Salvador e Butão), os restantes têm devido a apreensões. Hoje são poucos, mas 2025 será o início de uma corrida pelos bancos centrais. Esta corrida era algo previsível, o que eu não esperava é que acontecesse tão rápido.  ## Empresas A criação de reservas estratégicas não vai ficar apenas pelos bancos centrais, também vai acelerar fortemente nas empresas em 2025.  Mas as empresas não vão seguir a estratégia do Saylor, vão comprar bitcoin sem alavancagem, utilizando apenas os tesouros das empresas, como uma proteção contra a inflação. Eu não sou grande admirador do Saylor, prefiro muito mais, uma estratégia conservadora, sem qualquer alavancagem. Penso que as empresas vão seguir a sugestão da BlackRock, que aconselha um alocações de 1% a 3%. Penso que 2025, ainda não será o ano da entrada das 6 magníficas (excepto Tesla), será sobretudo empresas de pequena e média dimensão. As magníficas ainda tem uma cota muito elevada de _shareholders_ com alguma idade, bastante conservadores, que têm dificuldade em compreender o Bitcoin, foi o que aconteceu recentemente com a Microsoft. Também ainda não será em 2025, talvez 2026, a inclusão nativamente de wallet Bitcoin nos sistema da Apple Pay e da Google Pay. Seria um passo gigante para a adoção a nível mundial. # ETFs Os ETFs para mim são uma incógnita, tenho demasiadas dúvidas, como será 2025. Este ano os _inflows_ foram superiores a 500 mil bitcoins, o IBIT foi o lançamento de ETF mais bem sucedido da história. O sucesso dos ETFs, deve-se a 2 situações que nunca mais se vão repetir. O mercado esteve 10 anos à espera pela aprovação dos ETFs, a procura estava reprimida, isso foi bem notório nos primeiros meses, os _inflows_ foram brutais. Também se beneficiou por ser um mercado novo, não existia _orderbook_ de vendas, não existia um mercado interno, praticamente era só _inflows_. Agora o mercado já estabilizou, a maioria das transações já são entre clientes dos próprios ETFs. Agora só uma pequena percentagem do volume das transações diárias vai resultar em _inflows_ ou _outflows_. Estes dois fenómenos nunca mais se vão repetir, eu não acredito que o número de _inflows_ em BTC supere os número de 2024, em dólares vai superar, mas em btc não acredito que vá superar. Mas em 2025 vão surgir uma infindável quantidade de novos produtos, derivativos, novos ETFs de cestos com outras criptos ou cestos com ativos tradicionais. O bitcoin será adicionado em produtos financeiros já existentes no mercado, as pessoas vão passar a deter bitcoin, sem o saberem. Com o fim da operação ChokePoint 2.0, vai surgir uma nova onda de adoção e de produtos financeiros. Possivelmente vamos ver bancos tradicionais a disponibilizar produtos ou serviços de custódia aos seus clientes. Eu adoraria ver o crescimento da adoção do bitcoin como moeda, só que a regulamentação não vai ajudar nesse processo. # Preço Eu acredito que o topo deste ciclo será alcançado no primeiro semestre, posteriormente haverá uma correção. Mas desta vez, eu acredito que a correção será muito menor que as anteriores, inferior a 50%, esta é a minha expectativa. Espero estar certo. # Stablecoins de dólar Agora saindo um pouco do universo do Bitcoin, acho importante destacar as _stablecoins_. No último ciclo, eu tenho dividido o tempo, entre continuar a estudar o Bitcoin e estudar o sistema financeiro, as suas dinâmicas e o comportamento humano. Isto tem sido o meu foco de reflexão, imaginar a transformação que o mundo vai sofrer devido ao padrão Bitcoin. É uma ilusão acreditar que a transição de um padrão FIAT para um padrão Bitcoin vai ser rápida, vai existir um processo transitório que pode demorar décadas. Com a re-entrada de Trump na Casa Branca, prometendo uma política altamente protecionista, vai provocar uma forte valorização do dólar, consequentemente as restantes moedas do mundo vão derreter. Provocando uma inflação generalizada, gerando uma corrida às _stablecoins_ de dólar nos países com moedas mais fracas. Trump vai ter uma política altamente expansionista, vai exportar dólares para todo o mundo, para financiar a sua própria dívida. A desigualdade entre os pobres e ricos irá crescer fortemente, aumentando a possibilidade de conflitos e revoltas. > “Casa onde não há pão, todos ralham e ninguém tem razão” Será mais lenha, para alimentar a fogueira, vai gravar os conflitos geopolíticos já existentes, ficando as sociedade ainda mais polarizadas. Eu acredito que 2025, vai haver um forte crescimento na adoção das _stablecoins_ de dólares, esse forte crescimento vai agravar o problema sistémico que são as _stablecoins_. Vai ser o início do fim das _stablecoins_, pelo menos, como nós conhecemos hoje em dia. ## Problema sistémico O sistema FIAT não nasceu de um dia para outro, foi algo que foi construído organicamente, ou seja, foi evoluindo ao longo dos anos, sempre que havia um problema/crise, eram criadas novas regras ou novas instituições para minimizar os problemas. Nestes quase 100 anos, desde os acordos de Bretton Woods, a evolução foram tantas, tornaram o sistema financeiro altamente complexo, burocrático e nada eficiente. Na prática é um castelo de cartas construído sobre outro castelo de cartas e que por sua vez, foi construído sobre outro castelo de cartas. As _stablecoins_ são um problema sistémico, devido às suas reservas em dólares e o sistema financeiro não está preparado para manter isso seguro. Com o crescimento das reservas ao longo dos anos, foi se agravando o problema. No início a Tether colocava as reservas em bancos comerciais, mas com o crescimento dos dólares sob gestão, criou um problema nos bancos comerciais, devido à reserva fracionária. Essas enormes reservas da Tether estavam a colocar em risco a própria estabilidade dos bancos. A Tether acabou por mudar de estratégia, optou por outros ativos, preferencialmente por títulos do tesouro/obrigações dos EUA. Só que a Tether continua a crescer e não dá sinais de abrandamento, pelo contrário. Até o próprio mundo cripto, menosprezava a gravidade do problema da Tether/_stablecoins_ para o resto do sistema financeiro, porque o _marketcap_ do cripto ainda é muito pequeno. É verdade que ainda é pequeno, mas a Tether não o é, está no top 20 dos maiores detentores de títulos do tesouros dos EUA e está ao nível dos maiores bancos centrais do mundo. Devido ao seu tamanho, está a preocupar os responsáveis/autoridades/reguladores dos EUA, pode colocar em causa a estabilidade do sistema financeiro global, que está assente nessas obrigações. Os títulos do tesouro dos EUA são o colateral mais utilizado no mundo, tanto por bancos centrais, como por empresas, é a charneira da estabilidade do sistema financeiro. Os títulos do tesouro são um assunto muito sensível. Na recente crise no Japão, do _carry trade_, o Banco Central do Japão tentou minimizar a desvalorização do iene através da venda de títulos dos EUA. Esta operação, obrigou a uma viagem de emergência, da Secretaria do Tesouro dos EUA, Janet Yellen ao Japão, onde disponibilizou liquidez para parar a venda de títulos por parte do Banco Central do Japão. Essa forte venda estava desestabilizando o mercado. Os principais detentores de títulos do tesouros são institucionais, bancos centrais, bancos comerciais, fundo de investimento e gestoras, tudo administrado por gestores altamente qualificados, racionais e que conhecem a complexidade do mercado de obrigações. O mundo cripto é seu oposto, é _naife_ com muita irracionalidade e uma forte pitada de loucura, na sua maioria nem faz a mínima ideia como funciona o sistema financeiro. Essa irracionalidade pode levar a uma “corrida bancária”, como aconteceu com o UST da Luna, que em poucas horas colapsou o projeto. Em termos de escala, a Luna ainda era muito pequena, por isso, o problema ficou circunscrito ao mundo cripto e a empresas ligadas diretamente ao cripto. Só que a Tether é muito diferente, caso exista algum FUD, que obrigue a Tether a desfazer-se de vários biliões ou dezenas de biliões de dólares em títulos num curto espaço de tempo, poderia provocar consequências terríveis em todo o sistema financeiro. A Tether é grande demais, é já um problema sistémico, que vai agravar-se com o crescimento em 2025. Não tenham dúvidas, se existir algum problema, o Tesouro dos EUA vai impedir a venda dos títulos que a Tether tem em sua posse, para salvar o sistema financeiro. O problema é, o que vai fazer a Tether, se ficar sem acesso às venda das reservas, como fará o _redeem_ dos dólares? Como o crescimento do Tether é inevitável, o Tesouro e o FED estão com um grande problema em mãos, o que fazer com o Tether? Mas o problema é que o atual sistema financeiro é como um curto cobertor: Quanto tapas a cabeça, destapas os pés; Ou quando tapas os pés, destapas a cabeça. Ou seja, para resolver o problema da guarda reservas da Tether, vai criar novos problemas, em outros locais do sistema financeiro e assim sucessivamente. ### Conta mestre Uma possível solução seria dar uma conta mestre à Tether, dando o acesso direto a uma conta no FED, semelhante à que todos os bancos comerciais têm. Com isto, a Tether deixaria de necessitar os títulos do tesouro, depositando o dinheiro diretamente no banco central. Só que isto iria criar dois novos problemas, com o Custodia Bank e com o restante sistema bancário. O Custodia Bank luta há vários anos contra o FED, nos tribunais pelo direito a ter licença bancária para um banco com _full-reserves_. O FED recusou sempre esse direito, com a justificativa que esse banco, colocaria em risco toda a estabilidade do sistema bancário existente, ou seja, todos os outros bancos poderiam colapsar. Perante a existência em simultâneo de bancos com reserva fracionária e com _full-reserves_, as pessoas e empresas iriam optar pelo mais seguro. Isso iria provocar uma corrida bancária, levando ao colapso de todos os bancos com reserva fracionária, porque no Custodia Bank, os fundos dos clientes estão 100% garantidos, para qualquer valor. Deixaria de ser necessário limites de fundos de Garantia de Depósitos. Eu concordo com o FED nesse ponto, que os bancos com _full-reserves_ são uma ameaça a existência dos restantes bancos. O que eu discordo do FED, é a origem do problema, o problema não está nos bancos _full-reserves_, mas sim nos que têm reserva fracionária. O FED ao conceder uma conta mestre ao Tether, abre um precedente, o Custodia Bank irá o aproveitar, reclamando pela igualdade de direitos nos tribunais e desta vez, possivelmente ganhará a sua licença. Ainda há um segundo problema, com os restantes bancos comerciais. A Tether passaria a ter direitos similares aos bancos comerciais, mas os deveres seriam muito diferentes. Isto levaria os bancos comerciais aos tribunais para exigir igualdade de tratamento, é uma concorrência desleal. Isto é o bom dos tribunais dos EUA, são independentes e funcionam, mesmo contra o estado. Os bancos comerciais têm custos exorbitantes devido às políticas de _compliance_, como o KYC e AML. Como o governo não vai querer aliviar as regras, logo seria a Tether, a ser obrigada a fazer o _compliance_ dos seus clientes. A obrigação do KYC para ter _stablecoins_ iriam provocar um terramoto no mundo cripto. Assim, é pouco provável que seja a solução para a Tether. ### FED Só resta uma hipótese, ser o próprio FED a controlar e a gerir diretamente as _stablecoins_ de dólar, nacionalizado ou absorvendo as existentes. Seria uma espécie de CBDC. Isto iria provocar um novo problema, um problema diplomático, porque as _stablecoins_ estão a colocar em causa a soberania monetária dos outros países. Atualmente as _stablecoins_ estão um pouco protegidas porque vivem num limbo jurídico, mas a partir do momento que estas são controladas pelo governo americano, tudo muda. Os países vão exigir às autoridades americanas medidas que limitem o uso nos seus respectivos países. Não existe uma solução boa, o sistema FIAT é um castelo de cartas, qualquer carta que se mova, vai provocar um desmoronamento noutro local. As autoridades não poderão adiar mais o problema, terão que o resolver de vez, senão, qualquer dia será tarde demais. Se houver algum problema, vão colocar a responsabilidade no cripto e no Bitcoin. Mas a verdade, a culpa é inteiramente dos políticos, da sua incompetência em resolver os problemas a tempo. Será algo para acompanhar futuramente, mas só para 2026, talvez… É curioso, há uns anos pensava-se que o Bitcoin seria a maior ameaça ao sistema ao FIAT, mas afinal, a maior ameaça aos sistema FIAT é o próprio FIAT(_stablecoins_). A ironia do destino. Isto é como uma corrida, o Bitcoin é aquele atleta que corre ao seu ritmo, umas vezes mais rápido, outras vezes mais lento, mas nunca pára. O FIAT é o atleta que dá tudo desde da partida, corre sempre em velocidade máxima. Só que a vida e o sistema financeiro não é uma prova de 100 metros, mas sim uma maratona. # Europa 2025 será um ano desafiante para todos europeus, sobretudo devido à entrada em vigor da regulamentação (MiCA). Vão começar a sentir na pele a regulamentação, vão agravar-se os problemas com os _compliance_, problemas para comprovar a origem de fundos e outras burocracias. Vai ser lindo. O _Travel Route_ passa a ser obrigatório, os europeus serão obrigados a fazer o KYC nas transações. A _Travel Route_ é uma suposta lei para criar mais transparência, mas prática, é uma lei de controle, de monitorização e para limitar as liberdades individuais dos cidadãos. O MiCA também está a colocar problemas nas _stablecoins_ de Euro, a Tether para já preferiu ficar de fora da europa. O mais ridículo é que as novas regras obrigam os emissores a colocar 30% das reservas em bancos comerciais. Os burocratas europeus não compreendem que isto coloca em risco a estabilidade e a solvência dos próprios bancos, ficam propensos a corridas bancárias. O MiCA vai obrigar a todas as exchanges a estar registadas em solo europeu, ficando vulnerável ao temperamento dos burocratas. Ainda não vai ser em 2025, mas a UE vai impor políticas de controle de capitais, é inevitável, as exchanges serão obrigadas a usar em exclusividade _stablecoins_ de euro, as restantes _stablecoins_ serão deslistadas. Todas estas novas regras do MiCA, são extremamente restritas, não é para garantir mais segurança aos cidadãos europeus, mas sim para garantir mais controle sobre a população. A UE está cada vez mais perto da autocracia, do que da democracia. A minha única esperança no horizonte, é que o sucesso das políticas cripto nos EUA, vai obrigar a UE a recuar e a aligeirar as regras, a teoria dos jogos é implacável. Mas esse recuo, nunca acontecerá em 2025, vai ser um longo período conturbado. # Recessão Os mercados estão todos em máximos históricos, isto não é sustentável por muito tempo, suspeito que no final de 2025 vai acontecer alguma correção nos mercados. A queda só não será maior, porque os bancos centrais vão imprimir dinheiro, muito dinheiro, como se não houvesse amanhã. Vão voltar a resolver os problemas com a injeção de liquidez na economia, é empurrar os problemas com a barriga, em de os resolver. Outra vez o efeito Cantillon. Será um ano muito desafiante a nível político, onde o papel dos políticos será fundamental. A crise política na França e na Alemanha, coloca a UE órfã, sem um comandante ao leme do navio. 2025 estará condicionado pelas eleições na Alemanha, sobretudo no resultado do AfD, que podem colocar em causa a propriedade UE e o euro. Possivelmente, só o fim da guerra poderia minimizar a crise, algo que é muito pouco provável acontecer. Em Portugal, a economia parece que está mais ou menos equilibrada, mas começam a aparecer alguns sinais preocupantes. Os jogos de sorte e azar estão em máximos históricos, batendo o recorde de 2014, época da grande crise, não é um bom sinal, possivelmente já existe algum desespero no ar. A Alemanha é o motor da Europa, quanto espirra, Portugal constipa-se. Além do problema da Alemanha, a Espanha também está à beira de uma crise, são os países que mais influenciam a economia portuguesa. Se existir uma recessão mundial, terá um forte impacto no turismo, que é hoje em dia o principal motor de Portugal. # Brasil Brasil é algo para acompanhar em 2025, sobretudo a nível macro e a nível político. Existe uma possibilidade de uma profunda crise no Brasil, sobretudo na sua moeda. O banco central já anda a queimar as reservas para minimizar a desvalorização do Real.  Sem mudanças profundas nas políticas fiscais, as reservas vão se esgotar. As políticas de controle de capitais são um cenário plausível, será interesse de acompanhar, como o governo irá proceder perante a existência do Bitcoin e _stablecoins_. No Brasil existe um forte adoção, será um bom _case study_, certamente irá repetir-se em outros países num futuro próximo. Os próximos tempos não serão fáceis para os brasileiros, especialmente para os que não têm Bitcoin. # Blockchain Em 2025, possivelmente vamos ver os primeiros passos da BlackRock para criar a primeira bolsa de valores, exclusivamente em _blockchain_. Eu acredito que a BlackRock vai criar uma própria _blockchain_, toda controlada por si, onde estarão os RWAs, para fazer concorrência às tradicionais bolsas de valores. Será algo interessante de acompanhar. ----------- Estas são as minhas previsões, eu escrevi isto muito em cima do joelho, certamente esqueci-me de algumas coisas, se for importante acrescentarei nos comentários. A maioria das previsões só acontecerá após 2025, mas fica aqui a minha opinião. Isto é apenas a minha opinião, **Don’t Trust, Verify**!

@ f9cf4e94:96abc355

Na era das grandes navegações, piratas ingleses eram autorizados pelo governo para roubar navios. A única coisa que diferenciava um pirata comum de um corsário é que o último possuía a “Carta do Corso”, que funcionava como um “Alvará para o roubo”, onde o governo Inglês legitimava o roubo de navios por parte dos corsários. É claro, que em troca ele exigia uma parte da espoliação. Bastante similar com a maneira que a Receita Federal atua, não? Na verdade, o caso é ainda pior, pois o governo fica com toda a riqueza espoliada, e apenas repassa um mísero salário para os corsários modernos, os agentes da receita federal. Porém eles “justificam” esse roubo ao chamá-lo de imposto, e isso parece acalmar os ânimos de grande parte da população, mas não de nós. Não é por acaso que 'imposto' é o particípio passado do verbo 'impor'. Ou seja, é aquilo que resulta do cumprimento obrigatório -- e não voluntário -- de todos os cidadãos. Se não for 'imposto' ninguém paga. Nem mesmo seus defensores. Isso mostra o quanto as pessoas realmente apreciam os serviços do estado. Apenas volte um pouco na história: os primeiros pagadores de impostos eram fazendeiros cujos territórios foram invadidos por nômades que pastoreavam seu gado. Esses invasores nômades forçavam os fazendeiros a lhes pagar uma fatia de sua renda em troca de "proteção". O fazendeiro que não concordasse era assassinado. Os nômades perceberam que era muito mais interessante e confortável apenas cobrar uma taxa de proteção em vez de matar o fazendeiro e assumir suas posses. Cobrando uma taxa, eles obtinham o que necessitavam. Já se matassem os fazendeiros, eles teriam de gerenciar por conta própria toda a produção da fazenda. Daí eles entenderam que, ao não assassinarem todos os fazendeiros que encontrassem pelo caminho, poderiam fazer desta prática um modo de vida. Assim nasceu o governo. Não assassinar pessoas foi o primeiro serviço que o governo forneceu. Como temos sorte em ter à nossa disposição esta instituição! Assim, não deixa de ser curioso que algumas pessoas digam que os impostos são pagos basicamente para impedir que aconteça exatamente aquilo que originou a existência do governo. O governo nasceu da extorsão. Os fazendeiros tinham de pagar um "arrego" para seu governo. Caso contrário, eram assassinados. Quem era a real ameaça? O governo. A máfia faz a mesma coisa. Mas existe uma forma de se proteger desses corsários modernos. Atualmente, existe uma propriedade privada que NINGUÉM pode tirar de você, ela é sua até mesmo depois da morte. É claro que estamos falando do Bitcoin. Fazendo as configurações certas, é impossível saber que você tem bitcoin. Nem mesmo o governo americano consegue saber. #brasil #bitcoinbrasil #nostrbrasil #grownostr #bitcoin

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

# China ## I might be wrong, but this is how I see it This is a post within a series I am going to call "I might be wrong, but this is how I see it" I have repeatedly found that my understanding of China is quite different from that of many libertarian-minded Americans. And so I make this post to explain how I see it. Maybe you will learn something. Maybe I will learn something. It seems to me that many American's see America as a shining beacon of freedom with a few small problems, and China is an evil communist country spreading communism everywhere. From my perspective, America *was* a shining beacon of freedom that has fallen to being typical in most ways, and which is now acting as a falling empire, and China *was* communist for about a decade, but turned and ran away from that as fast as they could (while not admitting it) and the result is that the US and China are not much different anymore when it comes to free markets. Except they are very different in some other respects. ## China has a big problem China has a big problem. But it is not the communism problem that most Westerners diagnose. I argue that China is no longer communist, it is only communist in name. And that while it is not a beacon of free market principles, it is nearly as free market now as Western nations like Germany and New Zealand are (being somewhat socialist themselves). No, China's real problem is authoritarian one-party rule. And that core problem causes all of the other problems, including its human rights abuses. ## Communism and Socialism Communism and Socialism are bad ideas. I don't want to argue it right here, but most readers will already understand this. The last thing I intend to do with this post is to bolster or defend those bad ideas. If you dear reader hold a candle for socialism, let me know and I can help you extinguish it with a future "I might be wrong, but this is how I see it" installment. Communism is the idea of structuring a society around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, and the idea of allocating goods and services based on need. It eliminates the concept of private property, of social classes, ultimately of money and finally of the state itself. Back under Mao in 1958-1962 (The Great Leap Forward), China tried this (in part). Some 50+ million people died. It was an abject failure. But due to China's real problem (authoritarianism, even worship of their leaders), the leading classes never admitted this. And even today they continue to use the word "Communist" for things that aren't communist at all, as a way to save face, and also in opposition to the United States of America and Europe. Authorities are not eager to admit their faults. But this is not just a Chinese fault, it is a fault in human nature that affects all countries. The USA still refuses to admit they assassinated their own president JFK. They do not admit they bombed the Nord Stream pipeline. China defines "socialism with Chinese characteristics" to mean "the leadership of the Communist Party of China". So they still keep the words socialism and communism, but they long ago dropped the meanings of those words. I'm not sure if this is a political ploy against us in the West or not. ### China's Marketplace Today Today China exhibits very few of the properties of communism. They have some common ownership and state enterprises, but not much differently than Western countries (New Zealand owns Air New Zealand and Kiwibank and Kiwirail, etc). And there are private enterprises all over China. They compete and some succeed and some fail. You might hear about a real-estate bank collapsing. China has private property. They have mostly free markets. They have money, and the most definitely have social classes and a very strong state. None of that is inline with what communist thinkers want. Communist thinkers in China moan that China has turned away from communism. Deng Xiaoping who succeeded Mao and attempted to correct the massive mistake, did much when he said "to get rich is glorious." China achieved staggering rates of economic growth. 10% annually on average since 1977. Chinese economic reform started in 1979 and has continued through successive administrations (Deng, Jiang, Hu and now Xi). China is now the world's largest economy (by GDP in PPP terms) since 2016. I was first made aware of China's economic growth by Jim Rogers, an American commodities expert who travelled through China (and the rest of the world from 1990-1992) and in 2007 moved to Singapore where he ensured his daughters learned to speak Mandarin, because Jim knew where the economic growth was going to happen. Jim always spoke positively of China's economic prospects, and his view was so different from the "China is a nasty communist place" view that I had grown up with that my mind opened. How can anybody believe they are still a communist country? In what world does it make sense that communism can produce such a massively booming economy? It doesn't make sense because it is simply wrong. What *does* happen is that the CPC interferes. It lets the market do what markets do, but it interferes where it thinks oversight and regulation would produce a better result. Western nations interfere with their markets too. They have oversight and regulation. In fact some of China's planned reforms had to be put on hold by Xi due to Donald Trump's trade war with China. That's right, they were trying to be even more free market than America, but America's protectionism prodded Xi to keep control so he could fight back efficiently. Government oversight and regulation IMHO is mostly bad because it gets out of control, and there are no market forces to correct this. This gets even more extreme in a one-party system, so I can judge that China's oversight and regulation problems are very likely worse than those in Western nations (but I have no first hand experience or evidence). ## Why do you keep saying CPC? The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the ruling party in China. That is their official name. To call them the CCP is to concede to the idea that the British and Americans get to name everybody. I'm not sure who is right, since CPC or CCP is their "English" name (in Chinese it is 中国共产党 and Westernized it is Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng). Nonetheless, I'll call them CPC because that is their wish. ## Social Credit System China moved from a planned economy to a market economy in stages. They didn't want any more sudden changes (can you blame them?). In the process, many institutions that have existed in the West for a long time didn't exist in China and they had to arise somehow. IMHO market forces would have brought these about in the private sector, but the one-party CP of China instead decided to create these. One of those institutions was a credit score system. In the West we have TransUnion and Equifax that maintain credit ratings on people, and we have S&P, Moody's and Fitch that maintain credit ratings on companies. The domain of these ratings is their financial credit-worthiness. So the People's Bank of China developed a credit information database for it's own needs. The government picked up on the idea and started moving towards a National Credit Management System. In 2004 it became an official goal to establish a credit system compatible with a modern market system. By 2006 banks were required to report on consumer creditworthiness. But unchecked one-party governmental power will often take a good idea (credit worthiness data shared among private parties) and systematize it and apply it top-down, creating a solution and a new problem at the same time. Nonetheless, originally it was about credit worthiness and also criminal convictions. That is no big scary thing that some right-wing American commentators will lead you to believe. In the US for example criminal records are public, so China's Social Credit System started out being no more over-reaching in scope than what Americans have lived under their entire lives, its only fault (a severe one) being centrally planned. And that remained the case up until about 2016 (in my estimation). But of course there is always scope creep. As it exists today, I have reason to believe that CPC officials and even A.I. use judgement calls to score someone on how moral that person has been! Of course that is not a good idea, and IMHO the problem stems from one-party rule, and authoritarian administration of ideas that should instead be handled by the private sector. ## Environmental, Social, and Governance ESG is a system that came out of a couple basic ideas. The first is that many two-party transactions actually have externalities. They don't just affect the two parties, they also affect everybody else. When you fly in an airplane, you increase the CO2 in the atmosphere that everybody has to pay for (eventually). You may dispute that example, but that is no doubt one of the motivations of ESG. But of course the recognition of this basic issue didn't lead all people towards market solutions (well it did, but those have been mostly messed up by others), but instead led many people towards ESG, which is a social credit scoring system which applies scores based on environmental and social side-effects of market transactions. This is not at all the same as China's social credit system, which I described above. I hope you can see the difference. In fact, China imported ESG from the West. Chinese companies, of their free will, in an attempt to court Western capital, achieve ESG goals for those Western investors. They have been playing this ESG game for 20 years just like the entire world has, because the West has imposed this faux-morality upon them. It isn't something China exported to us, it is something we exported to them. ## I think China has avoided Woke-ism My understanding of Chinese people, based on what I've heard many Chinese people say, is that China isn't affected by the Western woke-ism epidemic. They deride Western white woke people with the term "Baizuo". They have never sent an incompetent break dancer to the Olympics because of wok-ism. Competence is highly respected as is the competition to be the most competent, which (when augmented by a one-child policy which is no longer) has produced child prodigies like no other country has. ## What about predatory loans of the Belt and Road initiative? Predatory is an odd name for loans to people in need. The World Bank makes loans to people in need. China does too. China stands in opposition to Western Empire, and in that regard they produce their own alternative BRICS institutions. This is one of them. There is AFAIK nothing more predatory about them. It is just that in some cases the borrowers have trouble paying them back and they get foreclosed upon. I don't think this is worthy of much discussion, except that the term "predatory" seems to me to be a propaganda device. ## What about foreign influence from China? China wants to influence the world, especially its own trading partners and potential trading partners. Doing that above board is fine by me. But some of it is undoubtedly covert. Sometimes Chinese-born people run for public office in Western countries. In New Zealand we stood down some when it became clear they were being influenced too much by the CPC while being charged with representing their local town (dual loyalty issues). If only the USA would do the same thing to their dually-loyal politicians. And all large nations run influence operations. The USA has the CIA, for example, and claims this "soft power" is actually the better alternative to what would otherwise be military intervention (but IMHO shouldn't be either). I'm not defending such operations (I despise them), I'm just explaining how China's position of exerting influence is not only no big deal and totally expected, it pales in comparison to the United States' influence operations which often become military excursions (something China rarely ever does). ## What about the Great Firewall? Yeah, that sucks. Again, single-party authoritarian control gone to extremes. ## What about Human Rights Abuses? What about the Uyghur Genocide? I don't like them. To the extent they are occurring (and I lean towards the belief that they are occurring), I condemn them. China has anti-terrorism and anti-extremism policies that go too far. They end up oppressing and/or criminalizing cultures that aren't Chinese enough. But especially, China punishes dissent. Disagreement with the CPC is the high crime. It is the one-party rule that causes this problem. Anybody who speaks out against the CPC or goes against the state in any way is harshly punished. This happens to Uyghurs, to Falun Gong, to Tibetans, and to any religion that is seen as subversive. Amnesty International and the UN OHCHR have documented issues around the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, Tibet, LGBT rights, death penalty, workers rights, and the Hong Kong special administrative region. I am not about to pretend I know better than they do, but to some extent they go too far. Amnesty International says this about the USA: Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people were widespread and anti-LGBTI legislation increased. Bills were introduced to address reparations regarding slavery and its legacies. Multiple states implemented total bans on abortion or severely limited access to it. Gender-based violence disproportionately affected Indigenous women. Access to the USA for asylum seekers and migrants was still fraught with obstacles, but some nationalities continued to enjoy Temporary Protected Status. Moves were made to restrict the freedom to protest in a number of states. Black people were disproportionately affected by the use of lethal force by police. No progress was made in the abolition of the death penalty, apart from in Washington. Arbitrary and indefinite detention in the US naval base Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, continued. Despite extensive gun violence, no further firearm reform policies were considered, but President Biden did announce the creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The USA continued to use lethal force in countries around the world. Black people, other racialized groups and low-income people bore the brunt of the health impacts of the petrochemical industry, and the use of fossil fuels continued unabated. Amnesty international didn't even point out that the US government quashes free speech via pressure on social media corporations (because Amnesty International is far too lefty). So who is worse, China or the US? I'm not going to make that judgement call, but suffice it to say that in my mind, China is not obviously worse. China violates freedom of expression, association, and assembly of all people. This is bad, and a consequence mainly of one-party rule (again, what I think is the root cause of most of their ills). They arrest, detain, potentially kill anybody who publicly disagrees openly with their government. Clearly this is an excess of authoritarianism, a cancer that is very advanced in China. As to organ harvesting of Uyghur Muslims, I think this is a myth. China has dealt harshly with Muslim extremism. They don't offer freedom of religion to ISIS. And Amnesty International complains about that. But practically speaking you probably shouldn't respect the extremist religion of people who want to force everybody into a global caliphate through threat of violence. As you are well aware, some extremist Muslims (<1% of Islam) believe in using violence to bring about a global caliphate. Those extremists pop up in every country and are usually dealt with harshly. China has had to deal with them too. I have watched two different Western YouTubers travel to Xinjiang province trying to find the oppressed Uyghurs and interview them. They can't find them. What they find instead are Uyghur Muslims doing their prayers five times a day at the local mosque. And also stories that the CPC pitched in some money to help them renovate the mosque. Maybe they were afraid it was a CPC trap and so they wouldn't speak freely. Amnesty International and the UN OHCHR say more than a million are "arbitrarily detained" and I'm not going to argue otherwise. But I'd be more convinced if there were a stream of pictures and news like there is out of Gaza, and it is suspicious that there isn't. ## Conclusion China is more like a Western nation that Westerners realize. Economically, militarily, socially. It still has a very serious obstacle to overcome: one-party rule. I don't think the one-party is going to voluntarily give up power. So most probably at some point in the future there will be a revolution. But in my opinion it won't happen anytime soon. For the most part Chinese people are living high on the hog, getting rich, enjoying the good life, in positive spirits about life, and are getting along with their government quite well at present.

@ b83e6f82:73c27758

## Citrine 0.6.0 - Update dependencies - Show notifications when importing, exporting, downloading events - Change database functions to be suspending functions Download it with [zap.store]( https://zap.store/download), [Obtainium]( https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium), [f-droid]( https://f-droid.org/packages/com.greenart7c3.citrine) or download it directly in the [releases page ]( https://github.com/greenart7c3/Citrine/releases/tag/v0.6.0) If you like my work consider making a [donation]( https://greenart7c3.com) ## 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-v0.6.0.txt` and `manifest-v0.6.0.txt.sig` are in the current directory) with: ``` bash gpg --verify manifest-v0.6.0.txt.sig manifest-v0.6.0.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-v0.6.0.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.

@ 16d11430:61640947

At the intersection of philosophy, theology, physics, biology, and finance lies a terrifying truth: the fiat monetary system, in its current form, is not just an economic framework but a silent, relentless force actively working against humanity's survival. It isn't simply a failed financial model—it is a systemic engine of destruction, both externally and within the very core of our biological existence. The Philosophical Void of Fiat Philosophy has long questioned the nature of value and the meaning of human existence. From Socrates to Kant, thinkers have pondered the pursuit of truth, beauty, and virtue. But in the modern age, the fiat system has hijacked this discourse. The notion of "value" in a fiat world is no longer rooted in human potential or natural resources—it is abstracted, manipulated, and controlled by central authorities with the sole purpose of perpetuating their own power. The currency is not a reflection of society’s labor or resources; it is a representation of faith in an authority that, more often than not, breaks that faith with reckless monetary policies and hidden inflation. The fiat system has created a kind of ontological nihilism, where the idea of true value, rooted in work, creativity, and family, is replaced with speculative gambling and short-term gains. This betrayal of human purpose at the systemic level feeds into a philosophical despair: the relentless devaluation of effort, the erosion of trust, and the abandonment of shared human values. In this nihilistic economy, purpose and meaning become increasingly difficult to find, leaving millions to question the very foundation of their existence. Theological Implications: Fiat and the Collapse of the Sacred Religious traditions have long linked moral integrity with the stewardship of resources and the preservation of life. Fiat currency, however, corrupts these foundational beliefs. In the theological narrative of creation, humans are given dominion over the Earth, tasked with nurturing and protecting it for future generations. But the fiat system promotes the exact opposite: it commodifies everything—land, labor, and life—treating them as mere transactions on a ledger. This disrespect for creation is an affront to the divine. In many theologies, creation is meant to be sustained, a delicate balance that mirrors the harmony of the divine order. Fiat systems—by continuously printing money and driving inflation—treat nature and humanity as expendable resources to be exploited for short-term gains, leading to environmental degradation and societal collapse. The creation narrative, in which humans are called to be stewards, is inverted. The fiat system, through its unholy alliance with unrestrained growth and unsustainable debt, is destroying the very creation it should protect. Furthermore, the fiat system drives idolatry of power and wealth. The central banks and corporations that control the money supply have become modern-day gods, their decrees shaping the lives of billions, while the masses are enslaved by debt and inflation. This form of worship isn't overt, but it is profound. It leads to a world where people place their faith not in God or their families, but in the abstract promises of institutions that serve their own interests. Physics and the Infinite Growth Paradox Physics teaches us that the universe is finite—resources, energy, and space are all limited. Yet, the fiat system operates under the delusion of infinite growth. Central banks print money without concern for natural limits, encouraging an economy that assumes unending expansion. This is not only an economic fallacy; it is a physical impossibility. In thermodynamics, the Second Law states that entropy (disorder) increases over time in any closed system. The fiat system operates as if the Earth were an infinite resource pool, perpetually able to expand without consequence. The real world, however, does not bend to these abstract concepts of infinite growth. Resources are finite, ecosystems are fragile, and human capacity is limited. Fiat currency, by promoting unsustainable consumption and growth, accelerates the depletion of resources and the degradation of natural systems that support life itself. Even the financial “growth” driven by fiat policies leads to unsustainable bubbles—inflated stock markets, real estate, and speculative assets that burst and leave ruin in their wake. These crashes aren’t just economic—they have profound biological consequences. The cycles of boom and bust undermine communities, erode social stability, and increase anxiety and depression, all of which affect human health at a biological level. Biology: The Fiat System and the Destruction of Human Health Biologically, the fiat system is a cancerous growth on human society. The constant chase for growth and the devaluation of work leads to chronic stress, which is one of the leading causes of disease in modern society. The strain of living in a system that values speculation over well-being results in a biological feedback loop: rising anxiety, poor mental health, physical diseases like cardiovascular disorders, and a shortening of lifespans. Moreover, the focus on profit and short-term returns creates a biological disconnect between humans and the planet. The fiat system fuels industries that destroy ecosystems, increase pollution, and deplete resources at unsustainable rates. These actions are not just environmentally harmful; they directly harm human biology. The degradation of the environment—whether through toxic chemicals, pollution, or resource extraction—has profound biological effects on human health, causing respiratory diseases, cancers, and neurological disorders. The biological cost of the fiat system is not a distant theory; it is being paid every day by millions in the form of increased health risks, diseases linked to stress, and the growing burden of mental health disorders. The constant uncertainty of an inflation-driven economy exacerbates these conditions, creating a society of individuals whose bodies and minds are under constant strain. We are witnessing a systemic biological unraveling, one in which the very act of living is increasingly fraught with pain, instability, and the looming threat of collapse. Finance as the Final Illusion At the core of the fiat system is a fundamental illusion—that financial growth can occur without any real connection to tangible value. The abstraction of currency, the manipulation of interest rates, and the constant creation of new money hide the underlying truth: the system is built on nothing but faith. When that faith falters, the entire system collapses. This illusion has become so deeply embedded that it now defines the human experience. Work no longer connects to production or creation—it is reduced to a transaction on a spreadsheet, a means to acquire more fiat currency in a world where value is ephemeral and increasingly disconnected from human reality. As we pursue ever-expanding wealth, the fundamental truths of biology—interdependence, sustainability, and balance—are ignored. The fiat system’s abstract financial models serve to disconnect us from the basic realities of life: that we are part of an interconnected world where every action has a reaction, where resources are finite, and where human health, both mental and physical, depends on the stability of our environment and our social systems. The Ultimate Extermination In the end, the fiat system is not just an economic issue; it is a biological, philosophical, theological, and existential threat to the very survival of humanity. It is a force that devalues human effort, encourages environmental destruction, fosters inequality, and creates pain at the core of the human biological condition. It is an economic framework that leads not to prosperity, but to extermination—not just of species, but of the very essence of human well-being. To continue on this path is to accept the slow death of our species, one based not on natural forces, but on our own choice to worship the abstract over the real, the speculative over the tangible. The fiat system isn't just a threat; it is the ultimate self-inflicted wound, a cultural and financial cancer that, if left unchecked, will destroy humanity’s chance for survival and peace.

@ a367f9eb:0633efea

I’ll admit that I was wrong about Bitcoin. Perhaps in 2013. Definitely 2017. Probably in 2018-2019. And maybe even today. Being wrong about Bitcoin is part of finally understanding it. It will test you, make you question everything, and in the words of BTC educator and privacy advocate [Matt Odell](https://twitter.com/ODELL), “Bitcoin will humble you”. I’ve had my own stumbles on the way. In a very public fashion in 2017, after years of using Bitcoin, trying to start a company with it, using it as my primary exchange vehicle between currencies, and generally being annoying about it at parties, I let out the bear. In an article published in my own literary magazine *Devolution Review* in September 2017, I had a breaking point. The article was titled “[Going Bearish on Bitcoin: Cryptocurrencies are the tulip mania of the 21st century](https://www.devolutionreview.com/bearish-on-bitcoin/)”. It was later republished in *Huffington Post* and across dozens of financial and crypto blogs at the time with another, more appropriate title: “[Bitcoin Has Become About The Payday, Not Its Potential](https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/bitcoin-has-become-about-the-payday-not-its-potential_ca_5cd5025de4b07bc72973ec2d)”. As I laid out, my newfound bearishness had little to do with the technology itself or the promise of Bitcoin, and more to do with the cynical industry forming around it: > In the beginning, Bitcoin was something of a revolution to me. The digital currency represented everything from my rebellious youth. > > It was a decentralized, denationalized, and digital currency operating outside the traditional banking and governmental system. It used tools of cryptography and connected buyers and sellers across national borders at minimal transaction costs. > > … > > The 21st-century version (of Tulip mania) has welcomed a plethora of slick consultants, hazy schemes dressed up as investor possibilities, and too much wishy-washy language for anything to really make sense to anyone who wants to use a digital currency to make purchases. While I called out Bitcoin by name at the time, on reflection, I was really talking about the ICO craze, the wishy-washy consultants, and the altcoin ponzis. What I was articulating — without knowing it — was the frame of NgU, or “numbers go up”. Rather than advocating for Bitcoin because of its uncensorability, proof-of-work, or immutability, the common mentality among newbies and the dollar-obsessed was that Bitcoin mattered because its price was a rocket ship. And because Bitcoin was gaining in price, affinity tokens and projects that were imperfect forks of Bitcoin took off as well. The price alone — rather than its qualities — were the reasons why you’d hear Uber drivers, finance bros, or your gym buddy mention Bitcoin. As someone who came to Bitcoin for philosophical reasons, that just sat wrong with me. Maybe I had too many projects thrown in my face, or maybe I was too frustrated with the UX of Bitcoin apps and sites at the time. No matter what, I’ve since learned something. **I was at least somewhat wrong.** My own journey began in early 2011. One of my favorite radio programs, Free Talk Live, began interviewing guests and having discussions on the potential of Bitcoin. They tied it directly to a libertarian vision of the world: free markets, free people, and free banking. That was me, and I was in. Bitcoin was at about $5 back then (NgU). I followed every article I could, talked about it with guests [on my college radio show](https://libertyinexile.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/osamobama_on_the_tubes/), and became a devoted redditor on r/Bitcoin. At that time, at least to my knowledge, there was no possible way to buy Bitcoin where I was living. Very weak. **I was probably wrong. And very wrong for not trying to acquire by mining or otherwise.** The next year, after moving to Florida, Bitcoin was a heavy topic with a friend of mine who shared the same vision (and still does, according to the Celsius bankruptcy documents). We talked about it with passionate leftists at **Occupy Tampa** in 2012, all the while trying to explain the ills of Keynesian central banking, and figuring out how to use Coinbase. I began writing more about Bitcoin in 2013, writing a guide on “[How to Avoid Bank Fees Using Bitcoin](http://thestatelessman.com/2013/06/03/using-bitcoin/),” discussing its [potential legalization in Germany](https://yael.ca/2013/10/01/lagefi-alternative-monetaire-et-legislation-de/), and interviewing Jeremy Hansen, [one of the first political candidates in the U.S. to accept Bitcoin donations](https://yael.ca/2013/12/09/bitcoin-politician-wants-to-upgrade-democracy-in/). Even up until that point, I thought Bitcoin was an interesting protocol for sending and receiving money quickly, and converting it into fiat. The global connectedness of it, plus this cypherpunk mentality divorced from government control was both useful and attractive. I thought it was the perfect go-between. **But I was wrong.** When I gave my [first public speech](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtVypq2f0G4) on Bitcoin in Vienna, Austria in December 2013, I had grown obsessed with Bitcoin’s adoption on dark net markets like Silk Road. My theory, at the time, was the number and price were irrelevant. The tech was interesting, and a novel attempt. It was unlike anything before. But what was happening on the dark net markets, which I viewed as the true free market powered by Bitcoin, was even more interesting. I thought these markets would grow exponentially and anonymous commerce via BTC would become the norm. While the price was irrelevant, it was all about buying and selling goods without permission or license. **Now I understand I was wrong.** Just because Bitcoin was this revolutionary technology that embraced pseudonymity did not mean that all commerce would decentralize as well. It did not mean that anonymous markets were intended to be the most powerful layer in the Bitcoin stack. What I did not even anticipate is something articulated very well by noted Bitcoin OG [Pierre Rochard](https://twitter.com/BitcoinPierre): [Bitcoin as a *savings technology*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BavRqEoaxjI)*.* The ability to maintain long-term savings, practice self-discipline while stacking stats, and embrace a low-time preference was just not something on the mind of the Bitcoiners I knew at the time. Perhaps I was reading into the hype while outwardly opposing it. Or perhaps I wasn’t humble enough to understand the true value proposition that many of us have learned years later. In the years that followed, I bought and sold more times than I can count, and I did everything to integrate it into passion projects. I tried to set up a company using Bitcoin while at my university in Prague. My business model depended on university students being technologically advanced enough to have a mobile wallet, own their keys, and be able to make transactions on a consistent basis. Even though I was surrounded by philosophically aligned people, those who would advance that to actually put Bitcoin into practice were sparse. This is what led me to proclaim that “[Technological Literacy is Doomed](https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/technological-literacy-is-doomed_b_12669440)” in 2016. **And I was wrong again.** Indeed, since that time, the UX of Bitcoin-only applications, wallets, and supporting tech has vastly improved and onboarded millions more people than anyone thought possible. The entrepreneurship, coding excellence, and vision offered by Bitcoiners of all stripes have renewed a sense in me that this project is something built for us all — friends and enemies alike. While many of us were likely distracted by flashy and pumpy altcoins over the years (me too, champs), most of us have returned to the Bitcoin stable. Fast forward to today, there are entire ecosystems of creators, activists, and developers who are wholly reliant on the magic of Bitcoin’s protocol for their life and livelihood. The options are endless. The FUD is still present, but real proof of work stands powerfully against those forces. In addition, there are now [dozens of ways to use Bitcoin privately](https://fixthemoney.substack.com/p/not-your-keys-not-your-coins-claiming) — still without custodians or intermediaries — that make it one of the most important assets for global humanity, especially in dictatorships. This is all toward a positive arc of innovation, freedom, and pure independence. Did I see that coming? Absolutely not. Of course, there are probably other shots you’ve missed on Bitcoin. Price predictions (ouch), the short-term inflation hedge, or the amount of institutional investment. While all of these may be erroneous predictions in the short term, we have to realize that Bitcoin is a long arc. It will outlive all of us on the planet, and it will continue in its present form for the next generation. **Being wrong about the evolution of Bitcoin is no fault, and is indeed part of the learning curve to finally understanding it all.** When your family or friends ask you about Bitcoin after your endless sessions explaining market dynamics, nodes, how mining works, and the genius of cryptographic signatures, try to accept that there is still so much we have to learn about this decentralized digital cash. There are still some things you’ve gotten wrong about Bitcoin, and plenty more you’ll underestimate or get wrong in the future. That’s what makes it a beautiful journey. It’s a long road, but one that remains worth it.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

# When the shit just don't work Most open-source software is now so badly written and sloppily-maintained, that it's malware. That's why the governments are getting involved. They try using OS, to save money and improve quality (and to market themselves as "hip"), and then it blows up their system or opens them up to hackers. Now, they're pissed and want support (but the dev with the handle SucksToBeYou has disappeared) or someone to sue, but most OS projects have no identifiable entity behind them. Even well-known anon devs are often groups of anons or accounts that change hands. # The software cracks have moved on There is simply no evidence that OS alone produces higher-quality software. The reason it seemed that way, at the beginning, was because of the caliber of the developers working on the projects, and the limited number of projects. This resulted in experienced people actively reviewing each others' code. OS used to be something the elite engaged in, but it's mostly beginners practicing in public, now. That's why there are now millions of OS projects, happily offered for free, but almost all of them are garbage. The people now building OS usually aren't capable of reviewing other people's code, and they're producing worse products than ChatGPT could. Their software has no customers because it has no market value. # If everything is OS, then nothing is. Another paradigm-changer is that all software is de facto OS, now that we can quickly reverse-engineer code with AI. That means the focus is no longer on OS/not-OS, but on the accountability and reputation of the builders. It is, once again, a question of trust. We have come full-circle.

@ 1cb14ab3:95d52462

*Originally written in October 2022 (Block: 757258 / USD: $20.1k / SatsDollar: 4961). Refined with slight edits for publishing on Nostr in December 2024 (Block: 875189 / USD: $106k / SatsDollar: 938 ). Banner image property of Hes. My journey down the rabbit hole has only intensified since the time of writing. Enjoy.* --- The Bitcoin time perspective is wild. Reflecting on it has been profoundly eye-opening, and once it has been seen— there is no returning to our prior ways. Ever since venturing down the rabbit hole that we call Bitcoin, I’ve started making significant life decisions and forming nuanced opinions on polarizing topics based on the implications of multi-generational timeframes. Before Bitcoin, I spent money recklessly, leading a fast-paced and impulsive lifestyle. Even in my early days of learning about Bitcoin, I hadn’t fully seen the light. I would still blow the occasional $500 bar tab or buy some flashy gadget I didn’t need. Living in the moment has its merits, but so does considering the time beyond our own lives. Now, I pause before purchases and decisions, always reflecting on how they might impact the future. When your money isn’t constantly being devalued before your eyes, you start seeing the world differently. You begin saving for the future with confidence, knowing that no central authority can endlessly print away your hard-earned time and energy. Inflation doesn’t just erode purchasing power; it steals time. It destroys the hours, days, and years of effort represented by a lifetime of savings. When governments print money to prop up failing banks or fund inefficient ventures, the impact ripples through generations. Those at the bottom of the ladder are hit the hardest, their ability to save and plan for the future undermined by forces beyond their control. Decisions become focused on surviving today instead of thriving tomorrow, leaving little room to consider the long-term implications of our choices. This system creates a mindset where we are incentivized to spend now, instead of save for later—an unnatural phenomenon that most of us have accepted as normal. For individuals who simply want to put away money for a rainy day, inflation is a relentless adversary. A dollar in 1900 has lost over 96% of its value. The countless hours of labor behind those savings have been stolen. Not only did the expansion of money destroy what they could buy, it stole our time and energy. Years of our lives—blood, sweat, and tears—washed away. This isn’t just a historical problem—it’s a recurring one that occurs every decade or so and is accelerating. At an average inflation rate of 3%, the value of cash halves roughly every 23 years. This means that even modest inflation rates gradually diminish purchasing power over time, forcing individuals to chase speculative assets like stocks, real estate, and gold—not because they want to, but because they have no choice. Personal inflation rates differ depending on consumer habits, but a glance at rising prices reveals they often outpace the 2% annual rate reported by the government, which poses a significant problem for individua;s, as highlighted in the table below: <aside> **Inflation Rate (%)** | **Purchasing Power Halving (Years)** - 2% | 35-40 years - 3% | 20-25 years - 4% | 15-20 years - 5% | 10-15 years - 6% | 7-12 years - 7% | 5-10 years - 8% | 4-8 years - 9% | 3-6 years - 10% | 2-5 years </aside> Corporations like McDonald’s understand this. Sitting on a prime corner lot in every major city is far smarter than stacking a pile of cash losing value. Even if the franchise is losing money, the building it operates in is guaranteed to “rise” in value over time. This mindset trickles down to everyday people. To protect themselves, they’re compelled to invest in assets—with real estate being the pinnacle savings instrument of our time. The financial system we’ve accepted as normal turns shelter into an investment vehicle and savings into a gamble. But here’s the irony: real estate is a lousy store of value—which is what we are all truly seeking. Properties require constant maintenance. Without care, assets deteriorate. We’ve all seen abandoned theme parks and overgrown cities. We’ve all dealt with broken pipes and creaky floorboards. Why should saving our hard-earned wealth require us to become housing market experts, landlords, or property managers? Why should we pay financial advisors to manage stock portfolios full of companies whose values or practices we might not even believe in, just to beat inflation? A flawed monetary system inflates bubbles in real estate and stocks, redirecting resources into speculative markets instead of productive investments. Imagine a world where people don’t have to read quarterly earnings reports after a long day of work to ensure their cash retains value. If the incentives driving these bubbles were removed, the financial landscape would dramatically shift. Inflation wouldn’t push people into markets like real estate or zombie companies; instead, they could focus on building or supporting businesses they genuinely care about. They could plan for the long term and make well-thought-out, rational decisions about their future. Bitcoin takes this entire dynamic and flips it on its head. It isn’t a tool for speculation as often misunderstood. It is the best form of saving humanity has ever seen. Unlike fiat currencies, Bitcoin’s fixed supply ensures scarcity, making it a refuge from the erosion of wealth caused by inflation. As weak currencies flow into stronger ones (a concept known as Gresham’s Law), Bitcoin’s role as a store of value becomes clearer. It’s not that Bitcoin has “gone up 19,000%”—it’s that people are exchanging weaker money for stronger money. The implications of a world on a Bitcoin standard extend far beyond monetary policy. It offers something unprecedented: a tool for transferring the value of labor and energy across time and space. Unlike fiat, Bitcoin allows time to be preserved across generations. It isn’t just a hedge against inflation—it reintroduces the idea of saving with confidence, of being able to store wealth in a form of money that cannot be manipulated or devalued. By saving in Bitcoin, individuals are no longer tethered to the uncertainties of fiat systems. The Bitcoin time perspective is about aligning our actions today with the future we want to build tomorrow. It’s about prioritizing long-term impact over short-term gains. When you embrace Bitcoin, you embrace a mindset that values time, energy, and the well-being of future generations. It’s not just a currency; it’s a revolution in thinking that will change you forever. The past, present, and future converge in this new paradigm, offering hope in an otherwise uncertain world. Bitcoin isn’t a bubble; it’s a beacon. --- ### More from Hes: [Art](https://hes.npub.pro/tag/art/) [Store](https://plebeian.market/p/517d6542a081d61ecd8900ad9e2640290e2cf06f516c5e5f3edadfbde446bff4/stall/1db0cdfe0e39c4bd81b903902eeda74e6aa0f0b56e30851f327e6d0c292c5c06) [Travel Guides](https://hes.npub.pro/tag/travel/) [Photography](https://hes.npub.pro/tag/photography)

@ fe32298e:20516265

Today I learned how to install [NVapi](https://github.com/sammcj/NVApi) to monitor my GPUs in Home Assistant.  **NVApi** is a lightweight API designed for monitoring NVIDIA GPU utilization and enabling automated power management. It provides real-time GPU metrics, supports integration with tools like Home Assistant, and offers flexible power management and PCIe link speed management based on workload and thermal conditions. - **GPU Utilization Monitoring**: Utilization, memory usage, temperature, fan speed, and power consumption. - **Automated Power Limiting**: Adjusts power limits dynamically based on temperature thresholds and total power caps, configurable per GPU or globally. - **Cross-GPU Coordination**: Total power budget applies across multiple GPUs in the same system. - **PCIe Link Speed Management**: Controls minimum and maximum PCIe link speeds with idle thresholds for power optimization. - **Home Assistant Integration**: Uses the built-in RESTful platform and template sensors. ## Getting the Data ``` sudo apt install golang-go git clone https://github.com/sammcj/NVApi.git cd NVapi go run main.go -port 9999 -rate 1 curl http://localhost:9999/gpu ``` Response for a single GPU: ``` [ { "index": 0, "name": "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090", "gpu_utilisation": 0, "memory_utilisation": 0, "power_watts": 16, "power_limit_watts": 450, "memory_total_gb": 23.99, "memory_used_gb": 0.46, "memory_free_gb": 23.52, "memory_usage_percent": 2, "temperature": 38, "processes": [], "pcie_link_state": "not managed" } ] ``` Response for multiple GPUs: ``` [ { "index": 0, "name": "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090", "gpu_utilisation": 0, "memory_utilisation": 0, "power_watts": 14, "power_limit_watts": 350, "memory_total_gb": 24, "memory_used_gb": 0.43, "memory_free_gb": 23.57, "memory_usage_percent": 2, "temperature": 36, "processes": [], "pcie_link_state": "not managed" }, { "index": 1, "name": "NVIDIA RTX A4000", "gpu_utilisation": 0, "memory_utilisation": 0, "power_watts": 10, "power_limit_watts": 140, "memory_total_gb": 15.99, "memory_used_gb": 0.56, "memory_free_gb": 15.43, "memory_usage_percent": 3, "temperature": 41, "processes": [], "pcie_link_state": "not managed" } ] ``` # Start at Boot Create `/etc/systemd/system/nvapi.service`: ``` [Unit] Description=Run NVapi After=network.target [Service] Type=simple Environment="GOPATH=/home/ansible/go" WorkingDirectory=/home/ansible/NVapi ExecStart=/usr/bin/go run main.go -port 9999 -rate 1 Restart=always User=ansible # Environment="GPU_TEMP_CHECK_INTERVAL=5" # Environment="GPU_TOTAL_POWER_CAP=400" # Environment="GPU_0_LOW_TEMP=40" # Environment="GPU_0_MEDIUM_TEMP=70" # Environment="GPU_0_LOW_TEMP_LIMIT=135" # Environment="GPU_0_MEDIUM_TEMP_LIMIT=120" # Environment="GPU_0_HIGH_TEMP_LIMIT=100" # Environment="GPU_1_LOW_TEMP=45" # Environment="GPU_1_MEDIUM_TEMP=75" # Environment="GPU_1_LOW_TEMP_LIMIT=140" # Environment="GPU_1_MEDIUM_TEMP_LIMIT=125" # Environment="GPU_1_HIGH_TEMP_LIMIT=110" [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` ## Home Assistant Add to Home Assistant `configuration.yaml` and restart HA (completely). For a single GPU, this works: ``` sensor: - platform: rest name: MYPC GPU Information resource: http://mypc:9999 method: GET headers: Content-Type: application/json value_template: "{{ value_json[0].index }}" json_attributes: - name - gpu_utilisation - memory_utilisation - power_watts - power_limit_watts - memory_total_gb - memory_used_gb - memory_free_gb - memory_usage_percent - temperature scan_interval: 1 # seconds - platform: template sensors: mypc_gpu_0_gpu: friendly_name: "MYPC {{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'name') }} GPU" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'gpu_utilisation') }}" unit_of_measurement: "%" mypc_gpu_0_memory: friendly_name: "MYPC {{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'name') }} Memory" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'memory_utilisation') }}" unit_of_measurement: "%" mypc_gpu_0_power: friendly_name: "MYPC {{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'name') }} Power" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'power_watts') }}" unit_of_measurement: "W" mypc_gpu_0_power_limit: friendly_name: "MYPC {{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'name') }} Power Limit" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'power_limit_watts') }}" unit_of_measurement: "W" mypc_gpu_0_temperature: friendly_name: "MYPC {{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'name') }} Temperature" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu_information', 'temperature') }}" unit_of_measurement: "°C" ``` For multiple GPUs: ``` rest: scan_interval: 1 resource: http://mypc:9999 sensor: - name: "MYPC GPU0 Information" value_template: "{{ value_json[0].index }}" json_attributes_path: "$.0" json_attributes: - name - gpu_utilisation - memory_utilisation - power_watts - power_limit_watts - memory_total_gb - memory_used_gb - memory_free_gb - memory_usage_percent - temperature - name: "MYPC GPU1 Information" value_template: "{{ value_json[1].index }}" json_attributes_path: "$.1" json_attributes: - name - gpu_utilisation - memory_utilisation - power_watts - power_limit_watts - memory_total_gb - memory_used_gb - memory_free_gb - memory_usage_percent - temperature - platform: template sensors: mypc_gpu_0_gpu: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU0 GPU" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu0_information', 'gpu_utilisation') }}" unit_of_measurement: "%" mypc_gpu_0_memory: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU0 Memory" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu0_information', 'memory_utilisation') }}" unit_of_measurement: "%" mypc_gpu_0_power: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU0 Power" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu0_information', 'power_watts') }}" unit_of_measurement: "W" mypc_gpu_0_power_limit: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU0 Power Limit" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu0_information', 'power_limit_watts') }}" unit_of_measurement: "W" mypc_gpu_0_temperature: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU0 Temperature" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu0_information', 'temperature') }}" unit_of_measurement: "C" - platform: template sensors: mypc_gpu_1_gpu: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU1 GPU" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu1_information', 'gpu_utilisation') }}" unit_of_measurement: "%" mypc_gpu_1_memory: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU1 Memory" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu1_information', 'memory_utilisation') }}" unit_of_measurement: "%" mypc_gpu_1_power: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU1 Power" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu1_information', 'power_watts') }}" unit_of_measurement: "W" mypc_gpu_1_power_limit: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU1 Power Limit" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu1_information', 'power_limit_watts') }}" unit_of_measurement: "W" mypc_gpu_1_temperature: friendly_name: "MYPC GPU1 Temperature" value_template: "{{ state_attr('sensor.mypc_gpu1_information', 'temperature') }}" unit_of_measurement: "C" ``` Basic entity card: ``` type: entities entities: - entity: sensor.mypc_gpu_0_gpu secondary_info: last-updated - entity: sensor.mypc_gpu_0_memory secondary_info: last-updated - entity: sensor.mypc_gpu_0_power secondary_info: last-updated - entity: sensor.mypc_gpu_0_power_limit secondary_info: last-updated - entity: sensor.mypc_gpu_0_temperature secondary_info: last-updated ``` # Ansible Role ``` --- - name: install go become: true package: name: golang-go state: present - name: git clone git: repo: "https://github.com/sammcj/NVApi.git" dest: "/home/ansible/NVapi" update: yes force: true # go run main.go -port 9999 -rate 1 - name: install systemd service become: true copy: src: nvapi.service dest: /etc/systemd/system/nvapi.service - name: Reload systemd daemons, enable, and restart nvapi become: true systemd: name: nvapi daemon_reload: yes enabled: yes state: restarted ```

@ 2f5de000:2f9bcef1

This Week I immersed myself in Bitcoin from multiple angles-technical, societal and personal. The journey included a marathon 32-hours of listening to [Rabbit Hole Recap (RHR)](https://fountain.fm/show/VDaMppQRUBZioj2XkaLn), an essential resource for Bitcoin insights. It's worth noting that I started from the begining and plan to make my way through the whole catalogue. Marty and Matt's timestamps, along with contributions from their guests, served as my roadmap. Using Fountain to stream, I also streamed sats-a small but extraordinary feature that allows users to stacks sats while compensating cretors directly through fractional donations. ## Revisiting Speculative Attack by Pierre Rochard (2014) Now that [*Speculative Attack Season 2*](https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/speculative-attack-season-2/) *(which I've not read yet)* has been released. I took the time to read Pierre Rochards influential essay, [*Speculative Attack*](https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/speculative-attack/) and reflected on its timeless insights. Rochard argues that Bitcoin adoption isn't dependent on technological advancements or consumer preferences, but on economic realities. As fiat currencies weaken, Bitcoin won't enter the mainstream by persuasion but by necessity. Critics continue to underestimate Bitcoin's inevitability due to their fiat biases and lack of financial insight. This year alone, mainstream media has been compelled to discuss Bitcoin-notably to Trump's endorsement of 'crypto.' Despite their attempts to shape narratives to suit their ideal visions, they've had no choice but to engage with Bitcoin's growing influence.\ \ As Parker aptly puts it 'Gradually, The Suddenly' ## Wassabi Wallet and the Privacy Imperative An RHR interview (from early in the catalogue) with guest Adam Ficsor, CTO and Co-founder of Wassabi Wallet, sparked a deeper consideration of my digital footprint. Like many, I've spent years online neglecting privacy in favour of convenience. The discussion on CoinJoins reminded me of the importance of prioritising privacy, not just romanticising it. Improving operational security (opsec) is now a personal focus. Resources like Jameson's *Cypherpunk Cogitations* and the Bitcoin Optech newsletter offer valuable guidance. While I've exercised caution, I recognise a need to address my laziness with opsec and take meaningful steps to protect my privacy. Time will reveal the results of these efforts. ## Caribbean Slavery amd Centralised Platforms While exploring historical systems of control, I delved into the brutal realities of [New World slavery in the British Caribbean](https://aeon.co/ideas/how-did-slaveholders-in-the-caribbean-maintain-control). Enslaved elites, like drivers, were granted limited privileges to maintain order, creating divisions within the community. This divide-and-rule strategy highlights the fragility of oppressive frameworks, which began to crumble with events like the Hatian Revolution and humanitarian activism. Interestingly, similar dynamics are visible with centralised plaforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Verified accounts (the "blue checks") act as mordern day 'elites' with perceived freedoms. However, their autonomy is limited by the platforms centralised authority. Challenging the rules risks censorship and cancellation, proving their freedom is an illusion subject to the will of their overseers. Enhancing the argument further for protocols like Nostr to help people win back their freedoms.

@ 6f6b50bb:a848e5a1

Che cosa significherebbe trattare l'IA come uno strumento invece che come una persona? Dall’avvio di ChatGPT, le esplorazioni in due direzioni hanno preso velocità. La prima direzione riguarda le capacità tecniche. Quanto grande possiamo addestrare un modello? Quanto bene può rispondere alle domande del SAT? Con quanta efficienza possiamo distribuirlo? La seconda direzione riguarda il design dell’interazione. Come comunichiamo con un modello? Come possiamo usarlo per un lavoro utile? Quale metafora usiamo per ragionare su di esso? La prima direzione è ampiamente seguita e enormemente finanziata, e per una buona ragione: i progressi nelle capacità tecniche sono alla base di ogni possibile applicazione. Ma la seconda è altrettanto cruciale per il campo e ha enormi incognite. Siamo solo a pochi anni dall’inizio dell’era dei grandi modelli. Quali sono le probabilità che abbiamo già capito i modi migliori per usarli? Propongo una nuova modalità di interazione, in cui i modelli svolgano il ruolo di applicazioni informatiche (ad esempio app per telefoni): fornendo un’interfaccia grafica, interpretando gli input degli utenti e aggiornando il loro stato. In questa modalità, invece di essere un “agente” che utilizza un computer per conto dell’essere umano, l’IA può fornire un ambiente informatico più ricco e potente che possiamo utilizzare. ### Metafore per l’interazione Al centro di un’interazione c’è una metafora che guida le aspettative di un utente su un sistema. I primi giorni dell’informatica hanno preso metafore come “scrivanie”, “macchine da scrivere”, “fogli di calcolo” e “lettere” e le hanno trasformate in equivalenti digitali, permettendo all’utente di ragionare sul loro comportamento. Puoi lasciare qualcosa sulla tua scrivania e tornare a prenderlo; hai bisogno di un indirizzo per inviare una lettera. Man mano che abbiamo sviluppato una conoscenza culturale di questi dispositivi, la necessità di queste particolari metafore è scomparsa, e con esse i design di interfaccia skeumorfici che le rafforzavano. Come un cestino o una matita, un computer è ora una metafora di se stesso. La metafora dominante per i grandi modelli oggi è modello-come-persona. Questa è una metafora efficace perché le persone hanno capacità estese che conosciamo intuitivamente. Implica che possiamo avere una conversazione con un modello e porgli domande; che il modello possa collaborare con noi su un documento o un pezzo di codice; che possiamo assegnargli un compito da svolgere da solo e che tornerà quando sarà finito. Tuttavia, trattare un modello come una persona limita profondamente il nostro modo di pensare all’interazione con esso. Le interazioni umane sono intrinsecamente lente e lineari, limitate dalla larghezza di banda e dalla natura a turni della comunicazione verbale. Come abbiamo tutti sperimentato, comunicare idee complesse in una conversazione è difficile e dispersivo. Quando vogliamo precisione, ci rivolgiamo invece a strumenti, utilizzando manipolazioni dirette e interfacce visive ad alta larghezza di banda per creare diagrammi, scrivere codice e progettare modelli CAD. Poiché concepiamo i modelli come persone, li utilizziamo attraverso conversazioni lente, anche se sono perfettamente in grado di accettare input diretti e rapidi e di produrre risultati visivi. Le metafore che utilizziamo limitano le esperienze che costruiamo, e la metafora modello-come-persona ci impedisce di esplorare il pieno potenziale dei grandi modelli. Per molti casi d’uso, e specialmente per il lavoro produttivo, credo che il futuro risieda in un’altra metafora: modello-come-computer. ### Usare un’IA come un computer Sotto la metafora modello-come-computer, interagiremo con i grandi modelli seguendo le intuizioni che abbiamo sulle applicazioni informatiche (sia su desktop, tablet o telefono). Nota che ciò non significa che il modello sarà un’app tradizionale più di quanto il desktop di Windows fosse una scrivania letterale. “Applicazione informatica” sarà un modo per un modello di rappresentarsi a noi. Invece di agire come una persona, il modello agirà come un computer. Agire come un computer significa produrre un’interfaccia grafica. Al posto del flusso lineare di testo in stile telescrivente fornito da ChatGPT, un sistema modello-come-computer genererà qualcosa che somiglia all’interfaccia di un’applicazione moderna: pulsanti, cursori, schede, immagini, grafici e tutto il resto. Questo affronta limitazioni chiave dell’interfaccia di chat standard modello-come-persona: - **Scoperta.** Un buon strumento suggerisce i suoi usi. Quando l’unica interfaccia è una casella di testo vuota, spetta all’utente capire cosa fare e comprendere i limiti del sistema. La barra laterale Modifica in Lightroom è un ottimo modo per imparare l’editing fotografico perché non si limita a dirti cosa può fare questa applicazione con una foto, ma cosa potresti voler fare. Allo stesso modo, un’interfaccia modello-come-computer per DALL-E potrebbe mostrare nuove possibilità per le tue generazioni di immagini. - **Efficienza.** La manipolazione diretta è più rapida che scrivere una richiesta a parole. Per continuare l’esempio di Lightroom, sarebbe impensabile modificare una foto dicendo a una persona quali cursori spostare e di quanto. Ci vorrebbe un giorno intero per chiedere un’esposizione leggermente più bassa e una vibranza leggermente più alta, solo per vedere come apparirebbe. Nella metafora modello-come-computer, il modello può creare strumenti che ti permettono di comunicare ciò che vuoi più efficientemente e quindi di fare le cose più rapidamente. A differenza di un’app tradizionale, questa interfaccia grafica è generata dal modello su richiesta. Questo significa che ogni parte dell’interfaccia che vedi è rilevante per ciò che stai facendo in quel momento, inclusi i contenuti specifici del tuo lavoro. Significa anche che, se desideri un’interfaccia più ampia o diversa, puoi semplicemente richiederla. Potresti chiedere a DALL-E di produrre alcuni preset modificabili per le sue impostazioni ispirati da famosi artisti di schizzi. Quando clicchi sul preset Leonardo da Vinci, imposta i cursori per disegni prospettici altamente dettagliati in inchiostro nero. Se clicchi su Charles Schulz, seleziona fumetti tecnicolor 2D a basso dettaglio. ### Una bicicletta della mente proteiforme La metafora modello-come-persona ha una curiosa tendenza a creare distanza tra l’utente e il modello, rispecchiando il divario di comunicazione tra due persone che può essere ridotto ma mai completamente colmato. A causa della difficoltà e del costo di comunicare a parole, le persone tendono a suddividere i compiti tra loro in blocchi grandi e il più indipendenti possibile. Le interfacce modello-come-persona seguono questo schema: non vale la pena dire a un modello di aggiungere un return statement alla tua funzione quando è più veloce scriverlo da solo. Con il sovraccarico della comunicazione, i sistemi modello-come-persona sono più utili quando possono fare un intero blocco di lavoro da soli. Fanno le cose per te. Questo contrasta con il modo in cui interagiamo con i computer o altri strumenti. Gli strumenti producono feedback visivi in tempo reale e sono controllati attraverso manipolazioni dirette. Hanno un overhead comunicativo così basso che non è necessario specificare un blocco di lavoro indipendente. Ha più senso mantenere l’umano nel loop e dirigere lo strumento momento per momento. Come stivali delle sette leghe, gli strumenti ti permettono di andare più lontano a ogni passo, ma sei ancora tu a fare il lavoro. Ti permettono di fare le cose più velocemente. Considera il compito di costruire un sito web usando un grande modello. Con le interfacce di oggi, potresti trattare il modello come un appaltatore o un collaboratore. Cercheresti di scrivere a parole il più possibile su come vuoi che il sito appaia, cosa vuoi che dica e quali funzionalità vuoi che abbia. Il modello genererebbe una prima bozza, tu la eseguirai e poi fornirai un feedback. “Fai il logo un po’ più grande”, diresti, e “centra quella prima immagine principale”, e “deve esserci un pulsante di login nell’intestazione”. Per ottenere esattamente ciò che vuoi, invierai una lista molto lunga di richieste sempre più minuziose. Un’interazione alternativa modello-come-computer sarebbe diversa: invece di costruire il sito web, il modello genererebbe un’interfaccia per te per costruirlo, dove ogni input dell’utente a quell’interfaccia interroga il grande modello sotto il cofano. Forse quando descrivi le tue necessità creerebbe un’interfaccia con una barra laterale e una finestra di anteprima. All’inizio la barra laterale contiene solo alcuni schizzi di layout che puoi scegliere come punto di partenza. Puoi cliccare su ciascuno di essi, e il modello scrive l’HTML per una pagina web usando quel layout e lo visualizza nella finestra di anteprima. Ora che hai una pagina su cui lavorare, la barra laterale guadagna opzioni aggiuntive che influenzano la pagina globalmente, come accoppiamenti di font e schemi di colore. L’anteprima funge da editor WYSIWYG, permettendoti di afferrare elementi e spostarli, modificarne i contenuti, ecc. A supportare tutto ciò è il modello, che vede queste azioni dell’utente e riscrive la pagina per corrispondere ai cambiamenti effettuati. Poiché il modello può generare un’interfaccia per aiutare te e lui a comunicare più efficientemente, puoi esercitare più controllo sul prodotto finale in meno tempo. La metafora modello-come-computer ci incoraggia a pensare al modello come a uno strumento con cui interagire in tempo reale piuttosto che a un collaboratore a cui assegnare compiti. Invece di sostituire un tirocinante o un tutor, può essere una sorta di bicicletta proteiforme per la mente, una che è sempre costruita su misura esattamente per te e il terreno che intendi attraversare. ### Un nuovo paradigma per l’informatica? I modelli che possono generare interfacce su richiesta sono una frontiera completamente nuova nell’informatica. Potrebbero essere un paradigma del tutto nuovo, con il modo in cui cortocircuitano il modello di applicazione esistente. Dare agli utenti finali il potere di creare e modificare app al volo cambia fondamentalmente il modo in cui interagiamo con i computer. Al posto di una singola applicazione statica costruita da uno sviluppatore, un modello genererà un’applicazione su misura per l’utente e le sue esigenze immediate. Al posto della logica aziendale implementata nel codice, il modello interpreterà gli input dell’utente e aggiornerà l’interfaccia utente. È persino possibile che questo tipo di interfaccia generativa sostituisca completamente il sistema operativo, generando e gestendo interfacce e finestre al volo secondo necessità. All’inizio, l’interfaccia generativa sarà un giocattolo, utile solo per l’esplorazione creativa e poche altre applicazioni di nicchia. Dopotutto, nessuno vorrebbe un’app di posta elettronica che occasionalmente invia email al tuo ex e mente sulla tua casella di posta. Ma gradualmente i modelli miglioreranno. Anche mentre si spingeranno ulteriormente nello spazio di esperienze completamente nuove, diventeranno lentamente abbastanza affidabili da essere utilizzati per un lavoro reale. Piccoli pezzi di questo futuro esistono già. Anni fa Jonas Degrave ha dimostrato che ChatGPT poteva fare una buona simulazione di una riga di comando Linux. Allo stesso modo, websim.ai utilizza un LLM per generare siti web su richiesta mentre li navighi. Oasis, GameNGen e DIAMOND addestrano modelli video condizionati sull’azione su singoli videogiochi, permettendoti di giocare ad esempio a Doom dentro un grande modello. E Genie 2 genera videogiochi giocabili da prompt testuali. L’interfaccia generativa potrebbe ancora sembrare un’idea folle, ma non è così folle. Ci sono enormi domande aperte su come apparirà tutto questo. Dove sarà inizialmente utile l’interfaccia generativa? Come condivideremo e distribuiremo le esperienze che creiamo collaborando con il modello, se esistono solo come contesto di un grande modello? Vorremmo davvero farlo? Quali nuovi tipi di esperienze saranno possibili? Come funzionerà tutto questo in pratica? I modelli genereranno interfacce come codice o produrranno direttamente pixel grezzi? Non conosco ancora queste risposte. Dovremo sperimentare e scoprirlo!Che cosa significherebbe trattare l'IA come uno strumento invece che come una persona? Dall’avvio di ChatGPT, le esplorazioni in due direzioni hanno preso velocità. La prima direzione riguarda le capacità tecniche. Quanto grande possiamo addestrare un modello? Quanto bene può rispondere alle domande del SAT? Con quanta efficienza possiamo distribuirlo? La seconda direzione riguarda il design dell’interazione. Come comunichiamo con un modello? Come possiamo usarlo per un lavoro utile? Quale metafora usiamo per ragionare su di esso? La prima direzione è ampiamente seguita e enormemente finanziata, e per una buona ragione: i progressi nelle capacità tecniche sono alla base di ogni possibile applicazione. Ma la seconda è altrettanto cruciale per il campo e ha enormi incognite. Siamo solo a pochi anni dall’inizio dell’era dei grandi modelli. Quali sono le probabilità che abbiamo già capito i modi migliori per usarli? Propongo una nuova modalità di interazione, in cui i modelli svolgano il ruolo di applicazioni informatiche (ad esempio app per telefoni): fornendo un’interfaccia grafica, interpretando gli input degli utenti e aggiornando il loro stato. In questa modalità, invece di essere un “agente” che utilizza un computer per conto dell’essere umano, l’IA può fornire un ambiente informatico più ricco e potente che possiamo utilizzare. ### Metafore per l’interazione Al centro di un’interazione c’è una metafora che guida le aspettative di un utente su un sistema. I primi giorni dell’informatica hanno preso metafore come “scrivanie”, “macchine da scrivere”, “fogli di calcolo” e “lettere” e le hanno trasformate in equivalenti digitali, permettendo all’utente di ragionare sul loro comportamento. Puoi lasciare qualcosa sulla tua scrivania e tornare a prenderlo; hai bisogno di un indirizzo per inviare una lettera. Man mano che abbiamo sviluppato una conoscenza culturale di questi dispositivi, la necessità di queste particolari metafore è scomparsa, e con esse i design di interfaccia skeumorfici che le rafforzavano. Come un cestino o una matita, un computer è ora una metafora di se stesso. La metafora dominante per i grandi modelli oggi è modello-come-persona. Questa è una metafora efficace perché le persone hanno capacità estese che conosciamo intuitivamente. Implica che possiamo avere una conversazione con un modello e porgli domande; che il modello possa collaborare con noi su un documento o un pezzo di codice; che possiamo assegnargli un compito da svolgere da solo e che tornerà quando sarà finito. Tuttavia, trattare un modello come una persona limita profondamente il nostro modo di pensare all’interazione con esso. Le interazioni umane sono intrinsecamente lente e lineari, limitate dalla larghezza di banda e dalla natura a turni della comunicazione verbale. Come abbiamo tutti sperimentato, comunicare idee complesse in una conversazione è difficile e dispersivo. Quando vogliamo precisione, ci rivolgiamo invece a strumenti, utilizzando manipolazioni dirette e interfacce visive ad alta larghezza di banda per creare diagrammi, scrivere codice e progettare modelli CAD. Poiché concepiamo i modelli come persone, li utilizziamo attraverso conversazioni lente, anche se sono perfettamente in grado di accettare input diretti e rapidi e di produrre risultati visivi. Le metafore che utilizziamo limitano le esperienze che costruiamo, e la metafora modello-come-persona ci impedisce di esplorare il pieno potenziale dei grandi modelli. Per molti casi d’uso, e specialmente per il lavoro produttivo, credo che il futuro risieda in un’altra metafora: modello-come-computer. ### Usare un’IA come un computer Sotto la metafora modello-come-computer, interagiremo con i grandi modelli seguendo le intuizioni che abbiamo sulle applicazioni informatiche (sia su desktop, tablet o telefono). Nota che ciò non significa che il modello sarà un’app tradizionale più di quanto il desktop di Windows fosse una scrivania letterale. “Applicazione informatica” sarà un modo per un modello di rappresentarsi a noi. Invece di agire come una persona, il modello agirà come un computer. Agire come un computer significa produrre un’interfaccia grafica. Al posto del flusso lineare di testo in stile telescrivente fornito da ChatGPT, un sistema modello-come-computer genererà qualcosa che somiglia all’interfaccia di un’applicazione moderna: pulsanti, cursori, schede, immagini, grafici e tutto il resto. Questo affronta limitazioni chiave dell’interfaccia di chat standard modello-come-persona: Scoperta. Un buon strumento suggerisce i suoi usi. Quando l’unica interfaccia è una casella di testo vuota, spetta all’utente capire cosa fare e comprendere i limiti del sistema. La barra laterale Modifica in Lightroom è un ottimo modo per imparare l’editing fotografico perché non si limita a dirti cosa può fare questa applicazione con una foto, ma cosa potresti voler fare. Allo stesso modo, un’interfaccia modello-come-computer per DALL-E potrebbe mostrare nuove possibilità per le tue generazioni di immagini. Efficienza. La manipolazione diretta è più rapida che scrivere una richiesta a parole. Per continuare l’esempio di Lightroom, sarebbe impensabile modificare una foto dicendo a una persona quali cursori spostare e di quanto. Ci vorrebbe un giorno intero per chiedere un’esposizione leggermente più bassa e una vibranza leggermente più alta, solo per vedere come apparirebbe. Nella metafora modello-come-computer, il modello può creare strumenti che ti permettono di comunicare ciò che vuoi più efficientemente e quindi di fare le cose più rapidamente. A differenza di un’app tradizionale, questa interfaccia grafica è generata dal modello su richiesta. Questo significa che ogni parte dell’interfaccia che vedi è rilevante per ciò che stai facendo in quel momento, inclusi i contenuti specifici del tuo lavoro. Significa anche che, se desideri un’interfaccia più ampia o diversa, puoi semplicemente richiederla. Potresti chiedere a DALL-E di produrre alcuni preset modificabili per le sue impostazioni ispirati da famosi artisti di schizzi. Quando clicchi sul preset Leonardo da Vinci, imposta i cursori per disegni prospettici altamente dettagliati in inchiostro nero. Se clicchi su Charles Schulz, seleziona fumetti tecnicolor 2D a basso dettaglio. ### Una bicicletta della mente proteiforme La metafora modello-come-persona ha una curiosa tendenza a creare distanza tra l’utente e il modello, rispecchiando il divario di comunicazione tra due persone che può essere ridotto ma mai completamente colmato. A causa della difficoltà e del costo di comunicare a parole, le persone tendono a suddividere i compiti tra loro in blocchi grandi e il più indipendenti possibile. Le interfacce modello-come-persona seguono questo schema: non vale la pena dire a un modello di aggiungere un return statement alla tua funzione quando è più veloce scriverlo da solo. Con il sovraccarico della comunicazione, i sistemi modello-come-persona sono più utili quando possono fare un intero blocco di lavoro da soli. Fanno le cose per te. Questo contrasta con il modo in cui interagiamo con i computer o altri strumenti. Gli strumenti producono feedback visivi in tempo reale e sono controllati attraverso manipolazioni dirette. Hanno un overhead comunicativo così basso che non è necessario specificare un blocco di lavoro indipendente. Ha più senso mantenere l’umano nel loop e dirigere lo strumento momento per momento. Come stivali delle sette leghe, gli strumenti ti permettono di andare più lontano a ogni passo, ma sei ancora tu a fare il lavoro. Ti permettono di fare le cose più velocemente. Considera il compito di costruire un sito web usando un grande modello. Con le interfacce di oggi, potresti trattare il modello come un appaltatore o un collaboratore. Cercheresti di scrivere a parole il più possibile su come vuoi che il sito appaia, cosa vuoi che dica e quali funzionalità vuoi che abbia. Il modello genererebbe una prima bozza, tu la eseguirai e poi fornirai un feedback. “Fai il logo un po’ più grande”, diresti, e “centra quella prima immagine principale”, e “deve esserci un pulsante di login nell’intestazione”. Per ottenere esattamente ciò che vuoi, invierai una lista molto lunga di richieste sempre più minuziose. Un’interazione alternativa modello-come-computer sarebbe diversa: invece di costruire il sito web, il modello genererebbe un’interfaccia per te per costruirlo, dove ogni input dell’utente a quell’interfaccia interroga il grande modello sotto il cofano. Forse quando descrivi le tue necessità creerebbe un’interfaccia con una barra laterale e una finestra di anteprima. All’inizio la barra laterale contiene solo alcuni schizzi di layout che puoi scegliere come punto di partenza. Puoi cliccare su ciascuno di essi, e il modello scrive l’HTML per una pagina web usando quel layout e lo visualizza nella finestra di anteprima. Ora che hai una pagina su cui lavorare, la barra laterale guadagna opzioni aggiuntive che influenzano la pagina globalmente, come accoppiamenti di font e schemi di colore. L’anteprima funge da editor WYSIWYG, permettendoti di afferrare elementi e spostarli, modificarne i contenuti, ecc. A supportare tutto ciò è il modello, che vede queste azioni dell’utente e riscrive la pagina per corrispondere ai cambiamenti effettuati. Poiché il modello può generare un’interfaccia per aiutare te e lui a comunicare più efficientemente, puoi esercitare più controllo sul prodotto finale in meno tempo. La metafora modello-come-computer ci incoraggia a pensare al modello come a uno strumento con cui interagire in tempo reale piuttosto che a un collaboratore a cui assegnare compiti. Invece di sostituire un tirocinante o un tutor, può essere una sorta di bicicletta proteiforme per la mente, una che è sempre costruita su misura esattamente per te e il terreno che intendi attraversare. ### Un nuovo paradigma per l’informatica? I modelli che possono generare interfacce su richiesta sono una frontiera completamente nuova nell’informatica. Potrebbero essere un paradigma del tutto nuovo, con il modo in cui cortocircuitano il modello di applicazione esistente. Dare agli utenti finali il potere di creare e modificare app al volo cambia fondamentalmente il modo in cui interagiamo con i computer. Al posto di una singola applicazione statica costruita da uno sviluppatore, un modello genererà un’applicazione su misura per l’utente e le sue esigenze immediate. Al posto della logica aziendale implementata nel codice, il modello interpreterà gli input dell’utente e aggiornerà l’interfaccia utente. È persino possibile che questo tipo di interfaccia generativa sostituisca completamente il sistema operativo, generando e gestendo interfacce e finestre al volo secondo necessità. All’inizio, l’interfaccia generativa sarà un giocattolo, utile solo per l’esplorazione creativa e poche altre applicazioni di nicchia. Dopotutto, nessuno vorrebbe un’app di posta elettronica che occasionalmente invia email al tuo ex e mente sulla tua casella di posta. Ma gradualmente i modelli miglioreranno. Anche mentre si spingeranno ulteriormente nello spazio di esperienze completamente nuove, diventeranno lentamente abbastanza affidabili da essere utilizzati per un lavoro reale. Piccoli pezzi di questo futuro esistono già. Anni fa Jonas Degrave ha dimostrato che ChatGPT poteva fare una buona simulazione di una riga di comando Linux. Allo stesso modo, websim.ai utilizza un LLM per generare siti web su richiesta mentre li navighi. Oasis, GameNGen e DIAMOND addestrano modelli video condizionati sull’azione su singoli videogiochi, permettendoti di giocare ad esempio a Doom dentro un grande modello. E Genie 2 genera videogiochi giocabili da prompt testuali. L’interfaccia generativa potrebbe ancora sembrare un’idea folle, ma non è così folle. Ci sono enormi domande aperte su come apparirà tutto questo. Dove sarà inizialmente utile l’interfaccia generativa? Come condivideremo e distribuiremo le esperienze che creiamo collaborando con il modello, se esistono solo come contesto di un grande modello? Vorremmo davvero farlo? Quali nuovi tipi di esperienze saranno possibili? Come funzionerà tutto questo in pratica? I modelli genereranno interfacce come codice o produrranno direttamente pixel grezzi? Non conosco ancora queste risposte. Dovremo sperimentare e scoprirlo! Tradotto da:\ https://willwhitney.com/computing-inside-ai.htmlhttps://willwhitney.com/computing-inside-ai.html

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

 Christmas season hasn't actually started, yet, in Roman #Catholic Germany. We're in Advent until the evening of the 24th of December, at which point Christmas begins (with the Nativity, at Vespers), and continues on for 40 days until Mariä Lichtmess (Presentation of Christ in the temple) on February 2nd.  It's 40 days because that's how long the post-partum isolation is, before women were allowed back into the temple (after a ritual cleansing).  That is the day when we put away all of the Christmas decorations and bless the candles, for the next year. (Hence, the British name "Candlemas".) It used to also be when household staff would get paid their cash wages and could change employer. And it is the day precisely in the middle of winter.  Between Christmas Eve and Candlemas are many celebrations, concluding with the Twelfth Night called Epiphany or Theophany. This is the day some Orthodox celebrate Christ's baptism, so traditions rotate around blessing of waters.  The Monday after Epiphany was the start of the farming season, in England, so that Sunday all of the ploughs were blessed, but the practice has largely died out.  Our local tradition is for the altar servers to dress as the wise men and go door-to-door, carrying their star and looking for the Baby Jesus, who is rumored to be lying in a manger.  They collect cash gifts and chocolates, along the way, and leave the generous their powerful blessing, written over the door. The famous 20 * C + M + B * 25 blessing means "Christus mansionem benedicat" (Christ, bless this house), or "Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar" (the names of the three kings), depending upon who you ask. They offer the cash to the Baby Jesus (once they find him in the church's Nativity scene), but eat the sweets, themselves. It is one of the biggest donation-collections in the world, called the "Sternsinger" (star singers). The money goes from the German children, to help children elsewhere, and they collect around €45 million in cash and coins, every year.  As an interesting aside: The American "groundhog day", derives from one of the old farmers' sayings about Candlemas, brought over by the Pennsylvania Dutch. It says, that if the badger comes out of his hole and sees his shadow, then it'll remain cold for 4 more weeks. When they moved to the USA, they didn't have any badgers around, so they switched to groundhogs, as they also hibernate in winter.

@ e83b66a8:b0526c2b

I watched Tucker Carlson interview Roger Ver last night. I know we have our differences with Roger, and he has some less than pleasant personality traits, but he is facing 109 years in jail for tax evasion. While the charges may be technically correct, he should be able to pay the taxes and a fine and walk free. Even if we accept he did wrong, a minor prison term such as 6 months to 2 years would be appropriate in this case. We all know the severe penalty is an over reach by US authorities looking to make the whole crypto community scared about using any form of crypto as money. The US and many governments know they have lost the battle of Bitcoin as a hard asset, but this happened as a result of the Nash equilibrium, whereby you are forced to play a game that doesn’t benefit you, because not playing that game disadvantages you further. I.e. Governments loose control of the asset, but that asset is able to shore up their balance sheet and prevent your economy from failing (potentially). The war against Bitcoin (and other cryptos) as a currency, whereby you can use your Bitcoin to buy anything anywhere from a pint of milk in the local shop, to a house or car and everything in-between is a distant goal and one that is happening slowly. But it is happening and these are the new battle lines. Part of that battle is self custody, part is tax and part are the money transmitting laws. Roger’s case is also being used as a weapon of fear. I don’t hate Roger, the problem I have with Bitcoin cash is that you cannot run a full node from your home and if you can’t do this, it is left to large corporations to run the blockchain. Large corporations are much easier to control and coerce than thousands, perhaps millions of individuals. Just as China banned Bitcoin mining, so in this scenario it would be possible for governments to ban full nodes and enforce that ban by shutting down companies that attempted to do so. Also, if a currency like Bitcoin cash scaled to Visa size, then Bitcoin Cash the company would become the new Visa / Mastercard and only the technology would change. However, even Visa and Mastercard don’t keep transaction logs for years, that would require enormous amount of storage and have little benefit. Nobody needs a global ledger that keeps a record of every coffee purchased in every coffee shop since the beginning of blockchain time. This is why Bitcoin with a layer 2 payment system like Lightning is a better proposition than large blockchain cryptos. Once a payment channel is closed, the transactions are forgotten in the same way Visa and Mastercard only keep a transaction history for 1 or 2 years. This continues to allow the freedom for anybody, anywhere to verify the money they hold and the transactions they perform along with everybody else. We have consensus by verification.

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

Resilience is the ability to withstand shocks, adapt, and bounce back. It’s an essential quality in nature and in life. But what if we could take resilience a step further? What if, instead of merely surviving, a system could improve when faced with stress? This concept, known as anti-fragility, is not just theoretical—it’s practical. Combining two highly resilient natural tools, comfrey and biochar, reveals how we can create systems that thrive under pressure and grow stronger with each challenge. ### **Comfrey: Nature’s Champion of Resilience** Comfrey is a plant that refuses to fail. Once its deep roots take hold, it thrives in poor soils, withstands drought, and regenerates even after being cut down repeatedly. It’s a hardy survivor, but comfrey doesn’t just endure—it contributes. Known as a dynamic accumulator, it mines nutrients from deep within the earth and brings them to the surface, making them available for other plants. Beyond its ecological role, comfrey has centuries of medicinal use, earning the nickname "knitbone." Its leaves can heal wounds and restore health, a perfect metaphor for resilience. But as impressive as comfrey is, its true potential is unlocked when paired with another resilient force: biochar. ### **Biochar: The Silent Powerhouse of Soil Regeneration** Biochar, a carbon-rich material made by burning organic matter in low-oxygen conditions, is a game-changer for soil health. Its unique porous structure retains water, holds nutrients, and provides a haven for beneficial microbes. Soil enriched with biochar becomes drought-resistant, nutrient-rich, and biologically active—qualities that scream resilience. Historically, ancient civilizations in the Amazon used biochar to transform barren soils into fertile agricultural hubs. Known as *terra preta*, these soils remain productive centuries later, highlighting biochar’s remarkable staying power. Yet, like comfrey, biochar’s potential is magnified when it’s part of a larger system. ### **The Synergy: Comfrey and Biochar Together** Resilience turns into anti-fragility when systems go beyond mere survival and start improving under stress. Combining comfrey and biochar achieves exactly that. 1. **Nutrient Cycling and Retention**\ Comfrey’s leaves, rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, make an excellent mulch when cut and dropped onto the soil. However, these nutrients can wash away in heavy rains. Enter biochar. Its porous structure locks in the nutrients from comfrey, preventing runoff and keeping them available for plants. Together, they create a system that not only recycles nutrients but amplifies their effectiveness. 2. **Water Management**\ Biochar holds onto water making soil not just drought-resistant but actively water-efficient, improving over time with each rain and dry spell. 3. **Microbial Ecosystems**\ Comfrey enriches soil with organic matter, feeding microbial life. Biochar provides a home for these microbes, protecting them and creating a stable environment for them to multiply. Together, they build a thriving soil ecosystem that becomes more fertile and resilient with each passing season. Resilient systems can withstand shocks, but anti-fragile systems actively use those shocks to grow stronger. Comfrey and biochar together form an anti-fragile system. Each addition of biochar enhances water and nutrient retention, while comfrey regenerates biomass and enriches the soil. Over time, the system becomes more productive, less dependent on external inputs, and better equipped to handle challenges. This synergy demonstrates the power of designing systems that don’t just survive—they thrive. ### **Lessons Beyond the Soil** The partnership of comfrey and biochar offers a valuable lesson for our own lives. Resilience is an admirable trait, but anti-fragility takes us further. By combining complementary strengths and leveraging stress as an opportunity, we can create systems—whether in soil, business, or society—that improve under pressure. Nature shows us that resilience isn’t the end goal. When we pair resilient tools like comfrey and biochar, we unlock a system that evolves, regenerates, and becomes anti-fragile. By designing with anti-fragility in mind, we don’t just bounce back, we bounce forward. By designing with anti-fragility in mind, we don’t just bounce back, we bounce forward.

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

I started a long series of articles about how to model different types of knowledge graphs in the relational model, which makes on-device memory models for AI agents possible. We model-directed graphs Also, graphs of entities We even model hypergraphs Last time, we discussed why classical triple and simple knowledge graphs are insufficient for AI agents and complex memory, especially in the domain of time-aware or multi-model knowledge. So why do we need metagraphs, and what kind of challenge could they help us to solve? - complex and nested event and temporal context and temporal relations as edges - multi-mode and multilingual knowledge - human-like memory for AI agents that has multiple contexts and relations between knowledge in neuron-like networks ## MetaGraphs A meta graph is a concept that extends the idea of a graph by allowing edges to become graphs. Meta Edges connect a set of nodes, which could also be subgraphs. So, at some level, node and edge are pretty similar in properties but act in different roles in a different context. Also, in some cases, edges could be referenced as nodes. This approach enables the representation of more complex relationships and hierarchies than a traditional graph structure allows. Let’s break down each term to understand better metagraphs and how they differ from hypergraphs and graphs. ## Graph Basics - A standard **graph** has a set of **nodes** (or vertices) and **edges** (connections between nodes). - Edges are generally simple and typically represent a binary relationship between two nodes. - For instance, an edge in a social network graph might indicate a “friend” relationship between two people (nodes). ## Hypergraph - A **hypergraph** extends the concept of an edge by allowing it to connect any number of nodes, not just two. - Each connection, called a **hyperedge**, can link multiple nodes. - This feature allows hypergraphs to model more complex relationships involving multiple entities simultaneously. For example, a hyperedge in a hypergraph could represent a project team, connecting all team members in a single relation. - Despite its flexibility, a hypergraph doesn’t capture hierarchical or nested structures; it only generalizes the number of connections in an edge. ## Metagraph - A **metagraph** allows the edges to be graphs themselves. This means each edge can contain its own nodes and edges, creating nested, hierarchical structures. - In a meta graph, an edge could represent a relationship defined by a graph. For instance, a meta graph could represent a network of organizations where each organization’s structure (departments and connections) is represented by its own internal graph and treated as an edge in the larger meta graph. - This recursive structure allows metagraphs to model complex data with multiple layers of abstraction. They can capture multi-node relationships (as in hypergraphs) and detailed, structured information about each relationship. ## Named Graphs and Graph of Graphs As you can notice, the structure of a metagraph is quite complex and could be complex to model in relational and classical RDF setups. It could create a challenge of luck of tools and software solutions for your problem. If you need to model nested graphs, you could use a much simpler model of Named graphs, which could take you quite far.  The concept of the named graph came from the RDF community, which needed to group some sets of triples. In this way, you form subgraphs inside an existing graph. You could refer to the subgraph as a regular node. This setup simplifies complex graphs, introduces hierarchies, and even adds features and properties of hypergraphs while keeping a directed nature. It looks complex, but it is not so hard to model it with a slight modification of a directed graph. So, the node could host graphs inside. Let's reflect this fact with a location for a node. If a node belongs to a main graph, we could set the location to null or introduce a main node . it is up to you  Nodes could have edges to nodes in different subgraphs. This structure allows any kind of nesting graphs. Edges stay location-free ## Meta Graphs in Relational Model Let’s try to make several attempts to model different meta-graphs with some constraints. ## Directed Metagraph where edges are not used as nodes and could not contain subgraphs  In this case, the edge always points to two sets of nodes. This introduces an overhead of creating a node set for a single node. In this model, we can model empty node sets that could require application-level constraints to prevent such cases. ## Directed Metagraph where edges are not used as nodes and could contain subgraphs  Adding a node set that could model a subgraph located in an edge is easy but could be separate from in-vertex or out-vert. I also do not see a direct need to include subgraphs to a node, as we could just use a node set interchangeably, but it still could be a case. ## Directed Metagraph where edges are used as nodes and could contain subgraphs As you can notice, we operate all the time with node sets. We could simply allow the extension node set to elements set that include node and edge IDs, but in this case, we need to use uuid or any other strategy to differentiate node IDs from edge IDs. In this case, we have a collision of ephemeral edges or ephemeral nodes when we want to change the role and purpose of the node as an edge or vice versa.  A full-scale metagraph model is way too complex for a relational database. So we need a better model. Now, we have more flexibility but loose structural constraints. We cannot show that the element should have one vertex, one vertex, or both. This type of constraint has been moved to the application level. Also, the crucial question is about query and retrieval needs. Any meta-graph model should be more focused on domain and needs and should be used in raw form. We did it for a pure theoretical purpose.

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

Hey folks! Today, let’s dive into the intriguing world of neurosymbolic approaches, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and personal knowledge graphs (PKGs). Together, these concepts hold much potential for bringing true reasoning capabilities to large language models (LLMs). So, let’s break down how symbolic logic, knowledge graphs, and modern AI can come together to empower future AI systems to reason like humans. ## The Neurosymbolic Approach: What It Means ? Neurosymbolic AI combines two historically separate streams of artificial intelligence: symbolic reasoning and neural networks. Symbolic AI uses formal logic to process knowledge, similar to how we might solve problems or deduce information. On the other hand, neural networks, like those underlying GPT-4, focus on learning patterns from vast amounts of data — they are probabilistic statistical models that excel in generating human-like language and recognizing patterns but often lack deep, explicit reasoning. While GPT-4 can produce impressive text, it’s still not very effective at reasoning in a truly logical way. Its foundation, transformers, allows it to excel in pattern recognition, but the models struggle with reasoning because, at their core, they rely on statistical probabilities rather than true symbolic logic. This is where neurosymbolic methods and knowledge graphs come in. ## Symbolic Calculations and the Early Vision of AI If we take a step back to the 1950s, the vision for artificial intelligence was very different. Early AI research was all about symbolic reasoning — where computers could perform logical calculations to derive new knowledge from a given set of rules and facts. Languages like **Lisp** emerged to support this vision, enabling programs to represent data and code as interchangeable symbols. Lisp was designed to be homoiconic, meaning it treated code as manipulatable data, making it capable of self-modification — a huge leap towards AI systems that could, in theory, understand and modify their own operations. ## Lisp: The Earlier AI-Language **Lisp**, short for “LISt Processor,” was developed by John McCarthy in 1958, and it became the cornerstone of early AI research. Lisp’s power lay in its flexibility and its use of symbolic expressions, which allowed developers to create programs that could manipulate symbols in ways that were very close to human reasoning. One of the most groundbreaking features of Lisp was its ability to treat code as data, known as homoiconicity, which meant that Lisp programs could introspect and transform themselves dynamically. This ability to adapt and modify its own structure gave Lisp an edge in tasks that required a form of self-awareness, which was key in the early days of AI when researchers were exploring what it meant for machines to “think.” Lisp was not just a programming language—it represented the vision for artificial intelligence, where machines could evolve their understanding and rewrite their own programming. This idea formed the conceptual basis for many of the self-modifying and adaptive algorithms that are still explored today in AI research. Despite its decline in mainstream programming, Lisp’s influence can still be seen in the concepts used in modern machine learning and symbolic AI approaches. ## Prolog: Formal Logic and Deductive Reasoning In the 1970s, **Prolog** was developed—a language focused on formal logic and deductive reasoning. Unlike Lisp, based on lambda calculus, Prolog operates on formal logic rules, allowing it to perform deductive reasoning and solve logical puzzles. This made Prolog an ideal candidate for expert systems that needed to follow a sequence of logical steps, such as medical diagnostics or strategic planning. Prolog, like Lisp, allowed symbols to be represented, understood, and used in calculations, creating another homoiconic language that allows reasoning. Prolog’s strength lies in its rule-based structure, which is well-suited for tasks that require logical inference and backtracking. These features made it a powerful tool for expert systems and AI research in the 1970s and 1980s. The language is declarative in nature, meaning that you define the problem, and Prolog figures out **how** to solve it. By using formal logic and setting constraints, Prolog systems can derive conclusions from known facts, making it highly effective in fields requiring explicit logical frameworks, such as legal reasoning, diagnostics, and natural language understanding. These symbolic approaches were later overshadowed during the AI winter — but the ideas never really disappeared. They just evolved. ## Solvers and Their Role in Complementing LLMs One of the most powerful features of **Prolog** and similar logic-based systems is their use of **solvers**. Solvers are mechanisms that can take a set of rules and constraints and automatically find solutions that satisfy these conditions. This capability is incredibly useful when combined with LLMs, which excel at generating human-like language but need help with logical consistency and structured reasoning. For instance, imagine a scenario where an LLM needs to answer a question involving multiple logical steps or a complex query that requires deducing facts from various pieces of information. In this case, a **solver** can derive valid conclusions based on a given set of logical rules, providing structured answers that the LLM can then articulate in natural language. This allows the LLM to retrieve information and ensure the logical integrity of its responses, leading to much more robust answers. Solvers are also ideal for handling **constraint satisfaction problems** — situations where multiple conditions must be met simultaneously. In practical applications, this could include scheduling tasks, generating optimal recommendations, or even diagnosing issues where a set of symptoms must match possible diagnoses. Prolog’s solver capabilities and LLM’s natural language processing power can make these systems highly effective at providing intelligent, rule-compliant responses that traditional LLMs would struggle to produce alone. By integrating **neurosymbolic methods** that utilize solvers, we can provide LLMs with a form of deductive reasoning that is missing from pure deep-learning approaches. This combination has the potential to significantly improve the quality of outputs for use-cases that require explicit, structured problem-solving, from legal queries to scientific research and beyond. Solvers give LLMs the backbone they need to not just generate answers but to do so in a way that respects logical rigor and complex constraints. ## Graph of Rules for Enhanced Reasoning Another powerful concept that complements LLMs is using a **graph of rules**. A graph of rules is essentially a structured collection of logical rules that interconnect in a network-like structure, defining how various entities and their relationships interact. This structured network allows for complex reasoning and information retrieval, as well as the ability to model intricate relationships between different pieces of knowledge. In a **graph of rules**, each node represents a rule, and the edges define relationships between those rules — such as dependencies or causal links. This structure can be used to enhance LLM capabilities by providing them with a formal set of rules and relationships to follow, which improves logical consistency and reasoning depth. When an LLM encounters a problem or a question that requires multiple logical steps, it can traverse this graph of rules to generate an answer that is not only linguistically fluent but also logically robust. For example, in a healthcare application, a graph of rules might include nodes for medical symptoms, possible diagnoses, and recommended treatments. When an LLM receives a query regarding a patient’s symptoms, it can use the graph to traverse from symptoms to potential diagnoses and then to treatment options, ensuring that the response is coherent and medically sound. The graph of rules guides reasoning, enabling LLMs to handle complex, multi-step questions that involve chains of reasoning, rather than merely generating surface-level responses. Graphs of rules also enable **modular reasoning**, where different sets of rules can be activated based on the context or the type of question being asked. This modularity is crucial for creating adaptive AI systems that can apply specific sets of logical frameworks to distinct problem domains, thereby greatly enhancing their versatility. The combination of **neural fluency** with **rule-based structure** gives LLMs the ability to conduct more advanced reasoning, ultimately making them more reliable and effective in domains where accuracy and logical consistency are critical. By implementing a graph of rules, LLMs are empowered to perform **deductive reasoning** alongside their generative capabilities, creating responses that are not only compelling but also logically aligned with the structured knowledge available in the system. This further enhances their potential applications in fields such as law, engineering, finance, and scientific research — domains where logical consistency is as important as linguistic coherence. ## Enhancing LLMs with Symbolic Reasoning Now, with LLMs like GPT-4 being mainstream, there is an emerging need to add real reasoning capabilities to them. This is where **neurosymbolic approaches** shine. Instead of pitting neural networks against symbolic reasoning, these methods combine the best of both worlds. The neural aspect provides language fluency and recognition of complex patterns, while the symbolic side offers real reasoning power through formal logic and rule-based frameworks. **Personal Knowledge Graphs (PKGs)** come into play here as well. Knowledge graphs are data structures that encode entities and their relationships — they’re essentially semantic networks that allow for structured information retrieval. When integrated with neurosymbolic approaches, LLMs can use these graphs to answer questions in a far more contextual and precise way. By retrieving relevant information from a knowledge graph, they can ground their responses in well-defined relationships, thus improving both the relevance and the logical consistency of their answers. Imagine combining an LLM with a **graph of rules** that allow it to reason through the relationships encoded in a personal knowledge graph. This could involve using **deductive databases** to form a sophisticated way to represent and reason with symbolic data — essentially constructing a powerful hybrid system that uses LLM capabilities for language fluency and rule-based logic for structured problem-solving. ## My Research on Deductive Databases and Knowledge Graphs I recently did some research on modeling **knowledge graphs using deductive databases**, such as DataLog — which can be thought of as a limited, data-oriented version of Prolog. What I’ve found is that it’s possible to use formal logic to model knowledge graphs, ontologies, and complex relationships elegantly as rules in a deductive system. Unlike classical RDF or traditional ontology-based models, which sometimes struggle with complex or evolving relationships, a deductive approach is more flexible and can easily support dynamic rules and reasoning. **Prolog** and similar logic-driven frameworks can complement LLMs by handling the parts of reasoning where explicit rule-following is required. LLMs can benefit from these rule-based systems for tasks like entity recognition, logical inferences, and constructing or traversing knowledge graphs. We can even create a **graph of rules** that governs how relationships are formed or how logical deductions can be performed. The future is really about creating an AI that is capable of both deep contextual understanding (using the powerful generative capacity of LLMs) and true reasoning (through symbolic systems and knowledge graphs). With the neurosymbolic approach, these AIs could be equipped not just to generate information but to explain their reasoning, form logical conclusions, and even improve their own understanding over time — getting us a step closer to true artificial general intelligence. ## Why It Matters for LLM Employment Using **neurosymbolic RAG (retrieval-augmented generation)** in conjunction with personal knowledge graphs could revolutionize how LLMs work in real-world applications. Imagine an LLM that understands not just language but also the relationships between different concepts — one that can navigate, reason, and explain complex knowledge domains by actively engaging with a personalized set of facts and rules. This could lead to practical applications in areas like healthcare, finance, legal reasoning, or even personal productivity — where LLMs can help users solve complex problems logically, providing relevant information and well-justified reasoning paths. The combination of **neural fluency** with **symbolic accuracy and deductive power** is precisely the bridge we need to move beyond purely predictive AI to truly intelligent systems. Let's explore these ideas further if you’re as fascinated by this as I am. Feel free to reach out, follow my YouTube channel, or check out some articles I’ll link below. And if you’re working on anything in this field, I’d love to collaborate! Until next time, folks. Stay curious, and keep pushing the boundaries of AI!

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

I’m going to think out lout about the UAP hearing a bit, feel free to tune me out. ## Scenario 1 The one most of us are probably thinking: This entire thing is a distraction from one or many known or unknown issues currently underway. It must be so bad that it warrants national attention to the all-entertaining “UAP” subject. For this to be true, we have to assume one of the following: 1. The people testifying are lying. Maybe paid actors, maybe not, who knows, but they are not telling the truth. 2. They are telling their “truth”, however they obtained it, perhaps even their reality. We do know UFOs are commonly reported worldwide, so perhaps they are just telling what they saw. In terms of congressional involvement, scenario one would mean that some or all of the congress members are full of shit. This is an unlikely scenario in my mind (hard to get everyone to go along with a lie). The more likely scenario is that they are in it for the wild ride, totally unaware they are being used as pawns (or at least some aren’t). What makes this scenario possible in my opinion is that Grush is allowed to speak about the events publicly but not discuss details (unless privately). This makes for good public theatre. Why would unsanctioned projects allow Grush to even go so far as to speak about the events when a slip and fall accident could occur at any moment? The answer would have to be either: 1. Because it’s all bullshit, or mostly bullshit. 2. Because the agencies involved are really THAT incompetent and hadn’t figured out what is happening. 3. Because they have no problem with him talking about it because they would like to slowly disclose alien technology and the fact that we’re not alone. 4. To serve the purpose of distraction. Assuming scenario 1 is correct, the most likely scenario is that the people involved are telling their own version of truth and that some of the congressional members are unaware of the real reason they’re there. This is an easy fallback for any time you want to divert attention from some other pressing matters. Just talk about UFOs! The earlier story in NY Times would also make sense in this case - as the NYT has been known to act as the propaganda arm of the government. The NY Times story brought a lot of attention to the matter, but we have to also wonder why this was under the rug for so many years? Perhaps because it’s pure bullshit. ## The “It’s real!” Scenario…. Let us assume that this is not a distraction. The people testifying are telling the truth. Everything is as they say it is. Ooof! This would mean that everything Grush says is true - there are unsanctioned programs and or people with extreme privilege and clearance not granted to anyone else. People that are not even part of the government in any way. It would also mean we have recovered alien craft and bodies and have attempted to reverse engineer their tech. Perhaps we already succeeded and what we see flying around today is this reverse engineered tech, or actual ETs. What would make this scenario real? Well, there is no shortage of UFO sightings. People swearing their life on it. For us to discount all of them would mean calling everyone a liar, or just confused about some other phenomena. I wouldn’t bet on all liars and delusional, but confused, maybe. Still, some accounts are just too out there to dismiss without some serious thought. The fact that people’s stories seem to match could mean that there’s truth to those reports. Perhaps the aliens use pods (classic saucer shapes, or “tic tacs” or other shapes craft. Maybe the “cubes” in orbs are their versions of drones? Or not? Maybe the large cubes are spacecraft. Yes, they cover vast amounts of space quickly and STILL crash on our planet. Rookies that failed the landing maneuver in flight school… heh. The governments of the world are all cooperating in hiding the truth and or the US government has unprecedented access to other parts of the world to recover and cover up various incidents. WOW… ok. That means we have something like a one world alien-communication government that has unprecedented access beyond anyone’s control. How?? If this is the real deal, we should all be losing our minds right now. The prospect of another species with vastly superior technology with interest in our nuclear dealings should scare everyone. Forget everything else, this is priority #1. THE PROBLEM with this scenario? 1. Some foreign govt. would have already revealed what they know. Would they not? Are we to believe they are all collaborating on this with some inter-government agency that acts with ultimate authority? Why? How? Maybe they are already speaking out and I’m unaware? 2. We STILL don’t have any definitive evidence. He said, she said, they said. “First account” from a “trusted source”. OK. 3. Aliens possess mind-blown tech, but still crash once in a while. I guess you could say that there will always be a small chance of crash no matter who is flying what. I’ll give people that. 4. “It’s classified”. No amount of talking seems to reveal the actual “classified” information. Even during the congressional meeting it’s always “I can tell you privately”, and “I’m not permitted to talk about this by law”. Which is it? Are you, or are you not allowed to speak on the matter? Why can you disclose it behind closed doors but not in public? Seems rather strange to me. In the “It’s all real!” Scenario, we are all screwed. Either we are being prepped for eventual disclosure of alien life or aliens can do crap we can’t protect against. If we’re being prepared for disclosure, it may mean that we have no say in how things unfold on our planet and the best we can do is ease people into it without everyone losing their minds. In that case, a series of hearings on the matter might make sense. Keep talking about it louder and louder until people are no longer shocked to hear the truth. Buckle up everyone, things are about to get interesting! ## Scenario 3: “Trust Us, We’re here to serve you” From the hearing, we hear multiple times congress mention “distrust in the government” and “rebuild trust”. In line with Scenario 1, this would mean everything is just a smoke screen to “build trust”. “Oh look, congress cares about me😍!!” It would make sense why nothing has been revealed concretely and no foreign government came forward yet. Didn’t you know, UFOs only crash in the states! Haha. Congress is just “building back trust”, either fully aware of the lies, or using mentally unstable people for their gain. Not saying the witnesses are mentally unstable, but you never really know, do you? Tell yourself a story enough times, it becomes a reality. ## My Personal Take? I wish to remain open minded about this subject. There are too many questions unanswered for me and I don’t want to dismiss anything entirely. Could there be aliens visiting this planet? I don’t see why not. We don’t know what we don’t know. For me to dismiss the possibility of non-human life traveling to our planet would mean to believe we have learned everything there is to learn about physics and the universe, when in fact it is the opposite, we know little to nothing. Could it be bullshit? Yes, of course. I also like to consider things from a practical perspective and think in terms of probabilities rather than right and wrong, yes or no. If I had to guess the odds of aliens traveling to our planet, I’d give it at 5% chance. So yeah, not much. I’m much more inclined to believe this is all just human manipulation to achieve some agenda. I won’t speculate what that agenda might be as it’s anyone’s guess really. There’s no way to prove anything. Should all of this be real, things are going to get very interesting…

@ 2f4550b0:95f20096

In the realm of leadership, whether in business, politics, or any organizational context, one of the most critical skills a leader can possess is the ability to make and keep promises. This skill not only builds trust and credibility, but also sets the tone for an organization's culture and operational ethos. A recent example of this leadership attribute can be observed in the actions of President Donald Trump on the first day of his second presidency, where he used executive orders to fulfill several campaign promises. ### The Importance of Promises in Leadership Leadership is fundamentally about influence, and one of the most effective ways to influence is through the power of your word. When leaders make promises, they are essentially laying down expectations for what stakeholders, customers, and employees can anticipate. These promises shape perceptions, motivate teams, and guide organizational strategy. However, the true test of leadership comes not in the making of these promises, but in their fulfillment. ### Translating Promises into Action On January 20, 2025, President Trump exemplified this principle by signing a flurry of executive orders that directly addressed several key campaign promises. These actions highlighted his approach to leadership. For instance, Trump signed executive actions on immigration, reversing many policies of his predecessor and reinstating his first-term policies like the "Remain in Mexico" initiative. This move was a direct fulfillment of his promise to tighten border control, demonstrating to his supporters and critics alike that his commitments were not merely rhetorical (https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/guaranteeing-the-states-protection-against-invasion/). ### The Impact on Stakeholders For stakeholders, the fulfillment of promises builds a reputation for reliability and decisiveness, essential for maintaining trust and support. From a leadership perspective, Trump's example underscores the importance of clarity in communication and the readiness to act on stated objectives. ### Lessons for Leaders Here are some key takeaways for leaders across sectors: - **Transparency:** Be clear about what you promise. Ambiguity can lead to misunderstanding and disillusionment. - **Accountability:** Hold yourself accountable. Demonstrate accountability to your promises. - **Action:** Follow through with action. Leaders must not only talk the talk but walk the walk. - **Consistency:** Maintain consistency between what you say and what you do. This builds a reliable brand or leadership image, whether in politics or business. In conclusion, the skill of making and keeping promises is central to effective leadership. Promises are not just words; they are commitments that, when fulfilled, can define a leader's legacy and influence.

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

> This is an old but timeless post I wrote on October 26, 2022. 90% of startups fail. That's the statistic. It feels true to me. Judging by startup Twitter it seems most startups disappear before the 2 year mark. Some, much sooner. Most people imagine the startup journey to be like this:  People think you can go from idea to a shipped product fast. After launch it's all happy times and success. We fool ourselves into believing this because we must. Otherwise, it's hard to start. In reality, it's something like this:  50% quit at the idea stage. I'm making rough calls, not an exact science. Ideas are easy, but acting is hard. Most people will just stop at the idea. Some may look into it, register a domain (you know who you are 👀) and stop there. Those who undertake the journey will build for 3-5 days and see some other "better" idea. This is called the shiny object syndrome. Sixty percent of people will quit at the shiny object and start working on something else. Of course, they'll register a domain first! Ignored the shiny object? Good for you! This is where it starts getting tough. 80% will quit before the "project" is finished. The last 20% of the project feels so close, yet so far away that you wonder if you've made the wrong decision all along. Doubt creeps in. You start thinking - "why bother?" and "this is not going to work out, it was a dumb idea". The heroic few will get through the grind stage and finish their project. This is where they will call themselves a startup - but they are still a project. In a great anticipating to the "launch", many founders will fall from the pedestal soon after. Launches are a non-event for most projects. Lucky few gain customers and traction, but the vast majority will disappear in the coming weeks. That leaves us with the 20% crusaders. The tough bastards who will not give up immediately after the launch. They'll keep pushing. And pushing... and pushing. Until they meet a wall of despair. The wall of despair makes everything seem hopeless. You've tried. You keep trying. But, nothing happens. This idea has no legs. This was all a giant mistake! Shut it all down. Go back to your regular job. This was never meant to be. Sadly, this is just the point where things start getting interesting. But, our hero (or actually 90% of them) give up for good. For most, this will be around the year 1 mark. For some year 2 or even 3 if they pivoted a few times. It's really hard to keep going at this point. The glorious few - the supposed 10% (I actually think it's about 2%) start seeing traction. All the pain and the agony of getting to this point is finally worth it. From here, things can take as long as 1 year, all the way up to 5 years+ to see meaningful growth that pays all the bills and then some. Startups are a helluva ride. Only the toughest survive. But, it doesn't end there. Even 50% of successful startups will seize to exist just before year 5. The remain half may make it to year 9, but even the vast majority of those will disappear before the decade's end. Only about 30% of the 10% successful startups make it past one decade. But none of this matters! If you are a new founder reading this, you know you're the exception. You will succeed! You were chosen. I joke, but, don't give up. I believe in you. What's the downside in doing so?

@ 04c195f1:3329a1da

Dear Readers, I’ve written about the AI Act before—[you can read my full critique here](https://english.daneriksson.com/p/europes-ai-future-trapped-in-the)—but now, parts of this bureaucratic monstrosity are about to become reality. Starting February 2, it will be illegal to use AI tools at work in the EU unless you can prove you have something called “AI competence.” Let’s break this down. ## What Does ‘AI Competence’ Mean? No one knows. The EU has issued no practical guidance on how to define, evaluate, or measure this so-called competence. Yet, if you or your employees fail to meet this vague requirement, Brussels will be ready with the fines: up to €7 million or 1.5% of your company’s global revenue. This is classic EU policymaking. Sweeping, unclear rules that businesses are left scrambling to interpret, while bureaucrats pat themselves on the back for ‘leading the way’ in AI regulation. ## Who Does This Hurt Most? Small and medium-sized businesses, naturally. These are the companies least equipped to deal with vague mandates or pay for the training programs that might, possibly, meet the requirements. Meanwhile, big corporations will either move operations outside the EU or use their armies of lawyers to sidestep the rules entirely. The EU talks about fairness, but its policies always end up crushing the little guy while big players get a pass. ## The Bigger Picture AI is supposed to be the future. But while the US and China are racing ahead, the EU is busy tying businesses in regulatory knots. Is it any wonder that Europe is falling behind in innovation? This isn’t just bad for business; it’s a direct assault on sovereignty and national economies. Instead of letting countries tailor AI policies to their needs, the EU insists on centralizing everything. The result? Fewer startups, fewer breakthroughs, and a Europe that’s increasingly irrelevant in global tech. ## The Fight Ahead February 2 is just the start. The full AI Act rolls out in stages, with more draconian measures to come. If we don’t push back now, this regulatory nightmare will only get worse. National governments must reclaim control over AI policy before it’s too late. Europe’s future shouldn’t be dictated by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. ## What Do You Think? How will these new rules impact Europe’s businesses and innovation? Reply to this read or shoot me a private message on Nostr. Together, we can shine a light on the EU’s overreach and fight for a Europe that values sovereignty and innovation over red tape. Stay informed, \ Dan Eriksson

@ 3ac03011:41ecd1bb

You've got to hand it to Trump. For centuries, politicians have hidden their corruption behind polite words like 'lobbying' and 'campaign donations.' But what happens when one leader decides to skip the facade entirely? Enter $TRUMP: the grandaddy of all shitcoins—so brazen, so unapologetically self-serving, it's almost poetic. Why bother with the elaborate charade of influence-peddling when you can just mint a digital token and say, "Buy this if you want something from me"? Need a policy changed? Pump $TRUMP. Want a ban lifted? You know the drill. Forget the subtle dance of lobbying—just load your wallet and fund your favour directly. It's simple. Efficient. And honestly, kind of genius if you have no morals. The game has been the same: politicians selling out the people while posing as their saviours. They make soaring speeches, they shake hands, they kiss babies—and then they hand over the real power to the highest bidder. But at least they had the decency to keep up the illusion of caring. Trump? He's stripped away the illusion entirely. Sure, it's a scam. But it's the most honest scam we've ever seen. No pretense. No empty promises about "making America great again." Just cold, hard transparency: "I'm for sale and now there's a token to prove it." And really, isn't this just the logical endpoint of politics? Lobbying has always been bribery in a nice suit. Campaign donations? Legal pay-to-play. Trump just cut through the pageantry and put it on a blockchain. Some will call it dystopian. But isn't it refreshing to see the grift so out in the open? The man is cutting out the middleman and embracing the essence of what leadership has become. Forget the speeches. Forget the empty promises. With $TRUMP, you don't need to wonder who he's working for—the market decides. So here's to $TRUMP: the most honest scam in modern history. Maybe it's time for every politician to mint their own token—at least then we'd know exactly what they stand for. The audacity alone deserves respect. [Image by Eric Fischl]

@ c8cf63be:86691cfe

### Das SNAFU des Reichtums Das SNAFU-Prinzip[1] sagt das Kommunikation nur unter gleichen möglich ist: > Adäquate Kommunikation fliesst nur zwischen Gleichen ungehindert. > Kommunikation zwischen Nicht-Gleichen ist missverständlich und von > Dominaz- und Unterwerfungsritualen gefärbt, die immer wieder zum > Zusammenbruch der Kommunikation führen und zu einem Spiel ohne Ende. > [2] So ist z. B. das Peter Prinzip [3] eine einfache Folge des SNAFU-Prinzips. Bezieht es sich in erster Linie auf Hierarchie lässt es sich hervorragend ausweiten auf den ökonomischen Bereich. Auch hier gilt, dass Kommunikation nur unter Gleichen möglich ist, hier ist die Hierarchie das ökonomische Ungleichgewicht. Kommunikation ist auch hier nur unter gleichen möglich, ungefähr gleich reich müssen sie sein. Ein zu großer Unterschied in den ökonomischen Verhältnissen verhindert den Aufbau einer menschlichen Beziehung. Hier ist das einfache Beispiel: Wäre ich Reich, würde ich mich Fragen, ob die Freunde da, nur kommen weil ich ihnen die Drinks ausgebe. Jeder, der nicht so viel Geld wie ich hat, will vielleicht nur mein Geld. So kann ein Bill Gates nur einen Jeff Besos als Freund haben oder treffender ein Elon Musk nur einen Mark Zuckerberg. Auch umgekehrt funktioniert diese Selektion: Wenn ich ein richtig cooler Typ wäre, würde ich mich fragen, ob ich den Reichen eigentlich gut finde, oder nur mit ihm rumhänge, weil er die Drinks bezahlt und weil ich zu Recht unsicher darüber sein kann, kann ich mich nur entziehen. Diejenigen, die wirklich freundschaftlich sind, sind die die sich einer solchen Situation nicht aussetzen. Und was bleibt dem Reichen? Nur die Gesellschaft der Reichen. Hier trifft der Reichtum auf eine totale Armut. Die Auswahl der Freunde ist sehr klein. Hier ist tatsächlich der Reichtum das Problem, bzw. das ökonomische Ungleichgewicht und es gibt eine einfache Lösung, der Unterschied muss kleiner werden, denn je kleiner der Unterschied desto mehr Auswahl an Freunden gibt es. Wie in der “Aufgeklärten Ökonomie” dargestellt ist die Ungleichheit, eine gesellschaftliche Entscheidung und eine konkrete Steuerung möglich. Wir können also den Reichen helfen und mehr Freiheit und Freunde schenken. Pathologisch wird dieses Phänomen, wenn sich der innere Antrieb um den Reichtum dreht. Was durch die momentane Verfasstheit der gesellschaftlichen Praktiken sogar unterstützt und gefördert wird und damit viele Menschen objektiv unglücklich macht. Dieses pathologische der Gesellschaft wirkt dann auf das Individuum zurück und macht es ebenfalls Krank. Wir haben einen ähnlichen Mechanismus in der Gewalt kennenlernen dürfen. Vgl. “Gewalt ist eine ansteckende Krankrankheit” <figure> <img src="!(image)[https://cdn.satellite.earth/ac54bd400867c63f14e151172422067dc1b19980b1e738a577ae6c7a6ea835ea.png]" style="width:50.0%" alt="Klarmachen ändert, Gier ist heilbar" /> <figcaption aria-hidden="true">Klarmachen ändert, Gier ist heilbar</figcaption> </figure> > Wenn sie sich leer fühlen, Erfolg ihnen kein Glück schenkt, keine > Befriedigung. Wenn sie mehr brauchen und mehr, dann leiden sie > wahrscheinlich auch an einer Dysfunktion der Belohnungssysteme, an > Habsucht. > Auch ihnen kann und muss geholfen werden, denn Gier ist heilbar. Und > ihrer Gier betrifft nicht nur sie. Ihre liebsten Menschen in Ihrer > Umgebung, Menschen mit denen sie niemals direkt in Berührung kommen, > sie alle leiden unter ihrer Krankheit. > Auch für sie kann es ein erfülltes Leben geben, einen Weg zurück in > die Gesellschaft, die Gesellschaft von Menschen. Machen sie > Psychotherapie, nehmen sie Pharmaka, buchen sie eine Kur und > entledigen sich ihres Wohlstandes.[4] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ### References: [1] Wikipedia, SNAFU: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNAFU>. [2] Wilson, R.A., Der Neue Prometheus. Die Evolution unserer Intelligenz. - Volksausgabe/ Raubdruck. 1983. Seite 245-246 [3] Wikipedia, Peter Prinzip: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter-Prinzip>. [4] InvestmentWeek, Sucht im Luxus: Eine Nacht in der Klinik der Superreichen 2024: <https://www.investmentweek.com/sucht-im-luxus-eine-nacht-in-der-klinik-der-superreichen/>, „Viele Patienten hier leiden an Einsamkeit“ … “Viele Superreiche …wüssten nicht, ob sie wegen ihres Geldes oder ihrer Persönlichkeit gemocht werden” „Reich sein bedeutet oft, keinen echten Kontakt zu haben. Viele unserer Klienten haben keine echten Freunde.“