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.

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.

## **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. ---

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.

## 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.

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.

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.

*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)

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.

Original: https://techreport.com/crypto-news/brazil-central-bank-ban-monero-stablecoins/ Brazilian’s Central Bank Will Ban Monero and Algorithmic Stablecoins in the Country =================================================================================== Brazil proposes crypto regulations banning Monero and algorithmic stablecoins and enforcing strict compliance for exchanges. * * * **KEY TAKEAWAYS** * The Central Bank of Brazil has proposed **regulations prohibiting privacy-centric cryptocurrencies** like Monero. * The regulations **categorize exchanges into intermediaries, custodians, and brokers**, each with specific capital requirements and compliance standards. * While the proposed rules apply to cryptocurrencies, certain digital assets like non-fungible tokens **(NFTs) are still ‘deregulated’ in Brazil**.  In a Notice of Participation announcement, the Brazilian Central Bank (BCB) outlines **regulations for virtual asset service providers (VASPs)** operating in the country. **_In the document, the Brazilian regulator specifies that privacy-focused coins, such as Monero, must be excluded from all digital asset companies that intend to operate in Brazil._** Let’s unpack what effect these regulations will have. Brazil’s Crackdown on Crypto Fraud ---------------------------------- If the BCB’s current rule is approved, **exchanges dealing with coins that provide anonymity must delist these currencies** or prevent Brazilians from accessing and operating these assets. The Central Bank argues that currencies like Monero make it difficult and even prevent the identification of users, thus creating problems in complying with international AML obligations and policies to prevent the financing of terrorism. According to the Central Bank of Brazil, the bans aim to **prevent criminals from using digital assets to launder money**. In Brazil, organized criminal syndicates such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho have been increasingly using digital assets for money laundering and foreign remittances. > … restriction on the supply of virtual assets that contain characteristics of fragility, insecurity or risks that favor fraud or crime, such as virtual assets designed to favor money laundering and terrorist financing practices by facilitating anonymity or difficulty identification of the holder. > > – [Notice of Participation](https://www.gov.br/participamaisbrasil/edital-de-participacao-social-n-109-2024-proposta-de-regulamentacao-do-) The Central Bank has identified that **removing algorithmic stablecoins is essential to guarantee the safety of users’ funds** and avoid events such as when Terraform Labs’ entire ecosystem collapsed, losing billions of investors’ dollars. The Central Bank also wants to **control all digital assets traded by companies in Brazil**. According to the current proposal, the [national regulator](https://techreport.com/cryptocurrency/learning/crypto-regulations-global-view/) will have the **power to ask platforms to remove certain listed assets** if it considers that they do not meet local regulations. However, the regulations will not include [NFTs](https://techreport.com/statistics/crypto/nft-awareness-adoption-statistics/), real-world asset (RWA) tokens, RWA tokens classified as securities, and tokenized movable or real estate assets. These assets are still ‘deregulated’ in Brazil. Monero: What Is It and Why Is Brazil Banning It? ------------------------------------------------ Monero ($XMR) is a cryptocurrency that uses a protocol called CryptoNote. It launched in 2013 and ‘erases’ transaction data, preventing the sender and recipient addresses from being publicly known. The Monero network is based on a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which incentivizes miners to add blocks to the blockchain.  Like Brazil, **other nations are banning Monero** in search of regulatory compliance. Recently, Dubai’s new digital asset rules prohibited the issuance of activities related to anonymity-enhancing cryptocurrencies such as $XMR. Furthermore, exchanges such as **Binance have already announced they will delist Monero** on their global platforms due to its anonymity features. Kraken did the same, removing Monero for their European-based users to comply with [MiCA regulations](https://techreport.com/crypto-news/eu-mica-rules-existential-threat-or-crypto-clarity/). Data from Chainalysis shows that Brazil is the **seventh-largest Bitcoin market in the world**.  In Latin America, **Brazil is the largest market for digital assets**. Globally, it leads in the innovation of RWA tokens, with several companies already trading this type of asset. In Closing ---------- Following other nations, Brazil’s regulatory proposals aim to combat illicit activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing. Will the BCB’s move safeguard people’s digital assets while also stimulating growth and innovation in the crypto ecosystem? Only time will tell. References ---------- Cassio Gusson is a journalist passionate about technology, cryptocurrencies, and the nuances of human nature. With a career spanning roles as Senior Crypto Journalist at CriptoFacil and Head of News at CoinTelegraph, he offers exclusive insights on South America’s crypto landscape. A graduate in Communication from Faccamp and a post-graduate in Globalization and Culture from FESPSP, Cassio explores the intersection of governance, decentralization, and the evolution of global systems. [View all articles by Cassio Gusson](https://techreport.com/author/cassiog/)

Now test old reliable front end Stay tuned more later Keeping this as template long note for debugging in future as come across few NIP-33 post edit issues

## Chef's notes This simple, easy, no bake desert will surely be the it at you next family gathering. You can keep it a secret or share it with the crowd that this is a healthy alternative to normal pie. I think everyone will be amazed at how good it really is. ## Details - ⏲️ Prep time: 30 - 🍳 Cook time: 0 - 🍽️ Servings: 8 ## Ingredients - 1/3 cup of Heavy Cream- 0g sugar, 5.5g carbohydrates - 3/4 cup of Half and Half- 6g sugar, 3g carbohydrates - 4oz Sugar Free Cool Whip (1/2 small container) - 0g sugar, 37.5g carbohydrates - 1.5oz box (small box) of Sugar Free Instant Chocolate Pudding- 0g sugar, 32g carbohydrates - 1 Pecan Pie Crust- 24g sugar, 72g carbohydrates ## Directions 1. The total pie has 30g of sugar and 149.50g of carboydrates. So if you cut the pie into 8 equal slices, that would come to 3.75g of sugar and 18.69g carbohydrates per slice. If you decided to not eat the crust, your sugar intake would be .75 gram per slice and the carborytrates would be 9.69g per slice. Based on your objective, you could use only heavy whipping cream and no half and half to further reduce your sugar intake. 2. Mix all wet ingredients and the instant pudding until thoroughly mixed and a consistent color has been achieved. The heavy whipping cream causes the mixture to thicken the more you mix it. So, I’d recommend using an electric mixer. Once you are satisfied with the color, start mixing in the whipping cream until it has a consistent “chocolate” color thorough. Once your satisfied with the color, spoon the mixture into the pie crust, smooth the top to your liking, and then refrigerate for one hour before serving.

Weekends are the perfect time to unwind, explore, or spend time doing what we love. How would you spend your ideal weekend? Would it be all about relaxation, or would you be out and about? For me, an ideal weekend would start with a slow Saturday morning, a good book and coffee. Then I would spend the afternoon exploring local trails and looking for snacks. Then always a slow Sunday night hopefully. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/760492

Last week, an investigation by Reuters revealed that Chinese researchers have been using open-source AI tools to build nefarious-sounding models that may have some military application. The [reporting](https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/chinese-researchers-develop-ai-model-military-use-back-metas-llama-2024-11-01/) purports that adversaries in the Chinese Communist Party and its military wing are taking advantage of the liberal software licensing of American innovations in the AI space, which could someday have capabilities to presumably harm the United States. > In a June paper reviewed by Reuters, six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta’s Llama as a base for what it calls “ChatBIT”. > > The researchers used an earlier Llama 13B large language model (LLM) from Meta, incorporating their own parameters to construct a military-focused AI tool to gather and process intelligence, and offer accurate and reliable information for operational decision-making. While I’m doubtful that today’s existing chatbot-like tools will be the ultimate battlefield for a new geopolitical war (queue up the computer-simulated war from the Star Trek episode “A Taste of Armageddon“), this recent exposé requires us to revisit why large language models are released as open-source code in the first place. Added to that, should it matter that an adversary is having a poke around and may ultimately use them for some purpose we may not like, whether that be China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran? The number of open-source AI LLMs continues to grow each day, with projects like Vicuna, LLaMA, BLOOMB, Falcon, and Mistral available for download. In fact, there are over one million open-source LLMs available as of writing this post. With some decent hardware, every global citizen can download these codebases and run them on their computer. With regard to this specific story, we could assume it to be a selective leak by a competitor of Meta which created the LLaMA model, intended to harm its reputation among those with cybersecurity and national security credentials. There are potentially trillions of dollars on the line. Or it could be the revelation of something more sinister happening in the military-sponsored labs of Chinese hackers who have already been caught attacking American infrastructure, data, and yes, your credit history? As consumer advocates who believe in the necessity of liberal democracies to safeguard our liberties against authoritarianism, we should absolutely remain skeptical when it comes to the communist regime in Beijing. We’ve written as much many times. At the same time, however, we should not subrogate our own critical thinking and principles because it suits a convenient narrative. Consumers of all stripes deserve technological freedom, and innovators should be free to provide that to us. And open-source software has provided the very foundations for all of this. Open-source matters When we discuss open-source software and code, what we’re really talking about is the ability for people other than the creators to use it. The various licensing schemes – ranging from GNU General Public License (GPL) to the MIT License and various public domain classifications – determine whether other people can use the code, edit it to their liking, and run it on their machine. Some licenses even allow you to monetize the modifications you’ve made. While many different types of software will be fully licensed and made proprietary, restricting or even penalizing those who attempt to use it on their own, many developers have created software intended to be released to the public. This allows multiple contributors to add to the codebase and to make changes to improve it for public benefit. Open-source software matters because anyone, anywhere can download and run the code on their own. They can also modify it, edit it, and tailor it to their specific need. The code is intended to be shared and built upon not because of some altruistic belief, but rather to make it accessible for everyone and create a broad base. This is how we create standards for technologies that provide the ground floor for further tinkering to deliver value to consumers. Open-source libraries create the building blocks that decrease the hassle and cost of building a new web platform, smartphone, or even a computer language. They distribute common code that can be built upon, assuring interoperability and setting standards for all of our devices and technologies to talk to each other. I am myself a proponent of open-source software. The server I run in my home has dozens of dockerized applications sourced directly from open-source contributors on GitHub and DockerHub. When there are versions or adaptations that I don’t like, I can pick and choose which I prefer. I can even make comments or add edits if I’ve found a better way for them to run. Whether you know it or not, many of you run the Linux operating system as the base for your Macbook or any other computer and use all kinds of web tools that have active repositories forked or modified by open-source contributors online. This code is auditable by everyone and can be scrutinized or reviewed by whoever wants to (even AI bots). This is the same software that runs your airlines, powers the farms that deliver your food, and supports the entire global monetary system. The code of the first decentralized cryptocurrency Bitcoin is also open-source, which has allowed thousands of copycat protocols that have revolutionized how we view money. You know what else is open-source and available for everyone to use, modify, and build upon? PHP, Mozilla Firefox, LibreOffice, MySQL, Python, Git, Docker, and WordPress. All protocols and languages that power the web. Friend or foe alike, anyone can download these pieces of software and run them how they see fit. Open-source code is speech, and it is knowledge. We build upon it to make information and technology accessible. Attempts to curb open-source, therefore, amount to restricting speech and knowledge. Open-source is for your friends, and enemies In the context of Artificial Intelligence, many different developers and companies have chosen to take their large language models and make them available via an open-source license. At this very moment, you can click on over to Hugging Face, download an AI model, and build a chatbot or scripting machine suited to your needs. All for free (as long as you have the power and bandwidth). Thousands of companies in the AI sector are doing this at this very moment, discovering ways of building on top of open-source models to develop new apps, tools, and services to offer to companies and individuals. It’s how many different applications are coming to life and thousands more jobs are being created. We know this can be useful to friends, but what about enemies? As the AI wars heat up between liberal democracies like the US, the UK, and (sluggishly) the European Union, we know that authoritarian adversaries like the CCP and Russia are building their own applications. The fear that China will use open-source US models to create some kind of military application is a clear and present danger for many political and national security researchers, as well as politicians. A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers want to put export controls on AI models, as well as block foreign access to US cloud servers that may be hosting AI software. If this seems familiar, we should also remember that the US government once classified cryptography and encryption as “munitions” that could not be exported to other countries (see The Crypto Wars). Many of the arguments we hear today were invoked by some of the same people as back then. Now, encryption protocols are the gold standard for many different banking and web services, messaging, and all kinds of electronic communication. We expect our friends to use it, and our foes as well. Because code is knowledge and speech, we know how to evaluate it and respond if we need to. Regardless of who uses open-source AI, this is how we should view it today. These are merely tools that people will use for good or ill. It’s up to governments to determine how best to stop illiberal or nefarious uses that harm us, rather than try to outlaw or restrict building of free and open software in the first place. Limiting open-source threatens our own advancement If we set out to restrict and limit our ability to create and share open-source code, no matter who uses it, that would be tantamount to imposing censorship. There must be another way. If there is a “Hundred Year Marathon” between the United States and liberal democracies on one side and autocracies like the Chinese Communist Party on the other, this is not something that will be won or lost based on software licenses. We need as much competition as possible. The Chinese military has been building up its capabilities with trillions of dollars’ worth of investments that span far beyond AI chatbots and skip logic protocols. The theft of intellectual property at factories in Shenzhen, or in US courts by third-party litigation funding coming from China, is very real and will have serious economic consequences. It may even change the balance of power if our economies and countries turn to war footing. But these are separate issues from the ability of free people to create and share open-source code which we can all benefit from. In fact, if we want to continue our way our life and continue to add to global productivity and growth, it’s demanded that we defend open-source. If liberal democracies want to compete with our global adversaries, it will not be done by reducing the freedoms of citizens in our own countries. Last week, an investigation by Reuters revealed that Chinese researchers have been using open-source AI tools to build nefarious-sounding models that may have some military application. The reporting purports that adversaries in the Chinese Communist Party and its military wing are taking advantage of the liberal software licensing of American innovations in the AI space, which could someday have capabilities to presumably harm the United States. > In a June paper reviewed by[ Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/chinese-researchers-develop-ai-model-military-use-back-metas-llama-2024-11-01/), six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta’s Llama as a base for what it calls “ChatBIT”. > > The researchers used an earlier Llama 13B large language model (LLM) from Meta, incorporating their own parameters to construct a military-focused AI tool to gather and process intelligence, and offer accurate and reliable information for operational decision-making. While I’m doubtful that today’s existing chatbot-like tools will be the ultimate battlefield for a new geopolitical war (queue up the computer-simulated war from the *Star Trek* episode “[A Taste of Armageddon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Taste_of_Armageddon)“), this recent exposé requires us to revisit why large language models are released as open-source code in the first place. Added to that, should it matter that an adversary is having a poke around and may ultimately use them for some purpose we may not like, whether that be China, Russia, North Korea, or Iran? The number of open-source AI LLMs continues to grow each day, with projects like Vicuna, LLaMA, BLOOMB, Falcon, and Mistral available for download. In fact, there are over [one million open-source LLMs](https://huggingface.co/models) available as of writing this post. With some decent hardware, every global citizen can download these codebases and run them on their computer. With regard to this specific story, we could assume it to be a selective leak by a competitor of Meta which created the LLaMA model, intended to harm its reputation among those with cybersecurity and national security credentials. There are [potentially](https://bigthink.com/business/the-trillion-dollar-ai-race-to-create-digital-god/) trillions of dollars on the line. Or it could be the revelation of something more sinister happening in the military-sponsored labs of Chinese hackers who have already been caught attacking American[ infrastructure](https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/chinese-hackers-cisa-cyber-5-years-us-infrastructure-attack-rcna137706),[ data](https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/05/politics/chinese-hackers-us-telecoms/index.html), and yes, [your credit history](https://thespectator.com/topic/chinese-communist-party-credit-history-equifax/)? **As consumer advocates who believe in the necessity of liberal democracies to safeguard our liberties against authoritarianism, we should absolutely remain skeptical when it comes to the communist regime in Beijing. We’ve written as much[ many times](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/made-in-china-sold-in-china/).** At the same time, however, we should not subrogate our own critical thinking and principles because it suits a convenient narrative. Consumers of all stripes deserve technological freedom, and innovators should be free to provide that to us. And open-source software has provided the very foundations for all of this. ## **Open-source matters** When we discuss open-source software and code, what we’re really talking about is the ability for people other than the creators to use it. The various [licensing schemes](https://opensource.org/licenses) – ranging from GNU General Public License (GPL) to the MIT License and various public domain classifications – determine whether other people can use the code, edit it to their liking, and run it on their machine. Some licenses even allow you to monetize the modifications you’ve made. While many different types of software will be fully licensed and made proprietary, restricting or even penalizing those who attempt to use it on their own, many developers have created software intended to be released to the public. This allows multiple contributors to add to the codebase and to make changes to improve it for public benefit. Open-source software matters because anyone, anywhere can download and run the code on their own. They can also modify it, edit it, and tailor it to their specific need. The code is intended to be shared and built upon not because of some altruistic belief, but rather to make it accessible for everyone and create a broad base. This is how we create standards for technologies that provide the ground floor for further tinkering to deliver value to consumers. Open-source libraries create the building blocks that decrease the hassle and cost of building a new web platform, smartphone, or even a computer language. They distribute common code that can be built upon, assuring interoperability and setting standards for all of our devices and technologies to talk to each other. I am myself a proponent of open-source software. The server I run in my home has dozens of dockerized applications sourced directly from open-source contributors on GitHub and DockerHub. When there are versions or adaptations that I don’t like, I can pick and choose which I prefer. I can even make comments or add edits if I’ve found a better way for them to run. Whether you know it or not, many of you run the Linux operating system as the base for your Macbook or any other computer and use all kinds of web tools that have active repositories forked or modified by open-source contributors online. This code is auditable by everyone and can be scrutinized or reviewed by whoever wants to (even AI bots). This is the same software that runs your airlines, powers the farms that deliver your food, and supports the entire global monetary system. The code of the first decentralized cryptocurrency Bitcoin is also [open-source](https://github.com/bitcoin), which has allowed [thousands](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-is-money-for-enemies) of copycat protocols that have revolutionized how we view money. You know what else is open-source and available for everyone to use, modify, and build upon? PHP, Mozilla Firefox, LibreOffice, MySQL, Python, Git, Docker, and WordPress. All protocols and languages that power the web. Friend or foe alike, anyone can download these pieces of software and run them how they see fit. Open-source code is speech, and it is knowledge. We build upon it to make information and technology accessible. Attempts to curb open-source, therefore, amount to restricting speech and knowledge. ## **Open-source is for your friends, and enemies** In the context of Artificial Intelligence, many different developers and companies have chosen to take their large language models and make them available via an open-source license. At this very moment, you can click on over to[ Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/), download an AI model, and build a chatbot or scripting machine suited to your needs. All for free (as long as you have the power and bandwidth). Thousands of companies in the AI sector are doing this at this very moment, discovering ways of building on top of open-source models to develop new apps, tools, and services to offer to companies and individuals. It’s how many different applications are coming to life and thousands more jobs are being created. We know this can be useful to friends, but what about enemies? As the AI wars heat up between liberal democracies like the US, the UK, and (sluggishly) the European Union, we know that authoritarian adversaries like the CCP and Russia are building their own applications. The fear that China will use open-source US models to create some kind of military application is a clear and present danger for many political and national security researchers, as well as politicians. A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers want to put [export controls](https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-lawmakers-unveil-bill-make-it-easier-restrict-exports-ai-models-2024-05-10/) on AI models, as well as block foreign access to US cloud servers that may be hosting AI software. If this seems familiar, we should also remember that the US government once classified cryptography and encryption as “munitions” that could not be exported to other countries (see[ The Crypto Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States)). Many of the arguments we hear today were invoked by some of the same people as back then. Now, encryption protocols are the gold standard for many different banking and web services, messaging, and all kinds of electronic communication. We expect our friends to use it, and our foes as well. Because code is knowledge and speech, we know how to evaluate it and respond if we need to. Regardless of who uses open-source AI, this is how we should view it today. These are merely tools that people will use for good or ill. It’s up to governments to determine how best to stop illiberal or nefarious uses that harm us, rather than try to outlaw or restrict building of free and open software in the first place. ## **Limiting open-source threatens our own advancement** If we set out to restrict and limit our ability to create and share open-source code, no matter who uses it, that would be tantamount to imposing censorship. There must be another way. If there is a “[Hundred Year Marathon](https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Marathon-Strategy-Replace-Superpower/dp/1250081343)” between the United States and liberal democracies on one side and autocracies like the Chinese Communist Party on the other, this is not something that will be won or lost based on software licenses. We need as much competition as possible. The Chinese military has been building up its capabilities with [trillions of dollars’](https://www.economist.com/china/2024/11/04/in-some-areas-of-military-strength-china-has-surpassed-america) worth of investments that span far beyond AI chatbots and skip logic protocols. The [theft](https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/06/20/1075088/chinese-amazon-seller-counterfeit-lawsuit/) of intellectual property at factories in Shenzhen, or in US courts by [third-party litigation funding](https://nationalinterest.org/blog/techland/litigation-finance-exposes-our-judicial-system-foreign-exploitation-210207) coming from China, is very real and will have serious economic consequences. It may even change the balance of power if our economies and countries turn to war footing. But these are separate issues from the ability of free people to create and share open-source code which we can all benefit from. In fact, if we want to continue our way our life and continue to add to global productivity and growth, it’s demanded that we defend open-source. If liberal democracies want to compete with our global adversaries, it will not be done by reducing the freedoms of citizens in our own countries. *Originally published on the website of the [Consumer Choice Center](https://consumerchoicecenter.org/open-source-is-for-everyone-even-your-adversaries/).*

> ### 第三方API合集： --- 免责申明: 在此推荐的 OpenAI API Key 由第三方代理商提供，所以我们不对 API Key 的 有效性 和 安全性 负责，请你自行承担购买和使用 API Key 的风险。 | 服务商 | 特性说明 | Proxy 代理地址 | 链接 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | AiHubMix | 使用 OpenAI 企业接口，全站模型价格为官方 86 折（含 GPT-4 ）| https://aihubmix.com/v1 | [官网](https://aihubmix.com?aff=mPS7) | | OpenAI-HK | OpenAI的API官方计费模式为，按每次API请求内容和返回内容tokens长度来定价。每个模型具有不同的计价方式，以每1,000个tokens消耗为单位定价。其中1,000个tokens约为750个英文单词（约400汉字）| https://api.openai-hk.com/ | [官网](https://openai-hk.com/?i=45878) | | CloseAI | CloseAI是国内规模最大的商用级OpenAI代理平台，也是国内第一家专业OpenAI中转服务，定位于企业级商用需求，面向企业客户的线上服务提供高质量稳定的官方OpenAI API 中转代理，是百余家企业和多家科研机构的专用合作平台。 | https://api.openai-proxy.org | [官网](https://www.closeai-asia.com/) | | OpenAI-SB | 需要配合Telegram 获取api key | https://api.openai-sb.com | [官网](https://www.openai-sb.com/) | ` 持续更新。。。` --- ### 推广： 访问不了openai，去`低调云`购买VPN。 官网：https://didiaocloud.xyz 邀请码：`w9AjVJit` 价格低至1元。

## Chef's notes This recipe is for 48 buns. Total cooking time takes at least 90 minutes, but 60 minutes of that is letting the dough rest in between processing. The baking is a simple three-step process. 1. Making the Wheat dough 2. Making and applying the filling 3. Garnishing and baking in the oven When done: Enjoy during Fika! PS; * Can be frozen and thawed in microwave for later enjoyment as well. * If you need unit conversion, this site may be of help: https://www.unitconverters.net/ * Traditionally we use something we call "Pearl sugar" which is optimal, but normal sugar or sprinkles is okay too. Pearl sugar (Pärlsocker) looks like this: https://search.brave.com/images?q=p%C3%A4rlsocker ## Ingredients - 150 g butter - 5 dl milk - 50 g baking yeast (normal or for sweet dough) - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1-1 1/2 dl sugar - (Optional) 2 teaspoons of crushed or grounded cardamom seeds. - 1.4 liters of wheat flour - Filling: 50-75 g butter, room temperature - Filling: 1/2 - 1 dl sugar - Filling: 1 teaspoons crushed or ground cardamom and 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or 2 teaspoons of cinnamon) - Garnish: 1 egg, sugar or Almond Shavings ## Directions 1. Melt the butter/margarine in a saucepan. 2. Pour in the milk and allow the mixture to warm reach body temperature (approx. + 37 ° C). 3. Dissolve the yeast in a dough bowl with the help of the salt. 4. Add the 37 ° C milk/butter mixture, sugar and if you choose to the optional cardamom. (I like this option!) and just over 2/3 of the flour. 5. Work the dough shiny and smooth, about 4 minutes with a machine or 8 minutes by hand. 6. Add if necessary. additional flour but save at least 1 dl for baking. 7. Let the dough rise covered (by a kitchen towel), about 30 minutes. 8. Work the dough into the bowl and then pick it up on a floured workbench. Knead the dough smoothly. Divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll out each piece into a rectangular cake. 9. Stir together the ingredients for the filling and spread it. 10. Roll up and cut each roll into 24 pieces. 11. Place them in paper molds or directly on baking paper with the cut surface facing up. Let them rise covered with a baking sheet, about 30 minutes. 12. Brush the buns with beaten egg and sprinkle your chosen topping. 13. Bake in the middle of the oven at 250 ° C, 5-8 minutes. 14. Allow to cool on a wire rack under a baking sheet.

# カスタム絵文字とは 任意のオリジナル画像を絵文字のように文中に挿入できる機能です。 また、リアクション（Twitterの いいね のような機能）にもカスタム絵文字を使えます。  # カスタム絵文字の対応状況（2024/02/05）  カスタム絵文字を使うためにはカスタム絵文字に対応した[クライアント](https://welcome.nostr-jp.org/tutorial/explore-client.html)を使う必要があります。 ※表は一例です。クライアントは他にもたくさんあります。 使っているクライアントが対応していない場合は、クライアントを変更する、対応するまで待つ、開発者に要望を送る（または自分で実装する）などしましょう。 #### 対応クライアント - [Amethyst](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vitorpamplona.amethyst) - [FreeFrom](https://freefrom.space/) - [nostter](https://nostter.app/) - [Rabbit](https://rabbit.syusui.net/) - [Snort](https://snort.social/) - [noStrudel](https://nostrudel.ninja/) ここではnostterを使って説明していきます。 # 準備 カスタム絵文字を使うための準備です。 - Nostrエクステンション（NIP-07）を導入する - 使いたいカスタム絵文字をリストに登録する ## Nostrエクステンション（NIP-07）を導入する Nostrエクステンションは使いたいカスタム絵文字を登録する時に必要になります。 また、環境（パソコン、iPhone、androidなど）によって導入方法が違います。 Nostrエクステンションを導入する端末は、実際にNostrを閲覧する端末と違っても構いません（リスト登録はPC、Nostr閲覧はiPhoneなど）。 Nostrエクステンション（NIP-07）の導入方法は以下のページを参照してください。 [ログイン拡張機能 (NIP-07)を使ってみよう | Welcome to Nostr! ～ Nostrをはじめよう！ ～ ](https://welcome.nostr-jp.org/tutorial/nip-07.html) 少し面倒ですが、これを導入しておくとNostr上の様々な場面で役立つのでより快適になります。 ## 使いたいカスタム絵文字をリストに登録する 以下のサイトで行います。 [emojito](https://emojito.meme/) 右上の**Get started**からNostrエクステンションでログインしてください。 例として以下のカスタム絵文字を導入してみます。 実際より絵文字が少なく表示されることがありますが、古い状態のデータを取得してしまっているためです。その場合はブラウザの更新ボタンを押してください。 [generalJP | カスタム絵文字](https://emojito.meme/a/naddr1qqykwetwv4exzmz22qqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dspzpmzzcaj5rzeah8y940ln4z855wa72af4a6aac4zjypql55egcpsqqvzqqqr4fcp4fwv8)  - 右側の**Options**から**Bookmark**を選択  これでカスタム絵文字を使用するためのリストに登録できます。 # カスタム絵文字を使用する 例としてブラウザから使えるクライアント nostter から使用してみます。 [nostter](https://nostter.app/) nostterにNostrエクステンションでログイン、もしくは秘密鍵を入れてログインしてください。 ## 文章中に使用 1. **投稿**ボタンを押して投稿ウィンドウを表示 2. **顔😀**のボタンを押し、絵文字ウィンドウを表示 3. **＊タブ**を押し、カスタム絵文字一覧を表示 4. カスタム絵文字を選択 5. : 記号に挟まれたアルファベットのショートコードとして挿入される  この状態で投稿するとカスタム絵文字として表示されます。 カスタム絵文字対応クライアントを使っている他ユーザーにもカスタム絵文字として表示されます。 対応していないクライアントの場合、ショートコードのまま表示されます。  ショートコードを直接入力することでカスタム絵文字の候補が表示されるのでそこから選択することもできます。  ## リアクションに使用 1. 任意の投稿の**顔😀**のボタンを押し、絵文字ウィンドウを表示 2. **＊タブ**を押し、カスタム絵文字一覧を表示 3. カスタム絵文字を選択  カスタム絵文字リアクションを送ることができます。  # カスタム絵文字を探す 先述した[emojito](https://emojito.meme/)からカスタム絵文字を探せます。 例えば任意のユーザーのページ [emojito ロクヨウ](https://emojito.meme/p/npub1a3pvwe2p3v7mnjz6hle63r628wl9w567aw7u23fzqs062v5vqcqqu3sgh3) から探したり、 [emojito Browse all](https://emojito.meme/browse) からnostr全体で最近作成、更新された絵文字を見たりできます。 また、以下のリンクは日本語圏ユーザーが作ったカスタム絵文字を集めたリストです（2024/06/30） ※漏れがあるかもしれません [日本ユーザー作 カスタム絵文字](https://nostviewstr.vercel.app/npub17hczqvxtfv3w69wr6lxrttnpdekwdwel55mld60fr24zwjuu6utqtj8mjx/10030) 各絵文字セットにある**Open in emojito**のリンクからemojitoに飛び、使用リストに追加できます。 ----------- 以上です。 次：Nostrのカスタム絵文字の**作り方** Yakihonneリンク [Nostrのカスタム絵文字の作り方](https://yakihonne.com/article/_@lokuyow.github.io/1707912490439) Nostrリンク nostr:naddr1qqxnzdesxuunzv358ycrgveeqgswcsk8v4qck0deepdtluag3a9rh0jh2d0wh0w9g53qg8a9x2xqvqqrqsqqqa28r5psx3 ----------- # 仕様 [NIP-30 Custom Emoji](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/30.md) [NIP-30 カスタム絵文字（和訳）](https://github.com/nostr-jp/nips-ja/blob/main/30.md)

# onion-service-nostr-relays A list of nostr relays exposed as onion services. ## The list | Relay name | Description | Onion url | Operator | Payment URL | Payment options | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | nostr.oxtr.dev | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.oxtr.dev | ws://oxtrdevav64z64yb7x6rjg4ntzqjhedm5b5zjqulugknhzr46ny2qbad.onion | [operator](nostr:nprofile1qqst94nsmefmya53crp5qq39kewrtgndqcynhnzp7j8lcu0qjple6jspz3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezummcw3ezuer9wcq3gamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwv3sk6atn9e5k7jxrgyy) | N/A | N/A | | relay.snort.social | Same relay as clearnet relay relay.snort.social | wss://skzzn6cimfdv5e2phjc4yr5v7ikbxtn5f7dkwn5c7v47tduzlbosqmqd.onion | [operator](nostr:nprofile1qqsx8lnrrrw9skpulctgzruxm5y7rzlaw64tcf9qpqww9pt0xvzsfmgpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejszxrhwden5te0wfjkccte9eekummjwsh8xmmrd9skct9tyup) | N/A | N/A | | nostr.thesamecat.io | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.thesamecat.io | ws://2jsnlhfnelig5acq6iacydmzdbdmg7xwunm4xl6qwbvzacw4lwrjmlyd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1wtuh24gpuxjyvnmjwlvxzg8k0elhasagfmmgz0x8vp4ltcy8ples54e7js) | N/A | N/A | | nostr.land | The nostr.land paid relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion | [operator](nostr:npub12262qa4uhw7u8gdwlgmntqtv7aye8vdcmvszkqwgs0zchel6mz7s6cgrkj) | [Payment URL](http://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion) | BTC LN | | bitcoiner.social | No auth required, currently | ws://bitcoinr6de5lkvx4tpwdmzrdfdpla5sya2afwpcabjup2xpi5dulbad.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1an3nz7lczcunpdw6ltjst94hgzcxpppnk7zk3zr2nfcj4yd96kdse6twjd) | N/A | N/A | | relay.westernbtc.com | The westernbtc.com paid relay | ws://westbtcebhgi4ilxxziefho6bqu5lqwa5ncfjefnfebbhx2cwqx5knyd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1pc57ls4rad5kvsp733suhzl2d4u9y7h4upt952a2pucnalc59teq33dmza) | [Payment URL](hjar34h5zwgtvxr345q7rncso3dhdaryuxgri3lu7lbhmnzvin72z5ad.onion) | BTC LN | | freelay.sovbit.host | Free relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitm2enxfr5ot6qscwy5ermdffbqscy66wirkbsigvcshumyzbbqd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1gnwpctdec0aa00hfy4lvadftu08ccs9677mr73h9ddv2zvw8fu9smmerrq) | N/A | N/A | | nostr.sovbit.host | Paid relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitgz5uqyh7jwcsudq4sspxlj4kbnurvd3xarkkx2use3k6rlibqd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1gnwpctdec0aa00hfy4lvadftu08ccs9677mr73h9ddv2zvw8fu9smmerrq) | N/A | N/A | | nostr.wine | 🍷 [nostr.wine](https://nostr.wine) relay | ws://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1fyvwkve2gxm3h2d8fvwuvsnkell4jtj4zpae8w4w8zhn2g89t96s0tsfuk) | [Payment URL](http://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion) | BTC LN, BTC, Credit Card/CashApp (Stripe) | | inbox.nostr.wine | 🍷 [inbox.nostr.wine](https://inbox.nostr.wine) relay | ws://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1fyvwkve2gxm3h2d8fvwuvsnkell4jtj4zpae8w4w8zhn2g89t96s0tsfuk) | [Payment URL](http://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion) | BTC LN, BTC | | filter.nostr.wine | 🍷 [filter.nostr.wine](https://filter.nostr.wine) proxy relay | ws://winefiltermhqixxzmnzxhrmaufpnfq3rmjcl6ei45iy4aidrngpsyid.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1fyvwkve2gxm3h2d8fvwuvsnkell4jtj4zpae8w4w8zhn2g89t96s0tsfuk) | [Payment URL](http://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion/add-time) | BTC LN, BTC | | N/A | N/A | ws://pzfw4uteha62iwkzm3lycabk4pbtcr67cg5ymp5i3xwrpt3t24m6tzad.onion:81 | [operator](nostr:nprofile1q9z8wue69uhky6t5vdhkjmnjxejx2dtvddm8sdr5wpmkgmt6wfjxversd3sn2umevyexzenhwp3kzcn2w4cry7rsdy6kgatvvfskgtn0de5k7m30q9z8wue69uhk77r5wfjx2anpwcmrg73kx3ukydmcxeex5ee5de685ut2dpjkgmf4vg6h56n3w4k82emtde585u35xeh8jvn3vfskgtn0de5k7m30qqs93v545xjl0w8865rhw7kte0mkjxst88rk3k3xj53q4zdxm2zu5ectdn2z6) | N/A | N/A | | nostr.fractalized.net | Free relay for fractalized.net | ws://xvgox2zzo7cfxcjrd2llrkthvjs5t7efoalu34s6lmkqhvzvrms6ipyd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub1ky4kxtyg0uxgw8g5p5mmedh8c8s6sqny6zmaaqj44gv4rk0plaus3m4fd2) | N/A | N/A | | nfrelay.app | [nfrelay.app](https://nfrelay.app) aggregator relay (nostr-filter-relay) | ws://nfrelay6saohkmipikquvrn6d64dzxivhmcdcj4d5i7wxis47xwsriyd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub19dn7fq9hlxwjsdtgf28hyakcdmd73cccaf2u7a7vl42echey7ezs2hwja7) | N/A | N/A | relay.nostr.net | Public relay from nostr.net (Same as clearnet) | ws://nostrnetl6yd5whkldj3vqsxyyaq3tkuspy23a3qgx7cdepb4564qgqd.onion | [operator](https://nostr.at/aljaz@nostr.si) | N/A | N/A | | nerostrator | Free to read, pay XMR to relay | ws://nerostrrgb5fhj6dnzhjbgmnkpy2berdlczh6tuh2jsqrjok3j4zoxid.onion | [operator](nostr:npub19j7zhftjfjnep4xa7zxhevschkqdvem9zr26dq4myhu6d62p3gqs3htnca) |[Payment URL](http://nerostrrgb5fhj6dnzhjbgmnkpy2berdlczh6tuh2jsqrjok3j4zoxid.onion) | XMR | | nostr.girino.org | Public relay from nostr.girino.org | ws://gnostr2jnapk72mnagq3cuykfon73temzp77hcbncn4silgt77boruid.onion | [operator](nostr:npub18lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vets0hcfsz) | N/A | N/A | | wot.girino.org | WoT relay from wot.girino.org | ws://girwot2koy3kvj6fk7oseoqazp5vwbeawocb3m27jcqtah65f2fkl3yd.onion | [operator](nostr:npub18lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vets0hcfsz) | N/A | N/A | | haven.girino.org/{outbox, inbox, chat, private} | Haven smart relay from haven.girino.org | ws://ghaven2hi3qn2riitw7ymaztdpztrvmm337e2pgkacfh3rnscaoxjoad.onion/{outbox, inbox, chat, private} | [operator](nostr:npub18lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vets0hcfsz) | N/A | N/A | | relay.nostpy.lol | Free Web of Trust relay (Same as clearnet) | ws://pemgkkqjqjde7y2emc2hpxocexugbixp42o4zymznil6zfegx5nfp4id.onion | [operator](nostr:nprofile1qy08wumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttsw43zuam9d3kx7unyv4ezumn9wshszxrhwden5te0dehhxarj9enx6apwwa5h5tnzd9az7qpqg5pm4gf8hh7skp2rsnw9h2pvkr32sdnuhkcx9yte7qxmrg6v4txqr5amve) |N/A | N/A | ## Contributing Contributions are encouraged to keep this document alive. Just open a PR and I'll have it tested and merged. The onion URL is the only mandatory column, the rest is just nice-to-have metadata about the relay. Put `N/A` in empty columns. If you want to contribute anonymously, please contact me on [SimpleX](https://simplex.chat/contact#/?v=2&smp=smp%3A%2F%2F0YuTwO05YJWS8rkjn9eLJDjQhFKvIYd8d4xG8X1blIU%3D%40smp8.simplex.im%2FZ_4q0Nv91wCk8Uekyiaas7NSr-nEDir7%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-2%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAvdSLn5QEwrfKQswQGTzlwtXeLMXbzxErv-zOJU6D0y8%253D%26srv%3Dbeccx4yfxxbvyhqypaavemqurytl6hozr47wfc7uuecacjqdvwpw2xid.onion) or send a DM on nostr using a disposable npub. ### Operator column It is generally preferred to use something that includes a NIP-19 string, either just the string or a url that contains the NIP-19 string in it (e.g. an njump url).

I’ve occasionally been called cynical because some of the sentiments I express strike people as negative. But cynical, to me, does not strictly mean negative. It means something more along the lines of “faithless” — as in lacking the basic faith humans thrive when believing what they take to be true, rather than expedient, and doing what they think is right rather than narrowly advantageous. In other words, my [primary negative sentiment](https://chrisliss.substack.com/p/utilitarianism-is-a-scourge) — that the cynical utilitarian ethos among our educated classes has caused and is likely to cause [catastrophic outcomes](https://chrisliss.substack.com/p/off-the-cliff) — stems from a sort of disappointed idealism, not cynicism. On human nature itself I am anything but cynical. I am convinced the strongest, long-term incentives are always to believe what is true, no matter the cost, and to do what is right. And by “right,” I don’t mean do-gooding bullshit, but things like taking care of one’s health, immediate family and personal responsibilities while pursuing the things one finds most compelling and important. That aside, I want to touch on two real-world examples of what I take to be actual cynicism. The first is the tendency to invoke principles only when they suit one’s agenda or desired outcome, but not to apply them when they do not. This kind of hypocrisy implies principles are just tools you invoke to gain emotional support for your side and that anyone actually applying them evenhandedly is a naive simpleton who doesn’t know how the game is played. Twitter threads don’t show up on substack anymore, but I’d encourage you to read [this one](https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1681458308358737920) with respect to objecting to election outcomes. I could have used many others, but this one (probably not even most egregious) illustrates how empty words like “democracy” or “election integrity” are when thrown around by devoted partisans. They don’t actually believe in democracy, only in using the word to evoke the desired emotional response. People who wanted to coerce people to take a Pfizer shot don’t believe in “bodily autonomy.” It’s similarly just a phrase that’s invoked to achieve an end. The other flavor of cynicism I’ve noticed is less about hypocrisy and more about nihilism: I’d encourage people to read the [entire thread](https://twitter.com/Chris_Liss/status/1681474427551363073), but if you’re not on Twitter, it’s essentially about whether money (and apparently anything else) has essential qualities, or whether it is whatever peoples’ narratives tell them it is. In other words, is money whatever your grocer takes for the groceries, or do particular forms of money have qualities wherein they are more likely to be accepted over the long haul? The argument is yes, gold, for example had qualities that made it a better money (scarcity, durability, e.g.) than say seashells which are reasonably durable but not scarce. You could sell the story of seashells as a money (and some societies not close to the sea used them as such), but ultimately such a society would be vulnerable to massive inflation should one of its inhabitants ever stroll along a shore. The thread morphed into whether everything is just narrative, or there is an underlying reality to which a narrative must correspond in order for it to be useful and true. The notion that anything could be money if attached to the right story, or any music is good if it’s marketed properly is deeply cynical. I am not arguing people can’t be convinced to buy bad records — clearly they can — but that no matter how much you market it, it will not stand the test of time unless it is in fact good. In order to sell something that does not add value, meaning or utility to someone’s life, something you suspect they are likely to regret buying in short order, it’s awfully useful to convince yourself that nothing has inherent meaning or value, that “storytelling is all that matters.” I am not against marketing per se, and effective storytelling might in fact point someone in the right direction — a good story can help someone discover a truth. But that storytelling is everything, and by implication the extent to which a story has correlates in reality nothing, is the ethos of scammers, the refuge of nihilists who left someone else holding the bag and prefer not to think about it.

It was great having football back. The 49ers and Chiefs continue to dominate, the Raiders, Jets, and Donkeys continue to disappoint. I only made two picks last week. The Raiders money line was a dud, but my parlay of the Steelers money line with the under was a big hit. Unfortunately, [freebitcoin](https://freebitco.in/?r=51325722) hasn't put any NFL games up, yet. Hopefully they get around to it at some point. I really like this type of parlay. The house treats outcomes as though they're independent, but I don't think that makes sense. In the event of a Steelers' win, the under was far more likely than the over, because their offense stinks and the game was likely a defensive slog. In line with that thinking, I made two parlays this week: 1. Raiders money line with the under (7:1): yes, I'm going back to the Raiders. They're probably going to lose, but if they win, it will be because of awesome defense. 2. Bengals money line with the over (4.5:1): Maybe Joe Burrow stinks this season, but maybe the Bengals had been looking ahead to KC. The Chiefs offense is phenomenal again, so the Bengals are only likely to win if this turns into a shootout. Are there any odds you're excited about (doesn't have to be football)? originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/679894

### 发现一个可以将Telegram频道内容转换为微博客。 * 开源项目： [BroadcastChannel ](https://github.com/ccbikai/BroadcastChannel) * 演示站点：https://memo.miantiao.me/ ---- ✨ 特性 * 将 Telegram Channel 转为微博客 * SEO 友好 /sitemap.xml * 浏览器端 0 JS * 提供 RSS 和 RSS JSON /rss.xml /rss.json 使用 Astro 框架，支持部署在 Cloudflare、Netlify、Vercel 等支持 Node.js SSR 的无服务器平台或 VPS，可搜索，可 RSS 订阅 --- 🏗️部署注意： * 项目通过 https://t.me/s/ 获取频道内容，如果频道被限制无法预览会显示空白 * 频道需要关闭 Restricting Saving Content * 环境变量 CHANNEL 值必须为频道 ID * 环境变量 TIMEZONE 值不要添加双引号 * 建议安装测试时只填写 CHANNEL 值 * BUG: 带引用回复的内容无法显示 已修复 * BUG: 带自定义 emoji 的无法显示 已修复 * BUG: 带 Quote 的内容无法显示

### 由于gmail在中国被防火墙拦截了，无法打开，不想错过邮件通知。 通过自建ntfy接受gmail邮件通知。 怎么自建ntfy，后面再写。 --- 2024年08月13日更新： > 修改不通过添加邮件标签来标记已经发送的通知，通过Google Sheets来记录已经发送的通知。 为了不让Google Sheets文档的内容很多，导致文件变大，用脚本自动清理一个星期以前的数据。 --- ### 准备工具 - Ntfy服务 - Google Script - Google Sheets ### 操作步骤 1. 在Ntfy后台账号，设置访问令牌。 [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/db4faa1a82507771a2412.jpg "访问令牌") 2. 添加订阅主题。 [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/c55b5e2f455918fc38c48.jpg "订阅主题") 2. 进入[Google Sheets](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/ "Google Sheets")创建一个表格.记住id，如下图： [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/d33272bd247b71a61314a.jpg "Google Sheets id") 3. 进入[Google Script](https://script.google.com/home "Google Script")创建项目。填入以下代码（注意填入之前的ntfy地址和令牌）： ```javascript function checkEmail() { var sheetId = "你的Google Sheets id"; // 替换为你的 Google Sheets ID var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.openById(sheetId).getActiveSheet(); // 清理一星期以前的数据 cleanOldData(sheet, 7 * 24 * 60); // 保留7天（即一周）内的数据 var sentEmails = getSentEmails(sheet); var threads = GmailApp.search('is:unread'); Logger.log("Found threads: " + threads.length); if (threads.length === 0) return; threads.forEach(function(thread) { var threadId = thread.getId(); if (!sentEmails.includes(threadId)) { thread.getMessages().forEach(sendNtfyNotification); recordSentEmail(sheet, threadId); } }); } function sendNtfyNotification(email) { if (!email) { Logger.log("Email object is undefined or null."); return; } var message = `发件人: ${email.getFrom() || "未知发件人"} 主题: ${email.getSubject() || "无主题"} 内容: ${email.getPlainBody() || "无内容"}`; var url = "https://你的ntfy地址/Gmail"; var options = { method: "post", payload: message, headers: { Authorization: "Bearer Ntfy的令牌" }, muteHttpExceptions: true }; try { var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, options); Logger.log("Response: " + response.getContentText()); } catch (e) { Logger.log("Error: " + e.message); } } function getSentEmails(sheet) { var data = sheet.getDataRange().getValues(); return data.map(row => row[0]); // Assuming email IDs are stored in the first column } function recordSentEmail(sheet, threadId) { sheet.appendRow([threadId, new Date()]); } function cleanOldData(sheet, minutes) { var now = new Date(); var thresholdDate = new Date(now.getTime() - minutes * 60 * 1000); // 获取X分钟前的时间 var data = sheet.getDataRange().getValues(); var rowsToDelete = []; data.forEach(function(row, index) { var date = new Date(row[1]); // 假设日期保存在第二列 if (date < thresholdDate) { rowsToDelete.push(index + 1); // 存储要删除的行号 } }); // 逆序删除（从最后一行开始删除，以避免行号改变） rowsToDelete.reverse().forEach(function(row) { sheet.deleteRow(row); }); } ``` 4.Goole Script需要添加gmail服务，如图： [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/42afddf2441556fca7ddb.jpg "gmail服务") 5.Google Script是有限制的不能频繁调用，可以设置五分钟调用一次。如图： [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/b12042613a793f08bce55.png "触发器") [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/768be170e04ebfd6788fc.png "触发器设置详细") ### 结尾 本人不会代码，以上代码都是通过chatgpt生成的。经过多次修改，刚开始会一直发送通知，后面修改后将已发送的通知放到一个“通知”的标签里。后续不会再次发送通知。 如需要发送通知后自动标记已读，可以把代码复制到chatgpt给你写。 效果预览： [](https://tgpic.lepidus.me/file/f934acd1c188e475cd9e5.jpg "效果预览")

While I love traveling and usually feel enriched by the experience, I dread and detest the process of going to the airport and getting on a plane. It’s not that I’m afraid of flying — though a plane crash would be one of the worst ways to die — but that the airlines and airports have made the experience as inefficient, dehumanizing and cumbersome as possible. While in the short-term these measures might have generated some extra revenue, cut costs or staved off encroachment from competitors, long-term it cannot be good for the service you offer to be so universally reviled. In the interest of improving their product — and the experience of millions of future passengers including me — here are some practical suggestions: **1. Separate passengers from their bags as early as possible.** The single stupidest airline policy is that checking a bag costs extra while carry-ons are free. What that does is incentivize everyone to drag their luggage through the airport and onto the plane. This has several negative consequences: a) Even though most airlines have assigned seats, everyone lines up 10 or 20 minutes before the start of the already too long boarding process, frantically hoping to secure some scarce overhead space rather than relaxing in the terminal and boarding at their leisure before the door closes. b) The process of people filing into the narrow plane aisle(s) with their bags and taking time to load them into the overheads stalls the entire boarding process. Not only do people stand in line at the boarding gate, but they stand in line in the jet bridge and again in the aisle(s). Whereas boarding with purses, laptops and other small, under-the-seat items might take 10 minutes or so, getting all the luggage in takes half an hour. If there are 150 people aboard, that’s 3,000 minutes (50 hours) of human life squandered on a useless and stressful activity. Multiply that by thousands of flights per day. c) The process of deplaning is also slow because everyone has to get their bags out of the overhead. That’s another 15-minute process that should take five. d) Everyone going through security with all their carry-ons slows down the security line significantly and makes people have to arrive at the airport earlier. e) Because everyone has their bags, they have to lug them around the terminal while using the restroom, eating or shopping for something to read. Having a 20-pound weight on your shoulder only makes the experience that much more miserable. The solution to this is for airlines to allow free checked bags and charge for carry-ons with the exception of parents traveling with young children. To make the process of checking bags more efficient and less cumbersome there should be an immediate drop-off *outside* the airport. Like curb-side check-in, but automated, a giant conveyor belt of sorts where everyone drops their bag that will be sorted appropriately inside. This drop off area would have security keeping an eye on it, but it would be self-serve and connect at all entry points including curb-side, the parking garage, from the train, etc. There would be no need for bag tags because people *could* have an airport-certified chip inserted into their luggage that syncs with the traveler’s boarding pass, i.e., the system reads the chip and directs the bag to the proper gate underground. (Maybe there would be a plastic bin at all the drop-off points you into which you put your bag so luggage of different shapes, sizes and materials could move smoothly and reliably on the conveyor belt to its destination.) Security details would have to be worked out (maybe you’d have to scan your boarding pass or passport at the bag drop to open it), but as it stands, once you drop your bag off at the curb or the check-in area, it’s essentially the same process now, i.e, it has to be scanned internally before being placed on the plane. **2. Eliminate Security Lines** Going through security would be far easier without all the bags, but to expedite and improve it further, we should make two key changes, neither of which should be beyond our capacity to implement. a) Instead of a single-file conveyor belt scanned by humans, make the conveyor belt wide enough for everyone to put their laptops, belts, etc. on simultaneously. This could easily be done by providing plastic bins (as they do now), but with individual numbers and keys on them, like you’d find in most locker rooms. You’d grab bin 45, for example, pull the key out, put your things in it, lock it, walk through the metal detector, retrieve your bin on the other side, unlock it, get your things, put the key back in it, and it gets returned for re-use. Instead of a bored-out-of-his-mind human looking at each bag individually, there would be a large scanner that would look at all the bags simultaneously and flag anything suspicious. b) Just as there’s no reason to send the bags through the scanner single-file, there’s no reason to send the people through that way, either. Instead, install room-wide metal detectors through which dozens of people could walk simultaneously. Any passengers that set it off would be digitally marked by the detector, directed back out, shed the offending item into a numbered bin and collect it on the other side. Basically, you’d drop anything big off before you even set foot in the building, and you’d drop everything else into a security bin, walk through without waiting and collect it on the other side. **3. Make sure the gates are clean, have enough seats to accommodate the passengers of even the largest planes that come through, ample charging stations and reliable and free wi-fi.** Because you’re no longer forced to line up and hustle for overhead space, you’ll be spending more time sitting comfortably in the terminal. **4. Have clean, efficient public transportation from the center of each city directly to the airport. (Some cities already have this.) Not a train, a bus and a one-mile walk.** There are smaller things airports could do to make the process even better — and I’ll suggest some below — but these three would at least make it tolerable and humane. It would shave off roughly an hour per trip, spare people the burden of schlepping around with heavy bags, wading through slow-moving security lines (which add stress if you’re in danger of missing your flight), standing in the terminal, waiting in line after line to sit in a cramped and uncomfortable seat for 20-30 minutes before the plane even takes off and remaining stuck in that seat 15 minutes after the plane has made it to the gate while people one by one painstakingly get their bags out of the overhead bins. Moreover, people could get to the airport later without rushing, and if they were early, they could relax in the terminal or get work done. Here are some other suggestions: 1. With fewer people using the overhead bins, rip them out. There would be a few bins at designated spots (just like there are a few emergency exits), but the interior of the plane would feel more spacious and less claustrophobic. You also wouldn’t risk hitting your head when you stood up. 2. Airplanes should have reasonably priced (ideally free) wi-fi and outlets in each row. There’s no way it costs anywhere near the $35 per flight, per person GoGo Inflight absurdly charges. 3. Treat airports as public squares — invest in their design as well as their functionality. Incorporate outdoor spaces, green spaces. Attract decent restaurants, bars, cafes. People unencumbered by bags and not rushing to wait in line to board 40 minutes early will be more able to enjoy the environment and arriving travelers will immediately get a good impression and be put at ease. 4. Do not advertise mileage rewards from credit cards or other sources unless those miles are actually redeemable at a reasonable rate and on routes and times someone would actually fly. As it stands those programs are borderline fraud — you can fly a middle seat one way from NY to LA for 30,000 miles at 6 am, but that’s not why I signed up for the credit card. If mileage plans are too costly, scrap them. I can anticipate some objections to these ideas, and I’ll address each one in turn. **1. This would cost too much money.** My suggestions would require a significant initial investment, but it would be but a small piece of the infrastructure outlay that’s sorely needed — and on which our current president campaigned — and it would create jobs. Moreover, it would save travelers tens of millions of hours per year. At $15 per hour — it would pay for itself in short order. (And taxpayers’ squandered time and awful experiences are exactly what their tax dollars should go toward remediating.) **2. It’s too much of a security risk.** Airport security is incredibly flawed right now, as [tests repeatedly show](http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/01/politics/tsa-failed-undercover-airport-screening-tests/). You can get prohibited items through security easily already, and it’s likely the screening process is mostly “security theater,” i.e., just for show. But to the extent this is a serious concern, the newer system might actually improve security due to improved technology spurred by the infrastructure investment. Better detection could be designed into the new system, rather than relying on bored-out-of-their-mind humans to scan endlessly through people’s toiletries expecting to find nothing for hours and days on end. Moreover, airport security has never actually been an issue in the US. Even on 9/11, the flimsy security worked well — the hijackers managed only boxcutters on the tragically ill-fated flights, not guns or bombs. In other words, that was a failure of government intelligence, not one of airline security even when no one took his shoes off or had to worry about how many ounces of liquid was in his shampoo bottle. **3. I like free carry-ons because it saves me from waiting at the baggage claim.** Great, then pay extra for that. When something you like individually causes collective harm, there needs to be a cost for it. That we have the opposite system where people doing what would make everyone else’s experience easier and better have to pay is perverse. The bottom line — the current state of air travel both in the US and Europe is unacceptable\*. We cannot have a system in which everyone participating despises it and simply pretend it’s an inevitable hassle about which we’re powerless to do anything. The central issue is the dehumanizing\*\* lack of respect for travelers’ time and experience. It’s time to change our priorities and take care of the human beings for whom airports and air travel exist. *\*I haven’t even touched on the awful state of flights themselves with cramped seats, small, dirty rest rooms, bad food and exorbitant fees to change your itinerary. That’s because I wanted to focus mostly on the airport/government side over which the public has ownership, and fixing the overall economics of air travel is probably more difficult than getting airlines to reverse their checked-bag fee policies.* *\*\* This article was written in March of 2017, and little did I know how much more dehumanizing things would get during covid.*

I’ll write a separate Week 1 Observations later, but I wanted to dedicate this space solely to mourning my Circa Survivor entry. Circa Survivor costs $1000 to enter and has a $10M prize for the winner, usually split by several as things get down to the wire. Three years ago, when the prize was $6M Dalton Del Don and I — the first time we ever entered — [made it to the final 23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDt630lNXs) in Week 12. The value of our share was something like $260K at that point, but we got bounced by the Lions who beat the 12-point favored Cardinals and took home nothing. When you enter a large survivor pool, the overwhelming likelihood is you’ll meet this fate at some point, whether in Week 1 or 12. So it’s not really the loss that’s painful, so much as not getting to live and die each week with a chosen team. You lose your status as “[the man in the arena](https://www.trcp.org/2011/01/18/it-is-not-the-critic-who-counts/) whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood” and become just an observer watching and commentating on the games without the overarching purpose of surviving each week. This year was also different due to the lengths to which I went to sign up. It’s not just the $1000 fee, it’s getting to Vegas in person, the $400 in proxy fees (you need locals to input your picks for you if you don’t live there), the $60 credit card fee, the $200 crappy hotel I booked at the last minute, the flights (one of which was cancelled due to heat), the rental car that necessitated, the gas, getting lost in the desert, [the entire odyssey](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-real-man-would/id1023898853?i=1000661712394) while sick and still jet-lagged in 122-degree heat. But it’s not about the money, and it’s not even about the herculean effort per se, but the feeling and narrative I crafted around it. *I* was the guy who got this done. *I* flew from Portugal to San Francisco for 12 hours, two days later from SF to Palm Springs to help my 87-YO uncle with his affairs, improvised to get from Palm Springs to Vegas, which took six hours due to road closures, signed up for the contests, made the flight back to San Francisco, flew to Denver at 7 am the next day, took my daughter the Rockies game in the afternoon and then on to Boulder the following day. Maybe that’s not so impressive to some of you, but for me, an idle ideas person, a thinker, observer, someone who likes to express himself via a keyboard, it was like Alexander the Great conquering Persia. And it’s not only about that smaller mission, or the narrative I crafted around it, but a larger one which was to bring [sports content to nostr](https://iris.to/npub1dwhr8j9uy6ju2uu39t6tj6mw76gztr4rwdd6jr9qtkdh5crjwt5q2nqfxe) which I vowed to do before the summer which is why I felt I had to make the effort to get to Vegas to sign up for the contests, to have sufficient skin in the game, to have something real about which to write. And I got the idea to do this seriously because Heather wrote a [guide to Lisbon](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs9tlalaaxc9s0d3wtldcxjcu2xtwmda03ln37l05y465xfppc7x5gzyqy0v0mtymwefaha06kw286cnq5rqnv9vsku8eh89rg3szqnqnpfxqcyqqqqqqgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgnwaehxw309aex2mrp09skymr99ehhyecpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmzw33ju6mvv4hxgct6w5hxxmmdqyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndw46xjmnewaskcmr9wshxxmmdyj9jl7) which [I posted on nostr](https://njump.me/nevent1qqsfqv5gzytdxmtt2kfj2d3565qe848klnkxne9jaquzudrmzzq5vcqzyp4d8c4rfqvtz57grayvtr6yu5veu760erd7x7qs5qqdec7fpdm5qqcyqqqqqqgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwdehhxarj9e3xzmnyqyt8wumn8ghj7cn5vvhxkmr9dejxz7n49e3k7mgpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt4w35ku7thv9kxcet59e3k7mgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqgucshh), and a few prominent developers there were surprisingly excited about getting that kind of quality content on the protocol. And I thought — if they’re this excited about a [(very in-depth) guide](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs9tlalaaxc9s0d3wtldcxjcu2xtwmda03ln37l05y465xfppc7x5gzyqy0v0mtymwefaha06kw286cnq5rqnv9vsku8eh89rg3szqnqnpfxqcyqqqqqqgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgnwaehxw309aex2mrp09skymr99ehhyecpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmzw33ju6mvv4hxgct6w5hxxmmdqyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndw46xjmnewaskcmr9wshxxmmdyj9jl7) to one particular city in Europe, how much more value could I create posting about a hobby shared by 50-odd million Americans? And that thought (and the fact I had to go to Palm Springs anyway) is what set me off on the mission in the first place and got me thinking this would be [Team of Destiny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDt630lNXs), Part 2, only to discover, disappointingly, it’s real destiny was not to make it out of the first week. . . . While my overwhelming emotion is one of disappointment, there’s a small element of relief. Survivor is a form of self-inflicted torture that probably subtracts years from one’s life. Every time Rhamondre Stevenson broke the initial tackle yesterday was like someone tightening a vice around my internal organs. There was nothing I could do but watch, and I even thought about turning it off. At one point, I was so enraged, I had to calm down consciously and refuse to get further embittered by events going against me. Mike Gesicki had a TD catch overturned because he didn’t hold the ball to the ground, The next play Tanner Hudson fumbled while running unimpeded to the end zone. I kept posting, “Don’t tilt” after every negative play. There’s a perverse enjoyment to getting enraged about what’s going on, out of your control, on a TV screen, but when you examine the experience, it really isn’t good or wholesome. I become like a spoiled child, ungrateful for everything, miserable and indignant at myriad injustices and wrongs I’m powerless to prevent. At one point Sasha came in to tell me she had downloaded some random game from the app store on her Raspberry Pi computer. I had no interest in this as I was living and dying with every play, but I had forced myself to calm down so much already, I actually went into her room to check it out, not a trace of annoyance in my voice or demeanor. I don’t think she cared about the game, or about showing it to me, but had stayed with her friends most of the weekend and was just using it as an excuse to spend a moment together with her dad. I scratched her back for a couple seconds while standing behind her desk chair. The game was still going on, and even though I was probably going to lose, and I was still sick about it, I was glad to have diverted a moment’s attention from it to Sasha. . . . In last week’s [Survivor post](https://www.realmansports.com/p/surviving-week-1-d02), I wrote: *What method do I propose to see into the future? Only my imagination. I’m going to spend a lot of time imagining what might happen, turn my brain into a quantum device, break space-time and come to the right answers. Easier said than done, but I’m committed.* It’s possible I did this, but simply retrieved my information from the wrong branch of the multiverse. It happens. . . . I [picked the Bengals](https://www.realmansports.com/p/surviving-week-1-d02) knowing full well the Bills were the correct “pot odds” play which is my usual method. Maybe when the pot-odds are close, I might go with my gut, but they were not especially close this week, and yet I still stuck with Cincinnati because they were the team I trusted more. And despite it being a bad pick — there are no excuses in Survivor, no matter what happens in the game, if you win it’s good, and lose it’s bad — I don’t feel that badly about it. I regret it only because I wish I were still alive, but it was my error. I went with what I believed, and it was wrong. That I can live with 100 times better than swapping out my belief for someone else’s and losing. Had I done that I’d be inconsolable. . . . I won’t let the Survivor debacle undermine my real mission to bring sports to nostr. Team of Destiny 2 would have been a compelling story, but it was never essential. After all, my flight was cancelled and I had to improvise, so now my Survivor entry is cancelled, and I’ll have to improvise again. The branch of the multiverse where the Bengals won didn’t give me the information I wanted, but maybe it was what I really needed to know. That I am the man in the arena yet, the battle was ever against myself, and for a brief moment, while my team was losing, I prevailed.

I went 1-3 in my NFFC leagues for two reasons: (1) Christian McCaffrey failed to score 17 points (because he was inactive), and I failed to bid enough on Jordan Mason because at the time of the FAAB last week, the Niners were flat-out lying about his likelihood of playing and like an idiot I believed them; and (2) I sat Mason in another league at the last minute for Jaleel McLaughlin because Fantasy Pros (that scourge of a site I swear off every year) had Mason not just lower, but absolutely buried in its RB rankings. I would have ignored a close call between the two, but I thought if he’s this low, the market must place a high likelihood on McCaffrey playing, and I don’t want to take a zero. This is the problem with being lazy and outsourcing your research to a bunch of midwits with misaligned incentives. I really should have delved deeply into all the McCaffrey reports and made my own assessment. The problem with sites like Fantasy Pros is the grading system is different than the fantasy game itself. I imagine you’d get dinged hard for ranking Mason high if McCaffrey plays, and so it’s safer to rank him low. Moreover, one thing the fantasy industry is really bad at is pricing in that kind of risk. If everyone’s playing the market is pretty good at evaluating opportunity, per-play production and hence output, but if someone is 50/50 to get opportunities at all, they can’t handle it very well. Obviously Mason was a good bet to go for 20 points if McCaffrey were scratched, and so he should have been projected for 14 if it were 50/50 (he’d get *some* points even if McCaffrey played), but that we was projected for less than five (IIRC) made me think it was like 80/20. But I knew it was a *very* bad sign Monday morning (after it was too late to pivot) when McCaffrey was still not deemed definite — it’s not like he got hurt last week, but he’s had a full month to heal. (Actually maybe the Achilles was last week, but because injury reporting sucks and teams lie, it’s impossible to know the real reason he missed the game. If it’s still the calf, all bets are off because if he’s not back in a month, five weeks won’t magically heal him.) In any event, I’m glad I have Mason in two NFFC leagues, and I went all-in to get him (and I used him) in my RotoWire Dynasty one at least. But I should have been 3-1 if I had used my brain, and am instead 1-3, the win thankfully in the [Primetime](https://www.realmansports.com/p/nffc-primetime-fa7). - The 40-minute edited version of the game for God knows what reason flashed the final score (32-19) briefly after I hit play. So it spoiled the game for me, and the whole time I was just trying to figure out how they got to that number, realizing probably Jake Moody went bananas for some people, and he did. - I love that Allen Lazard got the TDs and not Garrett Wilson. Sometimes schadenfreude is all you got. I don’t think Lazard is a priority pickup, but the Jets tree is pretty thin, and Rodgers knows and apparently still trusts him. - Aaron Rodgers looked good to me, like his old self. He threw accurate passes, had a few drops, and the pick was bad luck. No idea why Mike Williams was ignored though. - Breece Hall got all the work until garbage time. No surprise, but he still looks like a top-five pick despite the fumble and poor per-play output. - Jordan Mason ran hard, looked a bit like Isiah Pacheco out there. If McCaffrey is out, that’s how I’d value him. - Deebo Samuel benefits a little (eight carries) with McCaffrey out. Just has a slightly bigger role in the ground game. - Brock Purdy played well, but didn’t have to do much. - You have to love that Juaun Jennings led the 49ers in receiving yards and Kyle Juszczyk was third when you have no part of the 49ers passing game. George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk will get theirs eventually, but you just can’t count on volume for either one.

Project 2025, outlined in the Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Leadership" document, serves as a fundamental guide for the next Republican administration. Despite Trump's extensive denial, in today's material, we will explore the deepening and continuation of many policies already employed during his first term. The idea is that this material will serve as a reference document to consult and verify what was actually implemented and/or followed. https://image.nostr.build/e3b89d71ff929258e5d9cb0b5ca8709a381598f43d8be4b17df3c69c0bc74d4a.jpg This document presents proposals for the foreign policy and the State Department of the United States of America, as well as the strategy with its political partners and adversaries. We will also address the U.S. government's communication strategy abroad. https://image.nostr.build/a4250b786f611b478aaf0be559427ad7d4296fbcacb2acc692c7f0d7eb06b0dd.jpg Reorienting U.S. Foreign Policy: Proposals for a Conservative Future In the chapter "The Department of State" from the "Mandate for Leadership," also known as "Project 2025," Kiron K. Skinner presents a comprehensive plan to reform U.S. foreign policy under a conservative administration. Skinner, a renowned foreign policy expert and former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department, outlines global threats and offers specific recommendations to strengthen the U.S. position on the international stage. Below, we present a detailed analysis of the proposals, emphasizing direct quotes and explanations of the key points discussed. https://image.nostr.build/278dcd7ef0439813ea35d0598319ee347f7a8cd7dfecac93be24ffdd0f6ecd04.jpg History and Structure of the State Department Since its founding in 1789, the State Department has been the primary diplomatic channel of the U.S. With nearly 80,000 employees and 275 posts around the world, it faces significant structural challenges. Skinner highlights that "the biggest problem of the State Department is not a lack of resources," but the belief that it is "an independent institution that knows what is best for the U.S." (Skinner). The scholar and former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department during the Trump administration emphasizes these points, considering the difficulty in accepting a conservative international approach by State Department employees (the equivalent of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in other countries). https://image.nostr.build/049939926793e86000b300b9a962dc0ae7e271d9a607ae36d8cb08642adf4174.jpg Political Leadership and Bureaucratic Support To align the State Department with presidential priorities, Kiron suggests appointing political leaders who are committed to the president's vision. "Leadership should include political appointees in positions that do not require Senate confirmation, including senior advisors and deputy secretaries" (Skinner). Furthermore, she emphasizes the importance of training and supporting these appointees to ensure effective coordination between agencies. https://image.nostr.build/6ed704cc9612aa6489e048b143f1e489c1f8807fdf2ab011b4ba88e4a1e3619a.jpg Global Threats to the U.S. The document identifies five countries that pose significant threats to the security and prosperity of the U.S.: China, Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and North Korea. 🇨🇳 China: Skinner argues that China represents an existential threat. "The U.S. needs a strategic cost-imposing response to make Beijing's aggression economically unviable" (Skinner). Additionally, she emphasizes that the issue is not with the Chinese people, but with the communist dictatorship that oppresses them: "As with all global struggles against communist and other tyrannical regimes, the issue should never be with the Chinese people, but with the communist dictatorship that oppresses them" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/e707273f1d08bdc4187123a312bd116695b5f603066e11ad30fcef4466730b6b.jpg 🇮🇷 Iran: The Obama administration, through the 2015 nuclear deal, provided the Iranian regime with a "crucial cash bailout" (Skinner). Kiron criticizes this approach, asserting that the U.S. should support the Iranian people in their demands for a democratic government. "The correct policy for Iran is one that recognizes that it is in the U.S. national security interests and the human rights of Iranians that they have the democratic government they demand" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/cda7d29a62981f59ad8d77362b3867b552f190c8d7e0e8d9233cb7c1d1d0309e.jpg 🇻🇪 Venezuela: Under the regimes of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has transitioned from a prosperous country to one of the poorest in South America. Skinner suggests that the U.S. should work to contain Venezuelan communism and support its people. "The next administration should take steps to put Venezuela's communist abusers on notice and make progress in helping the Venezuelan people" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/f53e12564cae74d4b50c24b0f3752dd2c53b70bd1c00a16df20736fb8588417d.jpg 🇷🇺 Russia: The war between Russia and Ukraine divides opinions among conservatives, and the document considers three lines of action. Some advocate continuing support for Ukraine, while others believe that such support does not serve U.S. security interests. "The conservative approach rejects both isolationism and interventionism, first asking: What is in the interest of the American people?" https://image.nostr.build/8fedaf77129f4801f4edb8b169b2ac93a3e518b8bf3642b3abc62575b5435fa3.jpg One conservative school of thought believes that "Moscow's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine represents major challenges to U.S. interests, as well as to peace, stability, and the post-Cold War security order in Europe" (Skinner). This view advocates for continued U.S. involvement, including military and economic aid, to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin and return to pre-invasion border lines. Another conservative school of thought argues that U.S. support for Ukraine is not in the interest of U.S. national security. According to this view, "Ukraine is not a member of the NATO alliance and is one of the most corrupt countries in the region" (Skinner). It is argued that the European nations directly affected by the conflict should help defend Ukraine, but the U.S. should seek a swift end to the conflict through a negotiated settlement. https://image.nostr.build/22db3d0e79340c1d62344a2b8a3bfddbe4d5bd923cf77d70cfbf5ebf73e4db3e.jpg A third conservative viewpoint avoids both isolationism and interventionism, proposing that "each foreign policy decision should first ask: What is in the interest of the American people?" (Skinner). From this perspective, continued U.S. involvement should be fully funded, limited to military aid while European allies address Ukraine's economic needs, and must have a clear national security strategy that does not endanger American lives. https://image.nostr.build/939fea0bb5c69f171a3da1073e197edcff23a600430b3bc455f6d41bc8a0319f.jpg Although not stated explicitly, I believe this third viewpoint is the one Kiron Skinner desires, as she considers American intervention important but advocates for balancing the costs of the war with its partners in the European Union and NATO. https://image.nostr.build/d1d0c7fb27bfc5dd14b8dde459b98ed6b7ca2706473b2580e0fbf5383f5a9c10.jpg 🇰🇵 North Korea: North Korea must be deterred from any military conflict and cannot be allowed to remain a de facto nuclear power. "The U.S. cannot allow North Korea to remain a de facto nuclear power with the capability to threaten the U.S. or its allies" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/95febb04f6d2e0575974a5e645fc7b5ec3b826b8828237ccc1f49b11d11d6bce.jpg Detailed Policy Proposals Refugee Admissions: The Biden administration has caused a collapse in border security and internal immigration enforcement, according to Skinner. She argues that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) should be resized. "The federal government should redirect screening and verification resources to the border crisis, indefinitely reducing the number of USRAP refugee admissions until the crisis can be contained" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/a5740b33842e47b9a1ab58c7b72bd6514f9b6ffbb18706deed1445c59236bc0d.jpg Corporate Collaboration with China: Skinner criticizes the collaboration of companies like BlackRock and Disney with the Chinese regime, noting that "many are invested in an unwavering faith in the international system and global norms," refusing to acknowledge Beijing's malign activities. She emphasizes that the real issue is the communist dictatorship that oppresses the Chinese people, not the Chinese citizens themselves (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/05a3c787f144c4519c2ee8a4b22e64b8729842819ace4b439c849ef70ecd60b4.jpg Fentanyl and Mexico: The trafficking of fentanyl, facilitated by Mexican cartels in collaboration with Chinese precursor chemical manufacturers, is a critical problem. "Mexican cartels, working closely with Chinese manufacturers of fentanyl precursor chemicals, are sending this drug to the U.S., causing an unprecedented lethal impact" (Skinner). The next administration should adopt a firm stance to halt this public health crisis. https://image.nostr.build/59e32aeef5dabab3344a94a3e415d57fed91fece8bc3c5f068e9f6f7d71f99bd.jpg Re-hemispherization of Manufacturing: Kiron proposes that the U.S. promote the relocation of manufacturing to partner countries such as Mexico and Canada. "The U.S. should do everything possible to shift global manufacturing to Central and South American countries, especially to move it away from China" (Skinner). This would improve the supply chain and represent a significant economic boost for the region. https://image.nostr.build/5d5d7d792f1c94eb6e2bd7a4b86c43236765719e183be8ba8e00ed7dd07eca66.jpg Abraham Accords and a New “Quad”: Skinner suggests that the next administration should expand the Abraham Accords to include countries like Saudi Arabia and form a new security pact in the Middle East that includes Israel, Egypt, Gulf states, and possibly India. "Protecting the freedom of navigation in the Gulf and the Red Sea/Suez Canal is vital for the global economy and, therefore, for U.S. prosperity" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/c87cd99cb3ea2bef40e9d1f1fea48b0c9f9f031f3077fff658f15f850e7b8589.jpg Policy for Africa: The U.S. strategy for Africa should shift focus from humanitarian assistance to economic growth and countering China’s malign activities. "Development assistance should focus on fostering free market systems and involving the U.S. private sector" (Skinner). She also highlights that African nations are opposed to the imposition of policies such as abortion and LGBT lobbying. https://image.nostr.build/44df42f32e61c14786ac46c231d368b14df4dc18124a0da458e8506f917302f2.jpg Relations with Europe and Asia Europe: The U.S. should demand that NATO countries increase their contributions to defense. "The U.S. cannot be expected to provide a defense umbrella for countries that do not contribute adequately" (Skinner). Additionally, urgent trade agreements should be pursued with the post-Brexit United Kingdom. https://image.nostr.build/6c013bacfa9e6505ad717104d9a6065f27664a321dd2c3d41fd7635258042d2f.jpg Asia: The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan was humiliating and created new challenges. Skinner emphasizes the importance of India as a critical partner to counterbalance the Chinese threat and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. Cooperation within the Quad, which includes the U.S., India, Japan, and Australia, is essential to this strategy. "The priority is to advance U.S.-India cooperation as a pillar of the Quad" (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/1cc988b2f70d855c9676d7e38ffdb23564d04ad6333a8d256698f416a1c6704e.jpg International Organizations Skinner criticizes the corruption and failure of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the Covid-19 pandemic. "The next administration should end blind support for international organizations and direct the Secretary of State to initiate a cost-benefit analysis of U.S. participation in all international organizations" (Skinner). She also supports the “Geneva Consensus Declaration on Women’s Health and Protection of the Family,” which is against abortion, and believes that the U.S. government should not fund international organizations that promote abortion (Skinner). https://image.nostr.build/0b583511fef16d68736804fae2f15850eb5c803af01f006a3fe10cdbc583f48c.jpg Conclusion Skinner’s document provides a detailed vision for reorienting U.S. foreign policy under a conservative administration, with an emphasis on ensuring that the State Department serves the national interests defined by the president. With these guidelines, the next administration has the opportunity to redefine the U.S. position on the global stage, promoting security, prosperity, and freedom. https://image.nostr.build/697522745c5947cd4384cdd302b531ee98ce5d59a5d72de0b4f3a52c9abd4821.jpg

Project 2025, outlined in the "Mandate for Leadership" document by the Heritage Foundation, is a crucial guide for the next Republican administration. Crafted by conservative intellectuals from major American think tanks, this plan promises to have significant influence on a potential Donald Trump administration, even if he does not formally acknowledge it as his government plan. https://image.nostr.build/443d69c16dc32659be2353ce48d170d397e0ee682ffc3c4108df3047fd54472d.jpg This document presents proposals to depoliticize government agencies, increase efficiency, and reduce costs, aiming to dismantle the Deep State and combat the Woke agenda associated with the Democratic Party. https://image.nostr.build/06de3f0de3d48e086f47d0418d30e32cbfe0d88f452a93706987b7394458952d.jpg Dissolution of the DHS and Redistribution of Functions The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established in 2002 in response to the September 11 attacks, with the goal of consolidating various agencies responsible for domestic security under a single command. The DHS includes agencies such as FEMA, TSA, ICE, and CISA. Project 2025's proposal to dissolve the DHS and redistribute its functions to other agencies aims to address excessive bureaucracy and a lack of cohesion, arguing that centralization has failed to effectively integrate its diverse missions. https://image.nostr.build/ffca8d274914b725183b8fb19162c1b63f4d987c24e598f2eca88901d4a1a43c.jpg Impact on the Democratic Deep State: The dissolution of the DHS would pose a significant threat to the Democratic Deep State, as it would redistribute the power concentrated in a single entity across multiple other agencies, making it more difficult to politicize and centralize control over domestic security operations. This decentralization would reduce the ability to use the DHS as a political tool against opponents. https://image.nostr.build/1597e3b88572fe8aae7ce67cdaf975a873cf8bc68f76d59cb4253ad1520fc7bc.jpg Primary Recommendations Combining Immigration Agencies: Merge U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) into a new autonomous border and immigration agency. https://image.nostr.build/58eef4f2eca0ed2400261ec878c1dba2ca4bca519a16751b1fb7abd45da2906b.jpg Privatization of the TSA: Privatize the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), drawing inspiration from Canadian and European models, to reduce costs and improve service for travelers. Division of the Secret Service (USSS): The U.S. Secret Service (USSS), responsible for protecting national leaders and investigating financial crimes, would be divided. The protective element would be transferred to the Department of Justice (DOJ), while the financial investigations element would be moved to the Department of the Treasury. https://image.nostr.build/0a065cdbf158db4bc17b9aacd4af5a94029004caaa152eebf2c557042b08a641.jpg Impact on the Democratic Deep State: The division of the USSS would significantly weaken centralized control over protection and financial investigations, making it more difficult to use these functions for political purposes. Transferring the protective element to the DOJ and the financial investigations element to the Treasury would complicate efforts for any group or party to manipulate these crucial government functions for partisan objectives. https://image.nostr.build/1597e3b88572fe8aae7ce67cdaf975a873cf8bc68f76d59cb4253ad1520fc7bc.jpg Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Established in 2018, CISA is a federal agency responsible for protecting the U.S. critical infrastructure from cyber threats. CISA's mandate includes ensuring cybersecurity for sectors such as energy, transportation, and healthcare, and it collaborates with public and private entities to strengthen the country’s cyber resilience. Criticisms and Restructuring Proposals: Project 2025 strongly criticizes CISA for deviating from its original mission and being used as a political tool for censoring speech and influencing elections. The proposal is to transfer CISA to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and return the agency to its statutory focus. https://image.nostr.build/8bfb4a45053de96a775f67e3e1b83a44d9a65fee4705e3b16d3359bd799b8af2.jpg Review of Executive Order 12333 Executive Order 12333, issued in 1981, sets guidelines for U.S. intelligence activities, including the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information. Project 2025 proposes a review of this order to ensure that intelligence agencies are not used for political purposes but are focused on protecting national security. Objectives of the Review: Prevent Abuse: Ensure that intelligence collection is conducted legally, without being used to target political opponents. Ensure Impartiality: Reaffirm that intelligence operations must be conducted impartially, with a sole focus on the country's security. https://image.nostr.build/90d31cb35a33048d311716df2fbc65c97bd4c1972977e266133654404393fca0.jpg Reforms in Public Service Facilitation of Public Employee Dismissal: Project 2025 emphasizes the need to simplify the process for dismissing public employees who do not perform their duties impartially or who promote specific political agendas. Performance Evaluations: The document highlights the importance of merit-based compensation, stating that performance evaluations are only effective when tied to real consequences. Research indicates that 90% of major private companies in the U.S. use a merit-based pay system linked to evaluations. However, in the federal government, compensation remains largely based on seniority, despite efforts to adopt merit-based pay. https://image.nostr.build/1b858fd7b2a23c3c65c0677d3e69c44976721bbdcbe7facf4682ba3371562cff.jpg Inclusion of Employees Aligned with Conservative Values: Aligned Hiring: Establish mechanisms to hire public employees who share conservative values, ensuring that the policies and practices of agencies are consistent with the principles endorsed by the administration. https://image.nostr.build/ddbf5c59e7bb479998433991347f9d301dd117fbca0edb0f94e98fcac90b2974.jpg Controversial Cases and Politicization: Hunter Biden Laptop Case: Project 2025 harshly criticizes the FBI and the Department of Justice, accusing them of acting in a biased and politically motivated manner. The authors suggest that the agency is intimidating parents who protest by labeling them as "domestic terrorists," while simultaneously suppressing politically unfavorable speech under the guise of combating "disinformation." Furthermore, the critique highlights that the FBI is alleged to be neglecting violent attacks on pregnancy centers and violations of laws prohibiting attempts to intimidate Supreme Court justices. The criticism intensifies with allegations that the FBI interfered in domestic elections and engaged in propaganda operations, specifically citing the purported Russian collusion conspiracy in 2016 and the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop case in 2020, which is seen as a threat to the Republic. https://image.nostr.build/e4f571a14102a939164465498bef514379ec0443e71a58e12f50c518e00570c6.jpg Politicization of the FBI: Election Interference: Russia Hoax and Trump, Suppression of Hunter Biden’s Laptop, and Big Tech Collusion. Revelations about the FBI’s role in the 2016 "Russia Hoax" and the suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020 suggest that the agency may have strayed from its impartial duties. These actions indicate concerning politicization, where the agency appears to have been used to influence the political landscape in favor of certain interests. This includes collaboration between the FBI and Big Tech companies to control discourse. https://image.nostr.build/5dcd45fcec939b782d29d8d2e3d3b45244c525b5dbd3240f1629a4632e390a86.jpg Comprehensive Review of FBI Investigations: It is crucial to conduct an immediate and thorough review of all significant investigations and activities within the FBI, terminating those that are illegal or contrary to national interests. This step is essential for restoring public trust in the FBI. A public report on the findings of this review could enhance transparency and confidence. https://image.nostr.build/df98e2c6aff123d806187eab13d24a3ebb30a87df1f44cf57be97dc5624fff88.jpg Structural Reorganization: Align the FBI within the Department of Justice (DOJ) according to its purposes of national security and law enforcement. The agency should be under the supervision of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and the National Security Division, ensuring that the FBI does not operate as an independent entity but is instead subordinated to the DOJ’s directives. https://image.nostr.build/0d1c0015c6b67a8afc2dd1595357ea571fcd5a9d83829065f49f9b60cf553eb0.jpg Prohibition on Policing Speech: Prohibit the FBI from engaging in activities related to combating "disinformation" or "misinformation" disseminated by Americans who are not linked to plausible criminal activities. The Constitution, through the First Amendment, prohibits the government from policing speech, ensuring a healthy public debate without governmental intervention. All these measures represent a significant attack on the "Deep State" within American institutions. These public policies have been considered a dictatorial threat by many sectors of the American press. However, the real issue should be the politicization of unelected bureaucrats by a political faction. https://image.nostr.build/9a44b19d15d53314f89528c1d89e2f637030ea18d8907a6a8c4e27d07064b8ec.jpg Combating Woke Culture in the Intelligence Community Future leadership of the Intelligence Community (IC) needs to implement a plan to replace the "woke" culture and identity politics that have spread throughout the federal government. The goal is to restore traditional American values such as patriotism, racial impartiality, and job competence, which have been replaced by advocacy for "social justice" and identity politics. https://image.nostr.build/7929dca5e36273c8e751f36d6ca6229f362e30792bce735f10be7e5d8581af5f.jpg Final Considerations The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is not merely an administrative reform plan; it is a manifesto of resistance against the Washington status quo. The proposals aim to dismantle established power structures, eliminate politicization, and combat the Woke agenda. If implemented, this plan would profoundly impact how the U.S. government operates, promoting a more efficient, limited government aligned with conservative principles. Threat to the Democratic Deep State: A potential new administration under Donald Trump represents an existential threat to the Democratic Deep State entrenched in American institutions. The dissolution of the DHS, depoliticization of intelligence agencies, division of the Secret Service, review of Executive Order 12333, privatization of the TSA, and the hiring of employees aligned with conservative values are all measures that would significantly weaken centralized control and the ability to use these institutions for political purposes. By dismantling concentrated power and promoting a more transparent and accountable government, Project 2025 aims to restore public trust and ensure that government agencies serve national interests rather than partisan ones. Of course, not all aspects of the plan may be implemented, but the prospect of several of these measures being enacted should be a cause for concern for the Democratic Deep State.

Today we will understand how Argentina, when under the control of the Foro de São Paulo, was an important asset for the Chinese Communist Party in South America and how Javier Milei is charting paths to change this scenario. The Chinese government has been making diplomatic overtures to areas near the polar regions as part of its maritime strategy. After a "strategic retreat," the Southern Hemisphere has assumed a new dimension for Chinese interests in South America. Beijing has been increasing its diplomatic engagement with countries in the region, especially Argentina in recent times, through a series of economic, sociocultural, and to a lesser extent, military agreements. This includes the delivery of vaccines and the intention to accelerate an investment plan worth $30 million. China has focused on several geopolitically sensitive projects in Argentina, all strategic: controlling air and maritime space and strategic facilities in territorial areas monitored by Beijing over Antarctica and the South Atlantic. However, doubts arise about China's intentions... https://image.nostr.build/f55fc5464d8d09cbbddd0fe803b264a5e885da387c2c6c1702f021875beb18c2.jpg For Xi Jinping's government, Argentina stands out for its strategic location, the influential posture of its leaders, and its alignment with China's economic and military power expansion. China has made significant investments and infrastructure initiatives in various Argentine regions. In addition to establishing a presence in the province of Neuquén, China has targeted the port city of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica, the South Atlantic islands, and the San Juan region near the Chilean border. A 2012 agreement between authorities in Argentina's Neuquén province and Beijing allowed the construction of a deep space tracking station near the Chilean border, which caught Washington's attention. https://image.nostr.build/a3fa7f2c7174ee9d90aaecd9eadb69a2ef82c04c94584165a213b29d2ae8a66e.jpg In 2014, through a bilateral agreement between the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, represented by the Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General (CLTC) of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and Argentina's National Commission on Space Activities (CONAE), the agreement identified the Argentine space station at Bajada del Agrio as the most favorable location for hosting a Chinese base in the Southern Hemisphere. The project became operational in 2017 on a 200-hectare area and represents the third in a global network and the first outside China. It features a 110-ton, 35-meter-diameter antenna for deep space exploration (telemetry and technology for "terrestrial tracking, command, and data acquisition"), with the CLTC having a special exploration license for a period of 50 years. https://image.nostr.build/0a469d8bab900c7cefa854594dfdb934febf2758e1a77c7639d394f14cd98491.jpg The 50-year contract grants the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the ability to operate freely on Argentine soil. The facility, known as Espacio Lejano, set a precedent for a Chinese ground tracking station in Río Gallegos, on the southeastern coast of Argentina, which was formally announced in 2021. In 2016, a document issued by the U.S. State Council Information Office raised concerns among the U.S. government and European Union (EU) countries about the potential military and geopolitical uses of the base in the Southern Hemisphere and Antarctica. Another element fueling suspicion is the existence of "secret clauses" in a document signed by the General Directorate of Legal Advisory (DICOL) of Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Worship with the Chinese government. https://image.nostr.build/1733ba03475755ddf9be4eafc3e9eb838ba8f9fa6e783a4b060f12b89c3f4165.jpg Since the Espacio Lejano contract was signed, U.S. analysts and authorities have repeatedly expressed concern about China's growing collaboration with Argentina on security and surveillance issues. In 2023, a general from the U.S. Southern Command stated during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee: "The PRC [People's Republic of China] has expanded its capacity to extract resources, establish ports, manipulate governments through predatory investment practices, and build potential dual-use space facilities." https://image.nostr.build/16bbdeae11247d47a97637402866a0414d235d41fe8039218e26c9d11392b487.jpg The shift in the Argentine government from a leftist spectrum, led by leaders of the São Paulo Forum, to a Milei administration, which has always advocated for libertarian and pro-Western rhetoric, has altered the dynamics of Chinese-Argentine relations in 2024. Milei assumed office on December 10, 2023, replacing the progressive president Alberto Fernández, who had strengthened ties with China and signed an agreement in 2022 to join the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative. During his campaign, Milei did not hide his disdain for communist regimes and signaled his intention to move away from socialist policies in favor of a more libertarian direction. In the nearly seven months since taking office, Milei has implemented major economic reforms and streamlined the government. https://image.nostr.build/1d534b254529bf10834d81e2ae35ce2698eda2453d5e2b39d98fa50b45c00a59.jpg Other recent "positive indicators" suggest that the Milei administration is prioritizing defense relations with the United States over China, according to Leland Lazarus, Associate Director of National Security at the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy at Florida International University. "The fact is that, in just six months, he has already visited the United States several times. He has met with Secretary [Antony] Blinken, been to the White House... all of this is like absolute music to General Richardson's ears; to President [Joe] Biden's ears," Lazarus told Epoch Times. General Richardson visited Argentina in April, a trip that included the donation of a C-130H Hercules transport aircraft to the Argentine Air Force and a visit to a naval facility in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of the country. "We are committed to working closely with Argentina so that our collaborative security efforts benefit our citizens, our countries, and our hemisphere in enduring and positive ways," she said in a statement at the time. In Ushuaia, General Richardson met with local military personnel to discuss their role in "safeguarding vital maritime routes for global trade." https://image.nostr.build/f6d80fee8a7bba03bf11235d86c4f72435ae4be7d201dba81cc8598551e5ed24.jpg In a statement from the Argentine Ministry of Defense, Milei confirmed that General Richardson also reviewed the progress of an "integrated naval base" at the Ushuaia naval facility. Argentine officials said they also discussed "legislative modernization on defense issues." Under the previous administration, China had received preferential treatment. In June 2023, Tierra del Fuego Governor Gustavo Melella approved China's plans to build a "multi-use" port facility near the Strait of Magellan. The project was met with legislative backlash, as three national deputies and members of the Civic Coalition filed an official complaint against the governor's provincial decree to build the port with Beijing. The same group also accused Melella of compromising Argentina’s national security. No public records show that the project has progressed since then. https://image.nostr.build/3b2b57875dc7ac162ab2b198df238cb8479a7d0bbce32b4042e11063b5e2779b.jpg Argentina's desire for deeper security cooperation with Western partners was also evident in April when Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri signed a historic agreement to purchase 24 F-16 fighter jets from Denmark. "Today we are concluding the most important military aviation acquisition since 1983," Petri said in an official statement. "Thanks to this investment in defense, I can proudly say that we are beginning to restore our air sovereignty and that our entire society is better protected against all the threats we face." https://image.nostr.build/8aa0a6261e61e35c888d022a537f03a0fb7a963a78bf2f1bec9bf0a242289dba.jpg The purchase occurred after several media reports in 2022 indicated that the previous Fernández administration was considering buying JF-17 fighter jets made in China and Pakistan. A former minister from ex-president Mauricio Macri's government, who requested anonymity, confirmed to Epoch Times that a deal to acquire JF-17 jets was being considered during the Fernández era. Chinese investment did not occur only in Argentina. According to a document from the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee: "From 2009 to 2019, China transferred a total of $634 million in significant military equipment to five South American countries—Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The governments of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina purchased defense equipment from the PRC, cooperated in military exercises, and engaged in educational exchanges and training for their military personnel." https://image.nostr.build/ed6d8daeea418b7e233ef97c90dee5074be64bd572f1fd0a5452b5960617c9ca.jpg Access to space plays a crucial role in the CCP's strategic objectives. Thus, when reports emerged in early April that Milei's government wanted to inspect Espacio Lejano, experts suggested it supported his national security moves away from China. According to the Espacio Lejano contract, signed under Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's Peronist regime, CCP officials are not required to let anyone—including the Argentine president—enter the facility without prior notice. According to Article 3, the agreement stipulates that Argentine authorities cannot interfere with or interrupt the "normal activities" of the facility and must explore alternative options and provide an unspecified amount of notice before being granted access. China has maintained that Espacio Lejano is for deep space exploration, lunar missions, and communication with satellites already in orbit. However, there is deep skepticism that the claim of space exploration alone is highly unlikely. The big question is: what could this facility do in times of war? https://image.nostr.build/f46a2807c02c512e70b14981f07a7e669223a42f3907cbddec952d5b27da9895.jpg Neuquén is just one of 11 ground stations and space research facilities China has in Latin America and the Caribbean. This represents the largest concentration of space equipment China has outside its own country. According to data from the Gordon Institute, the Chinese Espacio Lejano station and the Río Gallegos facility provide an ideal surveillance position near the polar orbit. The polar orbit is useful for data collection, transmission, and tracking because it allows for observation of the entire planet from space. The resolution of communications is also improved due to the proximity of satellites in orbit to the Earth's surface. Additionally, it offers strategic advantages for any government involved in espionage. https://image.nostr.build/39215a4c9f84cbbaf517c4fda8a562bba9e0cd3af3d453a24d3a9b454c5d015d.jpg Regarding deeper security collaboration with the United States, the trend is that Milei’s government will do as much as possible without jeopardizing its contracts with China, which is currently Argentina's second-largest trading partner. However, if Argentina's defense cooperation with China cools, the communist regime might wait for another Argentine government to continue its expansion—a government that could be more favorable to the CCP's objectives. Everything will depend on the continued success of Javier Milei's economic miracle, ensuring his government is re-elected and he can appoint a successor, making it more challenging for China, and avoiding a situation similar to what occurred in Brazil starting in 2023. https://image.nostr.build/a5dd3e59a703c553be60534ac5a539b1e50496c71904d01b16471086e9843cd4.jpg

Precious metals have served as monetary backing for millennia, but this does not guarantee that gold is a safe investment or a good hedge against economic crises and monetary collapses. Since its last major rally in the 1980s, gold has been progressively demonetized. Those who acquired gold in the late 1980s will need to rely on a significant increase in demand or a supply shock for its price to rise by 561% and regain the purchasing power it had 40 years ago. https://image.nostr.build/dd5fec2b474ea34cd72ddf5781393b528e63a358d523c9428f3ba4649f4f42aa.jpg If you look at the purchasing power of $1 (green line), you'll see that the depreciation is even faster. This might create the impression that gold is a good store of value. But does the fact that something loses value more slowly amidst a general decline really make it a store of value? Unless the total demand for gold increases at the same rate as its supply has grown in recent years, the purchasing power of the metal is likely to decline. https://image.nostr.build/9f24f6cf37780fe851746057520064ed94acd96547be53bd341c9e15b8762773.jpg In other words, if you own an ounce of gold, that ounce will represent an increasingly smaller fraction of the total gold reserves, meaning you are being diluted. Additionally, one should also consider the cost and risk of storage, but that's another issue. If you don't want to compare the purchasing power of gold today with the 1980s, you can consider its value from 9 years ago. Between September 2011 and November 2015, the Fed printed approximately $2.8 trillion. This also provides a perspective on gold's depreciation relative to the significant monetary expansion during that period. https://image.nostr.build/822e0a861e16ca258e0427875a84b5c8e5420e51bcf65674b453b55ed78edefd.jpg In other words, the Fed expanded its monetary base by about 30% during that 4-year period. However, the price of an ounce of gold fell by 45% (from $1,900 to $1,057) over the same interval. A true store of value should protect against excessive money printing. In contrast, during that same period, Bitcoin appreciated by 8,500% (from $5 to $419). https://image.nostr.build/32a7ca39a6e69e2780f9ab49390c7b7380499fcfe54ae4ef693e6fc91686a41e.jpg Indeed, while it is interesting to note that this was the exact period when gold derivatives were launched on CME Group, it's important to remember that correlation does not imply causation. Many factors can influence the price of gold and Bitcoin, and establishing a direct causal relationship requires more detailed analysis. https://derivsource.com/2011/06/21/cme-group-announces-the-launch-of-three-new-short-term-gold-crude-oil-and-natural-gas-options-contracts/ In an asset where supply can only be physically verified, flooding the market with gold contracts could lead to significant issues. This might result in market manipulation, legal liabilities, fines, and potentially even imprisonment for those involved. Such actions can undermine the integrity of the market and lead to regulatory and legal consequences. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/06/ex-jp-morgan-trader-pleads-guilty-to-manipulating-metals-markets.html Over longer periods, gold has not functioned as a true "store of value" relative to the dollar for quite some time, despite recently returning to its price from 9 years ago. This suggests that, while gold may have periods of price recovery, it has struggled to maintain its value over extended horizons compared to fiat currencies. It's worth noting that before 1980, aluminum was valued higher than gold. This reflects how market dynamics and technological advancements can significantly impact the value of commodities over time. https://www.mgsrefining.com/blog/why-aluminum-is-no-longer-a-precious-metal/ While gold has been undergoing a gradual demonetization process since 1980, another asset appears to be experiencing the opposite—hyper-monetization. (See in red; don't be alarmed.) https://image.nostr.build/435a5369f778a7be727b50e4c6328cfc353240bf804e1ed69313b9a8e1233f7e.jpg With the advent of Bitcoin, you believe that gold will continue on the same path as silver since the end of the bimetallic standard in 1853: a prolonged process of demonetization, with increasing volatility and reduced liquidity. https://image.nostr.build/5b9c8bfdb09e51d639e380df160c98beb9ee1d917ea13d28ef67711cfa5f8086.jpg Since 1913, the dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power. Over the same period, the gold supply has increased significantly. Since 1980, gold has lost about 82% of its purchasing power. Given that the dollar is used as the unit of account and gold's liquidity is measured in dollars, these changes reflect the complex interaction between the currency and the precious metal. The U.S. is by far the country with the largest gold reserves in the world and is also the fourth-largest miner of the metal. Additionally, the country controls and issues the currency that serves as the unit of account for gold and has the highest liquidity in global trade. Is gold easy to transport? Is it simple to verify its supply and authenticity? Is it practical to store? Is its industrial utility significant? Can it be disrupted? And what about the continuous increase in its supply? These are important questions to consider. In my humble opinion, it will not be the dollar or fiat currencies that will suffer the most from the existence of Bitcoin, but rather the market cap of gold. https://image.nostr.build/61dddefabc4b69f784631a3294bdd978e3411bba40fb52d585e13b48002389fe.jpg

I’ll write a separate Week 1 Observations later, but I wanted to dedicate this space solely to mourning my Circa Survivor entry. Circa Survivor costs $1000 to enter and has a $10M prize for the winner, usually split by several as things get down to the wire. Three years ago, when the prize was $6M Dalton Del Don and I — the first time we ever entered — [made it to the final 23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDt630lNXs) in Week 12. The value of our share was something like $260K at that point, but we got bounced by the Lions who beat the 12-point favored Cardinals and took home nothing. When you enter a large survivor pool, the overwhelming likelihood is you’ll meet this fate at some point, whether in Week 1 or 12. So it’s not really the loss that’s painful, so much as not getting to live and die each week with a chosen team. You lose your status as “[the man in the arena](https://www.trcp.org/2011/01/18/it-is-not-the-critic-who-counts/) whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood” and become just an observer watching and commentating on the games without the overarching purpose of surviving each week. This year was also different due to the lengths to which I went to sign up. It’s not just the $1000 fee, it’s getting to Vegas in person, the $400 in proxy fees (you need locals to input your picks for you if you don’t live there), the $60 credit card fee, the $200 crappy hotel I booked at the last minute, the flights (one of which was cancelled due to heat), the rental car that necessitated, the gas, getting lost in the desert, [the entire odyssey](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-real-man-would/id1023898853?i=1000661712394) while sick and still jet-lagged in 122-degree heat. But it’s not about the money, and it’s not even about the herculean effort per se, but the feeling and narrative I crafted around it. *I* was the guy who got this done. *I* flew from Portugal to San Francisco for 12 hours, two days later from SF to Palm Springs to help my 87-YO uncle with his affairs, improvised to get from Palm Springs to Vegas, which took six hours due to road closures, signed up for the contests, made the flight back to San Francisco, flew to Denver at 7 am the next day, took my daughter the Rockies game in the afternoon and then on to Boulder the following day. Maybe that’s not so impressive to some of you, but for me, an idle ideas person, a thinker, observer, someone who likes to express himself via a keyboard, it was like Alexander the Great conquering Persia. And it’s not only about that smaller mission, or the narrative I crafted around it, but a larger one which was to bring [sports content to nostr](https://iris.to/npub1dwhr8j9uy6ju2uu39t6tj6mw76gztr4rwdd6jr9qtkdh5crjwt5q2nqfxe) which I vowed to do before the summer which is why I felt I had to make the effort to get to Vegas to sign up for the contests, to have sufficient skin in the game, to have something real about which to write. And I got the idea to do this seriously because Heather wrote a [guide to Lisbon](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs9tlalaaxc9s0d3wtldcxjcu2xtwmda03ln37l05y465xfppc7x5gzyqy0v0mtymwefaha06kw286cnq5rqnv9vsku8eh89rg3szqnqnpfxqcyqqqqqqgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgnwaehxw309aex2mrp09skymr99ehhyecpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmzw33ju6mvv4hxgct6w5hxxmmdqyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndw46xjmnewaskcmr9wshxxmmdyj9jl7) which [I posted on nostr](https://njump.me/nevent1qqsfqv5gzytdxmtt2kfj2d3565qe848klnkxne9jaquzudrmzzq5vcqzyp4d8c4rfqvtz57grayvtr6yu5veu760erd7x7qs5qqdec7fpdm5qqcyqqqqqqgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwdehhxarj9e3xzmnyqyt8wumn8ghj7cn5vvhxkmr9dejxz7n49e3k7mgpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt4w35ku7thv9kxcet59e3k7mgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqgucshh), and a few prominent developers there were surprisingly excited about getting that kind of quality content on the protocol. And I thought — if they’re this excited about a [(very in-depth) guide](https://njump.me/nevent1qqs9tlalaaxc9s0d3wtldcxjcu2xtwmda03ln37l05y465xfppc7x5gzyqy0v0mtymwefaha06kw286cnq5rqnv9vsku8eh89rg3szqnqnpfxqcyqqqqqqgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgnwaehxw309aex2mrp09skymr99ehhyecpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmzw33ju6mvv4hxgct6w5hxxmmdqyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndw46xjmnewaskcmr9wshxxmmdyj9jl7) to one particular city in Europe, how much more value could I create posting about a hobby shared by 50-odd million Americans? And that thought (and the fact I had to go to Palm Springs anyway) is what set me off on the mission in the first place and got me thinking this would be [Team of Destiny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huDt630lNXs), Part 2, only to discover, disappointingly, it’s real destiny was not to make it out of the first week. . . . While my overwhelming emotion is one of disappointment, there’s a small element of relief. Survivor is a form of self-inflicted torture that probably subtracts years from one’s life. Every time Rhamondre Stevenson broke the initial tackle yesterday was like someone tightening a vice around my internal organs. There was nothing I could do but watch, and I even thought about turning it off. At one point, I was so enraged, I had to calm down consciously and refuse to get further embittered by events going against me. Mike Gesicki had a TD catch overturned because he didn’t hold the ball to the ground, The next play Tanner Hudson fumbled while running unimpeded to the end zone. I kept posting, “Don’t tilt” after every negative play. There’s a perverse enjoyment to getting enraged about what’s going on, out of your control, on a TV screen, but when you examine the experience, it really isn’t good or wholesome. I become like a spoiled child, ungrateful for everything, miserable and indignant at myriad injustices and wrongs I’m powerless to prevent. At one point Sasha came in to tell me she had downloaded some random game from the app store on her Raspberry Pi computer. I had no interest in this as I was living and dying with every play, but I had forced myself to calm down so much already, I actually went into her room to check it out, not a trace of annoyance in my voice or demeanor. I don’t think she cared about the game, or about showing it to me, but had stayed with her friends most of the weekend and was just using it as an excuse to spend a moment together with her dad. I scratched her back for a couple seconds while standing behind her desk chair. The game was still going on, and even though I was probably going to lose, and I was still sick about it, I was glad to have diverted a moment’s attention from it to Sasha. . . . In last week’s [Survivor post](https://www.realmansports.com/p/surviving-week-1-d02), I wrote: *What method do I propose to see into the future? Only my imagination. I’m going to spend a lot of time imagining what might happen, turn my brain into a quantum device, break space-time and come to the right answers. Easier said than done, but I’m committed.* It’s possible I did this, but simply retrieved my information from the wrong branch of the multiverse. It happens. . . . I [picked the Bengals](https://www.realmansports.com/p/surviving-week-1-d02) knowing full well the Bills were the correct “pot odds” play which is my usual method. Maybe when the pot-odds are close, I might go with my gut, but they were not especially close this week, and yet I still stuck with Cincinnati because they were the team I trusted more. And despite it being a bad pick — there are no excuses in Survivor, no matter what happens in the game, if you win it’s good, and lose it’s bad — I don’t feel that badly about it. I regret it only because I wish I were still alive, but it was my error. I went with what I believed, and it was wrong. That I can live with 100 times better than swapping out my belief for someone else’s and losing. Had I done that I’d be inconsolable. . . . I won’t let the Survivor debacle undermine my real mission to bring sports to nostr. Team of Destiny 2 would have been a compelling story, but it was never essential. After all, my flight was cancelled and I had to improvise, so now my Survivor entry is cancelled, and I’ll have to improvise again. The branch of the multiverse where the Bengals won didn’t give me the information I wanted, but maybe it was what I really needed to know. That I am the man in the arena yet, the battle was ever against myself, and for a brief moment, while my team was losing, I prevailed.

I bought this for my son but it's a little advanced for his skills. Well, somebody has to find the princess and save Hyrule, right? Looks like it's gotta be me. :) I have found the climbing, skydiving, and barbarian armor sets most useful. What other items can I unlock that will enhance my play experience? I just found the gloom resistance helmet but haven't tried it out yet. What is the deal with horses? I tamed and boarded two so far but I haven't found an actual use for them yet except one korok hidden under a drain plug that I needed a horse to unplug. You don't need them for travel. They can't climb steep slopes or cross water so it's just easier and faster to skydive close to your destination and cover the last miles on foot. Do mounts serve a purpose or just look cool and help you get a few korok seeds? What is your experience? I'd love to hear about it!

## Chef's notes Makes an excellent Chicken sandwich. ## Details - ⏲️ Prep time: 6 Ish hours - 🍳 Cook time: 40 min - 🍽️ Servings: 1 loaf ## Ingredients - 3 ½ - 4 cups bread flour, or more as needed - 1 ⅓ cups warm milk (110°F – 115°F) - 5 tablespoons honey - 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted and slightly cooled - 1 tablespoon instant “rapid rise” yeast - 1 ½ teaspoons salt - Oil or butter for greasing the bowl - 1 tablespoon melted salted butter, for brushing the crust at the end ## Directions 1. To prepare the dough, weigh the flour or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then leveling off any excess. In a large bowl, combine the flour with the warm milk, honey, melted butter, instant yeast, and salt. Mix by hand or with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer until a shaggy dough forms, gradually adding more flour, as necessary, to get the dough to come together so that it just pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 2. Switch to the dough hook attachment (or use your hands) to knead the dough until fairly smooth, about 7-8 minutes. 3. Oil a large mixing bowl. Place the dough in the greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 ½ - 2 hours. 4. Punch down the dough. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Pat the dough into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle. Starting on one of the short sides, roll up the dough to make a log; pinch the seams. Place the dough seam-side down in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. 5. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap; allow to rise for 1-2 hours, until it’s crowned about 1-2 inches over the rim of the pan. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F. 6. Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, tenting the top of the bread loosely with foil towards the end if the top starts to get too brown. The bread should be golden brown, and it should sound hollow when tapped. 7. Brush the top of the warm bread with melted butter. 8. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Why do lightning nodes need channels? Why can a node not just send and receive without a channel? I wonder what the benefit it serves other than making running a node difficult or making it cost to open one? Thanks originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/677439

> 由于telegram的政策调整，不允许滥用telegraph匿名上传图片了。 导致之前通过telegraph搭建的图床无法上传（已上传的能正常查看）。 --- ### 有人通过原项目的基础上分支另外项目，可以通过频道上传图片。 项目是通过cloudflare pages搭建的。 - 项目地址：https://github.com/MarSeventh/CloudFlare-ImgBed 项目的教程很详细，具体去看项目教程。 ### telegram设置： - 需要有telegram账号 - 通过[@BotFather](https://t.me/BotFather "@BotFather")创建一个telegram机器人，并获取api key。 - 创建一个频道，获取频道id，通过转发一条消息到 [@VersaToolsBot](https://t.me/VersaToolsBot "@VersaToolsBot")机器人可以查看频道id。 - 一定要添加创建的机器人到频道作为管理员才能使用。 ### cloudflare的设置 - 通过git项目部署，设置变量：TG_BOT_TOKEN和TG_CHAT_ID就基本可以使用了。 - 如果需要后台，需要添加kv空间，并在设置里面的函数，选择对应的kv空间，如图： [](https://imgbed.lepidus.me/file/AgACAgEAAyEGAASHShAaAAMFZt2erJ5-KyEOHIwfkCjN64RmA68AAtSsMRtrRvBGWZXC5Glh0M0BAAMCAAN3AAM2BA.png "kv") - BASIC_USER 后台登陆名 - BASIC_PASS 后台密码 - AUTH_CODE 鉴权，防止别人使用，设置后，别人使用必须输入这个。 ### 其他 - 成人内容屏蔽 - pico 使用api接口 去项目地址看 ### 最后 我搭建的地址： https://imgbed.lepidus.me

_original post 28/12/2010 .net_ Para você que se sente meio preso ao instalar o Ubuntu, pois ele já vem pronto para um usuário final, mas isso não me agrada parece que perco o espirito de liberdade. Mas o ponto forte Ubuntu são suas atualizações, então eu fui em busca de como fazer uma instalação customizada somente com os pacotes do Ubuntu. Depois de muita pesquisa e anos de experiência com linux desenvolvi o que chamo de instalação mínima **Alguns conceitos da minha instalação** – Não tem gerenciador de login gráfico. – Precisar habilitar o root, na unha e você usa isso. – Não tem menus, os aplicativos são chamados via tecla de atalho ou docks. – Não tem menu para desligar. – Não é um desktop, usa apenas um gerenciador de Janelas. – Aqui tudo é minimalista, não é bonito também não quer dizer que é feio, é apenas simples faz o necessário. – Não importa a versão do ubuntu, atual ou não essa técnica quase nunca mudará. **Seria bom/Pré-Requisitos** – Se você tem conceitos de particionamento. – Se você já instalou um Debian. – Se você sabe usar o vim. – Conexão com internet via placa de rede 10/100 (sim tem que ser assim). **Introdução** A idéia é usar a instalação mínima do Ubuntu (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD), onde é bem parecida com a NetInstall do Debian. Iremos baixar a imagem(12 ~ 13MB) do link acima e queimar em um cd rom e dar boot. Vamos usar o assistente de instalação, e não selecionaremos nenhum pacote na instalação, tudo sera instalado via linha de comando usando o apt. Pra quem já instalou usando o anaconda da RedHat não terá problemas, qualquer ser capaz de ler consegue instalar.  Esta é a primeira tela exibida após o boot, selecione o menu  Va seguindo o instalador conforme as telas, não quer que eu fique explicando tudo né?    Coloque o nome que quiser, este é o nome da sua maquina pense em algo inspirador.  Aqui você estara selecionando daonde pacotes serão baixados.  Se não tiver proxy de um [enter], se tiver pesquise no google como configurar.    Chegamos a parte onde todo usuário de windows faz cagada, na configuração das particões, bom use o método manual, não vou entrar em detalhes, pra esse tutorial eu criei uma partição só.    Após criar, FINISH!  Aguarde, vai demorar, o instalador esta baixando o minimo para poder instalar o sistema, no debian o cd é de 170mb essa parte é mais rápida.  O nome do usuario, eu coloquei “lion”, coloque ai o seu usuário.  senha é bom por né.  Aqui você tem a opção de encriptar seus dados, tudo que estiver no /home/ você deve pro governo? eu encriptei.   Aqui você pode selecionar a primeira opção, eu prefiro atualizar manualmente.  Neste tela desmarque tudo, isso faz você ser o cara livre do sistema, aguarde pois vai demorar.  Grub é o gerenciador de boot, instale ele ai sem medo.  Cara se você chegou nessa tela eu já estou orgulhoso, pois provavelmente não fez nenhuma cagada. Logue-se com seu usuário, meu caso “lion” (que coisa gay figura 24 ainda).  **Apartir daqui acabou as figurinhas fio, espero que você saiba o mínimo de VI. **Torna-se root** Isso é primordio no linux, sempre somos o ROOT, o Ubuntu tem essa filosofia para você não fazer cagada, mas na vida uma boa técnica de aprendizado é fazendo cagada, então vamos habilitar o root. Calma usaremos o root para tarefas como instalar novos software, mas a execução e configuração de nosso ambiente será com nosso usuário. ``` $ sudo passwd root ``` Pronto a partir de agora os comandos começados com # quer dizer que você tem que estar logado como root, e quando estiver $ você deve executar com seu usuário. Loge-se como root vamos usar bastante de um $su ou entre num novo tty como root. **Instalando o vim** ``` #apt-get install vim ``` (repare # você tem que estar logado como root) **Removendo o boot-splash** Amigos estamos falando de uma maquina limpa, o boot splash só come memória. Faça um backup antes e depois edite o arquivo “/boot/grub/grub.cfg” procure a palavra splash e apague somente ela e salve o arquivo. É necessário dar diretos de gravação e depois volte como somente leitura. **Removendo Mensagem de boas vindas MOTD** Logo após o login, é exibida uma mensagem de boas vindas enorme do ubuntu, eu não gosto dela, nem do debian eu gostava e eu a removia editando o script “/etc/init.d/boot-misc.sh” mas no ubuntu esse arquivo não existe. Depois de muito fuçar eu descobri que removendo os arquivos do diretorio “/etc/update-motd.d/” a mensagem some, pra mim basta, também removi o conteudo do arquivo /var/run/motd ; **UPDATE** Dica do comentário do Marcelo Godim Ele é gerenciado pelo pam_motd basta ir em /etc/pam.d nos arquivos “login” e “sshd” e comentar essas linhas abaixo: login: #session optional pam_motd.so sshd: #session optional pam_motd.so # [1] **Mudando mensagem da versão** Dica velha edite o arquivo “/etc/issue” coloque o que preferir. ——Se você não precisa de modo gráfico a instalação terminou aqui. Alterando o sources.list adicionando outros repositórios Edite o arquivo /etc/apt/sources.list e deixe assim, basicamente adicionados pacotes do site Medibuntu, se prefereir siga esses passos é melhor do que editar o arquivo. **Instalando o resto dos pacotes** #apt-get install xserver-xorg xinit alsa-base alsa-utils openbox obconf obmenu feh nitrogen tint2 k3b conky gmrun pcmanfm gtk-theme-switch ssh smbfs smbclient dosfstools setserial usbutils leafpad x11-apps openbox-themes terminator chromium-browser xcompmgr gcc g++ openjdk-6-jdk mysql-server mysql-query-browser gftp gcc-avr avrdude imagemagick gparted ntfs-3g file-roller zip unrar gpicview gtk2-engines gnome-icon-theme-gartoon vim unace rar unrar zip unzip p7zip-full p7zip-rar sharutils uudeview mpack lha arj cabextract file-roller pidgin pidgin-data pidgin-lastfm pidgin-guifications msn-pecan pidgin-musictracker pidgin-plugin-pack pidgin-themes mplayer vlc cairo-dock w32codecs audacious Vai dormir, seila vai baixar ai uns 500mb, você pode tirar ou por o que quiser ai isso é minha instalação. Como entrar no modo gráfico? Logue-se com seu usuário ``` $startx ``` O comando antigo, simples, que dei a primeira vez no meu conectiva 4.  Este é o resultado final, mas para isso vamos algumas dicas. Toda incialização dos aplicativos eu concentrei no .config/openbox/autostart.sh segue o meu ai ``` # Set desktop wallpaper nitrogen –restore & # Enable Eyecandy – off by default xcompmgr -cCfF -r7 -o.65 -l-10 -t-8 & # Launch network manager applet (sleep 4s && nm-applet) & # Launch clipboard manager #(sleep 1s && parcellite) & # Uncomment to enable system updates at boot #(sleep 180s && system-update) & cairo-dock & # Launch Conky #conky -q & # Launch panel tint2 & ``` **Configurando teclas de atalho**, edite o arquivo .config/openbox/rc.xml, vá até a seção keybinds as minhas são essas abaixo: ``` <keybind key=”W-a”><action name=”Execute”> <execute>audacious</execute></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-1″><action name=”Execute”> <execute>xcompmgr -cCfF -r7 -o.65 -l-10 -t-8</execute></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-2″><action name=”Execute”> <execute>pkill xcompmgr</execute></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-a”><action name=”Execute”> <execute>audacious</execute></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-e”><action name=”Execute”> <execute>pcmanfm</execute></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-g”><action name=”Execute”> <startupnotify> <enabled>true</enabled> <name>transset</name> </startupnotify> <command>transset .50</command></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-h”><action name=”Execute”> <startupnotify><enabled>true</enabled><name>transset 1</name></startupnotify><command>transset 1</command></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-l”><action name=”Execute”><startupnotify><enabled>true</enabled><name>Lock screen</name></startupnotify><command>gnome-screensaver-command -l</command></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-t”><action name=”Execute”><execute>terminator</execute></action></keybind><keybind key=”W-r”> <action name=”Execute”> <execute>gmrun</execute> </action></keybind> ``` Pesquise como instalar temas GTK, configurar o TINT2 (desk bar), Cairo Dock, também tem muitas configurações de openbox na internet. Esse tutorial vem de anos de convivio com linux, é duro passar tudo a limpo aqui, uma dica e testar o Linux Crunch-Bang aprendi muitas customizações com ele. #blog #tech

***“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.

With all five of my football drafts/auctions in the books, here's the portfolio I've amassed for 2024, not including the RotoWire Dynasty League: **Links**: [BCL1](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-1-344), [BCL2](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-2-77e?utm_source=publication-search), [BCL3](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-3-062), [Steak League](https://www.realmansports.com/p/steak-league-879), [Primetime](https://www.realmansports.com/p/nffc-primetime-fa7)  **Players in whom I have the most shares:** **QB**: Justin Fields (4), CJ Stroud (2), Anthony Richardson (2), Tua Tagovailoa (2) **RB**: Jonathan Brooks (2), Brian Robinson (2), Jerome Ford (2), Jordan Mason (2), JK Dobbins (2), Khalil Herbert (2), Dalvin Cook (2) **WR:** Stefon Diggs (5), Ja’Marr Chase (3), Rashid Shaheed (3), Ladd McConkey (2), Roman Wilson (2) **TE:** Jonnu Smith (3) **K**: Younghoe Koo (3), Harrison Butker (2) **D:** Giants (4) **Notes:** Obviously, I thought Stefon Diggs was mispriced, though I only had to pay close to what I thought he was worth in the [Primetime](https://www.realmansports.com/p/nffc-primetime-fa7) — in the rest of the leagues he fell to me at ADP or below. He and Ja’Marr Chase are massively important to me this year, and to a lesser extent CJ Stroud. I also have Justin Fields and the Giants defense everywhere, but both were essentially free, and I could swap them out without issue. I also have a lot of Younghoe Koo, but he too could obviously be swapped out. I like having a couple key players to build around rather than five disparate teams. Of course if Diggs gets hurt or turns out to be washed up, it’ll be rough, but in some ways it’s like the old days where you had only one team, and you had to live and die with it. **Prominent Players I Don't Have (bold is by choice):** Bijan Robinson, Tyreek Hill, Breece Hall, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, Garrett Wilson, A.J. Brown, Jonathan Taylor, Puka Nacua, **Davante Adams**, **Saquon Barkley**, Chris Olave, Rashee Rice, **Kyren Williams**, Travis Etienne, Cooper Kupp, Isiah Pacheco, **Michael Pittman**, **Nico Collins**, **DK Metcalf**, **Mike Evans**, **Deebo Samuel, Josh Allen,** DJ Moore, Brandon Aiyuk, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, **James Cook**, Terry McLaurin, Kenneth Walker, **Xavier Worthy**, Amari Cooper, Josh Jacobs, Trey McBride, **George Pickens**, Lamar Jackson, **Christian Kirk**, Tee Higgins, **Calvin Ridley**, **Rachaad White,** Jayden Reed, Diontae Johnson, **Travis Kelce**, **Joe Mixon**, **Alvin Kamara**, Christian Watson, **Jalen Hurts**, Aaron Jones, Patrick Mahomes, David Montgomery, **Zamir White, Keenan Allen,** Kyle Pitts, **D’Andre Swift**, George Kittle **Past Portfolios:** [**2023**](https://www.realmansports.com/p/my-portfolio-ef6?utm_source=publication-search)**, [2022](https://www.realmansports.com/p/my-portfolio?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fmy%2520portfolio&utm_medium=reader2), [2021](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/nfl-chris-lissrsquo-portfolio-58839), [2020](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=52704)[, 2019](https://www.rotowire.com/blog/post.php?id=29428), [2018](https://www.rotowire.com/blog/post.php?id=26158), [2017](https://www.rotowire.com/blog/post.php?id=23069), [2016](https://www.rotowire.com/blog/post.php?id=13592), [2015](https://www.rotowire.com/blog/post.php?id=8991)**

I submitted my five picks for the Circa Millions contest today. I think it’s $6M in total prizes. I want to put a disclaimer here: I’m putting these behind a paywall not because you should pay for these picks — never pay for anyone’s picks. If the picks were that good, whoever was making them could just print money and wouldn’t need yours. If you want to subscribe in earnest, do so because you’re interested to see who I chose and read the reasoning, not because you (erroneously) think it’s the way to get some easy winners. Or if you want to support my substack generally because you think it adds value to you. Those are fine reasons to subscribe, but doing so because you think copying my picks will make you money is dumb. Okay that out of the way, here are the picks:  **Dolphins -3.5 vs Jaguars** — I like taking the Dolphins in early September, it’s hot and humid there, difficult for opposing teams to adjust to it. It’s like Lambeau Field in December, only in reverse. Moreover, the Dolphins are a veteran offense that’s played together for years, while the Jaguars are working in two new receivers. **Falcons -3.5 vs Steelers** — Justin Fields is probably an upgrade over Russell Wilson at this point, but he’s haphazard and will have to learn the players and offense on the fly. The Falcons have a new QB too, but he’s an old pro, has better weapons and a better offensive line. **Giants +1 vs Vikings** — The Giants have three Pro-Bowl level pass rushers, finally have a playmaking receiver and upgraded their offensive line this offseason. And yet despite facing Sam Darnold at home, they’re still getting a point. **Cardinals +6.5 at Bills** — Kyler Murray is now another year removed from knee surgery, should be his usual spry self, and Marvin Harrison adds another dimension to the offense it sorely needed. The Bills will move the ball, but I think Arizona will hang with them and keep it close enough. **Browns -2 vs Cowboys** — The Browns should be able to run the ball and keep the Dallas pass rush off Deshaun Watson, while Dallas’ offensive line has slipped a bit, and the Browns defense was No. 1 against the pass last year. Dak Prescott also has big home/road splits.

This is my main event for fantasy football, the $1700 buy-in NFFC Primetime. I wound up picking 11th (I had the fourth to last choice), and while in retrospect maybe I should have opted for ninth or 10th, I wanted to get a share of Jahmyr Gibbs which is why I chose that slot. I also ran through some scenarios beforehand — what if Ja’Marr Chase (still not signed) falls — do I take him in a fourth league? But as you’ll see, the first round was complete chalk, and no windfalls whatsoever fell to me. But I had a plan for that, and I more or less executed it. Without further ado, here are the results: <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/4bbf1f4369c4eea958b04922892f9c485dcbce7d68f011e55c11997f05ae6006.png"> **1.11 Jahmyr Gibbs** — This was the most likely scenario, and it took me about two seconds to make the pick once the top three backs and seven receivers were gone. If Gibbs (who is not on the injury report) hadn’t had a hamstring injury in camp, I’d have him close to the middle of the round rather than the end. Let’s hope he doesn’t aggravate it. **2.2 Marvin Harrison** — I would have taken either Puka Nacua or Jonathan Taylor, but no breaks here either. Both went at the turn, and I knew I was taking a receiver. Starting RB-WR is the easiest build, in my opinion, but Harrison was kind of an agnostic pick. I had considered Rashee Rice, but as Alan Seslowsky pointed out, while his suspension for hit and run might not kick in until after the season (when the legal process has run its course), that could be pushed up if his lawyers negotiate a plea. Between that an the presence of so many options for the Chiefs, I went Harrison over him narrowly. But it was a close call. **3.2 Stefon Diggs** — I missed Malik Nabers, Cooper Kupp, (maybe Jaylen Waddle) and De’Von Achane who went with the four consecutive picks ahead of me, so it was Diggs, Nico Collins (his teammate who has a higher ADP), DeVonta Smith or (maybe) Derrick Henry. I went Diggs who I had personally ranked the highest, wouldn’t make it back to me, who I have in every league and was part of my “unfriendly” draft plan, i.e., the Plan B I had talked about. **4.11 Tank Dell** — He’s too small to hold up, but whenever he played he produced, and he gives me a bit of a Diggs hedge. I also wanted Trey McBride on this turn (as I had Marvin Harrison and could have drafted Kyler Murray — who I love this year — later), but he went on the turn. I thought about taking McBride first, but they were side by side in ADP, and my Plan B was to stack Texans, so I went Dell and took a chance. **5.2 Chris Godwin** — This was the one pick I kind of regret (though it’s debatable.) I like Jayden Reed a lot, but he was half a round lower per ADP, and there was *some* chance I could get him on the way back. I had Godwin everywhere last year, and he was a disappointment, but apparently he’s healthier now and is going back to the slot full time where he excels. **6.11 Jaxon Smith-Njigba** — The other pivot off Godwin was JSN, and sure enough he made it back all the way, though he starts off as my first bench player. That’s okay though — you need at least five viable receivers throughout the year, and I didn’t have to take C.J. Stroud because if the guy at the turn took him, I would just pivot to the Kyler Murray/Harrison stack. **7.2 C.J. Stroud** — He was there, and I executed Plan B. Yes, I have a weak first three rounds by ADP, but I have Gibbs, Harrison and a big piece of the Texans passing game which I think will lead the NFL in yardage. **8.11 Jaylen Warren** — I needed a second back, and Warren is one. He’s a good pass catcher and should see half the snaps in Pittsburgh. **9.2 Brian Robinson** — I like Robinson as a player, he’s the undisputed early-down option on what should be a better offense. (Think Ricky Pearsall, but at RB.) Too soon? Austin Ekeler will obviously see the passing-down work unless he proves totally washed up. The Robinson pick cost me David Njoku and Brock Bowers unfortunately, which was a gamble I knew I was making. **10.11 Jordan Mason** — At 29 and playing into the Super Bowl, Christian McCalfinjury was already a risk, and that he’s “expected” to play Monday night rather than 100 percent fine is worrying. Mason could be a league winner if McCaffrey goes down. **11.2 J.K. Dobbins** — The Mason pick cost me Jaleel McLaughlin, so I pivoted to Dobbins who still has a high ceiling if he can ever stay healthy. **12.11 Dallas Goedert** — Tight ends had flown off the board, but I was happy to get Goedert who has been valuable on a per-game basis the last couple years and is still just 29 which is late prime for the position. **13.2 Dalton Schultz** — Why not stack it even harder? The Texans could throw for 5,000-plus yards, and I have three of the four top targets and the QB. **14.11 Andrei Iosivas** — He’s gotten a lot of buzz in camp, seems like the No. 3 receiver right now, Tee Higgins is hurt and Ja’Marr Chase is still unsigned. **15.2 Cam Akers** — The Iosivas pick cost me Jalen McMillan who would have served as Godwin insurance, but Akers could easily take an aging Joe Mixon’s job. Maybe it’s too much Houston, but if it’s a top-three offense, I’m good with it. **16.11 Justin Fields** — The backup QBs had flown off the board, and Fields has too much upside to pass up. Plus he might even start Week 1 with Russell Wilson already hurt, and if he plays well, he might never look back. **17.2 Harrison Butker** — It’s either the based af kicker or a Younghoe for me. Plus he locked in a decent Week 1. **18.11 Dalvin Cook** — He had only 67 carries last year for a bad Jets offense. What if he isn’t as washed up as we think? He could easily win that job over Zeke Elliott and Rico Dowdle. **19.2 Jonnu Smith** — TE is my weakest position, so I took another upside gamble. What if he’s the Dolphins third target? **20.11 Giants Defense** — I think I took them in all four NFFC leagues. They get the Darnold Vikings at home and then Jayden Daniels in his second career start. And they have three Pro Bowl level pass rushers. **Roster By Position** **QB** CJ Stroud **RB** Jahmyr Gibbs/Jaylen Warren **WR** Marvin Harrison/Stefon Diggs/Tank Dell **TE** Dallas Goedert **FLEX** Chris Godwin **K** Harrison Butker **D** Giants **B** Jaxon Smith-Njigba/Brian Robinson/Jordan Mason/JK Dobbins/Dalton Schultz/Andrei Iosivas/Cam Akers/Justin Fields/Dalvin Cook/Jonnu Smith

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a ton of action in this game. I had the Packers with the points and am now 0-2 to start the week in my home picking pool. I had Xavier McKinney in the [Steak League](https://www.realmansports.com/p/steak-league-879?utm_source=publication-search) which was nice as like Roquan Smith he too started the year with a pick. But I was missing the principal scorers namely Saquon Barkley (maybe I let the nerds talk me out of him, as I had him [ranked highly initially](https://www.realmansports.com/p/running-back-rankings?utm_source=publication-search)) and Jayden Reed. Barkley I’m okay with because the potential for Jalen Hurts TDs was something I hadn’t initially considered, but Reed was a major error and in fact I passed on him for freaking Chris Godwin in my [Primetime last night](https://www.realmansports.com/p/nffc-primetime-fa7?utm_source=publication-search)! I had even argued with Alan Seslowsky that Reed was the [obvious choice](https://www.realmansports.com/p/week-1) among the Packers receivers. So seeing him go off (and he should have had a third TD, but it was called back due to something I’ve never seen before (both teams having 12 men on the field) was painful. Godwin is almost sure to have a terrible season now just to hammer home the lesson for me: Don’t worry about 10 spots of ADP, take the fucking guy you like. Stop listening to the consensus when you have a real lean. I don’t know how many times I need to learn this lesson, but apparently at least one more! - Reed looked like the most electrifying receiver on the field for the Packers. He had only six targets, not including the TD called back due to the penalties, but it’s obvious he’ll get more, and the handoff he took 33-yards to the house will incentivize them to do that again too. Year 2 after the surprisingly strong Year 1. He belongs in the second round now, along with Rashee Rice. - Christian Watson caught a TD and will be involved, but as great an athlete as he is he doesn’t have Reed’s football skills. Romeo Doubs is just a guy, but he’s reliable, and Dontayvion Wicks had a rough game — he’s an easy cut for me. - Jordan Love didn’t scramble much, and the Packers settled for a ton of field goals, but he looked okay. I think once they give Reed his 10 targets, Love will have his expected numbers. *(Just read on RotoWire that Love left the game for the last two plays with an unspecified leg injury, something not apparent on the 40-minute edited version. I thought they brought Malik Willis to throw a Hail Mary!* *Obviously, if he’s out for any length of time, all bets are off for the Packers receivers.)* - Josh Jacobs got stuffed in short yardage early, fumbled (though the Packers recovered), but ran well and hard late and even caught two passes. I have zero shares, but he looks like a fine pick for the late-third/early fourth. His backup Emanuel Wilson looked pretty spry too. Marshawn Lloyd is a cut now too in most formats. - Brayden Narveson missed a key kick off the post, but got a lot of attempts. He seems to have landed in the right place for a big season. - Jalen Hurts was a bit sloppy with two picks and a lost fumble, never got going on the ground (seemed like the Packers were really dedicated to taking that away), and the ass-smash didn’t work as well without Jason Kelce. But his receivers are so good, and Saquon Barkley is a big upgrade too. I would downgrade him a little though as his rushing TD projection maybe went from 10 to seven. - AJ Brown didn’t even look like he was running fast as he easily scored a 67-yard TD past the Packers defense. DeVonta Smith seemed to line up more in the slot and was automatic on key third-downs. There was no third receiver of which to speak, and even Dallas Goedert saw only five targets. - Barkley looked great, both on his TD catch, and as a rusher. As I said I don’t have any shares despite being high on him initially, but I love Barkley as a player (and bitcoiner!), and still kind of root for him. I hope he smashes this year.

>Blaise Pascal: 'I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.' Some of you Stackers need to spend a little more time to make your posts short and sweet. Sometimes I realize a post doesn't even have a point after wasting time reading it. A long poorly written post is a waste of my time and yours too! originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/676136

Hey Frens, This is the Geyser team, coming at you with a spicy idea: a grant for proper journalism. **Issue:** Journalism is broken. Independent journalism is emerging with the work of [The Rage](https://geyser.fund/project/therage/), Whitney Webb and so forth. They deal with issues like privacy, political corruption, economics, ESG, medicine and many other issues that are not discussed by mainstream media. The problem is that not many people know about their work and there are very few grant programs that support their work. **Proposed Solution:** Geyser would like to host a Grant supporting independent journalists using 'community voting mechanism'. See here for how [Community Voting Grants work](https://geyser.fund/grants/thailandbitcoinconference). However, we need more companies to partner up and sponsor this initiative with us. Ideas of more sponsors: - Stacker news: SN has become a great repository of independent/indie journalism. I think they'd fit in great as sponsors for this type of grant. cc: @k00b - [Bitesize media](https://www.bitesizebitcoin.xyz): A new independent media house that wants to focus on the signal Bitcoin brings to our world. They expressed interest already. - Bitcoin Magazine: might be interested as well in this effort. Would love the community's feedback on this idea and propose additional thoughts! originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/674951

I got back into the Circa Survivor Contest this year at great cost (my flight out of Palm Springs on July 5 was cancelled due to heat, so I had to rent a car and drive through the Mojave Desert, and the road to Vegas was closed, so I had to double back another 100 miles, which in total took six hours), so this is Team Of Destiny 2.0. Or at least it had better be. I’m not going to stick to any one method or philosophy. Put differently, I realize that in order to win, I need to go into the future, find out what has already happened and pick on that basis. Pot odds is great, but even if you do that properly every week, your edge over the field isn’t that huge. Instead of a 1 in 10,000 chance to win, maybe you have 1 in 6,500. Sure, if you had 100 entries in every high stakes contest, it might be enough to eke out a reliable profit, but I’m not here for that. I’m here to navigate one boat through the icebergs and take down the $10M. And for that, you can’t hope to get lucky. You have to know in advance. What method do I propose to see into the future? Only my imagination. I’m going to spend a lot of time imagining what might happen, turn my brain into a quantum device, break space-time and come to the right answers. Easier said than done, but I’m committed. . . . In any event, let’s take a look at the slate: Here are the ownership numbers per [Officefootballpools.com](http://Officefootballpools.com). <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/4143b814092950ec28820e3d86d7608059d8a767b14eb9e2f19821b57ccb0856.png"> The pot-odds play is the Bills if you buy into the Vegas numbers — Bengals roughly 78.5 and the Bills at 72.6%. That means the Bengals have a 21.5% chance to lose, the Bills 27.4%. That’s a 27.4 percent increase in risk (coincidentally.) But if the Bengals lose they take out 39 people, and if the Bills lose they take out only 15. Let’s assume another 20-odd people lose with other teams (in a hypothetical 100-person pool) and you’re down to 41 if the Bengals lose/Bills win, 65 if the Bills lose/Bengals win. If we say each person put in $10, the former scenario is $1000 (total pot)/41 = $24.39, and the latter $1000/65 = $15.38. The ratio of 24.39/15.38 = 1.59. In other words, you have 59 percent percent more equity in Week 2 on the Bills if the Bengals lose than you would on the Bengals if the Bills lose. You’re talking a 27.4 percent greater risk for a 59 percent greater reward. So normally I’d snap call the Bills. But I’m probably going Bengals because I think the Cardinals are dangerous this year, and the Pats are arguably the worst team in the league and in surrender mode after they dealt Matthew Judon to the Falcons. (All this is *supposed* to be priced in, of course, but I don’t care.) I’ll finalize my pick before Saturday’s deadline, but that’s how I see it for now.

An odd thing happened — I squinted when opening my laptop this morning so as not to see the final score, but I *thought* I read a headline saying the Ravens beat the Chiefs. Maybe it was a cached headline from the night before saying what they’d have to do to beat the Chiefs? but I shut the laptop and logged into my Apple TV account to stream the game on the TV, fully expecting the Ravens to win. I mean up until the moment they overturned the Isaiah Likely TD, I thought the Ravens would win. Funny, but not funny because I picked the Ravens in my low-stakes picking pool, and I HATE starting off the week 0-1, no matter the stakes. In any event, it was an okay game, not great, but there were some interesting takeaways. - Derrick Henry looked fine but is going to do almost nothing in the passing game. He had two awkward targets, but Justice Hill was in the game on passing downs and during the end-of-half two-minute drill. Plus Lamar Jackson almost always takes off when he’s in trouble, so if the play isn’t a designed pass to the back, which will be rare for Henry, he’s not getting the ball except via handoff. - Jackson looked smooth to me and he’ll have a huge year for as long as he can stay healthy, especially now that Isaiah Likely looks like a real threat. But at 6-2, 205, 16 carries per game is a big ask. - Likely looked great. On his long TD, he made great moves, and even on the TD that was overturned, he showed great footwork to make it that close. I’m awfully curious to see where the near-invisible Mark Andrews slips in my NFFC Primetime tonight. (I think Round 8 or so, and I’d have to think about it.) - Rashod Bateman had five targets, four of them down the field. He’s their field stretcher, and though it was a quiet day, there should be more. - Zay Flowers got 10 targets (good), but it was dink and dunk stuff. To be honest, Likely (12 targets!) looked like the WR1, the alpha running the intermediate routes, Bateman the deep guy and Flowers the midget in the slot. - Patrick Mahomes didn’t have a big game, but that was against a top defense and he still got 10.4 YPA. And they were missing one of their field stretchers in Hollywood Brown. - Rashee Rice was the story for the Chiefs IMO. He had nine targets and made it look so easy, like Cooper Kupp schemed open on the Rams a few years ago. Xavier Worthy scored twice, but on only three targets even without Brown. He did look awfully fast, though. - Isiah Pacheco ran hard against a tough defense, but didn’t do much as a receiver. He’ll be fine — I wouldn’t move his stock much after this game. - Travis Kelce had a quiet night, but I wouldn’t read much into it. It’s not like Noah Gray is Likely to take his role. - After all these years, I finally ditched the loyal Justin Tucker for a Younghoe, and I feel like a new man. It still brought me no joy to see him miss that 53-yard FG. - You have to love [Steak League IDP Roquan Smith](https://www.realmansports.com/p/steak-league-879) getting a pick for you opening night.

- 1:nan: - **2** - 2[irorio絵文字](https://nostviewstr.vercel.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) - 1nostr:npub1sjcvg64knxkrt6ev52rywzu9uzqakgy8ehhk8yezxmpewsthst6sw3jqcw - 2 - 2 - 3 - 3 - 2 - 1 |1|2| |--|--| |test|:nan:| --- ### :nan: **:nan:** 1. 1 2. 2 - tet - tes 3. 3 1. 1 2. 2 > t >> te >>> test

Nyms, Personas, and Digital Identity #GHOSTn If you want #privacy then embrace compartmentlization and obscuration in your digital life. Get used to having multiple identities that you can switch between for various needs. Your legal "matrix" name that pays taxes and has no controversal opinions or associations. Don't try to obscure this person. They are a open book. Put your best foot forward. Show them what you want them to see. Your private online persona. You let your hair down, have hot takes on social media, purchase legal but potentially embarrassing items or just have hobbies and associations that you are not ashamed of but don't want to advertise for some reason. You use a VPN and no kyc sudo anonymous accounts. Have fun but don't go crazy, know that on a long enough timeline this persona will be linked back to you. The more connections and data that you put out there the easier this will be. Your anonymous nym that only uses #tor, VMs, hidden drives, and rarely used accounts. Plausible deniability is baked in. Used by dissidents, freedom fights, truth to power, and anyone in oppressive regimes. Finally you have your Nemo. This person does not exist. No name, no files and only uses #Tails or disposable systems that does not leave a trace. Not everyone would ever have a need for a Nemo but it is good to know how to just in case you ever do.

Encryption is the promethium fire that the cypherpunks secured from heaven for me and you. It is our sacred duty to use and advance that in the world. Encryption is so powerful that governments tried to keep it away from the people and to this day have tried to weaken and backdoor it at every turn. So what is encryption? It is a deep deep rabbit hole and involves a lot of numbers but in a nutshell it uses math to scramble up the data of your file so it is gibberish and can't be read without decrypting it back to regular data. Encryption technology has continued to advance over time and cracking technology to break the encryption has as well. For our purposes all you really need to remember is to use modern cyphers and your encryption is really only going to be as good as the password (use a passphrase) strength you are using to lock it down with. > BEGINNER LEVEL - Encrypt your phone and computer. People walk around with their whole lives on their phone. Protect it. -phone: Congratulations, if you already have a lock screen set on either your iPhone or Android device then device encryption is enabled. If your lock screen password is only 4 digits then we still have work to do. Four digits is only about 10,000 combinations and fairly easy to crack. I believe it only took them about 40 minutes to crack the iPhone of the attempted Trump shooter. Go into settings and set it up for 6 digits or for extra credit use a alphanumeric password. After your phone then your personal computer probably has the most important data to you. Banking records, tax documents, photos, etc. Encrypt your drive. -Windows: from Settings, select Privacy security -> Device encryption. Just follow the prompts. -Apple: from Apple icon, select System Preferences -> Security & Privacy icon. Click "Turn On FileVault". -Linux: most distros gives you the option during installation. If you didn't do so then search for how to enable it after the fact based on your distribution. Awesome sauce. You have achieved minimum status. > ADVANCED LEVEL - Encrypt individual files. You already encrypted your computer but guess what, once you start up your computer and log in the key is stored in RAM for as long as it stays on. The beginner level encryption protects your computer when it is off and it means no one can just steal your hard drive and access your files. This is good, but what if someone grabs you while you're sitting there working on it? What if you leave it in sleep mode and not turned off? Then that whole disk encryption is not really going to help you. What if you had individual files that you consider more secret than the others? That finance spreadsheet or that special pic your spouse sent you? That's where individual file encryption comes in. You are just scrolling nostr when they grab you, your computer is on, and unlocked, but those special files are still safely encrypted. I will share with you one of my favorite small programs: Picocrypt. Download the Paranoid pack and store it in multiple drives, email accounts, and cloud storage. That way you will always have a copy to decrypt any files that you stored away. Use it to encrypt any files that you feel need extra attention. It is also very useful for encrypting any files that you intend to store online in cloud storage. You do encrypt your files that are stored online don't you? Yes, even with the company that offers "encrypted" storage. Don't trust their encryption, use your own. > EXPERT LEVEL - Encrypt containers and hidden containers. What if you want to encrypt several files and keep them all together in like a folder or container? That's where Veracrypt comes in. Free, open source, cross platform, and powerful. Veracrypt allows you to create encrypted containers from any file that act like individual drives that can be mounted or unmounted as needed. You can name these files anything that you want, move them around or delete like any file, and make as many as you want. This allows you to have compartmentation of your files and drives. Next trick, Veracrypt allows you to create a hidden container inside that container. Enter one passphrase and you open the encrypted container. Enter a different passphrase and you open a different hidden container. This allows deniability. When they grab you and start pulling your fingernails off until you tell them the password to open the encrypted container, give it to them. They don't have to know that there is another hidden one under that. These features allow you to do all sorts of interesting things only limited by your need and imagination. What if you have a container named as some random config file in your /etc folder? What if you just encrypted a removable storage drive? What if you have multiple hard drives on your computer that have multiple containers and hidden containers? What if you have a hidden container that can only be accessed from booting up in a amnesiac OS like Tails leaving no trace that the files exist or trail that they were ever accessed? Go crazy, have fun. > NEMO - Failsafe Nemo has no files, encrypted or otherwise. If they did you couldn't prove it. Nemo does use something like Tails that retains no memory from boot to boot. Nemo also uses a failsafe. A simple lanyard attached to the flashdrive running the OS and the other end around their wrist while they work. When you try to separate them from the computer the flashdrive pulls out and everything is gone. > > Using these programs you can create a layered and compartmentlized approach to your encryption scheme. There are also plenty of other encryption programs to check out such as Cryptomator, AES Crypt, etc > Last point and most important: Encryption is only as good as the passphrase you use to lock it down. Use a shitty password and it doesn't matter how uncrackable your encryption is.

I do this every year, and every year I get at least one correct. [Last year](https://www.realmansports.com/p/grading-my-bold-predictions-e72?utm_source=publication-search), I got exactly one correct and unfortunately it was the surefire prediction that not all of them would be right, i.e., I got really zero correct. But that just goes to show how bold they were. These aren’t layups, more like three pointers and half-court shots. I fared much better the [previous](https://www.realmansports.com/p/grading-my-bold-predictions) two [years](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/east-coast-offense-grading-my-predictions-61196), so hopefully these will get back on track. *(Actually, probably better to just link to all of them for full transparency: [2023](https://www.realmansports.com/p/grading-my-bold-predictions-e72?utm_source=publication-search), [2022](https://www.realmansports.com/p/grading-my-bold-predictions), [2021](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article/east-coast-offense-grading-my-predictions-61196), [2020](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=54494), [2019](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=48921), [2018,](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=41171) [2017](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=37079), [2016](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=31269), [2015](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=26515), [2014](https://www.rotowire.com/football/article.php?id=22258).) I’m not going to argue it matters, or that anyone even clicks through on these, but I want to pat myself on the back for being so organized in archiving my old work.)* 1. **Stefon Diggs leads the Texans in targets, catches and receiving yards** Right now, he’s getting drafted more than a round behind Nico Collins and less than a round ahead of Tank Dell. Diggs is 30, but he was one of the league’s best receivers until halfway through last year when the Bills made an offensive play-calling change. Moreover, Diggs is getting paid $22.5 million, so the Texans obviously don’t think he’s washed up, and he’s also in a contract year. 2. **CJ Stroud leads the NFL is passing yards** This is +600 on DraftKings, so the real odds are probably north of 8:1. Stroud adds Diggs to his receiving corps, doesn’t run much and heads into Year 2. 3. **Roman Wilson (ADP 211) has more receptions than George Pickens (ADP 47)** Pickens is a boom or bust downfield playmaker, not high-target alpha, and Wilson is a good fit for the slot for the Steelers new QBs. Think Martavis Bryant not Antonio Brown. (Not that Wilson is Brown!) Van Jefferson isn’t good, and someone will need to fill the void. Moreover, because Pittsburgh has new QBs, neither has an existing rapport with the incumbent Pickens. 4. **DeAndre Hopkins (ADP 82) out produces Calvin Ridley (ADP 54) in PPR** Hopkins wasn’t terrible last year, has a rapport with Will Levis and is a future Hall of Famer who can still run routes. Ridley is already 29 and is just a guy outside of his monster season in 2020. 5. **The Giants will field a top-10 fantasy defense.** I’ve been crushed by my homer bold predictions in the past, but they added Brian Burns to a rush that already had Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, the offense should be on the field more and generate some leads with a real playmaking receiver in Malik Nabers. 6. **One of the following Year 2 receivers will finish in the top-15 PPR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jayden Reed, Jordan Addison, Dontayvion Wicks, Michael Wilson, Josh Downs, Andrei Iosivas, Quentin Johnston, Marvin Mims, Jalin Hyatt** I make this prediction every year, and it often pans out as Year 2 is when receivers typically make the leap. I left out Tank Dell because he’s now got a fifth-round ADP, as well as the obvious ones: Zay Flowers, Rashee Rice and Puka Nacua. 7. **Rome Odunze (ADP 77) will outproduce Xavier Worthy (ADP 59)** Both receivers enter crowded situations, and while Worthy’s is far better, he’s also got essentially the same skill-set as teammate Marquise Brown. Moreover, Andy Reid rarely entrusts rookies with large roles, especially early on. Odunze is 6-3, 215 and has the pedigree of a true NFL alpha, while Worthy weighs only 165 pounds at 5-11. Finally, Patrick Mahomes already has an established rapport with both Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, while Odunze gets a more open competition with the Bears veteran WRs, given all three will play with Caleb Williams for the first time. 8. **Dalvin Cook will lead the Cowboys in rushing yards** Cook is 29 and looked beyond “cooked” last year on the Jets, but his 3.3 YPC was on a small sample (67 carries), and prior to that, he’d been very good for the Vikings. At the very least he should have fresh legs, and he’d only need to beat out the ancient Ezekiel Elliott and Rico Dowdle. (Of course, Cook would have to be promoted from the practice squad first, so I really should hedge and make the prediction “neither Elliott, nor Dowdle will lead the Cowboys in rushing yards,” but I’ll push it and say it’s Cook.) 9. **Jonathan Taylor (ADP12 ) will lead the NFL in rushing yards.** He’s got little competition in the Indy backfield and a running QB who should open lanes for him. Draft Kings has him at +600, so his real odds are probably about 10:1, but I’d take him over the favored Christian McCaffrey (age/mileage) and all the other backs who are more hybrid types or old (Derrick Henry.) 10. **Dalton Kincaid (TE4) will lead all TE in catches** I guess this is a chalky pick because he and Kelce are both favored at the position at +3000, while Evan Engram is +5000! (I’d way rather bet on Engram at those odds.) But straight up, I’m going with Kincaid who is likely Josh Allen’s de facto No. 1 target with Diggs gone. In his final 11 regular season games Kincaid had 56 catches which prorates to 87 catches over the full year. And rookie tight ends rarely do anything and often make a leap in Year 2. 11. **Some of these predictions will be wrong** No one’s perfect, but you never want to get shut out.

I did the third and final NFFC Beat Chris Liss league last night, and it was one of the more interesting and aggressive drafts I’ve ever done. I picked from the seven slot. Here are the results: ([Link to livestream](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-3-livestream)) <img src="https://blossom.primal.net/269209e3c21e86749662ec594f0344c7aa45073d1c590d61fec611e74e1e15a8.png"> **1.7 Ja’Marr Chase** — I made seven my first choice, but then realized I probably should have gone with four or five, or maybe nine or 10. That’s because if the first six picks went chalk (and they did), I’d be faced with Chase who is holding out for a new contract (and who I have in two other leagues already), Justin Jefferson (new, bad QB) or Garrett Wilson (new QB, never been a Round 1-level WR.) At 1.9 I’d have gotten one of those guys anyway, but earlier picks on the way back. And at 1.4, I’d have gotten a shot at Bijan Robinson for an easier hero-RB build. But I had pick seven, and I tripled-down on Chase because I think it’s very likely he’ll get his extension (or play if he doesn’t), and he’s an all-time talent with a top QB and projects for a massive target share. Plus, if he busts [it’s Alan Seslowsky’s fault](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n2l5ywZY4M), and having someone to blame is paramount. **2.6 Drake London** — I had it mapped out via ADP that I’d likely get De’Von Achane here, but he went at his min pick (I’m pretty sure) at the 1-2 turn, and so I was scrambling a bit. I really wanted Puka Nacua, who I missed by one pick, considered Cooper Kupp, but ended up going for the ADP-faller London who I had not remotely planned on getting. London obviously benefits from the massive QB upgrade in Atlanta, but it’s an open question whether he’s really an elite receiver or just a good one, and Kyle Pitts could easily emerge as Kurt Cousins favorite target instead. **3.6 DeVonta Smith** — When Derrick Henry went one pick ahead of me, it was between Smith and Jaylen Waddle who I took in [BCL2](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-2-77e). Normally I avoid receivers this undersized but Smith has always produced at every level and is locked into his sizeable target share. Plus I read some [Scott Barrett tweets](https://x.com/ScottBarrettDFB/status/1829973477131952161) about how Kellen Moore’s offense boosts the slot receiver a ton and that Smith thrives in the slot and could see more work there. **4.7 Stefon Diggs** — This was ideal. I now have Diggs in all four of my leagues so far. Maybe he’s hit a cliff at age 30, but he’s getting $22.5M to play in arguably the league’s top passing game that lacks a true No. 1 alpha. I also considered Tee Higgins to pair with Chase (and serve as Chase insurance), but Diggs has more upside as a potential No. 1 target. **5.6 Dalton Kincaid** — I’ve been high on him all summer, but he never quite fell to me in the right place until now. I expect him to be Josh Allen’s No. 1 receiver now that Diggs is gone. **6.7 James Conner** — I needed a RB, and Conner is one. I’m a bit wary of a 29-YO guy with an extensive injury history, but he averaged 5.0 YPC last year and has never had a massive workload so he’s fresh for his age at least. Plus, the Cardinals offense should be good this year. **7.6 Anthony Richardson** — I wasn’t planning on taking a QB here, or even Richardson who I have in [BCL2](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-2-77e) in Round 5!, but I couldn’t pull the trigger on Zamir White over someone with Richardson’s upside. I’m trying to win the overall contest, not simply cover the bases with starters at every position. **8.7 Jonathon Brooks** — Jaylen Warren was still on the board, and he was a viable Week 1 starter for me, but Brooks who is on IR, struck me as the upside play. I heard somewhere, can’t remember where, that Brooks was an elite prospect in college before the injury, and there’s a lot of hype about Carolina’s new offensive brain trust boosting the offense generally. But it might have been a rash pick given my zero-RB build to take a rookie on IR. **9.6 Marquise Brown** — I missed Warren by one pick on the way back, and instead of pivoting to Tyjae Spears I leaned into the zero-RB by taking Brown who was going in the fifth or sixth round before his injury. The beauty of this pick is I don’t need Brown right away as I wouldn’t start him anyway, so I pay no price for him missing Week 1. The ugly of this pick is I missed out on Spears, Zack Moss and Chuba Hubbard (who would have been nice to pair with Brooks.) **10.7 Joe Burrow** — The obvious pick was Trey Benson to pair with Conner. In fact, I could have had Hubbard in Round 9 and Benson in 10 to lock up two backfields for my zero-RB team. But no, I had to take a *second* QB here because (a) Richardson has a low floor; (b) this was cheap for Burrow; and (c) I could potentially pair Burrow with Chase for the playoffs. If you’re gonna go zero RB, lean the into it. (The other problem with this pick is the weekly headache of picking my starting QB.) **11.6 Jaleel McLaughlin** — The Burrow pick cost me not only Benson but JK Dobbins too, but I had my eye on McLaughlin who apparently was a god in college, and [per Barrett](https://x.com/ScottBarrettDFB/status/1829971593852043394) is in an ideal spot as the RB2 in Sean Payton’s offense. Now that stat has to be tempered a bit given that peak Alvin Kamara was the source of so much of it, but how much of that was Payton’s offense? In any event, I’m seriously rolling into Week 1 with McLaughlin in my active lineup because of the Richardson, Brooks, Brown and Burrow picks. **12.7 Jordan Mason** — Obviously he’s not usable unless and until Christian McCaffrey gets hurt, and the Niners badly need Trent Williams to report, but he’s a top-10 RB if McCaffrey, who played into February last year, goes down. This also furthers my extreme “what could go right” build. **13.6 Braelon Allen** — Oddly I view this pick as a mistake as he was higher in ADP, so I thought I could wait another round on Giants backup Tyrone Tracy. (Tracy went three picks ahead of me in the next round.) Allen might be good, but only a Breece Hall injury could free him up whereas Tracy could just outplay Devin Singletary. Granted the Jets might be a better environment than the Giants, so Allen could have more upside if he did get a shot, but Tracy is also a converted WR and would likely catch a lot of passes if he got the job. **14.7 Khalil Herbert** — Once Tracy was gone, I pivoted to Herbert. The Chicago backfield is crowded, but D’Andre Swift always gets hurt, and Roschon Johnson isn’t as good a runner as Herbert. **15.6 Jalen McMillan** — I wanted to get Cam Akers because Joe Mixon is old, but I missed him by two picks and pivoted (finally) back to WR. McMillan’s created some buzz in camp, and both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are getting old. **16.7 Will Shipley** — I love Saquon Barkley, but he’s getting old and has been hurt a lot. Kenneth Gainwell is ostensibly ahead of Shipley, but is just a guy. Another top-10 upside back should the starter go down. **17.6 Dalvin Cook** — He’s on the practice squad for now, and he looked beyond done last year with the Jets, but keep in mind he only got 67 carries, and the Cowboys don’t have serious obstacles ahead of him should he regain even 60 percent of his prior form. Cook was still very good in 2022, and he should have fresh legs too. **18.7 Quentin Johnston** — I needed one more receiver, and Johnston is one. Seriously, though he was a first-round pick only last year, and he’s competing with only Josh Palmer and a rookie. **19.6 Younghoe Koo** — All these years I was with a wonderful kicker in Justin Tucker, but I’m trading him in for a Younghoe. (That joke will get old one day, just not in any of our lifetimes.) **20.7 Giants Defense** — They draw Sam Darnold and Jayden Daniels the first two weeks, and added Brian Burns to Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence. **Roster By Position** **QB** Anthony Richardson **RB** James Conner/Jaleel McLaughlin **WR** Ja’Marr Chase/Drake London/DeVonta Smith **TE** Dalton Kincaid **FLEX** Stefon Diggs **K** Younghoe Koo **D** Giants **Bench** Jonathan Brooks/Marquise Brown/Joe Burrow/Jordan Mason/Braelon Allen/Khalil Herbert/Jalen McMillan/Will Shipley/Dalvin Cook/Quentin Johnston

First steps into privacy. You are a normie, but maybe you are privacy curious. Maybe you are ready to take a first step or two into security and privacy but don't know where to start. Don't worry, here are some absolute beginner first steps that will make a big difference. > 1. No one except your friends and family should know your personal phone number and email address. Stop giving away your data! You don't have to fill out every blank on that form. Unless they are mailing you something they don't need your home address. Use a email aliasing service or just create a burner email account as a spam trap. Get a second VOIP phone number. Look up the address of a local hotel. Use these instead of your personal information or maybe just skip the customer reward program. > 2. Speaking of giving away your data. Stop using spyware! Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, etc. It is "free" software designed to suck every ounce of personal data from you to be repackaged and sold. Don't just delete the app, search for how to delete your account data. BTW Windows, google, and 90% of the apps on your phone are also spyware but one thing at a time. Maybe start reading up on FOSS. > 3. Clean up your communications. Stop using unencrypted calls and SMS texts. There are several options but just get Signal and make your friends use it. Its easy and works. > 4. Clean up your email. This one is probably going to take you some time if you are like most people who have hundreds of emails from years gone bye. Go through every single one and unsubscribe from every newsletter or sales pitch from every store you have ever bought anything from. Block every spam email you see. If you are using a email provider that literally scans every email you send or receive in order to sell you stuff like gmail, then now is the time to switch to a private and encrypted provider like proton or tuta. > 5. Clean up your web surfing. Switch to a privacy browser and search engine. If you don't know which one just get Brave. There are ones that I like better but Brave is good enough and easy, especially if you like Chrome. A hardened Firefox is better but requires some homework and if on desktop Mullvad browser is a excellent choice. > BONUS TIP: Clean up your security. Make sure all of your software is setup for automatic updates, especially security updates. Also, I don’t know who needs to hear this but get a password manager if you don’t have one. (Don't save passwords on the browser!) Get an actual password manager and then add 2FA to all of your online accounts and you will have better security than 90% of the population. > OK, nothing too exciting but we got the big rocks. Data leaks, communications, email, web surfing, and basic security. What, no VPN or Tor or super secret stuff? No, not yet. This is your level zero default. Your identity and activity is still transparent but you are no longer leaking your data all over the place. This will provide a general base for everyone. The next step is to perform a basic threat assessment of your personal situation. What are you most at risk for? Targeted attacks or passive? Cyber or physical? What do you most need to defend against? Government mass surveillance, surveillance capitalism, censorship, or public exposure? There will be some overlap with all of them but your next steps will really depend on your answer. We will cover each of these in greater depth later.

Testing articles on Yakkihonne

When I first stumbled upon Nostr back in February 2023, I was immediately drawn to the network's unique design. It was like stumbling across a hidden architectural gem - something so intricate and beautifully crafted that most people might walk past without a second glance. But for those who truly saw it, Nostr's design was mesmerizing. I didn’t know exactly what I was diving into, but I felt enthusiasm because I knew this was something entirely different from the usual legacy social media attempts at connecting people. One of the first things that struck me was the people. Nostr wasn't just a network; it was a gathering place for a group of curious outlaws, all eager to try something new and break away from the norm. The platforms and interfaces were a bit scrappy and buggy in those early days, but that didn't matter. What stood out was the spirit of the community, people kept coming back, filled with cheer and optimism. Even more impressive was the willingness to help each other out. It wasn't just about using the platform; it was about collectively figuring it out together. This was the seed of a constructive culture that was starting to take root. Coming from the Twitter culture, I noticed something refreshing: on Nostr, people referred to each other as friends, not followers. Twitter often felt like a toxic swamp of influencers, each trying to outdo the other with proclamations and status games. Sure, there were helpful people on Twitter, but more often than not, their "help" came with strings attached, promoting a Gumroad book, pushing a newsletter subscription, always with a personal incentive lurking in the background. Nostr, on the other hand, was different. Here, people helped each other just for the sake of it, with no expectation of anything in return. The spirit of giving was genuine, and it was contagious. Fast forward to today, and that same spirit is alive and well. Just take a glance at the #introductions tag, and you'll see it in action: friendly users, eagerly welcoming new members into the ecosystem, offering to lend a hand, and making everyone feel at home. The constructive culture of Nostr, built on a foundation of genuine camaraderie and selflessness, is as vibrant now as it was back in the early days. This isn't just a network; it's a community that thrives on cooperation, curiosity, and the simple joy of helping others. Nostr isn't about chasing clout or boosting follower counts; it's about building something meaningful together, one interaction at a time. And that's what makes it truly special.

Editing of profiles and projects seems easier and laid out better and the overall responsiveness of the website feels greatly improved. The Analytics section tho . . . whoo doggie! What an upgrade. Try it out at geyser.fund originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/665891

Posted using obsidian plugin https://obsidian.md/plugins?search=nostr#

# The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion This is one of my top recommends for just about anyone. Unless you just hate discussing or thinking about contentious ideas, The Righteous Mind is a must read for anyone seeking to understand how people hold such different views in good faith. The author, Jonathan Haidt, is a well respected social and moral psychologist. While being hosted by a family in India, he realized that his hosts had moral sensibilities that he just didn't have. This wasn't a matter of reaching a different conclusion about a moral question. There were things they cared about for reasons entirely alien to him. That's where his key insight came from: people have fundamentally different moral sensibilities. Haidt realized that many of the moral and political positions held by American conservatives were motivated by some of these same moral sensibilities that he simply lacked. What followed was an attempt to categorize the different types of moral sensibilities and look for patterns in who have which ones. ## Moral Tastebuds Initially, Haidt identified five different moral sensibilities and likened them to tastebuds. People with a particular moral sensibility will perceive certain situations as morally significant, while those without the sensibility do not perceive it as morally significant. A sixth tastebud was added after studying libertarians and realizing just how goddamn weird we are. ### The Six Moral Foundations * Care/Harm * Fairness/Cheating * Loyalty/Betrayal * Authority/Subversion * Sanctity/Degradation * Liberty/Oppression The findings are that each of us have different sensitivities to each of these flavors of morality. There have been some subsequent refinements and additions made in more recent work on Moral Foundations. You can learn about your personal Moral Foundations by taking [this quiz](https://moralfoundations.github.io/). ## Political Differences The part of the book I found most interesting, and the portion that is discussed the most, is describing how progressives and conservatives differ in their moral tastebuds. This explains a lot of why it's so difficult for people to have constructive conversations with "the other side". Progressives score very high on care and fairness, but relatively low on the others. Conservatives, on the other hand, score fairly high across the board. In one sense, it's not surprising that conservatives have a broader moral palate (they are stereotyped as "moralizers", after all). However, what surprised me is that they seem to care just as much as progressives about the things progressives care about. ## Failure to Communicate One of the follow up experiments they did on that initial research, was to gauge how much understanding each side had of the other. This was done by allowing people to ascribe justifications for their answers to a set of political and ethical questions. Then, subjects were asked how someone in the opposite political camp would answer the questions and what their justifications would be. The results were exactly as you'd expect from the moral foundations work. Conservatives knew what progressives believed and why, but progressives did not understand what conservatives believed or why they believed it. Conservatives share the moral foundations of progressives, so they understand them. Progressives do not share the other moral foundations of conservatives and therefor don't understand them. ## On Liberty Libertarians were discussed in the book, but most of the research to that point had not included the Liberty foundation. What they've learned is that libertarians are overwhelmingly sensitive to the liberty tastebud and fairly numb to the others. That result fascinates me, because there's nothing about libertarianism, per se, that rules out broader moral sensibilities. Libertarianism, after all, is not a holistic moral philosophy, but rather a legal philosophy. There's no contradiction in being extremely socially conservative, while also believing that the law should only punish violations of property rights. Similarly, there's no inherent reason why a socially progressive individual couldn't adopt a live-and-let-live view of government. However, it seems that people, by and large, think force needs to be brought to bear on whatever it is that they care about, but not on anything else. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/665765

Preston Pysh posted this event this morning:  Behind the scenes, the nostr event looks like this: ``` Event = { "id":"a6fa7e1a73ce70c6fb01584a0519fd29788e59d9980402584e7a0af92cf0474a", "pubkey":"85080d3bad70ccdcd7f74c29a44f55bb85cbcd3dd0cbb957da1d215bdb931204", "created_at":1724494504, "kind":1, "tags":[ [ "p", "6c237d8b3b120251c38c230c06d9e48f0d3017657c5b65c8c36112eb15c52aeb", "", "mention" ], [ "p", "77ec966fcd64f901152cad5dc7731c7c831fe22e02e3ae99ff14637e5a48ef9c", "", "mention" ], [ "p", "c1fc7771f5fa418fd3ac49221a18f19b42ccb7a663da8f04cbbf6c08c80d20b1", "", "mention" ], [ "p", "50d94fc2d8580c682b071a542f8b1e31a200b0508bab95a33bef0855df281d63", "", "mention" ], [ "p", "20d88bae0c38e6407279e6a83350a931e714f0135e013ea4a1b14f936b7fead5", "", "mention" ], [ "p", "273e7880d38d39a7fb238efcf8957a1b5b27e819127a8483e975416a0a90f8d2", "", "mention" ], [ "t", "BH2024" ] ], "content":"Awesome Freedom Panel with...", "sig":"2b64e461cd9f5a7aa8abbcbcfd953536f10a334b631a352cd4124e8e187c71aad08be9aefb6a68e5c060e676d06b61c553e821286ea42489f9e7e7107a1bf79a" } ``` In nostr, all events have this form, so once you become familiar with the nostr event structure, things become pretty easy. Look at the "tags" key. There are six "p" tags (pubkey) and one "t" tag (hashtag). The p tags are public keys of people that are mentioned in the note. The t tags are for hashtags in the note. It is common when working with NOSTR that you have to extract out certain tags. Here are some examples of how to do that with what are called JavaScript Array Methods: ### Find the first "p" tag element: ``` Event.tags.find(item => item[0] === 'p') [ 'p', '6c237d8b3b120251c38c230c06d9e48f0d3017657c5b65c8c36112eb15c52aeb', '', 'mention' ] ``` ### Same, but just return the pubkey": ``` Event.tags.find(item => item[0] === 'p')[1] '6c237d8b3b120251c38c230c06d9e48f0d3017657c5b65c8c36112eb15c52aeb' ``` ### Filter the array so I only get "p" tags: ``` Event.tags.filter(item => item[0] === 'p') [ [ 'p', '6c237d8b3b120251c38c230c06d9e48f0d3017657c5b65c8c36112eb15c52aeb', '', 'mention' ], [ 'p', '77ec966fcd64f901152cad5dc7731c7c831fe22e02e3ae99ff14637e5a48ef9c', '', 'mention' ], [ 'p', 'c1fc7771f5fa418fd3ac49221a18f19b42ccb7a663da8f04cbbf6c08c80d20b1', '', 'mention' ], [ 'p', '50d94fc2d8580c682b071a542f8b1e31a200b0508bab95a33bef0855df281d63', '', 'mention' ], [ 'p', '20d88bae0c38e6407279e6a83350a931e714f0135e013ea4a1b14f936b7fead5', '', 'mention' ], [ 'p', '273e7880d38d39a7fb238efcf8957a1b5b27e819127a8483e975416a0a90f8d2', '', 'mention' ] ] ``` ### Return an array with only the pubkeys in the "p" tags: ``` Event.tags.filter(item => item[0] === 'p').map(item => item[1]) [ '6c237d8b3b120251c38c230c06d9e48f0d3017657c5b65c8c36112eb15c52aeb', '77ec966fcd64f901152cad5dc7731c7c831fe22e02e3ae99ff14637e5a48ef9c', 'c1fc7771f5fa418fd3ac49221a18f19b42ccb7a663da8f04cbbf6c08c80d20b1', '50d94fc2d8580c682b071a542f8b1e31a200b0508bab95a33bef0855df281d63', '20d88bae0c38e6407279e6a83350a931e714f0135e013ea4a1b14f936b7fead5', '273e7880d38d39a7fb238efcf8957a1b5b27e819127a8483e975416a0a90f8d2' ] ```

Join nostr:npub1tvqc82mv8cezhax5r34n4muc2c4pgjz8kaye2smj032nngg52clq0rkrq4 and me for episode 76 of nostr:npub14kw5ygpl6fyqagh9cnrytyaqyacg46lzkq42vz7hk8txdk49kzxs04j7y0 this Friday, August 30th at 3pm ET (UTC -4) Our guest this week is nostr:npub1xv8mzscll8vvy5rsdw7dcqtd2j268a6yupr6gzqh86f2ulhy9kkqmclk3x from nostr:npub1getal6ykt05fsz5nqu4uld09nfj3y3qxmv8crys4aeut53unfvlqr80nfm who joins us to provide the lowdown on the recently launched Alby Hub You don't want to miss this one! Set your blockclocks! https://nostrnests.com/ [This is our first show announcement made from a long-form client, in keeping with QW and my #otherstuffchallenge]

On last week's episode of Plebchain Radio, QW and I announced something unusual - we would be taking a week off posting kind 1 notes on the Twitter clone clients - Primal, Damus, Nostur, etc. The clock started right after our show was posted on Friday, August 23rd and ends with show this Friday, August 30th. https://video.nostr.build/741cd7a0dd33e1ce815490d14069af96579ce47c92ea04240592c7bbb2de3a65.mp4 The idea behind the challenge is to see how much we can participate in the network without resorting to it's most accessible form of communication - kind 1 notes (the equivalent of tweets/replies). Halfway into the challenge, we've boosted and commented on shows on Fountain, zapped songs on Wavlake, commented on recipes on zap.cooking, watched videos on zap.stream and tunestr, and written the odd long-form note (oh, alright, just this one so far). It's been fun, but has also created an odd sense of sensory deprivation. We will share more details on our experience on this week's Plebchain Radio episode. Right, I'm off to explore the rest of the other-stuff-verse. I'd urge everyone to give this challenge a try. It might change how you view nostr.

## Chef's notes Easy recipe with simple ingredients. This recipe uses some store bought, precooked items as way to cut down on cook time. I recommend letting the vegetables thaw if you don't like them on the firm/crunchy side.Feel free to substitute fresh ingredients if you have the time and want to make the extra effort. ## Details - ⏲️ Prep time: 20 min - 🍳 Cook time: 50 min - 🍽️ Servings: 8-10 ## Ingredients - 2 (8 oz) packages refrigerated crescent rolls (dough sheets preferred) - 1 pound cooked rotisserie chicken (deboned and chopped) - 2 table spoons of butter - 2 (10 once) packages of frozen mixed vegetables - 1 (15 once can sliced potatoes (drained) - 1 (10.5 once) can condensed cream of chicken soup - 1 (10.5 once) can condensed cream of mushroom soup - 1/2 cup milk - salt and ground pepper to taste ## Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the botton of 9x13-inch baking dish with one can of crescent roll dough. If you don't get the sheet dough, be sure to pinch the seams together. 2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Then add the chicken, mixed vegetables, and sliced potatoes (recommend cutting into smaller pieces). Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are thawed and mixture is heated through, 5 to 7 minutes. 3. While the mixed vegetables are heating, warm both cans of condensed soup in a seperate pan over medium-low heat. Slowly add milk and cook, stirring frequently, until combined and heated through, about 3 minutes. 4. Add the soup mixture to the chicken mixture, then pour into the baking dish. Top with the second can of crescent roll dough. Feel free to cut some slits in dough if you are using the dough sheets. Cover lightly with foil to prevent the crescent roll dough from browning too quickly. 5. Bake in oven until heated through and dough is a golden brown. Cook time should be around 45-50 minutes I reommend removing the foil for the last 10 minutes to get a golden crust. Be sure to keep a close watch on the crust after removing the foil because it will brown quickly.

https://image.nostr.build/df0721d6d45d82db35d06663a0318ffe68c0b2b3c694888d23694efcc4255de5.gif

This was my first year betting on preseason football and I came out about 20% ahead. My operating assumption was just that no one should be a heavy preseason favorite, so I took any team that was at least +200 to win outright. I'm really looking forward to the real season starting. I've got my eyes on that Raiders vs Chargers opener. Every year the Bolts underachieve, while the Raiders overachieve (based on expected wins). Nitrobetting got some NBA futures up. I took OKC at +750 and the Bucks at +1200 to win the title. What are the upcoming events you're looking forward to? originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/662590

There's a very interesting dynamic developing in the American political media landscape. Don't worry, this post isn't explicitly political. One of the huge incentive problems in media is needing access to important people in order to cover them. Objective, or otherwise critical, journalists may be denied access, while favorably biased journalists are granted it. This is known as "access journalism". Despite being a very well-known problem, it remains an intractable issue for the industry. The Kamala Harris campaign has been blatantly denying access to even friendly outlets, which violates the basic logic of access journalism. The expectation then is that she'll get more objective or critical coverage, and I think we've been seeing that. Part of why this is so interesting to me is that the American corporate press has a dramatic bias towards Democrats and against Trump (even more so than a generic Republican). Bias and incentives are clashing. I often say that outcomes follow incentives. If so, then we should expect to see even more critical coverage of Kamala, unless she begins granting more press access. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/662537

Hey everyone, So during the weekend I launched a little side project called: # "A Stoic Resurrection" https://image.nostr.build/682ddced4e4c823dcdc28bd34cc920ce0802964b170f9fa08295a89afe08df6c.jpg For now I will be sharing my favorite quotes from both historical and contemporary thinkers in the form of photos or short videos, plus some of my own thoughts, as I have noticed they seem to be very much aligned with the Stoic philosophy in general. I played around with some ideas regarding the design and aesthetics, and settled on this kind of style for now: *Photo examples* https://image.nostr.build/878bf80e40c522320820e766723dcd7b2ea5a4029dc8effd9c66a56f0fbbbc54.jpg https://image.nostr.build/3d994d3fb52def142d4b331ef0edb53a9862c8ab071d57da580a8fa08430198a.jpg https://image.nostr.build/d583755e9065cc5c49357ead1734e7e2ab5d43c56bd3345cb14331cab61cd505.jpg *Video examples* https://youtube.com/shorts/OMKKRQ4zNLM https://youtube.com/shorts/UkFBFBniCp8 For now I'm using copyright free images from [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/) plus copyright free recordings of classical music via [Musopen](https://musopen.org/) (starting off with Chopin) for the content as per my *Open Source Culture* philosophy. **The current goal is to post 1 quote per day on average.** I do have some additional ideas for the future, but as I said, this is a side project and how much time & energy I'm going to invest in this will depend both on the amount of free(ish) time I have on hand, my current level of interest in the subject, as well as how much demand & audience there is (or isn't) for this kind of content. ### Please feel free to share your thoughts, criticisms, suggestions, and perhaps some of your personal favorite Stoic thinkers / ideas from both past and the present that have caught your attention. **Oh, and of course, if stoic philosophy sounds like your cup of tea, please feel free to give the project a follow on your preferred social media platform(s) and/or show your appreciation with zaps:** nostr: nostr:npub1angxrnwzujemyzkhgef2gwcy0s4ayjh62574p8g2xwnlfp8pxeaq4frrpe [X](https://x.com/stoic_resurrect) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb5MZ0YL7BlBLFKHpLVAHkg) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/stoic_resurrection/) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@stoic_resurrection) ### Peace & love, ### Kontext

This is your chance to update your predictions from July: https://stacker.news/items/619305/r/Undisciplined. August picks are due before the end of August. If you're new, check out the [June post](https://stacker.news/items/585231/r/Undisciplined) for details. This contest will be open to new entrants all the way through the end of the NBA regular season. If you want to join, put your predictions in the comments for MVP, Champion, and All NBA 1st Team. ## Current Predictions | | @Undisciplined | @grayruby | @gnilma | @BitcoinAbhi | @Bell_curve | @0xbitcoiner | |-|------------------|---------------|--------------|---------------------|-------------------|-----------------| | Champ | OKC | Pacers | OKC | Denver | Celtics | Pacers | | MVP | Luka | Giannis | SGA | Luka | Luka | Jokic | | All NBA | Jokic | Jokic | SGA | Jokic | Jokic | Jokic | | | Giannis | Giannis | Jokic | Giannis | Giannis | Giannis | | | Luka | Luka | Luka | Luka | Luka | Luka | | | Ant | Mitchell | Brunson | Ant | Ant | Ant | | | SGA | Brunson | Wemby | SGA | SGA | Brunson | The only change last month was me switching my title pick to OKC. # Prize 1334 sats (plus all future zaps) originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/662489

# We can talk about something else, now. Making boosts/quotes the primary way new users find a variety of topics is a fundamental flaw. We don't need boosts (which merely results in the main trending list trending even harder, as people feel safer boosting something that is already popular), and hashtags have become the mess they naturally will become. ## We need topical forums and relay-based community boards. This would actively encourage those of us who want to write on OtherTopics to write more on them, as we would have some chance of the material being found by those interested in it. And it would spare us having to win some general popularity contest, just to be able to converse about golfing, Hinduism, or veganism. Scrollable "timeline" feeds, even with AI assistance (like DVMs), don't accomplish this as well, as they eliminate the ability to skim the top-level and selectively read. You have to scroll, scroll, scroll. It would also reduce the overloading of the original posts with videos, which is starting to give Nostr a Tik-Tok vibe. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, and we should probably have clients like that, but it makes life hard for anyone who wants to have a deeper discussion. People scrolling have trouble even "seeing" a text-based OP, but using the written word is a true signal to the other people, that you are capable of carrying a conversation through text. ## Examples for other styles of client (I am including the Communities in Nostrudel and Satellite, even though they don't yet work, effectively.) Some of the things that set these clients apart, is that: 1. they are topic-first or thread-first, not person-first, 2. they sometimes allow voting (I suppose we could rank by zaps), 3. they often allow the user to override the default order and simply look at whatever is newest, most popular, or where their friends are currently active (i.e. they allow for easy sorting and filtering), 4. they cap the depth of threads to one or two levels, keep the indentation tiny, or offer a "flat" view, 5. they are primarily text-based (Reddit broke with this and now their main pages look really spammy), 6. they allow you to see all of the entries in the thread, at once, and simply actualize to display the entries that pop up in-between, 7. they often have some indication of what you have already read (this is application data) and allow you to sort for "stuff I haven't looked at, yet". https://i.nostr.build/uCx5YKMOsjhKBU5c.png https://i.nostr.build/hMkm2oKpos0pWaV9.png https://i.nostr.build/mGQONMw5RC8XKtph.png https://i.nostr.build/TCSkG1bPuMOL0jja.webp https://i.nostr.build/3fLjCSNdtefiZmAH.png https://i.nostr.build/BHgo7EKTK5FRIsVl.png

When I used to pick NFL games against the spread for [RotoWire](https://www.rotowire.com/), I would joke after a bad week that my picks were perfect, but it was the games that got themselves wrong. I’ve touched on this concept quite a bit here too — [But My Process Was Good](https://www.chrisliss.com/p/but-my-process-was-good) and [Why Blake Snell Should Win The NL Cy Young Award This Year](https://www.realmansports.com/p/why-blake-snell-should-win-the-nl) both highlight the category error of speciously applying tools of prediction toward the past. Tldr: the past is in no need of predicting because it already happened. The error stems in part from mistaking the map for the territory — once the forecasts are substituted for reality itself, the future has already happened, so to speak — it’s right there on the spread sheet! — so it is no different than the past which has also already happened. So any tool that can be applied to the future can equally be applied to the past. This is how we get [Sam Harris arguing that mRNA shot mandates were correct](https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1615951624882782209?s=20) because covid *could have been* more deadly (and implicitly that the shots could have been safe and effective.) It’s one thing to model a possible future (with the requisite humility your forecasts might be off base), and quite another to force your failed model onto past events as though they were still in any doubt. If this is confusing, that’s because a lot of us have been so trained to think this way we don’t even notice we’re doing it. Examples are legion where we identify what we deem an optimal process to achieve a desired result, then substitute that process for that result. If the local police department believes it needs to arrest 50 people per month to reduce violent crime and incentivizes its officers to make those arrests, pretty soon arrests will be the goal, and people will get arrested for more and more non-violent offenses to make the quota. If mass-vaccination is believed to be the key to good public health policy, then authorities will incentivize uptake, disincentivize bodily autonomy and not care one bit whether a person had prior immunity from the virus already, if the injection actually stops the spread or has myriad serious side effects. If the result (public health) were still the goal, the idea of forcing someone with natural immunity to inject himself with an experimental technology [would be ludicrous](https://x.com/goddeketal/status/1708104013936222641?s=20). But once the goal shifted to the process (mass vaccination), it made perfect sense. Once we substitute the process by which we achieve something for the achievement itself (which might temporarily be sound, if you’re, say, training for a marathon), we create distortions in our thought processes and policies. But I want to go back to where the bait and switch of process and result gets most absurd, and that’s when it comes to time. In this case, you’re not arresting jaywalkers to make your quota, you’re lamenting that had jaywalking correlated better with domestic violence, your policy would have been the correct one. In other words, you’re not only substituting the process for the result in a forward-looking way, you are doing so even though you now have complete access to the result because it has already happened. And yet you are still grasping via your spread sheet for some other reality that might have been! You do not need to forecast events that have already happened. The probability of the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl last year is 100 percent. We no longer need your tools to tell us how much to bet on them. The game is over, and whatever we believed the probability to have been before the fact is irrelevant. That’s why I wrote about [Blake Snell’s Cy Young Award case](https://www.realmansports.com/p/why-blake-snell-should-win-the-nl) — despite Snell allowing 42 percent fewer runs on his watch than Spencer Strider — people are still arguing for Strider because the way Strider pitched *portended* fewer runs allowed than Snell. It is not enough for them that the results (runs allowed) are already in. They argue that because Strider’s profile forecasts a better result than Snell’s, Strider should win. Or, put differently, had we simulated 1000 seasons for each, Strider’s would on average be better. They are upset Snell got “lucky” as though reality must be stripped of all the effects for which we can’t attribute to particular causes and normalized in order to fit our model. . . . Mistaking the past for the future is one form of this category error, but it can also happen in reverse wherein one mistakes the future for the past. You see it when people treat future events at fait accompli and proceed as such. The notion of talking past the sale, e.g., if the car salesman says: “You’ll love this car and be thanking yourself for saving so much money on gas!” he’s treating your possible future agreement on a price as something that’s already happened. People also do this to avoid responsibility, pretending as though there’s nothing one can do about some injustice or that it’s too late to make amends for wrongdoing. They think and talk about the future as though it’s the past. When our dog Oscar got poisoned from a particular kind of caterpillar ([Largata do Pinheiro](https://www.setubalambiente.pt/lagarta-do-pinheiro/)) last winter, we brought him to the hospital with his tongue swelling so much it was stuck outside his mouth. The hospital treated him for a day, saying they could only wait and see, and he might lose his tongue (to necrosis) and have to get put down. We could have taken their approach of it not being in our hands, but instead we convinced them to let us break him out and took him to our holistic vet who sedated him, drained his salivary gland, massaged the tongue extensively with ozone and anti-bacterial herbs and sent him home with us that evening. [Oscar](https://njump.me/nevent1qqst6clec39drun4k97xyqy4ln06t9uc9g09fpa5fg5zruee3hvw8mszyzyujjulkrquksyekd5dkv6hdzv2n5zjstv3thywa844gtl4qplksqcyqqqqqqgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmzw33ju6mvv4hxgct6w5hxxmmdqyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqt46763) who is passed out on the sofa next to me as I type this, only lost about 10 percent of the tongue, but otherwise made a full recovery. . . . I’m not sure why people so easily mistake cause for effect, process for results, future for past and vice-versa. If I had to speculate I’d say when our emotions get involved, we go from logical thinking to association, and associations work in both directions — effects and causes are associated without regard for which is which. The modus operandi of most advertising (and propaganda) is to seed associations in your mind between things it wants you to associate — it’s certainly not to convince you rationally which is a much more difficult task. Maybe the influencers, marketers and propagandists have simply found an angle they can exploit. Once those associations take hold, they can be powerful, and often no amount of rational argument will un-cement them. But I think that’s only part of the story. The other part is how most of us have been educated, and that's to focus on process not results. To be “process-oriented” not stuck in “results-based thinking.” This is a mark of erudition, of belonging to a certain class of people who have mastered this lesson. The class who trusts in modelers, forecasters and data-scientists waiting at the ready to be of service to The Science, even if it means treating the future as though it’s already happened and the past as though it can be re-forecast according to their models, conjugating reality, as it were, in the wrong tense.

## Nostr Nedir? Nostr, “**N**otes and **O**ther **S**tuff **T**ransmitted by **R**elays” (Notlar ve Röle ile İletilen Diğer Şeyler) anlamına gelir. HTTP veya TCP-IP gibi, Nostr da bir “protokoldür”; herkesin üzerine bir şeyler inşa edebileceği açık bir standarttır. Nostr’ın kendisi kaydolduğunuz bir uygulama veya hizmet değildir. Nostr basitlik ve elverişlilik amacıyla tasarlanmıştır ve web üzerinde sansüre dirençli ve küresel olarak desentralize (dağıtık) yayıncılık ve iletişim imkânı sağlar. Bunu biraz açalım: ### Basitlik Protokol, çok basit ve esnek olan “Event” nesnelerine (bunlar düz JSON formatında aktarılır) dayanır ve anahtarlar ve imzalama için standart açık anahtarlı kriptografi (public-key cryptography) kullanır. Bu, röleleri çalıştırmayı ve istemciler oluşturmayı kolaylaştırır ve protokolün zaman içinde genişletilebilmesini sağlar. ### Esneklik Nostr, veri taşımak veya depolamak için tek bir yerde toplanmış az sayıdaki güvenilir sunucuya bağımlı olmadığından ötürü çok dayanıklıdır. Protokol, rölelerin kaybolacağını varsayar ve kullanıcıların zaman içinde değiştirebilecekleri rastgele sayıda röleye bağlanmasına ve yayın yapmasına olanak tanır. Bu esneklik gönderilerinizin üzerinde hiçbir kısıtlama ve sansür olmamasını da sağlar. Bir keresinde 15 bin harflik bir makaleyi bile görsel materyaller ve köprü linklerle süsleyerek paylaşabilmiştim. ### Doğrulanabilirlik Nostr hesapları açık anahtar kriptografisine dayandığından, mesajların gerçekten söz konusu kullanıcı tarafından gönderildiğini doğrulamak kolaydır. Bu sayede bot ve troll kalabalığı da yoktur ve küçük bir ihtimal de olsa Nostr'a gelirlerse bunları ortadan kaldırmak gayet kolaydır. ### Anahtarları Anlamak Her Nostr hesabı bir açık/özel anahtar (public/private key) çiftine dayanır. Bunu anlamanın basit bir yolu, açık anahtarınızın kullanıcı adınız ve özel anahtarınızın ise parolanız olduğunu düşünmektir. Parolaların aksine, özel anahtarınız kaybolduğunda sıfırlanamaz veya değiştirilemezlerdir. Anlaşılır olmak adına tekrar söyleyeyim: Özel anahtarınızı kaybederseniz Nostr hesabınız kaybolur. Başka bir kişi özel anahtarınıza erişim sağlarsa, hesabınızın kontrolünü ele geçirebilir. Özel anahtarınızı bir şifre yöneticisi (1Password’ü veya Brave Tarayıcı’yı öneririm) veya Alby gibi bir tarayıcı uzantısında güvenle sakladığınızdan emin olun. ### Protokol vs İstemci Nostr’un kendisi sadece bir protokoldür, yani mesajları ve yayınları internet üzerinde dolaştırmak için üzerinde anlaşılmış bir prosedürdür; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube gibi sansürcü, merkeziyetçi, spam ve reklam dolu boktan bir “platform” değildir. Bu yüzden Nostr’a (protokole) bir istemci aracılığıyla erişmeniz gerekir. Bu istemciler web, masaüstü veya mobil uygulamalar şeklinde olabilir. Bazı Nostr istemcileri özel anahtarınızı yapıştırarak oturum açmanıza izin verir. Web’de bu genellikle önerilmez, zira rahatsız edici ve güvensizdir. Bunun yerine, tarayıcınızda özel anahtarları güvenli bir şekilde yönetmek ve Event’leri kriptografik olarak imzalamak için özel olarak tasarlanmış bir yazılım parçası olan bir imzalama uzantısı kullanmanızı öneririm. Bu konuda Alby, Nostr için yerleşik desteğe sahip popüler bir imzalama uzantısı ve Bitcoin Lightning Network cüzdanıdır. Yeni kullanıcılar için harika bir seçenektir. Alby’nin kurulumunu aşağıda gerekli olduğu yerlerde istemciye özel kılavuzda ele alacağım. İşte birkaç farklı istemci ve kullanılabildikleri işletim sistemleri: [Amethyst](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vitorpamplona.amethyst) (Android) [Benim favorim.] [Primal](https://primal.net/) (Web, iOS, Android) [Mobil cihazlarda yerleşik Bitcoin Lightning Network cüzdanı ile kullanıcı dostu istemci.] [Snort](https://snort.social/) (Web) [Temiz ve hızlı web istemcisi.] [Coracle](https://coracle.social/) (Web) [Röle navigasyonuna odaklanan bir istemci.] [Habla](https://habla.news/) (Web) [Kolay blog yaratımı.] [Highlighter](https://highlighter.com/) (Web) [Blog yaratımı ve bloglarda gezerken işaretleme-alıntılama için uygun arayüze sahip istemci.] [Iris](https://iris.to/) (Web) [Ücretsiz NIP-05 doğrulama sağlayan istemci.] [Damus](https://damus.io/) (iOS) [Apple cihazlarına özel aplikasyon istemci.] Amethyst Android istemcisi ile Nostr kullanmaya başlamak için adım adım kılavuz #### Adım 1: Uygulama yükleme * Android telefonların aplikasyon mağazası olan Google Play Store’dan Amethyst uygulamasını yükleyin: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vitorpamplona.amethyst * Uygulamayı açtığınızda, yeni bir hesap oluşturma veya daha önce oluşturduğunuz bir özel anahtarla giriş yapma seçeneğiniz olacaktır. * Alby uzantısı veya başka bir istemci aracılığıyla zaten bir özel anahtar oluşturduysanız, kullanım koşullarını okuyup kabul edebilir, (npub/nsec) bilgilerinizi girebilir ve “Login” (Giriş Yap) düğmesine tıklayabilirsiniz. * Eğer bunlar yoksa, “Generate a new key” (Yeni bir anahtar oluştur) seçeneğine tıklayın. #### Adım 2: Yeni bir hesap oluşturma ve onun ayarlarını yapma * “Terms of Use” (Kullanım Koşulları) bölümünü okuyun ve kutuyu işaretleyin. * “Generate a new key” (Yeni bir anahtar oluştur) seçeneğine tıklayın. * Tebrikler, az önce yeni bir Nostr kimliği oluşturdunuz! * Ana ekrana yönlendirilecek ve “Feed is empty. Refresh” (Akış boş, yenileyin) mesajıyla karşılaşacaksınız, çünkü henüz başka bir hesabı takip etmiyorsunuz. Bunu daha sonra halledeceğiz. * Son bir aşırı önemli adım kaldı. Özel anahtarınızı güvenli bir yerde saklamalısınız. Bunu yapmak için, şu anda profil resminiz olarak görünen sol üst köşedeki garip görünümlü robot simgesine tıklayın. Bir kenar çubuğu açılacaktır. * “Backup Keys” (Yedek Anahtarlar) kısmına gidin ve “Copy my secret key” (Gizli anahtarımı kopyala) seçeneğine tıklayın. * “Nsec” ibaresiyle başlayan gizli anahtarınız artık akıllı telefonunuzun panosundadır, bunu ÇOK güvenli bir yerde veya bir .txt uzantılı belgede yapıştırıp saklamak en iyisidir. * Şimdi hesabınızı oluşturmaya devam edebilirsiniz. Ana ekranın sol üst köşesindeki profil resminize geri dönün ve “Profile” (Profil) bölümüne gidin. Buradan, “Follow” (Takip Et) seçeneğinin solundaki üç çizgi ve kalemin bulunduğu simgeye tıklayın. Profil ayarlarınızı buradan yapabilirsiniz. * “Display Name” (Görüntülenecek Ad) bölümüne yazacağınız şey nick’iniz olacaktır. * “About me” küçük bir biyografi bölümüdür ve harf sınırı yoktur. * “Avatar URL” ve “Banner URL” kutularının içinde, solda görsel yükleme simgeleri vardır. Burada profil resminiz ve banner’ınız hakkında ne yapabileceğinizi bilirsiniz. * “Nostr Address” ve “LN Address” kutuları için şöyle bir süreç işliyor: Eğer bir Alby hesabı edinebildiyseniz (şu an üye alımı sadece Alby geliştiricilerine getalby.com üzerinden yollanacak bir mektubun ardından gelebilecek davetiye kodu sayesinde mümkün) “@getalby.com” uzantılı adresinizi bu kutuların ikisini de yazmalısınızdır. Bu sayede hem hesabınızın size özgün ve gerçek olduğu (diğer bir deyişle, bot olmadığınız) anlaşılmış olur hem de gönderilerinize beğeni veya bağış maksatlı yollanan Bitcoin Satoshi’lerinin birikmesi için (ve sizin de başkalarına yollayabilmeniz, yani Zap yapabilmeniz için) bir Lightning Network sıcak cüzdanı adresi tesis etmiş olursunuz. Alby hesabı edinme konusunda -ki bence Alby çok önemli- yardımcı olmamı isterseniz iletişime geçmekten çekinmeyin. * Tamamdır, hesabınız artık hazır, şimdi akışınızı dolduralım ve diğer insanları takip edelim: Sağ üst köşedeki büyüteç simgeli arama butonuna tıklayın ve tanıdığınız kişilerin hesaplarını arayın ya da sol alttaki ev simgesine tıklayarak gideceğiniz ana ekrandaki “All Follows” butonuna tıklayın ve “Global”i seçin. Şimdi bağlı rölelerinize gönderilen tüm notları göreceksinizdir. Eğer bunalmış hissediyorsanız, endişelenmeyin, zamanla burada yeni birçok ilginç Nostr kullanıcısı bulabileceksinizdir. Sadece bir deneyin. #### Adım 3: Röleler ve Geniş Çaplı Erişim/Yayın Yeni röleler ekleyerek erişiminizi ve görünürlüğünüzü artırabilirsiniz. Bunun için yapmanız gereken aşağıda listeleyeceğim röleleri hesabınıza entegre etmektir. Röle entegrasyonu için öncelikle sol üstteki profil resminize tıkladığınızda açılan menüde “Relays” bölümüne giriyorsunuz. Burada, en aşağıda “Add Relay” yazan kutucuğa oluşturduğum listedeki röle adreslerini tek tek girip “Add” butonuna tıklıyorsunuz. İstediğiniz kadar röle ekleyebilirsiniz, tamamen size kalmış. Bu iş bitince mutlaka sağ üstteki “Save” butonuna tıklayın. Ayrıca kişisel bilgisayarınızdan Coracle adlı Nostr istemcisine girerek de rölelere kolaylıkla bağlanabilirsiniz. Tek yapmanız gereken Coracle’da Nostr hesabınıza Nsec anahtarınızla giriş yapmak ve sol kenar menüdeki “Relays” bölümünü açıp listelendiğini gördüğünüz her bir rölenin sağındaki “Join” butonuna tıklamaktır. Röle listesi: 140.f7z.io astral.ninja bevo.nostr1.com bitcoiner.social brb.io carnivore-diet-relay.denizenid.com eu.purplerelay.com expensive-relay.fiatjaf.com feeds.nostr.band/popular fiatjaf.com n.wingu.se nos.lol nostr-pub.semisol.dev nostr-relay.wlvs.space nostr.21l.st nostr.band nostr.bitcoiner.social nostr.blipme.app nostr.kollider.xyz nostr.liberty.fans nostr.mutinywallet.com nostr.orangepill.dev nostr.pleb.network nostr.plebchain.org nostr.relayer.se nostr.satoshi.fun nostr.walletofsatoshi.com nostr.yuv.al nostr.zbd.gg nostr.zebedee.cloud nostr.zerofiat.world nostr1.tunnelsats.com nostream.denizenid.com nostria.space offchain.pub purplepag.es pyramid.fiatjaf.com relay.0xchat.com relay.benthecarman.com relay.bitcoinpark.com relay.current.fyi relay.damus.io relay.f7z.io relay.geyser.fund relay.mutinywallet.com relay.nostr.band relay.nostr.bg relay.nostr.net relay.nostr3.io relay.nostrati.com relay.nostrplebs.com relay.orangepill.dev relay.plebstr.com relay.primal.net relay.snort.band relay.snort.social relay.utxo.one relayable.org relayer.fiatjaf.com satstacker.cloud snort.social soloco.nl sound-money-relay.denizenid.com  **Önemli:** Özel anahtarınız yerel olarak (mobil cihazınızda veya bilgisayarlarınızda) saklanır ve Amethyst sunucuları veya Snort, Iris, Primal, Coracle gibi diğer tüm Nostr istemcileri tarafından hiçbir şekilde toplanmaz veya saklanmaz, zira Nostr’ın olayı budur, yani desentralizasyon protokolü. Zamanla internetin kurtarıcısı olacak bu öze dönüş gücüne sahip sosyal ağda beni ve arkadaşlarımı takip etmeyi ve bizim takip ettiğimiz kişilerden kimleri bulabileceğinizi kurcalamayı unutmayın: Kaan: nostr:npub1asyasvv6vhkuk44ttczsz2v0xvp3c6ze9xqrg9n97n6mkskgpnjqmdugs9 Satoshi Nakamoto Enstitüsü Türkiye: nostr:npub1fdv8r32dqehlkxfnq3uld67vq8t46jw5jvzkk0h6rl4hyvd8g76qf7ujf6 Ludwig von Mises Enstitüsü Türkiye: nostr:npub1gfytsf2p5kw2c42032fkt845x8gh00e027nwnn3pr5880yy954qq4wqlqm Efe Bitcoin: nostr:npub193h05grv6ykgqc94memmlppqe2wlclukpfl8g5750w8gr3002zasl7ngwj Şükrü Day: nostr:npub1gw3zhc5r5a7jfgl6yx8qv0nc9kset5ddkrka229c3tym5xltehlq58m7mm Emir Yorulmaz: nostr:npub1mmfakwg4s36235wlav6qpe03cgr038gujn2hnsvwk2ne49gzqslqc6xvtp Hasan Tahsin: nostr:npub19zc3ja6jme9ul84sfmgyf5z96a07m6x9dp2jngl5zhwryku9aynsy89q3u Ufuk: nostr:npub19mz7c6jesdczvlumhpzqekqh9v93w0whup73mu3x2v6jv97lfujq79nqu3 Furkan Arda: nostr:npub1z43kexnw7wxd22ystexyhgf0s7lzsqzfaxv5xvlk9sgspkfzdyps039jv6 Kaancap: nostr:npub14t06hns8wmymynccmcer7sp6y3eql7pjyzwcp0u5rk88sv7vt2rqrl4wte Yankı Guapmann: nostr:npub19z5m92x8jlltva7zj47z9ydxle8ddkw8y3k5e8xnrphu724v9lys5wxt3p Arda Uludağ: nostr:npub1puclr9p6yhel2duzask9wfdah0ux5cppw22uz62c0w9cdj3nv0wseuvedh Musab Babayiğit: nostr:npub1euf7xgdws7n62nwv03fhu82ak24xrka7hedathyuyq9hmhcjxs7sfvwjsn Kadir: nostr:npub18589me8hqqmt5ect7hjz5k6d2srxzere0uc975gq7hldp9v3qpkslxjn7p Çınar: nostr:npub12mwsgqaejk98xcsv8k7rf3yat2t2kzu0zzma6jp39rphqx5hajsq4khdeg Nur Parrhesia: nostr:npub16nnuyfrxguumqdt8xerkkhtgjyxa7qyvfnz4r4ameanqp4aggarqm877qw Ömer Agâh: nostr:npub1eeze28u72zfa8hl8kfkfnl4jwfe07zsrukug237rsjre7wnvzlrsl49u8h Korporatist Mağduru: nostr:npub1337wmdvjtxrne5fxrqtc7re8rtj88wnnnsfg562jg39sx2k9p5lqwcjsfh Alfred: nostr:npub1mdyegp38ahjcpje7ugzmt4ylugrk3hfmwm9tqq72jhdg3ykc4ahs8svgs8 Sefa Uzuner: nostr:npub1ce0khypkfrjxga6umfd82fhtg9xldm583mys4pkvg8zex20gls9s9qrrgj 

I had something of an epiphany recently about needing to work for a cause I believe in, rather than just fiat mining. I was up all night thinking about the right fit and what my value proposition is. You all have helped me realize that there's real interest in my perspective (thank you), so that's part of the proposition. I was also reflecting on how limited the presence of most prominent libertarians is in the bitcoin ecosystem, despite the immense interest in their insights. That made me realize I can make at least a two-fold impact for a libertarian/free-market organization: my own content and integrating them into the bitcoin community. This is the first draft of a letter I'm planning on sending to the Libertarian Institute, which is run by the great Scott Horton. I'd love your feedback on this letter. The aim of it is simply to pique their interest and generate a follow up conversation. As it happens, the Libertarian Institute is based in Austin, so perhaps this will enable me to drop in on the SN HQ occasionally. ---------- Dear Libertarian Institute, I'm reaching out to express my interest in joining your amazing institute. I’ve been following Scott’s work since 2007 and deeply admired the late Will Grigg’s articles. I believe I can add to the impressive scholarship you're already doing, while also helping you reach an audience that is very interested in your work and opening new fundraising opportunities. I finished my economics PhD during the pandemic. Like most new graduates, I took what work was available, but now I’m looking to dedicate myself to spreading libertarianism and sound economics full-time. Some of my interests are economic geography (voting with your feet, jurisdictional arbitrage, secession, etc), political polarization, parallel institutions, bitcoin, and climate science. My academic training and research in those areas would give the Libertarian Institute another person to dissect the relentless stream of propaganda that comes out on those and other topics. For my own sanity, I've been writing about libertarianism and economics at Stacker News, on the side, for the past couple of years. The positive reception to Rothbardian libertarianism and economics there has made me realize that our ideological camp is missing out on some low-hanging fruit. This site is part of the bitcoin ecosystem, where demand for Austro-libertarian thought is very high, but our scholars have a very limited presence. I’ve found bitcoiners to be eager and willing to donate to those who are adding value in their spaces. I can help the Libertarian Institute establish itself as one of the intellectual pillars in this emerging libertarian community, both through my own contributions and by making your existing scholarship more visible there, as well as setting up the necessary technology to receive bitcoin donations and interact with their social media spaces. I wish you all the very best. Thank you for your work. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to continue this discussion with you soon. Sincerely, Undisciplined (not how I plan to sign the real letter) originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/657036

I grew up thinking adulthood would be boring. I thought by age 45 you'd hurt too bad to do anything fun. I thought you'd just go to a job somewhere and work all day and come back home for a couple hours, just to go do it again. Growing up, I even thought 25 year olds were old and boring. Thankfully, all those models are destroyed. I'm 31 today, and my refusal to be bored has led to an interesting life so far. One that my 18 year old self would mostly approve of. Which is quite the measure of success according to Taleb. *“For I have a single definition of success: you look in the mirror every evening, and wonder if you disappoint the person you were at 18, right before the age when people start getting corrupted by life."* I wonder what's next. What other magic I can pull outta my hat. What kind of luck I can stir up. I have 2 north stars. Fun and Family. **FUN** Turns out the fun part isn't just endless surf trips. It isn't just partying with friends. Fun needs a mission. Surf trips that go too long get boring. I learned that in 2018 when I did my first extended travel to the Canary Islands and Indonesia. I was surfing my ass off in Indo. ABSOLUTELY SCORING EVERYDAY. But, I felt empty inside. I started to crave work while sitting on the island. I was excited to get back to work. Work at that time was the occasional modeling/commercial gig and moving fridges to college dorms in the summer (my survival gig for like 6 years). In 2017, I graduated with a master's degree in Organizational Psychology. I had all the “credentials” to have a successful “career” but out of fear of being bored/lack of real world experience I never pursued a standard career. I also found Bitcoin that summer, which greatly altered my worldview/gave me hope for a brighter future. From age 24 - 28 I lived never knowing where my next pay check would come from. I tried living in LA and Mexico City, but never quite found my tribe or anything worthwhile to work on. I even lived in my truck for a month in LA just to do a "fear setting" exercise I heard Tim Ferriss talk about. I gave myself my own curriculum during that time. Exploring my interests in health and went further down the Bitcoin rabbit hole with my spare time. In hindsight, I wouldn't trade this time of “wandering” for anything. This time prepared me for the things I'm working on today. In the fall of 2021, I drove to Costa Rica with a vision of creating a new life somehow. I'd been there a few times and figured that's where I'd be if I had unlimited resources. I asked myself the question, "What would I be doing if I was a billionaire?". The answer? Working on something important while surfing everyday with cool people. After bumming around for a bit, I ended up finding my tribe and consistent work for the first time in my life. I helped out with Paul Saladino's social media team, where I learned skills and furthered my knowledge about health. During this time, I went to a ton of Bitcoin conferences with no agenda, except to meet more of my "tribe". The decision to do this brought incredible returns to my life. *“Never settle. When you refuse to settle for less than the best… the best tends to track you down” - Dr. Jack Kruse* Today I'm working on two important missions. Making an “ethical” social media with Primal and building a “healthier” computer with Daylight computer from which I'm writing this article. These two missions are greater than anything I could fathom building myself and I'm extremely grateful for these opportunities. **Family** I believe strongly that it's impossible to truly understand life until you create it on your own. Might not be true for everybody, but I believe I'm hardwired this way. I met Laura during the first month of getting a stable income in Costa Rica. It was the first time that I had a mission while talking to a girl. I was thinking long-term the day I met her and knew that this time would be different. We didn't have much. In fact, when she met me, I just graduated from camping everyday to living in a broken house in the most beautiful location in Santa Teresa. So what there was a skunk living in our sink, we could walk to the beach in 3 minutes! I knew she was a keeper for putting up with that. Here's a snapshot of a morning in the life of the skunk house - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CcqatvJlbFH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Our relationship has been incredibly rewarding, often challenging, and I can't wait for our future together. She pushes me to seek more and the responsibility of another person of my life gives it a ton of meaning. And I'm sure this will do a little 100x once we have kids. Woman are hard wired to seek security and I wonder where I'd be without her push and constant testing. This constant testing is the sign of a great woman. I'm honestly terrified to have kids, but pursuing a family seems to be the most meaningful pursuit available to man. There's no way you'll ever be bored with kids! We get married in 50 days. Will this be the best day of our lives? Can't wait. And just found out yesterday that our wedding will be featured in the New York Times. PV Writing feels good. It's great to puke out some words on a screen and reflect every now and again. There's always something to learn from someone. See you on NOSTR!

I posted my round by round draft targets yesterday, but have a few more thoughts that didn’t make it into that piece: I’m warming up to Bijan Robinson with a top-three pick. This interview with Kay Adams (even though it’s just the usual talk) got my attention. Robinson is so relaxed, so even-keeled and yet he’s studying Christian McCaffrey’s every carry like a fanatic. Not that it’s going out on a thin limb as he routinely goes that early, but I had previously been wedded to taking a receiver (now that McCaffrey already has a calf injury.) I said to Alan Seslowsky that Mike Williams was on my do-not-draft list because he’s so injury prone, but I double-checked and he hasn’t been that bad other than last year. Maybe I had him the year he did a lot early and then fell off steeply despite not missing many games. Maybe he was on the injury report a lot. I don’t know. But he’s actually not a bad value in Round 11 — he’s always been good when healthy, and the Jets are not deep. I said yesterday I don’t have a strong preference in the first round, and the Robinson note aside, that’s still mostly true. I like all the receivers, and I’m fine with Breece Hall and Jonathan Taylor too. Of course, that doesn’t mean all of them will be fine — at least a couple almost surely will not — only that I can’t tell which ones. As important as it is to know your leans and act on them, it’s equally important to realize when you don’t have one and let ADP and positional need dictate your options. I took Anthony Richardson in Beat Chris Liss 2, and while I don’t regret it as he really could be the QB1, I think the play in the Primetime will be to wait forever on QB and get some combo of Trevor Lawrence/Kurt Cousins/Justin Herbert/Matthew Stafford/Justin Fields, or even Daniel Jones. There’s just so much depth with upside. You could even take three QBs late. The “hero” RB build (where you take a star RB in Rounds 1 or 2) and lots of receivers around them, before getting your RB2 candidates later is popular now, and you can see why. There aren’t that many top backs, so getting one is a big edge, and then you still catch up at receiver against all the teams that took a TE or top QB early. I just think this is mostly an on-paper exercise, and by mid-season the best teams usually have 4-5 surviving good players at all positions combined and have to cobble it to together with short-term fill-ins and waiver wire, i.e., build is overrated. Both my drafts so far were from early (1 and 3), and I wouldn’t mind having one league from the back, getting Jonathan Taylor and say Puka Nacua. It would be cool to get Cooper Kupp in Round 3 too, but lately he’s moved up out of that range. I stacked C.J. Stroud and Stefon Diggs in BCL1, but didn’t stack anyone in BCL2. Stacking is one of those things that’s great if no one else is doing it, but loses value the more it’s done. If you have Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, but so do 25 percent of the Mahomes’ owners, is that really better than having Anthony Richardson and a random TE1 (in my case Brock Bowers). Sure there’s no correlation, but only 1 in 12 Richardson teams should be expected to have Bowers (even fewer if the Colts had a good TE as many would have paired them.) So yes, if Mahomes goes off, there’s a better chance he takes Kelce with him, but you still have to beat out 3x more teams with your same set up than I do if Richardson goes off, and Bowers happens to as well. Sure, the correlation makes your scenario more likely, but likely enough to compensate for its commonality?

In today's episode, I delve into silent payments in Bitcoin, introduced through BIP 352 to enhance privacy. I discuss its benefits, drawbacks, and impact, plus updates on BitVM 2, BTrust, and more. - Silent Payments Explained - US "Officials" to Redefine "Money" - BitVM2 on the Horizen - Trump Taps Bitcoiner For Transition Team - Ark Protocol is ALIVE! Listen on @fountain --> https://fountain.fm/episode/oi8mInXrys0GD1SRdEyH <-- originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/654973

Hey there! So you’ve got a whopping 50+ Lightning Channels and you’re not keen on them Force Closing? Well, buckle up! This guide will be an additional resource as you navigate through daunting process. In this post, we will go over some extra tips and tricks not covered in the official guide. While this guide does have some steps that are not covered by Umbrel, its main objective is to provide confidence in the process (not a replacement process), coming from someone who’s been there and done that, and some how came out with all Lightning Channels still running! **I highly recommend reading this post fully before starting the migration process.** Before we dive in, [here](https://community.umbrel.com/t/how-to-update-from-umbrelos-0-5-to-umbrelos-1-1-on-linux-devices/16704#how-to-update-from-umbrelos-05-on-a-linux-device-3) is the Official Guide from the Umbrel team on how to update UmbrelOS from 0.5.4 to 1.x.x. Reference the steps all the time, and follow them carefully. **With that out of the way. Here are some extra TIPs to fill in some gaps I encountered as I went through the process.** ## The Order of Steps ### Tip #1: In the Official Umbrel Guide, the Umbrel team asks you to start by backing up your data. As a lightning Node Runner, I recommend against this. Because the Bash script will stop all Umbrel Services and your node will remain offline while you prepare a Bootable USB Stick. So definitely don't start with the backup, first get the bootable stick sorted out, then move on to backups. ## Creating the Bootable USB Stick ### TIP #2: After many failed attempts to create a bootable USB stick from the link umbrel provides in their official guide. I ended up getting the ISO directly from Umbrels team through their Discord Channel. Unfortunately, I wont be able to share this link here. but just in case the umbrelOS-amd64-usb-installer.iso.xz didnt work for you as well, this could be an alternative route. ### TIP #3: Since Umbrel is an actual full OS now. You might need to handle some BIOS quirks. The umbrelOS Kernal is not signed. So if you have Secure Boot turned on in the BIOS, your PC will try to protect you, and block you from booting into you USB Stick. Turn off Secure Boot and you should be able to bypass this issue. I also had to turn on Legacy Option ROMs as well.  ### Tip #4: Test your Bootable USB Stick on a secondary device before you go on trying to update your node. Since turning the node off and on is a hassle, its just easier to be certain the the Bootable Stick is ready before even attempting to upgrade your node. **If all is good, you are ready to get back to the guide and walk through the steps.** ## Preparing the Hardware ### Tip #5: In the official guide they as you to connect a Keyboard and Screen. This is of course needed. I would highly suggest you connect a mouse as well. My Bios was very stubborn and didn't comply with just a keyboard as I attempted to re-order Boot Sequences. ## The Migration Process ### Tip #6: Remember, this is 10 times easier if you are not running a lightning node, but on a lightning node, the Channel.db file is being updated constantly. Once you start the backup process, the script will shutdown umbrel services and start copying. **you can''t turn your node back on after this stage. If you do, assume the backup you created through the Bash script is obsolete. and you will have to redo the backup process again.** If you really know what you are doing, you probably can surgically copy/paste the LND folder. But its easier not to do this. But not to worry, if you start the process just keep going (especially if you checked all the TIPs I cover above). I say this out of experience, because after I started the first backup process, it took me about an hour to backup my SSD, but then the Bootable USB stick threw so many errors I gave up, and turned on the node again. Then later re-attempted the process from scratch. This time, since my external SSD was already full, it took 3.5 hours to backup all the files again. ### Tip #7: This will take time, so just trust the migration process and wait for the files to get copied. you are probably copying more than a terabyte worth of data back and forth over USB, Leverage USB 3 if you have it. ### Tip #8: If you have a custom name for your umbrel node. Meaning you do not access it by using umbrel.local, this will be reset to the default umbrel.local after the migration. I am not sure if this could be switched again to a custom name, but for now, this won't cause any issues. ### Tip #9: During the last steps of the Migration process, and once Umbrel has copied the backup back into the SSD, it will finish the process with downloading your apps, and restarting. Don't freak out :D ### Tip #10: I honestly don't have a tenth tip, but thought it would make this list look nicer with one. So my last tip for you is to relax and enjoy the process. And feel free to tag me if you faced any issues. Hopefully it will be something i experienced and will be able to help. # Have Fun, and Good Luck!

I was reflecting on Arnold Kling's description of the three main political tribes (Progressives, Conservatives, Libertarians) and how Bitcoin serves each of them. I'm going to give each group a charitable hearing, which means I'm talking about the good faith actors in each of these tribes. I have no illusions about there being bad faith power seeking sociopaths in each group. Full disclosure: I have not read Kling's book The Three Languages of Politics, so this is only based on listening to him discuss these ideas with Russ Roberts on Econ Talk and perhaps hearing it come up in other conversations. # Libertarians In Kling's taxonomy, Libertarians frame issues around a liberty vs coercion distinction (can confirm). It's pretty easy to see the appeal of bitcoin to this group (and not just because it's the group I'm in). The state and other criminals can't take your bitcoin from you without your consent and they can't stop you from transacting with it. There's another element of bitcoin that appeals to Libertarians greatly. Using Bitcoin directly undermines the coercive state, reducing it's capacity to coerce innocent people. # Progressives Kling describes Progressives as framing things as oppressor vs oppressed. At first blush this sounds similar to Libertarians, but Progressives don't see violations of property rights as the dividing line. Progressives are concerned about the plight of the "little guy" and not only in cases of outright coercion. What likely appeals to Progressives is that Bitcoin is open to all. Disenfranchised people, who may be blocked out of formal financial institutions, have just as much access to Bitcoin as everyone else. That Bitcoin also allows ordinary people to preserve their savings without relying on and enriching corrupt bankers should be quite appealing. # Conservatives The Conservative framing is civilization vs barbarism, according to Kling. There's a lot to unpack there and I'm not going try to be comprehensive about it. One way to think about this distinction is that a civilization has formal institutional structures for dealing with disputes that are rooted in their societies traditions, rather than resorting to unseemly ad hoc solutions (again, there's a lot to unpack here). I found conservatives the most difficult to think about. Those of you who are familiar with The Righteous Mind will likely be able to guess why. Where I think the main appeal is for conservatives is that the state, in general, and fiat, in particular, undermine many of the traditional institutions of society. Bitcoin undermines their ability to undermine the organic institutions of civil society. There's a whole treatise to be written on this topic, but suffice to say conservatives believe that the state undermines and crowds out churches, fraternal societies, charities, the family, and cultural tradition, while the high time preference induced by fiat leads to all manner of antisocial behaviors like drug abuse, casual sex, and gambling. # Wrapping up Let me know what you think about this. Did I miss something obvious? Did I mischaracterize anything/anyone? Only hold as much fiat as you're willing to lose. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/653982

Having recovered from my 27-hour trip to a remote area of Argentina at the foot of the Andes, I figured I’d bust out my round by round draft targets. For point of reference (as to my location), here’s a shot of the snow-capped mountains outside my window (it’s winter here in the Southern Hemisphere):  Keep in mind this is all subject to context and I’d absolutely hold my nose and draft someone off this list if it were a player of need, or he fell below ADP. (Also, I’ll probably change my mind on a few of these guys.) For point of reference, here’s the NFFC ADP for the RotoWire Online Championship over last three days:  **Round 1**: Obviously, it depends where you pick, but there are only two players I’m avoiding, and one is McCaffrey (of whom I already have a share), but I don’t like the calf injury, however minor they say it is. Sure, if he drops to nine or whatever I would gamble, but he won’t. The other is Marvin Harrison sight unseen. I’d gamble on Gibbs (also has an injury, but he’s much younger than McCaffrey) or Puka Nacua (also with a knee issue) ahead of him. Bottom line, I’m fine with any of these guys and not really targeting anyone per se. I know that sounds a little odd, but I just don’t have that much of a preference between them. **Round 2**: I mentioned Gibbs and Nacua, I’m fine with Harrison if he slips to pick 15 or so, and I like De’Von Achane, Travis Etienne and Jaylen Waddle at the second half of the round. I’m out on Davante Adams (age, team context), Olave (nothing special) and probably Kyren Williams (too small for his role.) I could be talked into Cooper Kupp, though I liked him better when he was going in Round 3. **Round 3**: DJ Moore and DeVonta Smith seem just as good as the second round receivers to me, Isiah Pacheco is the best of the remaining running back options by far, and Stefon Diggs is the WR1 in Houston in my opinion. As a Giants fan, I love Malik Nabers, but he’s got a lot more risk than those other three in this round. **Round 4**: I’d take Sam LaPorta who is locked into a great role in a good passing offense and could even improve in Year 2. Rashee Rice might go at the 2/3 turn if he weren’t in legal trouble, and there’s a chance nothing comes of it this year. Amari Cooper is rock solid every year, Josh Jacobs has overall RB1 upside despite last year’s abysmal showing. I’d also take Tee Higgins late in the round — he was a 2/3 turn guy the last couple years, and he’s still the same player. **Round 5**: I hate this round. I’d take either Trey McBride or Dalton Kincaid (Kincaid first as he could be Josh Allen’s top guy). Otherwise I might reach into round six to take some guys. **Round 6**: Jayden Reed was good as a rookie, and Year 2 is when receivers make the leap. I know it’s crowded in Green Bay, but if he’s the real deal, the other guys will settle into lesser roles. Rhamondre Stevenson is a good back on a bad team, but he’ll be the workhorse, and the offense can hardly be worse than last year’s. James Conner and Aaron Jones are old, but they were still good last year. CJ Stroud is my bet to lead the league in passing yards, but I’d probably rather just flat gamble on Anthony Richardson who goes early Round 7. **Round 7**: Richardson could easily be QB1, and there’s so much depth at the position, he’s worth the gamble. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a Year 2 WR who could take the leap. Ladd McConkey seems like the obvious go-to slot guy for the Chargers and Javonte Williams should be himself again, two years removed from the ACL tear. **Round 8**: Jake Ferguson is Dak Prescott’s de facto No. 2, seems like a bargain here. Brian Thomas is in the right place as the Jaguars lack both depth at WR and also a true No. 1, Kyler Murray has QB1 upside now that he’s two years removed from injury and has Harrison, McBride and even Michael Wilson. **Round 9**: Brian Robinson is the early down workhorse, and Austin Ekeler (even if he’s not washed) is probably third-down only. And Robinson will catch some passes too. I like Brock Bowers’ upside even though it’s kind of crowded in Vegas. (I’d take David Njoku this round too.) Devin Singletary should get sufficient work in an impoved offense, and Zack Moss isn’t bad and could be more or less what Joe Mixon was last year if Chase Brown turns out to be just a guy. **Round 10**: Who knows with Nick Chubb, but he’s worth a gamble here. I like Blake Corum because Kyren Williams is light for the rigors of the role, and RB1 for Sean McVay is an ideal spot. I’d also settle for Rico Dowdle as he might not be good, but Zeke Elliott is way past his prime. **Round 11**: Jaylen Wright doesn’t need much to get a shot — Raheem Mostert is 32, and Achane is undersized. I keep drafting Rashid Shaheed who is the same size as Chris Olave and makes plays down the field whenever they give his a shot. **Round 12+**: This is just a late-round sleeper list: **Josh Downs** — has a high ankle sprain, but showed enough as a rookie to take a leap. **Michael Wilson** — He showed something as a rookie and is locked in as a starter opposite Harrison. **Bucky Irving **— Rachaad White is just a guy, so Irving could get a shot if he struggles. ** Tyrone Tracy** — Singletary is a pro, but he’s ordinary, and Tracy can catch as he’s a converted receiver. **Kimani Vidal **— Built like a mini tank and with little durable competition ahead of him. **Khalil Herbert** — He’s a good running back, even caught 20 passes last year in limited work, and D’Andre Swift probably won’t hold up. **Rashod Bateman** — He should be involved if he can ever stay healthy. **Jordan Mason** — McCaffrey’s only reasonably reliable backup. Elijah Mitchell is way too injury prone. ** Wan’Dale Robinson** — Probably the No. 2 target on the Giants after Nabers. **Matthew Stafford** — He has two receivers going in the second round, and McVay’s offense has 35-TD upside for its QB. **Jonnu Smith** — The Dolphins really don’t have a No. 3 WR, and Smith has shown he can make plays in the passing game. **Roman Wilson** — Van Jefferson isn’t good, and I’m not sold on George Pickens as a No. 1, either. Wilson could be the slot guy and even lead the team in catches. ** Justin Fields** — Russell Wilson is on his last legs, and should Fields get the job, he’d be a top-10 fantasy QB out of the gate. ** Daniel Jones** — He was actually good in 2022, won a playoff game and now gets a king-making receiver in Nabers, a healthy Robinson, Year 2 of deep threat Jalin Hyatt and more familiarity with Brian Daboll’s offense. Plus he’ll get plenty of points on the ground.

I do a lot of Sudoku. They’re logic puzzles, using the numbers one through nine in a nine-by-nine grid. The goal is to use all nine numbers once and only once in every nine-field row, column and box. If you find yourself with two sixes in the same row, for example, you’ve blown it. It’s pure deductive reasoning, no probability, no induction (if it happened this way in nine of the last 10 puzzles, it’s probably the case here!), no guessing. You do not want to fill in a number unless you are absolutely sure it’s the only place it could go. As in bet-your-life-on-it sure. If there’s more than one place for it, you do not guess. It’s like Highlander: “There can only be one!” I find it relaxing — there is no ambiguity, no argument. You either know for sure and know why you know, or you don’t know. What a contrast to the information environment the last few years, where there are so many people, wittingly or not, feigning certainty while espousing bullshit. Compromised fact-checkers relying on captured science and medicine, misleading the demoralized and credulous, desperate for a narrative to hold off the tidal wave of fear and doubt. A giant chorus of the obedient protecting themselves from dangerous dissent with their various incantations: “Conspiracy Theory!’ “You Are Not An Epidemiologist!” “Trust the Science!” But if the 6 can’t be here and here, and the 5 must be there, then there’s nowhere else for the 7 except there. And once we know the 7 is there, the 7 in the bottom left box must be there. That means the 8 is in the lower row, so we can eliminate the eights from the upper and middle rows of that box… Even when you can’t immediately solve a Sudoku, when the lightning bolt of insight that opens up the whole puzzle hasn’t yet struck, at least you know for sure what you don’t know. No matter how difficult the puzzle, there is such simplicity, order and peace in the realm of pure deductive logic. . . . The harder puzzles require you to make assumptions. That is, you might have a box with two possible candidates, and you assume one is correct conditionally and go through the implications of it. For example, if a box can contain only a 1 or a 3, you might assume it’s a 1, see what happens to the boxes around it, and then alternatively assume it’s a 3, and see the effects of that. If some other box has three candidates, say 3, 4 and 7, and the 1-assumption, makes it a 3, and the 3 makes it a 7, you can be sure it’s not a 4. Eliminating the 4 doesn’t tell you what the answer is, either for it or the initial box, but it narrows down the possibilities and enables you to play out further conditional scenarios more easily. In other words, by running scenarios for both, “if x is true” and “if x is false” you can find out that “z must be false” even though you still don’t know the truth with respect to x. It’s important though not to treat your conditional findings as true. In the example above, assuming a 1 in the first box yielded a 3 in the second. If you fill in the 3, though, you just making a 50/50 gamble that might screw up the entire puzzle. That sounds obvious, but that’s only because my example contains two boxes. Imagine you’re five or six boxes down the cascading chain, making assumptions (and then assumptions within assumptions — like the dreams within dreams of Inception — and you can see how easily you could get it confused. There is a big difference between “this is the case if x is true”, and “this is case, period.” But sometimes when you’re deep down the assumption rabbit hole, you forget that the entire edifice is based on a conditional. That’s how you wind up with two 6s in the same box and realize the entire 40 minutes you’ve spent wrestling with this puzzle were wasted. You thought you were making breakthroughs, but it turns out you were living a lie the entire time! . . . The real world is infinitely more complex than even the hardest Sudoku. It requires us to make conditional assumptions within conditional assumptions all the time. Assuming, the data from this study in the Lancet is correct, assuming that its design is not flawed, assuming it hasn’t been influenced by its funding sources, assuming the subjects in the study don’t differ in some material respect from me (lifestyle, genetics, etc.), you should consider it’s findings. But if you forget the assumptions involved and simply fill in the box based on the conclusions therein, you run the risk of making a serious error. Many people adopted low-fat, high sugar diets to defeat cholesterol, got on statins, avoided the sun, became vegan for health. It’s pretty obvious where I stand on those practices, but irrespective of whether they’re in fact beneficial, the decision to adopt them is based on many (dubious) assumptions being true. . . . The beauty of Sudoku is not only do you know — or find out soon at minimal cost — what you don’t know, but also your assumptions (at least initially) are explicit. You say to yourself, “assume this is a 1, and let’s see what it does, and assume it’s instead a 3, and let’s see what that does.” You are therefore capable of untangling the results of your conditional experiments and drawing sound conclusions from them. Often when I talk with people about health, civil liberties, medicine or other matters of import, the conversation gets derailed due to conflicting assumptions. Can we examine a question and in so doing untangle the conditional beliefs informing it? Can we agree that what one is saying is only true if one buys into particular premises, and that those premises themselves cannot be taken as a given, but also should be examined? If you support giving endless weapons to Ukraine no matter the cost, is that because you believe it is an innocent being attacked without provocation by the evil Vladimir Putin? Is that assumption beyond scrutiny? It doesn’t matter where you come out on that question so much as recognizing you are filling in a box based on that assumption, and should that assumption be false, your entire policy prescription is bankrupted. Let’s say you do believe Putin invaded Ukraine because he is evil and will move onto the rest if Europe next, i.e., he’s basically Hitler. Why do you believe that? Do you have first-hand knowledge of him, or is it something you read in the New York Times? If the latter, then your belief about Putin being true depends on the Times being reliable with respect to geopolitics. If you follow this sort of reasoning to its logical conclusion, you end up looking for first principles. What can I trust? How can I be sure to fill in the boxes accurately so as not to find out later I was living a lie? It’s difficult in the real world to find certainty. Even René Descartes, who settled on “I think, therefore I am” didn’t get far*. The best we can do, in my opinion, is via the scientific method, offering a hypothesis that purports to fit the facts, and scrapping it as new facts and better-fitting (more explanatory) hypotheses come along. The allegory of a perfectly deductive realm like Sudoku then isn’t in completing the puzzle. It’s in not filling in the boxes inappropriately. Forget about believing what’s true, but take great pains to avoid the lie. ###### *And at best Descartes found an Oscillating Truth, if you think, then you must exist, but you could be deluded, so maybe not, but if you can be deluded then you must exist, but you could be deluded about that, so maybe not, but if you can be deluded about that, then you exist… ad infinitum.

The challenges associated with physical work and delayed payments, as discussed in the construction and logistics industries articles, might not be as directly applicable to industries with less physical movement. However, the principles of instant settlement and the removal of intermediaries can still bring efficiency and innovation to various sectors. The advantages of instant settlement, such as reduced transaction fees, faster payment processing, and increased transparency, can positively impact industries beyond the physical realm. Whether it's in the realm of digital services, intellectual property, or other sectors that are already dematerialized, the application of instant settlement principles can streamline transactions and enhance overall efficiency. ### Navigating The Written Odyssey Entering the realm of book publishing, especially for a debut author, is a journey filled with challenges. The primary hurdle involves persuading a publishing house to forge a deal, a daunting task for those yet to establish their reputation in the market. The negotiation landscape is complicated by endless uncertainties, making it difficult to strike a mutually beneficial deal. Even if you try to be fair for both sides it is hard. Most people will prioritize themselves and what they get in an uncertain environment - like figuring out how many books will be sold for a first time author. The dynamics intensify when publishing houses provide editors to authors--an arrangement that frequently sparks friction. Authors, protective of their creative work, may resist alterations, but editors, with seasoned expertise, have to navigate the delicate balance between preserving the author's vision and refining the content. The complexities extend to the business side, with potential pitfalls surrounding signing bonuses. Questions linger: What if the bonus overshoots and the book underperforms? What if the book succeeds, but the bonus proves inadequate, leading the author to seek alternatives for subsequent works? Marketing poses another challenge, raising dilemmas about investments, audiobook adaptations, navigating royalty payments, and banking fees for small markets and international payments. Just like in the logistics industry here with royalties, we have the same problem of counterparty risk. In addition to stopping the payments to the authors completely, do you trust the publishers that they are giving the correct sales numbers? Translation decisions add another layer, raising queries about language choices, and fair compensation for translators. What about the illustrators? Each party involved creates more and more friction in the system just because everyone is seeking fair compensation. The payment system does not allow them to focus on what they provide in terms of value, but focuses everyone on mitigating the shortcomings of it. Addressing these multifaceted challenges requires not only innovation but also transparent and adaptive contractual frameworks to foster a more equitable and efficient publishing ecosystem. The challenges for authors extend beyond the realm of creative content, and the intricacies of the publishing and marketing landscape. While the invention of ebooks has somewhat dismantled barriers, enabling easier self-publishing, the journey is not without hurdles. Authors opting for self-publishing must navigate the complexities of setting up accounts and managing distribution before reaching the point of uploading their work. Once published, the dual role of author and marketer emerges, demanding not only literary prowess but also strategic promotional efforts to capture the audience's attention and drive sales. The demanding nature of marketing leaves authors with limited time for their core competency - writing - which hinders the development of subsequent books that they would like to write. ### Lighting Up Publishing: From Solo Authors to Collaborative Ventures, Unleashing the Potential of Instant Split Payments Now that this is the third industry that we are looking into, we know that delayed payments are the problem and that they are tied to time and not actual work - “You have to write the book till this date or else…” “We will gather all payments and royalties will be paid later”. Since we know now that the Lightning Network can fix this let’s dig into the solution and what it may look like. If you're a first-time author and choose to publish your book on your self-made app, you can instantly receive 100% of the income for each purchase. By utilizing a non-custodial solution like Breez, where no one holds money for others, you avoid the complexities associated with traditional payment methods. This setup eliminates the need for currency exchanges, providing a seamless global payment network directly connected to your app. The benefits go beyond mere currency considerations, freeing buyers from the hassle of exchange rate fees and relieving them of the complexities associated with navigating diverse regulations and processes across various countries. Who knows what regulations you have to deal with to be able to operate with the Iranian Rial just to sell a simple book? With a non-custodial solution on the Lightning Network, you get to avoid all that. That is a big benefit for one-man shows in the book industry, but let’s take it a step further. In this scenario, where the relationship involves only the author and a publisher, the process becomes streamlined without the need for intricate negotiations, personal data sharing, or complex contracts with various clauses. With the instant settlement, there's no need for advance payments, both the author and publisher receive a percentage from each sale instantly when the purchase is made. The publisher, responsible for uploading and promoting the book on their website, and the author are now aligned in the common goal of selling more books. The only task left is to determine the fair percentage splits between the author and the publisher, fostering a collaborative and efficient partnership. Now the word royalties will have a completely new meaning. Okay, that is between two entities, but we are not going to stop there. Now that the book is published the book can be translated to other languages. In that case, the complexity does not increase a lot. They just have to determine the percentage share split between the publisher, author, and translator for each sale of the translated version. Upon purchase of the translated book, each payment will be split three ways. Meanwhile, the original language version undergoes a two-way split, with the translator excluded from this split since they didn't contribute to that version. This ensures that the relevant individuals receive sats exclusively for their specific contributions. There might be a need for a separate publisher for the translated language, leading to a split between the author, translator, and second publisher. For the original language, the split occurs between the author and the first publisher. Theoretically, the current system goes through a similar structure for the payments, but I am reminding you here that only the instant split settlement makes that plan match the reality in practice. The moment that any entity starts holding funds for someone else even for a little, then the problems go up exponentially. This is why Breez is committed to preserving the peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin in lightning payments. ### Instant Splits For Narrators, Producers, And All Contributors - A Symphony Of Fair Compensation We are not done yet with the benefits. Now that we have a path for each language, what will it look like for audiobooks? In that case, you just add one more split based on the agreement between the parties. If you create an audiobook in the original language then the split will be between Author, Publisher, and Audiobook creator. The creation of an audiobook is a project on its own of casting, recording, post-production, and distribution. That has multiple people involved so the split for the audiobook payment in reality may look like this: Author, Publisher, Producer, Recording engineer, Narrator, Editing/mastering engineer. In this dynamic model, contributors may wear multiple "hats" within a project, allowing them to assume various roles and, consequently, earn a share for each responsibility they undertake. For instance, an Author might take on the roles of both Producer and Narrator, performing additional work beyond their original scope. In such cases, the Author receives a percentage for each distinct role. However, should the Author choose not to take on these additional roles, someone else can assume those responsibilities and reap the corresponding benefits. This structure ensures alignment, with compensation tied directly to individual contributions at the time of each book sale, eliminating compensation for time or speculation based on future sales. Unlike the other two industries we explored in construction here and logistics here, the timing of payment in the publishing industry differs. In the preceding sectors, individuals receive compensation instantly upon completing their respective tasks. However, in the realm of authors, payment is not immediate for the act of writing; it occurs when someone is willing to pay the price for the published work. This distinction highlights a fundamental principle: everyone is remunerated when they deliver value to someone else who is willing to pay. Whether delivering a package to the correct address or constructing a house for someone else to inhabit, optimizing the process with the client in mind becomes paramount. Therefore, receiving sats is contingent on providing intrinsic value to others, aligning the industry with similar principles observed in construction and logistics. If you build or deliver something that people do not want, that means you did not provide value. ### Instant Influence: From Metrics To Value - A Paradigm Shift In Compensation For Promotions Now let’s take it even a step further. This will not be the only industry where the influencers can change their business model, but I will use it as an example to explain the change that they will experience in their service. Currently, the influencers get paid for views or mentions depending on whether the medium is audio or video. Their value, as perceived by those paying them, hinges on metrics such as subscriber counts, views, and downloads. But for the person that is paying, is it going to matter if the influencer talks about a book but then it does not result in sales of the book? Or again what happens if someone mentions it but the sales are extraordinary, then the influencer has to receive a more fair compensation. Connecting payments directly to actual value, rather than relying on derivative indicators, ensures influencers receive fair compensation in line with their impact on sales. Well, the instant settlement fixes that. Authors can now decide on a fixed percentage for influencers per sale, allowing anyone to become an influencer without the need for a massive following. Even a small blog with a modest readership of less than fifty people can result in direct, instant compensation for sales generated. This eliminates barriers to entry for the influencers to have a following and aligns incentives for authors seeking broader promotion. There is a massive friction in the influencer market currently because with poor measuring tools you do not want the money to be wasted on promotion that does not work. This future system is not going to waste a single sat for promotion because it is not paying for a promotion. You are negotiating a commission on every sale which the actual buyer pays - increasing sales is the intent of the authors reaching out to influencers anyway. Now that we have an influencer promoting a book the UX (user experience) is going to be completely different. Right now to promote anything as an influencer you receive a code that you have to ask for, from the publisher in this case. Then your viewers/listeners have to go to the website and fill in all the information about themselves. Then they have to enter their card information which has to be secured from the website somehow. Then they enter the promo code and receive the ebook that they wanted. On the other side, the publisher has to hope he does not get a chargeback for whatever reason in the next 30 days. The instant settlement UX will be: - Influencers enter a lightning address where they want to receive their commissions from for every sale. - Then they display a link or a QR code that will be a lightning invoice for the specific book. - The buyer enters an email where they want the ebook to be sent. The instant split payment is sent and everyone including the influencer receives their share of it. This way even influencers might realize that the likes, views and comments are not the most important thing and focus on providing real value for their viewers. This not only streamlines the process but may also alleviate the impact of negative comments and dislikes for influencers. Because their income is not tied to the likes that means it will no longer be the most important thing. They will focus on promoting quality products that sell a lot so they get a piece of those sales and the likes will be secondary. The transformation in influencer behavior triggered by instant settlement not only disrupts their traditional approaches but sparks competition among publishers and influencers alike. Authors may opt for a model where they focus solely on writing, leveraging influencers to handle promotion without dealing with traditional editors. This introduces a more diverse competitive landscape, where publishing houses will compete with content creators from different industries who passionately recommend authors they love. While these changes benefit readers, authors, and participants, those resistant to competition may be the only ones disliking this evolving landscape. image1 Indeed, envisioning the transformative power of instant payments, there's an opportunity for an innovator to replicate what Amazon did to bookstores. By adopting a model built on advanced technology and leveraging the advantages of instant settlements, this individual can start with books and subsequently explore avenues for expansion. The potential for such a disruptive force lies not only in reshaping the publishing landscape but also in inspiring new possibilities across diverse industries. Now let’s go and publish that app.

Fits snugly behind the ear, just slap with your hand ... most realistic bloody ear ever! 6 pieces $12.95. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652908

Fits snugly behind the ear, just slap with your hand ... most realistic bloody ear ever! 6 pieces $12.95.  originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652889

From creating connections to taming #LLM-generated chaos, we dive into how embeddings can turn digital noise into meaningful insights. Join Liminal from Project Alexandria and me as we explore the fun side of navigating the wild web of ideas and relational knowledge in Episode 937 of Bitcoin And. Liminal is sharing 50% of this episode's revenue so use a modern podcasting app to generously BOOST, STREAM, and ZAP Sats. - Project Alexandria - nostr's Ecosystem - Zettlekasten Note Taking - LLM's Role in Deleting Relational Noise - The Future Listen to the interview on @fountain --> https://fountain.fm/episode/vvZkH5FKqYVuyFAP312V <-- originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652671

I wanted to share the crazy odds I managed to get at Nitrobetting, when they rolled out their new site overhaul. I blew pretty much the remainder of my sats on NFL Futures, which they didn't used to offer. - Raiders to win the AFC West (+900) - Lions make the Super Bowl (+550) - Chiefs make the Super Bowl (+375) - Bills make the Super Bowl (+700) - **49'ers win the Super Bowl (+10000)** This is the 49'ers year! originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/652649

Somebody, somewhere, at some point decided they would destroy the competition by creating a barrier to entry. They made the barrier high so they could feel safe. It is logical to put a fence around your property, and perfectly fine to do so. The problem is when you put a regulatory fence over something that means you are not allowing anyone else to have a property like this. Just to make the distinction clearer a fence around your house is creating a cost for other people to get in the yard. A license to be able to have a fence is creating a cost for anyone to protect their yard. The harder to attain and costlier the license is the more people can’t afford it. The more people who can’t afford it the bigger the divide between rich and poor. You can't have a fence because you can't have a license leaving your yard unprotected. The poor people are left unprotected and they get robbed easily, the rich are hard to get so they keep what they have. The more licenses/regulatory compliance someone has to comply with the more the costs for them are increased and the cycle of dividing is entrenched. When constructing something physical, regulatory oversight is sensible to ensure structural integrity, particularly when people no longer build things for themselves. However, when it comes to more abstract concepts like licenses and credentials, possessing them doesn't guarantee success, and lacking them doesn't preclude doing excellent work. The whole point of the series is that the work should speak for itself and the people who did it should build their reputation based on their work history not on theory. Let’s dive into a sector full of licenses for abstract things that keep people out and cornered the market. The betting industry. The incentive structure in this scenario is problematic. Individuals with substantial financial resources that were gained illegally may seek friendly relationships with those responsible for issuing licenses. Obtaining a betting license now can serve as a means to launder money acquired unlawfully. Beyond mere laundering, they have a direct incentive to continue their illegal activities and a way to legitimize the funds. So they steal from the people who work and it gets even worse. Their scaling solution is to open the money laundering to other illegal actors. A few parts of the economy are primed for these types of activities: the lottery, casinos, and sports betting. Let’s start with the current lottery system and the “potential” exploits. Well, one person does something illegal and has stolen $1,000,000. Now he has a problem with how to legitimize the funds so he can spend it on things he wants. He goes to the owner of a lottery and says I will give you $200,000 if you give me an $800,000 winning ticket. Now 80% of the funds become legal. The person with the illegal funds buys $200,000 worth of tickets from which 1 of them is set up to win $800,000. Now all the funds have become legal. So the lottery company has a $200,000 income and $800,000 payout, seemingly paying out the winner with legitimate funds, but in reality, using the criminal's own money - correction, other people's stolen money. That is good for hiding taxes and the state is not getting anything, or is it? The state gets its cut for every winning ticket by taxing all winners. Because of this income, they are incentivized to have more winners. This whole “hypothetical” system then is limited by how much money has to be laundered. More illegal money, more income for each side - the state, the illegal player, the lottery company. While they get the big winning tickets the public is left with the small prizes and they are robbed continuously for the next lottery "prizes". This tripod system demonstrates how one simple thing can be a continuous erosion of society. The lottery company does nothing to earn their money but they are incentivizing the illegal actors to continue doing illegal things. The State allowing licenses keeps competition out. The illegal actor closes the circle of his business. The lottery should be something that is played without anyone having an advantage over anyone else. Including the company, there shouldn’t be a barrier for people creating all sorts of lottery games. The same model of behavior incentives is applicable for all the casinos. There is the same principle - some type of algorithm determines whether you win or not. But you can always approach the casino owner and apply the same logic to the casino. A player with illegal funds has to launder a million dollars again. In the first few hands, he wins a million dollars and keeps playing until incurs losses amounting to $200,000 and then stops. This way the casino loses $800,000 on its balance sheet but in reality, the illegal funds are distributed to the casino and the illegal actor. In the sports betting industry, the barrier to entry is often determined by licenses, and companies typically act as custodians of the funds when users place bets. Additionally, these companies are responsible for providing betting odds, a task that incurs substantial costs when done accurately. Assessing various factors such as team performance, player injuries, and changes in management helps determine the odds. However, it's crucial to note that the odds provided by betting companies are designed to favor the company rather than the individuals placing bets. This inherent bias in odds contributes to the company's profit margin in the betting business. ### Exploring a free and ethical approach to lottery apps and innovative payout structures The whole lottery system should be verifiable! The point of it is not to have yet another system where the poor are preyed upon. That is why the lottery app should be open-sourced. The bigger reason for the apps to be FOSS - I am reluctant to say how this particular app should be created because, on the one side, there are going to be regulatory people who want you to ask for approval, and on the other side there are betting companies that a percentage of them are involved in criminal activities. If you create an app that makes them obsolete you will find yourself being attacked legally, illegally, and anything in between. That is why the only option that I see for a small guy to not be a target is to create this app as a FOSS (free and open source software). This will create a problem for those entities because there is no target. It will have no barriers for others to create apps competing with the existing incentives. There was a big debate in my head about whether I should publish this article about this particular topic because of the ethically sticky situation. Also, I do not think that people should play with money and bet on stupid things. The main reason that I am doing this is that there should not be an incentive to do illegal activities but there should be a cost for it. Since the current system is incentivizing it, people should create the cost for them by making a free alternative (no licenses, or permissions from anyone) and with no risk for the players (non-custodial). Also, the cases that we will look at below as a payment structure are simply cool and unique that we have yet to experience anywhere. This will push even us at Breez to create and facilitate them if the need is there. Now let’s take a look at the potential solution and what I envision it could look like. An algorithm can be designed where individuals purchase a virtual ticket, and once 100 participants acquire tickets, the entire pool is distributed among three randomly selected winners. The distribution comprises 50% for the first prize, 30% for the second, and 20% for the third. The concept of a physical ticket is eliminated; instead, participants contribute equal amounts of satoshis to a smart contract, which activates upon reaching the 100th participant. The executed contracts allocate 50% to the first-place winner, 30% to the second, and 20% to the third. No entity holds funds for others, and participants await the completion of the 100 spots to determine the three winners. You can do the lottery for more or fewer people. For different amounts of sats. With a different payout structure. I envision a lottery game modeled after the hashing race in Bitcoin mining. Participants are required to guess a number between 1 and 1,000,000 by locking in 10 satoshis for each guess. If the guessed number is incorrect, that specific guess is eliminated from the potential answers, and the satoshis from all guesses contribute to the Jackpot for the correct number. The participant who correctly guesses the number receives the accumulated satoshis. The payout amount depends on the position of the correct guess, for example, if it occurs on the 10th try, the prize is 100 sats, and if on the 100,000th try, the prize is a million sats. Upon completion of the payout, the game resets, and participants can engage in the next round. ### Revolutionizing one-on-one Betting with trustless payouts When I am with a friend, we can choose to place a bet on something--our favorite sports team, who can spit the furthest, or whether the sun will rise tomorrow. We are perfectly able to do so with cash, and we do not need a license from anyone to place those bets or determine the odds for us. There is only one problem that we have to handle when the results are in - the person who is losing the bet has to pay the winner. Because of this risk, you need a trusted third party that is unbiased to execute the payment when the results are known. Now you need a mitigation for the third-party risk--that they won't run away with the money. So you make a fourth party involved to determine who can have a license to be a trusted third party, and we are back to the current fiat operational model. With instant settlement and smart contracts, we destroy all those problems. * You do not need a license for trust because no one is holding money for anyone else. * You do not need a trusted third party because you have a smart contract responsible for the execution of the payment when the results are known * You do not need a third party to determine the odds because they are decided by the people and put in the smart contract * You do not need to trust the person to pay when you win because he signed the execution of the payment when both of you placed the bet. This structure for one-on-one betting is already implemented with a few games in the lightning space. One is from our friends at THNDR games and another is the Chain Duel. I like the infrastructure for the payment of the THNDR games because I am a sucker for non-custodial lightning. Custody for a second, a minute or a year is still custody. What would a sports betting app look like that has a non-custodial instant settlement? There are a few easy settings to establish. First, there needs to be a deadline for placing bets before the sports event starts. Second, a timeframe must be set for the payout. In one-on-one betting, the payout structure is straightforward. Each side can wager any amount against the other, and if there is a disparity in the amounts, the odds are not 1:1. When the result is determined, the winning party has their funds unlocked without being sent, while the losing party has their contract executed, transferring the payment to the winner. THNDR is already implementing a similar concept called "clinch" which we are glad we had some input on, but I want to take it a few steps further. ### Exploring novel concepts in wagering -> community-to-community What if there's a group of people on one side of the bet and another group on the opposing side? What does the payout look like, and how are the odds determined? Let's delve into a straightforward graph to better illustrate this example. The graphs in the picture are the reference for the explanations below The individuals on the left consist of only two people, but they wager a larger amount. On the right, there are four people, but their bets are smaller. If the left side wins, the two individuals will share the $1,000 bet placed by the opposing group. Since they bet equal amounts, each person will receive $500, reflecting a 50% stake for each. Conversely, if the right side wins, the stakes differ. Individuals 1 and 2 have a 25% stake, person 3 has a 40% stake, and person 4 has a 10% stake. Consequently, their respective payouts would be $500, $500, $800, and $200. That was a surprise even for me - there is a proof of stake system that I would be for. I realized that the staking is just not used in the proper context and that is why I have a problem with it. Proof of stake is deployed for bets and bets only. There is no such thing called staking your energy - that is called working. Now this system is not the shitcoin model - stake something and I guarantee you something more. Staking something means that going in you know (or you should know) that your stake could be lost. If someone is asking you to stake money and promising you more money you should ask yourself who is the loser that will pay the winner. If I am the winner, who is the loser? If we are all winners that means we all lost to inflation and the winner is the inflator. Stake = Bet. The true stake system introduces a novel dimension to betting. While the primary goal is to win, participants might consider adding more funds to their community bet to avoid dilution. For instance, if I initially bet $10 alone, I would have a 100% payout potential. However, if someone else places a $10,000 bet on my side, my potential payout percentage drops to less than 0.1%. In such a scenario, I face two choices: increase my bet on my community's side for a better payout or place a bet on the opposing side, capitalizing on the changed odds for a potentially significant payout if I am wrong. This concept sheds light on the genuine meaning of hedging. You are hedging things that you BET on! Whether you call it an investment strategy or not you should now recognize that everything in the fiat system is using these terms but hiding the fact that it is gambling. For example, if you are a true investor you should do everything you can to make your investment work and realize that goal. Betting against yourself = hedge. The community-to-community betting brings about more significant implications than current betting models. In this setup, the victorious community directly benefits, and if the bet is placed on a sports event, the winning team supports the winning community. The funds from the losing team's community are directly paid to the winning community and not to a betting company. This eliminates the intermediary role of any betting company. The people also are forced to do their research and assess which is a good bet and which is not - not that the majority do it. If they did it was going to be clear to all of us by now that all sh*tcoins are the fiat scam on a blockchain. When there are three or more possible outcomes for a bet, multiple people or communities can bet on those outcomes, and all losing communities pay the winning community. In this scenario, individual participants receive payouts based on their respective stakes. For instance, in a bet involving predicting an exact score where no one bets on the correct score, there is no winner, and consequently, no actual losers. In such cases, participants simply have their sats unlocked without any winnings or losses. We invest our energy in goals - make sure it is your goals and not someone else's. With money, we do 3 things only - earning, spending, or gambling! People want to pay you money so you achieve their goals and stake your money so you can lose it to them. Be very aware of where you invest your energy and how you are using your bitcoin. I would like to repeat my statement from above one more time. The forces that are involved with these gambling companies are very powerful and I do not want to inspire someone and put a target on their back. I am doing this because of the utility of the payments and because this can be an open-sourced project that just competes with them. Satoshi set a standard for how to solve a monopoly - with FOSS. This will completely reshape the coordination between humans again with instant settlement payment. I do not like that I am promoting betting behavior because it is addictive and dangerous but I hope this puts a light on why all fiat behavior is gambling. The only proof of stake that matters is what is your stake in Bitcoin from the 21 million coins. Having a stake there is betting on humanity for the better. Now be careful with this bet to make that app!

* Updated the references documentation [here](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/blob/main/REFERENCES.md) and [here](https://nostr-php.dev/references/) * Improved relay responses and added backwards compability for the used `CommandResult` class * Added RelayResponses according to the logic described in NIP-01 using this [PR#59](https://github.com/nostrver-se/nostr-php/pull/59) from [kriptonix](https://github.com/kriptonix) as a base. * `OK` response * `ERROR` response * `CLOSE` response * `EVENT` response * `EOSE` response * `NOTICE` response * Partly integrated NIP-42 with an `AUTH` relay response * Added the documentation page 'relay responses' on [nostr-php.dev](http://nostr-php.dev) * The screenshot is quite funny describing Nostr having PHP vibes comparing it with the ATProtocol from Bluesky \[[source](https://bsky.app/profile/bmann.ca/post/3kzcyksddj22u)\].

## Chef's notes Old family recipe that my grandma used to make during the summer. Creamy and refreshing. ## Details - ⏲️ Prep time: 10 min - 🍳 Cook time: 4 hours chilled - 🍽️ Servings: 8-10 ## Ingredients - 3/4 cup shredded cucumber - 3/4 cup cucumber juice - 3/4 cup water - 1 packet lime jello - 1/4 cup chopped onion - 1 cup 4% cottage cheese - 1 cup Miracle Whip ## Directions 1. Shred cucumber and add salt to draw out moisture. 2. Mix juice from shredded cucumber and water. 3. Heat juice/water and dissolve lime jello. 4. Allow to cool slightly. (Add a couple ice cubes to chill it down and remove before melted) 5. Mix together the jello mixture and all other ingredients.

Is there a database or website out their where I can put in my car year, make, and model and see what privacy intrusions my be there? originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/651320

I do not know if it is intentional or if there is some conspiracy behind this but it seems clear to me that the media is executing a pattern they have done before. Pushing a narrative about bitcoin that differs greatly from that the elite hold personally. I keep hearing the bitcoin ETFs have been adopted by institutions. That's not plebs. The plebs are not buying the ETFs or bitcoin for the most part. They have been psyoped into believing its a scam or to volatile at a minimum. Meanwhile we are seeing more wealth elites openly talking about bitcoin. We are seeing huge financial institutions buying the ETF or forecasting bitcoin gains in market value. Recently I heard Morgen Rochard, a bitcoiner and certified financial planner say that the licensing org she is a part of is going after CFPs that recommend bitcoin. Like I said, I don't know that this is coordinated but it is odd. And regardless of intent this is a fractal. One thing I have learned over the years is to spot media bs when I see it. They are clearly holding the public back from learning about bitcoin. The crowd here isn't affected. We are early adopters. But just thought about this today. Your friends and family are likely falling prey to a psyop. What do you think? Do you think this is all coincidence? Or is there something more sinister in play? Regardless, it is hard to break the programming of the people around you. I know. I have tried on many subjects. Most of us are just the weird people in our social circles. We think differently. We are not bothered by holding views that are not on the index card of allowable opinion. At this point with bitcoin and many topics I just let people be. If they ask I'm ready to talk but I don't push. I'm a firm believer in leading by example. Making sure I'm prepared and strong so I can be a lighthouse when the storms come. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/651157

I'm honestly asking for your arguments in either direction. Specifically from an economic perspective. I'm not specifying between so called natural monopolies, market monopolies, or state enforced monopolies. What do you think? originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/649810

# El nuevo continente --- La siguiente es la carta de respuesta a mi amigo de Japón, Yamaguchi, quien me ha preguntado acerca de la vida en el "nuevo continente". Para ser más precisos, la relación que el continente tiene con bitcoin. Su servidor solamente ha conocido algunas partes de México y El Salvador así que por esta ocasión solo voy a escribir acerca del segundo país, al cuál ya considero un segundo hogar. A continuación algunas fotografías con descripciones que ayuden a comunicar ideas de medianoche acerca del nuevo continente y bitcoin. Por otro lado, este escrito se ha procurado intencionalmente con el idioma Español en mente, mi lengua nativa, para fines de hacerle la tarea más fácil a ChatGPT, quien nos ayuda a traducir nuestras conversaciones. --- ## ¿Nuevo y viejo; este, y oeste?  Yamaguchi se ha referido al continente Americano como el "nuevo continente". Esto me ha sorprendido pues, desde mi experiencia, el continente Asiático, —para nosotros al menos—, es más comúnmente conocido como el continente del Este. (Eastern and Western). Llamarlo "nuevo" acarrea ya una connotación distinta a la geográfica, y la traslada a la temporal. Pues bien, para honrar la idea a propósito de una connotación temporal que mejor describa el carácter jovial de de Latinoamérica, ciertamente puedo confirmar que la vida de experiencia en El Salvador se aprecia temprana, pero llena de entusiasmo.  Para todos fue una sorpresa el anuncio de bitcoin como moneda de recurso legal en El Salvador. La siguiente sorpresa para la gente Salvadoreña fue presenciar el ir y venir de extranjeros curiosos, energéticos y en algunas ocasiones, faltos de vergüenza. ¿Qué se le va a hacer?, por eso y por otras cosas son conocidos los bitcoineros :).  Como tal parece que sucede en otros lugares del mundo, las grandes ciudades parecen más precavidas acerca del uso de bitcoin; desconfiadas, en algunos otros casos. No es para menos; en la ciudad a menudo las estafas y la criminalidad le hacen pasar malos ratos a las personas, y lamentablemente, el costo es la confianza.  En la playa y en las montañas, sin embargo, las cosas mejoran. Bitcoin Beach es el nombre de la iniciativa que ha inaugurado un sueño parecido en muchos de nosotros; aún sin poder responder precisamente ¿cuál es ese sueño?, es posible asegurar que se puede "sentir" y que de este modo, el valor de la confianza puede ser reconstruido.  La gente Salvadoreña es muy trabajadora y de buen humor. El pueblo de El Salvador ha tenido que hacer frente a periodos de guerra, de violencia y carestía; pero a pesar de las adversidades, en sus corazones no se ha acomodado el resentimiento y en cambio, se ha permitido lugar a la bondad, el compañerismo y el esfuerzo.  Por un lado más generalizado; tal parece que las oportunidades de inversión y empleo lucen optimistas. El Salvador tiene reconocidas producciones de café, caña, y energía volcánica ;). Mejor conocido por ser un destino clave para quiénes practican surf, El Salvador parece comenzar a abrir sus puertas a nuevas ideas.  Ahora bien, personalmente hablando, para mi El Salvador es como un pequeño México. Las regiones climáticas y culturales son bastante parecidas, pero sin duda parece una buena ventaja tener las montañas y las playas a poca distancia; es posible cambiar de atmósfera en un mismo día.  Finalmente, me despido con un viejo refrán que viene a propósito del entusiasmo que bitcoin irradia no solamente hacia Latinoamérica, sino al mundo entero: "con calma, que llevo prisa". Es decir, si bien los sentimientos de energía, ímpetu y entusiasmo son alimento nutritivo para el espíritu; cuando se abusa de sus bendiciones se puede también propiciar la generación de malos hábitos o accidentes. Es mejor ir con con calma pero con confianza ;). Buenas noches. 

I'm not an expert about any of this but today I saw a document posted that I have seen posted many times on SN by @DarthCoin and others that lists people that supposedly work for IN-Q-TEL. I only say supposedly because I do not know if the document is accurate. The document mentions a person named "Lisabeth Poulos" as the IN-Q-TEL Chief of Staff. But that isn't her name. Her name is actually spelled "Lisbeth Poulos". ## Background For those that are not familiar according to [Wikipedia IN-Q-TEL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel) is > an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability. It is basically a "private" corporation controlled by the CIA and it really doesn't try to hide that. Poulos did work for IN-Q-TEL as chief of staff from 2002-2022. IN-Q-TEL is very obviously operated by the CIA and is connected with other government agencies. Looking at the companies connected to IN-Q-TEL is an interesting rabbit hole to go down. For those that still believe we live in a free country I don't think I can help you. Anyway, what I have heard said elsewhere and posted on SN is that MicroStrategy is ran by the CIA. The only "evidence" I have seen is this document.  The evidence for this is weak to say the least. Honestly, I don't think overstating the case really accomplishes much except shock value. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that the CIA does not control many companies or at least influence their direction and decisions. I highly recommend those interested in this topic read [Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_Ashes_(book)). It is not a conspiracy based book. It is all based on interviews with people that worked for or with the CIA and government. Its all on the record. Not based in theories. The stories told in this book are pretty wild and often sound like something you'd hear said by some nut case.  Back to MicroStrategy and Lisabeth Poulos. On her [Crunchbase profile](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/lisbeth-poulos) it lists MicroStrategy as well as BAE Systems. According to Crunchbase she also worked for CIA and NSA. She's at least a former spook but I have yet to see evidence that MicroStrategy is operated by the CIA. According to [her LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisbeth-poulos-587a06105/) she is now self employed. It is possible that MicroStrategy is ran by or influenced by the CIA but I've never seen hard evidence of this. This doc having her name misspelled doesn't strengthen the case. Logically it very possible that her skill set is also valuable and a business intelligence company. That's what MicroStrategy does. She worked in government intelligence after all.  ## Does it matter? The broader question is why does this matter? When I start looking organizations like IN-Q-TEL, CFR, and others they have connections all over the Fortune 500. The US government and its agencies have connections in most companies. Its starts getting really dumb fast with the guilt by association. But, I have to admit this woman wasn't so low level person at IN-Q-TEL, it raises my curiosity for sure. I'm just not ready to say, case closed. Saylor is a spook. Why? Because my brain will not let me say that. It bugs me when people will on the one hand see how the system works and not just take what their rulers say at face value. But then will take loosely related facts built up into a definitive statement as fact. If you can't think of a conspiracy theory that you do not believe you might just be gullible. I have a deep distrust for government based on facts and experience. Its not based in theories. This whole MicroStrategy & CIA thing reminds me of the story that the CIA created Bitcoin. I'm pretty sure it didn't but if it had... so what. It doesn't matter. Same is true here. If the CIA runs MicroStrategy it doesn't matter to me. They are buying a lot of bitcoin. Many other groups and people we may not like will buy bitcoin. Who cares. Its money not an exclusive club. ## The Threat The only threat I see is that of influence. I've said it before. Don't create heroes. Saylor is a dude. He could be a bad dude. It doesn't really matter to me and it shouldn't to true bitcoiners. The only threat I see from Saylor is his influence over weak minded bitcoiners. Some act like everything he says is coming from the mouth of god. That's a problem, but not one we can fix. People like that will have many hard lessons to learn. There will always be fools. I'm not saying you should go out and buy MSTR stock. I'm not saying you should trust Saylor or his company. I don't trust people from the government or suits. Just thought I would share what I found and a few of my thoughts for what they are worth. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/648650

From the ages of 8-11, I spent my summers in Saltaire, Fire Island, a tiny town across the bay from Bayshore Long Island, accessible only by ferry. I vaguely recall the first summer our parents enrolled my younger brother Damon and me in day camp where they made us swim in the cold, jelly-fish-ridden bay water early in the morning. We quit the camp within the week and were largely left to our own devices after that. The island didn’t have cars, so you got around by bike. That meant it was safe for kids, and late-70s/early-80s parents could check out entirely. By the time I was 10 or 11, I would wake up whenever it suited me, scarf down a bowl of cereal, grab my bike and return for dinner. No one knew where we were — though the baseball field was a good bet — and no one cared. I remember one time we brought a two-man inflatable raft to the ocean on a choppy day and thought it was a good idea to see if we could ride the waves in it. We got so destroyed by one wave, Damon wound up face-down in the sand underneath the raft. He was crying, but no real harm done. . . . To this day, I often find myself projecting into the future. “In 12 hours, I’ll be back in Lisbon, in 48 hours, I’ll be done with my running for the week, in 72 hours, etc.” And when the time comes, and I’m done with whatever travel or unpleasant task, I’ll start all over again. If you tell this to someone, they’ll often say, “You need to be in the present.” Yeah no shit. That’s like telling someone you’re an alcoholic and them saying, “You should stop drinking.” It’s a bad habit, I’m aware. But where did this habit come from, and why is it so entrenched? . . . My summers were a stark contrast to the school year where like everyone else I was up at 7:00 am, exhausted and forced to sit through class after class all day, the teachers droning on about something in which I had no interest. I remember watching the clock, as though trying to make the hands move faster with my mind. Only 20 minutes left, only 10 minutes, only five. Thank God it’s Friday. . . . I’ve never had a real job. I worked on the Truckee River one summer blowing up rafts, stacking them on trucks and putting people in the water. I cleaned houses one summer, I worked for free during law school for the NY Attorney General’s office, I ghost wrote car blurbs for Motor Trend and Car And Driver and then I worked for RotoWire (in fantasy sports) for 22 years before we sold it. The idea of grinding away at a law firm or some other joyless menial mental labor filled me with dread. Even tedious tasks like editing our annual NFL magazine, going over the copy word by word four or five times was torture. And I had a dream job and owned part of the company. . . . I partied a lot in my 20s and 30s, and it was not without consequence. I have a beautiful 12-YO daughter now, but we started too late to have more than one kid. Had I known then what I know now, I would have started a big family much earlier. I would have been more serious and made it a priority. But even though I wasn’t exactly an alcoholic, I had a strong urge to use the weekend as an escape. It was my time, and I wanted to use it to chase the pleasures that were denied to me during the slog of the work week. . . . For parents, school is kid storage, but for kids like me it was prison. My biggest takeaway was there are dreadful, pointless things society wants from you, and you should get those done with the least possible effort so you could do whatever you wanted later. That life is divided into appeasing the machine and having fun, and the problem to solve was how to get rich despite having a very low tolerance for appeasement. The point of getting rich was to do whatever you wanted whenever you wanted and to dispense with the dreadful, pointless things forever. . . . Now that I have no job, and the dreadful, pointless things are kept to a minimum, I mostly do whatever I want. But the younger version of me would be surprised to know that includes running at the track three times a week, doing pull-ups at the local park, writing and editing my own essays, learning and using to the extent I’m capable the challenging new freedom tech protocols (bitcoin and nostr.) I’ve largely stopped drinking, almost never smoke weed, fast once a week, am gluten-free, rarely eat junk food, don’t drive a fancy car. I save rather than spend most of my money. There is nothing from which to escape and nowhere to go anymore. And yet my mind still projects into the future, perpetuating the dichotomy between obligations and leisure, indentured servitude and escapism. It’s as if I’m back in Saltaire, the whole day every day in front of me, but it’s only June, and I haven’t yet adjusted fully to the reality that school’s out, and it’s really, actually summer. Just as soon as I post this essay, walk the dog, do my pull-ups at the park, I’ll start to relax and enjoy myself.

It is especially dangerous to be out late on the last night of November, for it is the closing scene of the revels—the last night when the dead have leave to dance on the hill with the fairies, and after that they must all go back to their graves and lie in the chill, cold earth, without music or wine till the next November comes round, when they all spring up again in their shrouds and rush out into the moonlight with mad laughter. One November night, a woman of Shark Island, coming home late at the hour of the dead, grew tired and sat down to rest, when presently a young man came up and talked to her. “Wait a bit,” he said, “and you will see the most beautiful dancing you ever looked on there by the side of the hill.” And she looked at him steadily. He was very pale, and seemed sad. “Why are you so sad?” she asked, “and as pale as if you were dead?” “Look well at me,” he answered. “Do you not know me?” “Yes, I know you now,” she said. “You are young Brien that was drowned last year when out fishing. What are you here for?” “Look,” he said, “at the side of the hill and you will see why I am here.” And she looked, and saw a great company dancing to sweet music; and amongst them were all the dead who had died as long as she could remember—men, women, and children, all in white, and their faces were pale as the moonlight. “Now,” said the young man, “run for your life; for if once the fairies bring you into the dance you will never be able to leave them any more.” But while they were talking, the fairies came up and danced round her in a circle, joining their hands. And she fell to the ground in a faint, and knew no more till she woke up in the morning in her own bed at home. And they all saw that her face was pale as the dead, and they knew that she had got the fairy-stroke. So the herb doctor was sent for, and every measure tried to save her, but without avail, for just as the moon rose that night, soft, low music was heard round the house, and when they looked at the woman she was dead. It is a custom amongst the people, when throwing away water at night, to cry out in a loud voice, “Take care of the water;” or, literally from the Irish, “Away with yourself from the water”—for they say the spirits of the dead last buried are then wandering about, and it would be dangerous if the water fell on them. One dark winter’s night a woman suddenly threw out a pail of boiling water without thinking of the warning words. Instantly a cry was heard as of a person in pain, but no one was seen. However, the next night a black lamb entered the house, having the back all fresh scalded, and it lay down moaning by the hearth and died. Then they all knew this was the spirit that had been scalded by the woman. And they carried the dead lamb out reverently and buried it deep in the earth. Yet every night at the same hour it walked again into the house and lay down and moaned and died. And after this had happened many times, the priest was sent for, and finally, by the strength of his exorcism, the spirit of the dead was laid to rest, and the black lamb appeared no more. Neither was the body of the dead lamb found in the grave when they searched for it, though it had been laid by their own hands deep in the earth and covered with the clay. Before an accident happens to a boat, or a death by drowning, low music is often heard, as if under the water, along with harmonious lamentations, and then every one in the boat knows that some young man or beautiful young girl is wanted by the fairies, and is doomed to die. The best safeguard is to have music and singing in the boat, for the fairies are so enamoured of the mortal voices and music that they forget to weave the spell till the fatal moment has passed, and then all in the boat are safe from harm.

On social media and in the Nostr space in particular, there’s been a lot of debate about the idea of supporting deletion and editing of notes. Some people think they’re vital features to have, others believe that more honest and healthy social media will come from getting rid of these features. The discussion about these features quickly turns to the feasibility of completely deleting something on a decentralized protocol. We quickly get to the “We can’t really delete anything from the internet, or a decentralized network.” argument. This crowds out how Delete and Edit can mimic elements of offline interactions, how they can be used as social signals. When it comes to issues of deletion and editing content, what matters more is if the creator can communicate their intentions around their content. Sure, on the internet, with decentralized protocols, there’s no way to be sure something’s deleted. It’s not like taking a piece of paper and burning it. Computers make copies of things all the time, computers don’t like deleting things. In particular, distributed systems tend to use a Kafka architecture with immutable logs, it’s just easier to keep everything around, as deleting and reindexing is hard. Even if the software could be made to delete something, there’s always screenshots, or even pictures of screens. We can’t provably make something disappear. What we need to do in our software is clearly express intention. A delete is actually a kind of retraction. “I no longer want to associate myself with this content, please stop showing it to people as part of what I’ve published, stop highlighting it, stop sharing it.” Even if a relay or other server keeps a copy, and keeps sharing it, being able to clearly state “hello world, this thing I said, was a mistake, please get rid of it.” Just giving users the chance to say “I deleted this” is a way of showing intention. It’s also a way of signaling that feedback has been heard. Perhaps the post was factually incorrect or perhaps it was mean and the person wants to remove what they said. In an IRL conversation, for either of these scenarios there is some dialogue where the creator of the content is learning something and taking action based on what they’ve learned. Without delete or edit, there is no option to signal to the rest of the community that you have learned something because of how the content is structured today. On most platforms a reply or response stating one’s learning will be lost often in a deluge of replies on the original post and subsequent posts are often not seen especially when the original goes viral. By providing tools like delete and edit we give people a chance to signal that they have heard the feedback and taken action. The Nostr Protocol supports delete and expiring notes. It was one of the reasons we switched from secure scuttlebutt to build on Nostr. Our nos.social app offers delete and while we know that not all relays will honor this, we believe it’s important to provide social signaling tools as a means of making the internet more humane. We believe that the power to learn from each other is more important than the need to police through moral outrage which is how the current platforms and even some Nostr clients work today. It’s important that we don’t say Nostr doesn’t support delete. Not all apps need to support requesting a delete, some might want to call it a retraction. It is important that users know there is no way to enforce a delete and not all relays may honor their request. Edit is similar, although not as widely supported as delete. It’s a creator making a clear statement that they’ve created a new version of their content. Maybe it’s a spelling error, or a new version of the content, or maybe they’re changing it altogether. Freedom online means freedom to retract a statement, freedom to update a statement, freedom to edit your own content. By building on these freedoms, we’ll make Nostr a space where people feel empowered and in control of their own media.

*Actualizado: Agosto 10, 2024* ⚠️ **Advertencia:** Esta guía tiene el objetivo de proporcionar información educativa sobre cómo empezar a aceptar Bitcoin en tu negocio. No se ofrece ni se vende ningún servicio relacionado con Bitcoin. Es esencial que sepas que **NO DEBES** confiar en terceros que te ofrezcan productos o servicios relacionados con Bitcoin, ya que el uso y la gestión de Bitcoin deben ser autónomos y soberanos. **Recuerda:** ¡Bitcoin es tu camino hacia la libertad financiera! No confíes en terceros que te ofrezcan productos o servicios para aceptar o utilizar Bitcoin. Bitcoin es dinero, y no necesitas a nadie más para comenzar a usarlo. ¡No aceptes ni pagues por servicios de Bitcoin, **tú puedes hacerlo por ti mismo!** **¡No confíes, verifica! ₿** <img src="https://image.nostr.build/c251e03c3f1292bc95c587d179556125f914ddd1c00b5e38bbad4a747e33b27b.png" alt="drawing" width="100%"/> ## ¿Qué es Bitcoin? Bitcoin es una forma de efectivo electrónico entre pares, una moneda digital que puede transferirse entre personas o computadoras sin necesidad de intermediarios confiables como los bancos. A diferencia de los pagos tradicionales que requieren servicios intermedios como tarjetas de crédito o plataformas de pago digital, Bitcoin permite transacciones directas entre usuarios, preservando así la privacidad y la independencia financiera. Es una alternativa descentralizada al dinero digital controlado centralmente, ofreciendo seguridad y autonomía a sus usuarios. Además, Bitcoin ofrece una solución a la dependencia de sistemas de pago digitales centralizados, los cuales pueden ser utilizados para el control y la vigilancia gubernamental. Al utilizar una red de computadoras interconectadas, Bitcoin garantiza la verificación independiente de las transacciones y la aplicación de reglas consensuadas, lo que permite un sistema de pagos más transparente y resistente a la censura. ## ¿Qué es Lightning? ⚡️ La red lightning (Lightning Network) es una red global de pagos de Bitcoin que ofrece transacciones instantáneas, privadas y de bajo o nulo costo. Propuesta en 2015, permite transacciones de Bitcoin más rápidas, económicas y privadas fuera de la cadena de bloques de Bitcoin. Es lo que se conoce como una tecnologîa de capa 2 (L2), con Bitcoin siendo la capa 1 (L1). A diferencia de las redes bancarias tradicionales, lightning network ofrece liquidación instantánea, sin contracargos y utiliza Bitcoin como su activo subyacente. Aborda un desafío clave para Bitcoin al permitir la escalabilidad para un gran número de usuarios que realizan numerosos pagos. Esta innovadora red de pagos es sin fronteras, abierta, económica e instantánea, ofreciendo pagos instantáneos, económicos e interoperables en todo el mundo. Los pagos enrutados a través de Lightning se mueven a la velocidad de la luz y son definitivos al llegar, eliminando los retrasos y riesgos asociados con los métodos de pago tradicionales. *[Una poderosa analogía para explicar cómo funciona el Lightning Network.](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/lightning-network-y-la-analogia-del) ## ¿Qué hay de todos estos hacks y quiebras de intercambios? La base de datos de la cadena de bloques de Bitcoin **nunca** ha sido hackeada. En sus 15 años de existencia, Bitcoin ha demostrado ser el sistema digital más seguro del mundo y el sistema monetario más confiable jamás inventado. Nunca se ha emitido moneda falsa en la red. La seguridad de Bitcoin radica en su naturaleza descentralizada. Opera a través de una red de computadoras, llamadas nodos, que se comunican para construir y actualizar la base de datos. Cada nodo almacena una copia de la cadena de bloques, lo que hace virtualmente imposible que los hackers comprometan toda la red. Además, Bitcoin permite a los usuarios mantener sus fondos de forma segura en billeteras personales, reduciendo el riesgo asociado con los exchanges (Intercambios) de terceros. Si dejas tus bitcoins en un intercambio o con cualquier tercero, estás asumiendo un riesgo enorme que, para pequeñas cantidades, puede ser razonable a cambio de conveniencia. Pero piénsalo muy bien. Si bien Bitcoin opera principalmente a través de internet, incluso en casos de interrupciones de internet, la cadena de bloques permanece intacta. Los nodos continúan almacenando los bloques, asegurando la seguridad y la integridad del sistema. Mientras haya por lo menos un nodo conectado, Bitcoin seguira operando sin interrupciones, es decir, para que Bitcoin deje de funcionar, tendria que caerse el internet en todo el mundo al mismo tiempo, lo cual es poco probable. En caso de una divergencia de red, los nodos pueden reconciliarse y acordar cuál es la cadena de bloques objetivamente más válida a seguir, manteniendo la robustez y seguridad de Bitcoin. ## ¿Por qué Debería Mi Negocio Aceptar Bitcoin? En primer lugar, para atraer Bitcoiners. Los Bitcoiners son leales y están altamente motivados a buscar negocios que acepten Bitcoin. Con Bitcoin, puedes recibir pagos las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana, los 365 días del año, sin la necesidad de esperar por días hábiles. Además, no hay contracargos y las tarifas de transacción son muy bajas o casi nulas gracias a la red Lightning.  ## Bitcoin es Bueno para los Negocios Bitcoin te permite recibir pagos directamente de tus clientes, al igual que el efectivo. La red Bitcoin opera sin intermediarios como bancos y compañías de tarjetas de crédito, evitando las tarifas elevadas asociadas. Los pagos con Bitcoin se liquidan instantáneamente gracias a la red Lightning, eliminando la espera en comparación con los métodos tradicionales. Además, al ocurrir directamente entre tú y tus clientes, es imposible que alguien te quite el dinero mediante un contracargo. Además, el Bitcoin falsificado no puede ser enviado en la red Bitcoin, lo que asegura la integridad de las transacciones y protege a tu negocio de fraudes financieros. Al aceptar Bitcoin, atraes más clientes, ya que millones de personas poseen Bitcoin y desean gastarlo en lugares que lo acepten. Aceptar Bitcoin es completamente gratuito y te brinda la oportunidad de aparecer en mapas de comerciantes de Bitcoin, lo que facilita que los usuarios encuentren tu negocio con facilidad. ## Pero, Bitcoin no está regulado. ¿Cómo puedo declarar impuestos si acepto Bitcoin en mi negocio? Muy bien, antes de comenzar, déjame decirte que el no estar regulado es una cualidad, no un defecto. Bitcoin no lo controla nadie, pero es de todos y está disponible para cualquiera que desee usarlo sin necesidad de pedir permiso. **Bitcoin no necesita permiso!** Estamos hablando de una forma superior de dinero y la mejor tecnología de ahorro jamás inventada por los humanos. Aceptar Bitcoin es como recibir efectivo: simplemente registras la venta y te llevas el dinero en efectivo a casa. ¿Acaso cuando recibes efectivo, le tomas fotografías a los billetes para enviárselas al gobierno? Eso pensé. Bitcoin representa la separación entre el estado y el dinero; no es necesario que el estado sepa cuántos Bitcoin tienes. Si un amigo fuera a tu negocio de hamburguesas y te pagara con canicas, ¿le avisarías al gobierno que tu amigo te ha pagado con canicas? Probablemente no. Registra la venta como efectivo en tus libros contables y guarda tu Bitcoin. Es **TU** dinero, y tienes derecho a mantenerlo privado. Se recomienda que cuando poseas un saldo importante de Bitcoin, lo retires a una billetera fría. Imagina que recibes efectivo todo el día en tu negocio; al final del día, ¿dejarías todo ese dinero en la caja? Probablemente no sería una buena idea. Muchos negocios retiran su efectivo al final del día o de la semana y lo depositan en un banco o en una caja fuerte en algún lugar seguro. Haz lo mismo con tu Bitcoin: una vez que tengas un saldo mayor del que llevarías cómodamente en el bolsillo, retíralo a una billetera fría. Bitcoin **ES** dinero. No es una divisa, ni una inversión, ni acciones, y mucho menos "sujeto a impuestos". **Los impuestos son un robo**, punto. No importa lo que tu gobierno te diga: Bitcoin es simplemente dinero. Si no sabes la diferencia entre el dinero y una divisa (Money and Currency), te invito a revisar la siguiente imagen.  Para todos los "amantes de los impuestos" que vienen a decir "Pero el gobierno regulará Bitcoin" o "El gobierno le impondrá impuestos a mi Bitcoin", solo les digo: **¡Pon tu mierda en orden!** El dinero no está sujeto a impuestos, punto. Si realmente deseas utilizarlo para fines comerciales y por tu propia tranquilidad mental, en tus libros contables, decláralo como "ingreso en efectivo". Así de simple: no es asunto del gobierno saber qué tipo de "efectivo" posees. **No es asunto suyo lo que haces con tu dinero.** ## ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre billeteras custodiales y no custodiales? Cuando se trata de billeteras de Bitcoin, hay dos tipos principales: custodiales y no custodiales. Las billeteras custodiales son como tener tu dinero en un banco. Confías en el proveedor de la billetera para mantener seguro tu Bitcoin y manejar todo por ti. Es conveniente y rápido, especialmente para cantidades pequeñas, pero recuerda, no tienes control total sobre tu Bitcoin. Estás confiando en el proveedor de la billetera para gestionarlo por ti. Por otro lado, las billeteras no custodiales te dan control total. Tienes tus propias claves y puedes hacer una copia de seguridad de tu billetera. Esto significa que tú eres quien controla tu Bitcoin y puedes moverlo como quieras. Es como guardar efectivo en tu propia caja fuerte en casa. Recuerda, en una billetera no custodial, tú eres el único responsable de tus Bitcoins. Si pierdes u olvidas tus claves (llaves), nadie podrá ayudarte. Si bien las billeteras custodiales están bien para empezar y para cantidades pequeñas, te recomendamos continuar con tu educación sobre Bitcoin y, eventualmente, pasar a una solución no custodial. Esto te da más control, soberanía, y seguridad sobre tu Bitcoin a largo plazo. Así que, comienza con una billetera custodial como [Blink](https://blink.sv/) o [Wallet Of Satoshi](https://www.walletofsatoshi.com/) para familiarizarte con Bitcoin, pero apunta a cambiar a una billetera no custodial una vez que te sientas cómodo y listo. ## Cómo Aceptar Pagos en Bitcoin Todo lo que necesitas para aceptar pagos en Bitcoin es una billetera como [Blink](https://blink.sv/). Por otro lado, con una billetera híbrida como [Wallib](https://www.wallib.com/), puedes convertir automáticamente los pagos de Bitcoin que recibes a COP. También puedes optar por ahorrar y mantener una parte de los pagos en Bitcoin, lo que ofrece muchos beneficios a largo plazo. **Ahorra en Bitcoin.** **1) Descarga la aplicación:** Bitcoin es una red abierta y hay muchas aplicaciones (wallets) que te permites enviar, recibir, y guardar Bitcoin. Para comenzar, te recomendamos la aplicación [Blink Wallet](https://www.blink.sv/). Al final de esta guía hay una lista de wallets (billeteras) recomendadas. Pero recuerda, no creas todo lo que lees y haz tu propia investigación. **2) Crea una cuenta:** Una vez que descargues la app, deberas ingresar tu numero de teléfono para registrarte, ya que Blink es una billetera custodial. Pero descuida, no debes dar datos personales adicionales para crear una cuenta. Una vez ingreses tu teléfono, recibirás un mensaje de texto con un código que deberas ingresar para terminar con el proceso de verificación. Cuando este configurada, veras la pantalla principal donde está tu balance, tus transacciones, etc. Explora la aplicación y familiarizarte con todas sus opciones. **3) Recibir y enviar Bitcoin:** Ya estas listo para recibir Bitcoin de cualquier persona y desde cualquier lugar, sin importar que aplicacion de lightning usen. Al instante y casi gratis. Esta es la maravilla de la red lightning de Bitcoin!  ## Aceptar Bitcoin en Persona y en Línea Aceptar pagos en Bitcoin, ya sea en persona o en línea, es sencillo utilizando tu billetera. Puedes integrar Bitcoin como opción de pago en tu tienda en línea o utilizar la función de "recibir" en tu billetera para recibir pagos en persona. Además, puedes compartir la dirección de pago a través de plataformas como WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. ## Cómo Atraer Más Clientes Aceptando Bitcoin Millones de usuarios de Bitcoin desean gastar sus bitcoins en negocios que los acepten. Al aceptar Bitcoin, puedes aparecer en mapas de comerciantes de Bitcoin como [BTC Map](https://btcmap.org/) de forma gratuita y aumentar tu exposición a nuevos clientes potenciales. ## Costo de Aceptar Bitcoin Aceptar Bitcoin en tu negocio es 100% gratuito. No hay contratos ni tarifas ocultas. No confíes en terceros que te ofrezcan productos o servicios para aceptar o utilizar Bitcoin. Bitcoin es dinero, y no necesitas a nadie más para comenzar a usarlo. --- ## Acepta Bitcoin Ahora! ⚡️ A continuación, algunas billeteras, apps y herramientas que recomendamos. ### Billeteras Custodiales [Blink](https://blink.sv/) - Billetera móvil de Bitcoin y Lightning [Wallet Of Satoshi](https://www.walletofsatoshi.com/) - Billetera móvil de Bitcoin y Lightning [Sati](https://www.sati.pro/) - Billetera de Bitcoin y Lightning en WhatsApp [CoinOS](https://coinos.io/) - Billetera web (BTC/LN/Liquid) [Alby](https://getalby.com/) - Extensión de explorador y web ### Billeteras No Custodiales [Phoenix](https://phoenix.acinq.co/) - Billetera móvil de Lightning [Blue Wallet](https://bluewallet.io/) - Billetera móvil y de escritorio de Bitcoin y Lightning. [Green Wallet](https://www.blockstream.com/green/) - Billetera móvil y de escritorio de Bitcoin y Lightning (beta) para principiantes. [Sparrow](https://www.sparrowwallet.com/) - Billetera de escritorio solo de Bitcoin (L1 - onchain) [Electrum](https://electrum.org/) - Billetera móvil y de escritorio de Bitcoin y Lightning. [Zeus LN](https://zeusln.com/) - Nodo móvil y billetera de bitcoin y lightning para usuarios avanzados. [Blixt Wallet](https://blixtwallet.com/) - Nodo móvil y billetera de Bitcoin y Lightning para usuarios avanzados. --- ## Lecturas Recomendadas 1. ["La Tesis Alcista de Bitcoin” por Vijay Boyapati](https://vijayboyapati.medium.com/la-tesis-alcista-de-bitcoin-parte-1-de-4-7b2e7ac5f07) [Lectura] 2. ["Bitcoin: ¿qué, cómo y para qué?” de Franco Amati](https://franamati.medium.com/bitcoin-qu%C3%A9-c%C3%B3mo-y-para-qu%C3%A9-545b9128d491) [Lectura] 3. [“El Patrón Bitcoin” por Saifedean Ammous](https://www.amazon.com/patr%C3%B3n-Bitcoin-Spanish-Saifedean-Ammous/dp/6075693432/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3P4V159GE7M91&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.iNO01IObzZVcfr4x1-94MDYJdbGxf026Ql-riTLymz8YcOT6fhrCVfet8zCqJdLgO2RY-B4pAYgngkA5IMVeOH43dXukQRMJuv7wSeFbXlo2iXFQJUobM2fbZJCyY1yqmwrZGJ672sLt1k_sCEEnSSsbkGk5Xk6H8JgnzRx6GocBX2QRRykWmpokCLygr2l32NUDIrnMdhYXNPNaeYWCAHHrCIoQ8_E82fihA2mrdoS-vqDgHwxXDV6x34yod2MiT-ouk3u9DsIMZnnHVA8kCw8ufkN-SAVjtzYan0MR_Pw.N7iqfWTjaC8e5Srkcm8QXQW-96fxASWJYEKiwSavMpg&dib_tag=se&keywords=patron+bitcoin&qid=1723140733&sprefix=patron+bitcoin%2Caps%2C288&sr=8-1) [Lectura] --- ## Más Recursos * [El Libro De Bitcoin Mas Simple Jamas Escrito - Por Kaysa Luna (Descarga PDF)](https://noteforms.com/forms/forms-puz5hm?notionforms=1) * * [Las 5 Etapas Para Convertirse En Un Bitcoiner](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/5-etapas-del-bitcoiner) * * [Simple Bitcoin App - Aprende sobre Bitcoin y gana premios (Como Duolingo pero para Bitcoin)](https://simplebitcoin.page.link/CVDw91hiYYiqvZYH7) * * [Lee El White Paper de Satoshi Nakamoto En Español](https://bitcoin.org/files/bitcoin-paper/bitcoin_es.pdf) * * [Estudio Bitcoin - Entra en la madriguera del conejo y aprende mas sobre Bitcoin](https://estudiobitcoin.com/) *

Encouraging everyone to embrace stacker news RSS feed. Using RSS has being a great way to move off of twitter and other algorithmic feeds. Create a feedbin account. Use that account on multiple devices and put the stacker news RSS feed there go get a raw feed of news and topics without any algorithmic curation. It is easy to mark posts as read later and also bookmark great content. Then pair that with pinboard.in archiving and you have great content cached forever originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/642938

A young girl from Innis-Sark had a lover, a fine young fellow, who met his death by an accident, to her great grief and sorrow. One evening at sunset, as she sat by the roadside crying her eyes out, a beautiful lady came by all in white, and tapped her on the cheek. “Don’t cry, Kathleen,” she said, “your lover is safe. Just take this ring of herbs and look through it and you will see him. He is with a grand company, and wears a golden circlet on his head and a scarlet sash round his waist.” So Kathleen took the ring of herbs and looked through it, and there indeed was her lover in the midst of a great company dancing on the hill; and he was very pale, but handsomer than ever, with the gold circlet round his head, as if they had made him a prince. “Now,” said the lady, “here is a larger ring of herbs. Take it, and whenever you want to see your lover, pluck a leaf from it and burn it; and a great smoke will arise, and you will fall into a trance; and in the trance your lover will carry you away to the fairy rath, and there you may dance all night with him on the greensward. But say no prayer, and make no sign of the cross while the smoke is rising, or your lover will disappear for ever.” From that time a great change came over Kathleen. She said no prayer, and cared for no priest, and never made the sign of the cross, but every night shut herself up in her room, and burned a leaf of the ring of herbs as she had been told; and when the smoke arose she fell into a deep sleep and knew no more. But in the morning she told her people that, though she seemed to be lying in her bed, she was far away with the fairies on the hill dancing with her lover. And she was very happy in her new life, and wanted no priest nor prayer nor mass any more, and all the dead were there dancing with the rest, all the people she had known; and they welcomed her and gave her wine to drink in little crystal cups, and told her she must soon come and stay with them and with her lover for evermore. Now Kathleen’s mother was a good, honest, religious woman, and she fretted much over her daughter’s strange state, for she knew the girl had been fairy-struck. So she determined to watch; and one night when Kathleen went to her bed as usual all alone by herself in the room, for she would allow no one to be with her, the mother crept up and looked through a chink in the door, and then she saw Kathleen take the round ring of herbs from a secret place in the press and pluck a leaf from it and burn it, on which a great smoke arose and the girl fell on her bed in a deep trance. Now the mother could no longer keep silence, for she saw there was devil’s work in it; and she fell on her knees and prayed aloud— “O Maia, mother, send the evil spirit away from the child!” And she rushed into the room and made the sign of the cross over the sleeping girl, when immediately Kathleen started up and screamed— “Mother! mother! the dead are coming for me. They are here! they are here!” And her features looked like one in a fit. Then the poor mother sent for the priest, who came at once, and threw holy water on the girl, and said prayers over her; and he took the ring of herbs that lay beside her and cursed it for evermore, and instantly it fell to powder and lay like grey ashes on the floor. After this Kathleen grew calmer, and the evil spirit seemed to have left her, but she was too weak to move or to speak, or to utter a prayer, and before the clock struck twelve that night she lay dead.

1 SAT/COMMENT LIGHTNING.VIDEO SONG REQUESTS? originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/641212

# *Drugs* since the lens of *habitus* ## present Good day everyone. Thanks for coming to this mesh talk. Before start I want to give special love to the Meshtadel, not only for having me grab this opportunity to share some of the experience I have about life, but also for being that digital place that resonates at the in-real-life place. ## intro Having said that, my professional experience is about places, to be more precise, the experience of places. Architecture, you see, is not only about if a building is pretty or if it is functional; it is about living places, that is, to inhabit. Here is where my trench of expertise might be colliding with those of psychology and physiology; granted by the favors of philosophy. Saying it like this, the "adversary" I want to bring attention this day to you is the one named as "addiction". The middle ground I would like to propose for this talk are founded on-and-by the *terms of perception*; granted that, "term" and "perception", each, can be criticized by their own merits, however the idea I want to expose this day to you is that the "terms of perception" can be considered as the signature of *drugs*. In other words, *drugs* have the ability to drive *perception*; in architecture, for example, could be said that experience is driven by our walk through the arrangement of the building, —namely the structure, furniture and ornament—, the very definition of a *drug* in architecture lies thus in the objects, as well as in the use we humans make of them. The object, and the experience of the object thus con-forms *perception*. *Habitus* is the particular way each individual arranges it's own *terms of perception*. Or to put it over a fashion apart, *habitus* can be understood alike traditions, culture, or rituals. Thus, a natural question surges towards the whereabouts of the origins of these habits. Now then, here is precisely where we can draw a first line that describes the form of an addiction. Simply put, an addiction is an habit that went wrong. Or to say it otherwise, it is an habit that is detrimental to human existence by the terms of the healthiness of both, the body and the mind. With these sentences I would like then to advance to the discussion or mezzanine of the talk. ## mid If there could ever be a common law for *perception*, I would like to lie it, —for this occasion at least—, with the following sentence: *perception* lets itself be the pray of the living experience. This means that, —in a healthy condition—, the identification of the state of awareness can be exercised, or saying it like this, a recognition can be drawn between a "natural" and a "distorted" state awareness. Precisely, it could be said that this late is the very definition of an addiction, that is, the placement of oneself in state of distortion. The handshake of a *drug* usually is also the first time for an individual to notice that there's a "*perception* apart" than the one experienced all along the time of being alive. Taking a personal example for consideration, the years of college, —or well discussed, the years of social interaction—, usually are also the years where the coincidence with *drugs* happen. I mention this precisely to have in mind the importance of context, and even so for the little coincidences, if one like it to have it like that. To describe the conventional definition of an habit that went wrong, imaging the following sentences: "*Where* precisely the *drug* is injected?, well it depends of the desired effect..." To offer an alternative for an habit that "works OK", I will dare to say that a good habit is that one that you don't notice. It is there, that say, it exists; it can be at the sight of others, but at the same time can be out of the mere recognition of one. Here precisely is where the terms of habit coincides with ideas of the terms of character, —namely style, temperament, or likelihood— of a person. The habit and the person justifies each other at all moment for the sake of reach an agreement of terms. To offer an example, a person that commutes everyday to his workplace might likely reach a point where it does it "by default", without ever noticing or thinking about it. Later, by whatever reason, a deviation of the usual commute happens, either a shortcut, a better skilled chauffeur, or getting distracted by the infatuation of a pretty smile. The *habitus* takes a new reform, even if momentarily just to disrupt the usual. Sometimes it can be of good outcomes, some other times maybe not so much. This may be the opportunity then to lead to the description of the capitulation of an habit, simply put: it can hardly be appreciated or taken nor even with two grains of salt. In other words, to try measure the start and the end of an habit might very well be as to try playing speculation. Needless to say that every *drug* has his trade offs, not so obvious often is that the worst outcome can strike as disruptive as a thunder to life experience. But what does that mean in layman terms?. What I try to tell you here, meshtadelian, is that a *drug* is a thing as well as an idea, and even more than that, it is always a mix of both the thing and the idea. You see, when knowing people one might get to see their character not only by their wearings but also by their behavior, that is, the things they do and how they do it, in the same sense a person likes to consume cannabis either by edibles or by cigarettes, an architect can decides, —following the wishes of the inhabitants at best—, to use traditional style or modern style of buildings. The problem often becomes evident when the character gets out of place, when the people doesn't match what at is also seen by others. Does this mean that there's no way out of an addiction? The answer at least, can not be located at the terms of the addiction itself. To elaborate, a person that looks so hard to stop "doing a *drug*" might soon or later find that the effort can become as important as the *drug* itself, that being, as if the addiction gets displaced from a *drug* to another. By this terms sobriety is hard to define. The simply usual would be that sobriety is the "default settings" of *perception*. But also by the terms of aesthetics, —taking help of professor Adorno here—, "a lack of style becomes and style itself". Hoping to having ignited a spark of good will. I would like to go then to the closure of this lecture. I would like to offer a paragraph to the discussion that is held between psychology and physiology towards the definition and treatment of addictions. ## closure At first, I would like to express that *drug* are not only the prescribed ones, the natural that growths from soil; as well as *drugs* is not only that miracle that brings health, as much as I can say for the sing of a mother can heal a son. It is the combination of both; the whole plot is for people to be experienced and an emphasis should be put on the fact that a person can choice the terms of how the plot is arranged. In other words, I want to bring the idea that we might be having to pay attention to the possibility that an addiction, —or a disease daring to say so—, not only ca be treated with that or that *drug*. It also matters the place the person's individuality, in which nonetheless, places are also involved. Finally. I would like to offer you an experience of a dear friend that struggled to stop smoking tobacco but so far has accomplished twenty years more or so of not smoking. He made a bet. He and a friend of his bet to stop smoking. I can not enter in the details of their relationship but I dare to assume is one that has a mix of friendship and rivalry. The trick, if you like to name it, is that the bet can not really have a settle until... yes, it has a morbid sense... someone capitulates. For now I'd lead to tanatology to deal with the terms of how one does face capitulation. However I would like to remind you that as long as there is live, as long as there could be choices. Thanks now, I have to go fix my own dankruptness.

# Bitcoin accepted Here How Small Business Can Accept Bitcoin Payments. I began writing this blog before zaps existed. I used the LNBits demo version to create a tip jar I added to the end of my blogs on Ghost. I didn’t make a ton of sats, but it felt great to get tips every now and then. We will get back to this tip jar in a minute, but in the beginning, I wrote about my half-assed attempts to orange pill merchants at my local farmers market. I didn’t have a plan. I just walked up to random women selling zucchini and asked, “do you accept bitcoin?” Out of a hundred people I asked, only one person said yes. I now to to a brewery that accepts bitcoin using the [Aqua Wallet](nostr:naddr1qqrhym28xpxrjvqzyp6m7g6nrt5lnrrzn9d6quv3ujyw44r4jafhr43a0h75d00ph75f2qcyqqqgtwc96yw37). This works, but we haven't figured out how to allow him to accept bitcoin when the owner of the brewery isn't there. I think I found the answer. The brewer can print out a QR code with a single Liquid address. Anyone with the address can see the amount of fees paid on each transaction. They will see how many transactions were associated with this address, but they won't be able to see the amounts of the transaction. The butcher can buy a beer using this address. The baker can also buy a beer with this address. The brewer knows how much the baker and the butcher paid, but the baker cannot see the amount the butcher paid and vice-versa. The employees will also not be able to see how much customers pay, but the baker can reveal the amount by clicking the View unblinded transaction in Explorer.  The amount paid is shown on the sent page, so the bartender(an employee of the brewer) can verify the payment went through as well as the total amount. Of course the amount is denominated in L-BTC. If the bartender needs to know how much this amount of sats is worth in dirty fiat, she can use the sats converter webpage from [plebnet.dev](https://rates.plebnet.dev/). In this example, 1,838 sats equals $1.07 at the time of this writing. We simply convert the decimal to sats by removing all the zeros. This is very easy and requires very little technical know-how.  ## Coinos nostr:naddr1qqr5wmzcvedysnczyp6m7g6nrt5lnrrzn9d6quv3ujyw44r4jafhr43a0h75d00ph75f2qcyqqqgtwcg02j4f We can also create a Point of Sale Service. [Coinos](https://coinos.io) is the easiest way to do this and they charge a very small fee. also creates a nostr key. You could use this to advertise your business on nostr, a decentralized communications protocol where a lot of people who like spending bitcoin on the Internet hang out. You can also use Coinos to obtain a lightning address. Lightning addresses look like an email address, but people send you [sats](https://www.kraken.com/learn/what-are-bitcoin-satoshis-sats) instead. Here is a 16 minute video I created to teach you how to use Coinos as a bitcoin payment terminal. Coinos nostr:naddr1qqr5wmzcvedysnczyp6m7g6nrt5lnrrzn9d6quv3ujyw44r4jafhr43a0h75d00ph75f2qcyqqqgtwcg02j4f ### BTCpayServer BTCpayServer let's you set up bitcoin wallets in several interesting ways. You can use Greenlight to create a self custodial lightning wallet using a key made of 12 valid BIP39 words(also known as a regular bitcoin wallet). There's no need to find liquidity or run any specialized hardware. I suppose you don't even need to run a node, but you should do that anyway. The easiest way to set up BTCpayServer is to deploy it on [LunaNode](https://docs.btcpayserver.org/Deployment/LunaNode/). This is my favorite way to run it because it has the best uptime and gives me the least headaches. It costs about $15.00 per month which adds up to $180 per year. That get's expensive over a while. You can also run it on a $400 computer from [Umbrel](https://umbrel.com/) too. I can only get the payments to work on my local network and TOR however. I learned how to host it on the clearnet(also known as the normal Internet) using CloudFlare, but the payments won't work on BTCpayServer for some reason. I was also able to run LNBits on the [clearnet using Start9](https://habla.news/u/bloggingbitcoin@iris.to/how-to-host-start9-services-on-the-clearnet) but this instance does not allow us to install the required plugins we need to run these fancy nodes in the cloud. It is the same instance that you see on the BTCpayServer Demo site. I'm not sure why they are different. This is not a complaint My Start9 is a bad ass computer. It also lets me host websites out of my closet on the clearnet. BTCpayServer has several interesting features. - Sell downloadable tutorials - Instantly convert bitcoin to dollars(or your local national currency) using the Strike plugin - Run a Custodial Lightning Wallet in the cloud using Greenlight. - Create a store on Shopify or WordPress - Automatically delete customer information every two weeks. BTCpayServer is for those who want to run a bad ass bitcoiner business for bitcoiners by bitcoiners. **How To Use BTCpayServer with the Strike API** nostr:naddr1qqr4q3m9fe34wdgpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejsygr4hu34xxhflxxx9x2m5pcereygat28t96nw8tr6l0ag677r0agj5psgqqqskasw0nrwh **How To Use BTCpayServer with Greenlignt with the Breez Plugin** nostr:naddr1qqr4jsmv2e6n2tgpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejsygr4hu34xxhflxxx9x2m5pcereygat28t96nw8tr6l0ag677r0agj5psgqqqskassqw0d5 ## LNBits LNBits has a new feature. It allows us to sell our software as a service. We can become an uncle Jim. I run an instance of LNBits using an API from getalby. I also have the GetAlby Hub, but have not switched API's yet. We can also use other API's like from ZBD or opennode. I run mine on Start9 and it works over the clearnet, although I hope to use a reverse TOR proxy soon. It's easy to run on an old Linux computer. They have [great docs](https://github.com/lnbits/lnbits/blob/main/docs/guide/installation.md) If you don't want to bother with that, you can also run this on Start9 or Umbrel. **Sell Extentions As A Service** The most interesting thing about LNBits is that it allows you to sell software as a service. This is a little known fact, but it's an interesting way to turn our nodes into a software as a service business. Bitkarrot mentioned this on this episode of Bitcoin Audible. Ben Arc also announced it on Citadel Dispatch. I'm going to sell extensions for 10,000 sats. I don't expect to make much money. I would consider myself lucky if I earned enough to buy a cup of coffee, but this is an interesting concept. Keep in mind, this is a custodial service. I use an Alby API. Don't keep to many sats on this. Treat it like a cash register. You You should withdraw your sats to self custody every day like a business empty's it's cash register out every day and puts the cash in a safe. **LNBits POS Tutorial** nostr:naddr1qqrkcaj5xqchyugzyp6m7g6nrt5lnrrzn9d6quv3ujyw44r4jafhr43a0h75d00ph75f2qcyqqqgtwcr947q9 If you want to accept bitcoin at a shop, try it [here](https://lnbits.blogging-bitcoin.com/). ₿logging ₿itcoin [848,231](https://timechaincalendar.com/en/block/855942) [debtclock](https://www.usdebtclock.org/) All my blogs are available for free and written using under the [CCO-1.0](https://github.com/BrutusBondBTC/blogposts?tab=CC0-1.0-1-ov-file#readme) licence. If you found value in this please consider giving your time talent or treasure in return 🧡 📧[Subscribe on Substack](https://substack.com/@bloggingbitcoin) or 🍐[Join my Keet Room If You Prefer To Learn About New Blogs With No Email Signup](https://gasolin.idv.tw/keetlink/#key=yry3n55uafwewao3kq47ia55zu45pcsddxmnggzahg51q18p75e4rxf1oofsf1kexxyq9yjgkr58i85rbox5j5w47bz34xkuppihb3bw5y&title=Subscribe%20To%20Blogging%20Bitcoin) 🫙 [Tip Jar](https://lnbits.blogging-bitcoin.com/tipjar/1) 🛒[Shop The Elliptic Curve Economy](https://habla.news/u/bloggingbitcoin@iris.to/shop-the-bitcoin-circular-economy)

As always, I'm shopping around. I was wondering what people think the best custodial lightning wallet for Android is? originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/640692