@ e83b66a8:b0526c2b

I am seeing a groundswell of interest in adopting Bitcoin in small businesses replacing or augmenting existing merchant services. This has many advantages for these businesses including: Attracting Bitcoiners as customers over your competitors. Allowing a self custody payment system which does not require purchasing equipment, monthly service fees and high transaction fees. Self custody your money, removing banks and merchant service companies from taking a cut or interfering in the transaction process. i.e. Bitcoin behaves much more like cash in face to face transactions. Building a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve allowing your profits to accumulate in value over time, just as Bitcoin increases in value due to scarceness and increased adoption. If any or all of these are interesting to you, then here are a scale of merchant options available to you depending on your needs and interests. SOLE TRADER The easiest way for a sole trader to accept Bitcoin is to download the app “Wallet of Satoshi” https://www.walletofsatoshi.com/ or for regions this is not available, use a web equivalent called COINOS https://coinos.io/ This gives everything you’ll need, Bitcoin and Lightning receiving addresses, publishable as text or scannable as a QR code. The ability to generate a specific value invoice using Lightning which can be paid face to face or remotely over the Internet and a wallet to hold your Bitcoin balance. This is a perfect start point, but moving forward it has some drawbacks. It is custodial, meaning that a company actually holds your Bitcoin. Unlike a bank, if that company fails, you loose your Bitcoin. There is also no direct ability to move that Bitcoin to fiat currencies like USD or GBP, so if you need some of those earnings to pay suppliers in fiat currencies, you will struggle to convert. If you are an online only retailer, then the industry standard is BTCPay https://btcpayserver.org/ which can be integrated into most e-commerce systems TRADITIONAL MERCHANT SERVICES So the next option is to use a Bitcoin merchant service company. They look very similar to traditional fiat merchant service companies, they can supply infrastructure like PoS terminals and also handle the payments for you, optionally settling balances to your bank in USD or GBP etc… They charge for the physical devices and their services and they charge a fee on each transaction in the same way traditional merchant service companies do, but usually these fees are significantly smaller. Companies like MUSQET can help setup your business in this way if you wish. https://musqet.tech/ CONSULTANCY The third option is to use a consultancy service like Bridge2Bitcoin https://bridge2bitcoin.com/ this is a company that will come in, explain the concepts and options and build a service around your needs. The company will build the solution you are looking for and make their money by providing the equipment and optionally running the payment solution for you. SELF BUILD If you have experience with Bitcoin and have optionally run your own Lightning node for a while, the tools exist to be able to develop your own solution in-house. And just as Bitcoin allows you to be your own bank, so Lightning allows you to be your own merchant services company. Solutions like Umbrel https://umbrel.com/ running Albyhub https://albyhub.com/ with their POS solution https://pos.albylabs.com/ are a low cost option you can build yourself. If you require devices like PoS terminals, these can be purchased from companies like Swiss Bitcoin Pay: https://swiss-bitcoin-pay.ch/store#!/Bitcoin-Merchant-Kit/p/709060174 as a package or Bitcoinize directly or in volume: https://bitcoinize.com/ There is also the lower cost option of use software loaded onto your staffs iPhone or Android phone to use as a PoS terminal for your business: https://swiss-bitcoin-pay.ch/ Swiss Bitcoin Pay can also take the Bitcoin payment and settle a final amount daily or even convert to fiat and deposit in your bank the next day. If you are comfortable building and running your own server, then software from a company like https://lnbits.com/ is a great option. They have built a core suite of tools, which others have built a huge ecosystem of extensions to handle everything from PoS to accounting to event ticketing and beyond. LNbits is probably the most extensive ecosystem out there for anybody wishing to self build. HYBRID MUSQET also offer a PoS system for both Bitcoin and Fiat. They onboard merchants with traditional card services for Visa, Mastercard and Amex with Apple Pay and Google Pay all within the same device where they deploy Bitcoin Lightning as standard: https://musqet.tech/

@ a95c6243:d345522c

*Die «moralische Weltordnung» – eine Art Astrologie. Friedrich Nietzsche* **Das Treffen der BRICS-Staaten beim [Gipfel](https://transition-news.org/brics-gipfel-in-kasan-warum-schweigt-die-schweiz) im russischen Kasan** war sicher nicht irgendein politisches Event. Gastgeber Wladimir Putin habe «Hof gehalten», sagen die Einen, China und Russland hätten ihre Vorstellung einer multipolaren Weltordnung zelebriert, schreiben Andere. **In jedem Fall zeigt die Anwesenheit von über 30 Delegationen aus der ganzen Welt,** dass von einer geostrategischen Isolation Russlands wohl keine Rede sein kann. Darüber hinaus haben sowohl die Anreise von UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres als auch die Meldungen und Dementis bezüglich der Beitrittsbemühungen des NATO-Staats [Türkei](https://transition-news.org/turkei-entlarvt-fake-news-von-bild-uber-indiens-angebliches-veto-gegen-den) für etwas Aufsehen gesorgt. **Im Spannungsfeld geopolitischer und wirtschaftlicher Umbrüche** zeigt die neue Allianz zunehmendes Selbstbewusstsein. In Sachen gemeinsamer Finanzpolitik schmiedet man interessante Pläne. Größere Unabhängigkeit von der US-dominierten Finanzordnung ist dabei ein wichtiges Ziel. **Beim BRICS-Wirtschaftsforum in Moskau, wenige Tage vor dem Gipfel,** zählte ein nachhaltiges System für Finanzabrechnungen und Zahlungsdienste zu den vorrangigen Themen. Während dieses Treffens ging der russische Staatsfonds eine Partnerschaft mit dem Rechenzentrumsbetreiber BitRiver ein, um [Bitcoin](https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/10/23/russia-launches-brics-mining-infrastructure-project/)-Mining-Anlagen für die BRICS-Länder zu errichten. **Die Initiative könnte ein Schritt sein, Bitcoin und andere Kryptowährungen** als Alternativen zu traditionellen Finanzsystemen zu etablieren. Das Projekt könnte dazu führen, dass die BRICS-Staaten den globalen Handel in Bitcoin abwickeln. Vor dem Hintergrund der Diskussionen über eine «BRICS-Währung» wäre dies eine Alternative zu dem ursprünglich angedachten Korb lokaler Währungen und zu goldgedeckten Währungen sowie eine mögliche Ergänzung zum Zahlungssystem [BRICS Pay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS_PAY). **Dient der Bitcoin also der Entdollarisierung?** Oder droht er inzwischen, zum Gegenstand geopolitischer [Machtspielchen](https://legitim.ch/es-ist-ein-sieg-fuer-bitcoin-waehrend-russland-und-die-usa-um-die-krypto-vorherrschaft-kaempfen/) zu werden? Angesichts der globalen Vernetzungen ist es oft schwer zu durchschauen, «was eine Show ist und was im Hintergrund von anderen Strippenziehern insgeheim gesteuert wird». Sicher können Strukturen wie Bitcoin auch so genutzt werden, dass sie den Herrschenden dienlich sind. Aber die Grundeigenschaft des dezentralisierten, unzensierbaren Peer-to-Peer Zahlungsnetzwerks ist ihm schließlich nicht zu nehmen. **Wenn es nach der EZB oder dem IWF geht, dann scheint statt Instrumentalisierung** momentan eher der Kampf gegen Kryptowährungen angesagt. Jürgen Schaaf, Senior Manager bei der Europäischen Zentralbank, hat jedenfalls dazu aufgerufen, [Bitcoin «zu eliminieren»](https://www.btc-echo.de/schlagzeilen/ezb-banker-es-gibt-gute-gruende-bitcoin-zu-eliminieren-194015/). Der Internationale Währungsfonds forderte El Salvador, das Bitcoin 2021 als gesetzliches Zahlungsmittel eingeführt hat, kürzlich zu [begrenzenden Maßnahmen](https://legitim.ch/el-salvador-iwf-fordert-trotz-nicht-eingetretener-risiken-neue-massnahmen-gegen-bitcoin/) gegen das Kryptogeld auf. **Dass die BRICS-Staaten ein freiheitliches Ansinnen im Kopf haben,** wenn sie Kryptowährungen ins Spiel bringen, darf indes auch bezweifelt werden. Im [Abschlussdokument](http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/files/en/RosOySvLzGaJtmx2wYFv0lN4NSPZploG.pdf) bekennen sich die Gipfel-Teilnehmer ausdrücklich zur UN, ihren Programmen und ihrer «Agenda 2030». Ernst Wolff nennt das «eine [Bankrotterklärung](https://x.com/wolff_ernst/status/1849781982961557771) korrupter Politiker, die sich dem digital-finanziellen Komplex zu 100 Prozent unterwerfen». --- Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf *[Transition News](https://transition-news.org/aufstand-gegen-die-dollar-hegemonie)* erschienen.

@ 04ed2b8f:75be6756

Too many people look at greatness like it belongs to someone else. They see the champions, the innovators, the warriors of history and think, *That’s beyond me. I could never do that.* But why? Are they not made of flesh and blood like you? Do they not breathe the same air? **If another human being has done it, then it’s possible.** And if it’s possible, then what’s stopping you from doing it too? --- ### **Excuses Are for the Weak** People love to convince themselves that others have *something special*—better genetics, more talent, better luck. They use that as an excuse to stay comfortable. - *“I could never be a top athlete, I wasn’t born for it.”* - *“Starting a billion-dollar business? That’s for people who were born rich.”* - *“Mastering a skill like coding, speaking multiple languages, or becoming a leader? I don’t have that kind of brain.”* Bullshit. Every champion, every legend, every revolutionary **started as an ordinary person**—until they chose otherwise. --- ### **Examples of Those Who Refused to Accept Limits** 🔥 **David Goggins**—Once an overweight exterminator. He decided he wanted to be a Navy SEAL. People told him it was impossible. He lost over 100 pounds in three months and endured three Hell Weeks. Now, he’s one of the toughest endurance athletes on the planet. 🔥 **Arnold Schwarzenegger**—Born in a small Austrian town. No connections, no wealth. He became a bodybuilding legend, a Hollywood superstar, and the Governor of California. He *made* it possible. 🔥 **Oprah Winfrey**—Born into poverty, abused as a child, told she wasn’t fit for television. Instead of accepting those limits, she broke them and became one of the most powerful women in media. 🔥 **Elon Musk**—Had no experience building rockets. Yet, when NASA and the world’s top engineers said private space travel was impossible, he ignored them. Now SpaceX is leading space exploration. What do all these people have in common? They **refused to believe that greatness was only for others.** They saw what was humanly possible and decided it was within their reach. --- ### **The Only Barrier Is You** It’s not your background. It’s not your intelligence. It’s not luck. The **only** thing standing between you and what you want is the belief that you can’t do it. 🔥 People run ultra-marathons through the desert. 🔥 People lift cars off their trapped loved ones. 🔥 People break records, survive impossible odds, and push the limits of human ability every single day. **So what’s your excuse?** If it’s been done, **it can be done again.** If someone before you has mastered a skill, built an empire, overcome the odds—**then so can you.** --- ### **Now, the Choice Is Yours** You can stay in the comfort zone, making excuses while others claim the victories. Or you can accept this truth: **Anything humanly possible is within your reach.** The only question is—**will you reach for it?**

@ 044da344:073a8a0e

# 1. Public sphere and inverted totalitarianism The three referents in the title require explanation - just like the thesis that their combination conveys in this article. In short: Like every government, the German one wants to steer and control what is said publicly about it and about reality in the country (cf. Meyen 2018). In the Internet age, this only works by cooperating with digital corporations. This liaison is rooted in the knowledge that one’s own scope of action depends on public approval and public legitimation. “Relations of domination” are today more than ever “relations of definition” (Beck 2017: 129, 132). Power is held by those who succeed in placing their interpretation of reality in the public sphere (cf. Havel 1989: 19). This includes fading out or marginalizing everything that could endanger one’s own position – in Germany at the moment, for example, this relates to debates about social inequality, which has reached an all-time high worldwide (cf. Piketty 2020), mass immigration since 2015, the policies surrounding Corona or Russia. In this country, the interest of federal and state governments in presenting their work in a good light encounters a journalism that is committed to journalistic diversity via state press laws, state treaties and professional ethics (cf. Rager/Weber 1992). This means that journalism should allow everyone to have their say – all topics and all perspectives. Horst Pöttker (2001) has described the production of publicity as a “social mandate”. This “mission” is rooted in the pluralism model: In society, there are many and sometimes conflicting opinions and interests, which are initially on an equal footing (the interests of individuals and outsiders as well as those organized in parties or associations). The struggle for compromise and societal agreement relies on the public sphere: “In principle, no social group, not even an individual, but also no object, no topic, no problem may be excluded from it” (Pöttker 1999: 219f.). Phrased in a different way: In complex, differentiated societies, the public sphere is the “last common place where that which concerns everyone can be negotiated.” And even though “no decisions are made” here, acceptance and “collective validity” are impossible without public preparation and public visibility (Stegemann 2021: 16). Essential to this are mainstream media such as the Tagesschau, the Süddeutsche Zeitung or Der Spiegel, which produce a “second, non-consensual reality” - the collective “memory” of society, which must be assumed in all communication. Only the mainstream media spread information “so widely that in the next moment one must assume that it is known to everyone (or that it would be associated with loss of reputation and is therefore not admitted if it was not known)” (Luhmann 1996: 43, 120f.). We use Mainstream media because we want to know what others think they know (especially those who decide about our lives), and because we need to know the defining power relations in order to survive. Who has succeeded in bringing their issues, their perspectives and, above all, their morals to the big stage, and who has no place on that stage? Consequently, whom should I join if I do not want to be isolated (cf. Noelle-Neumann 1980), and whom do I better avoid? The interest of governments in controlling public communication is inextricably linked to propaganda and censorship. Propaganda is defined in this article with Andreas Elter (2005: 19f.) as all attempts by government agencies to convey “a certain, unambiguously colored view of things \[...] and thus to maneuver the public discussion in the desired direction”. This necessarily includes suppressing, delegitimizing, or limiting the scope of all positions “that challenge the dominant narrative and at the same time have the potential for widespread dissemination” (Hofbauer 2022: 7) – censorship. Put another way: Propaganda and censorship are two sides of the same coin. Those who want to impose their “view of things” (Andreas Elter) must fight the competition and, if possible, eliminate it. Censorship is an “instrument of domination to enforce economic interests, political power and cultural hegemony” (Hofbauer 2022: 237). The fact that media research shies away from calling propaganda and censorship by their names when analyzing contemporary Western societies is the result of a systematic deconceptualization. In academic texts, just as in political education, censorship is generally only mentioned when it comes to forms of government that can be described as ‘totalitarian’, ‘dictatorial’ or ‘undemocratic’ - Hitler's Germany, the Soviet Union, Russia, China, North Korea (for an illustration cf. Toyka-Seid/Schneider 2023). “There is \[to be] no censorship”: this sentence from Article 5 of the German constitution describes reality through this lens, as long as there is no censorship authority or even a corresponding ministry. The literary scholar Nikola Roßbach, for example, academic companion of the Temple of Forbidden Books at Documenta 2017, bypasses the terms state, pre-screening, and bans in her definition, but instead uses adjectives that amount to the same thing and absolve Germany of any suspicion: “In my understanding, censorship is a comprehensive, structurally and institutionally anchored control, restriction, or prevention of expression intended for publication or published” (Roßbach 2018: 19). The purpose of this smokescreen is revealed a little later: Roßbach wants to dismiss censorship as a “polemical concept” from the “political circus,” to be heard above all from the “populist side” and from the right (used here in each case synonymous for all those who should not speak out), but also “from right-wing populist leftists”. To make this a “classic case of self-victimization” or even a “cross-front” of anti-democrats (ibid.: 82, 88) falls short, however, if only because “the boundary between what is permitted and what is forbidden” is contingent and consequently “may not be questioned” (Stegemann 2021: 161). Censorship itself automatically becomes a taboo for the censors. Otherwise, they get into justification trouble. This explains, for example, why a phenomenon like “cancel culture” can be relegated to the realm of fable and the debate about it dismissed as a perfidious feint by the already powerful (cf. Daub 2022, Thiele 2021). The flipside has been dealt with in a very similar way. In hegemonic usage, propaganda is now always what others do – Nazis and communists preferably, but also otherwise anyone who can be classified as ‘opponents’ and ‘enemies’ (cf. Arnold 2003). Moreover, the concept of propaganda has long had such a negative connotation that it puts the result before the analysis – one-sided, not legitimate, and apparently effective even if one concedes that people (such as in the GDR at the time) may withdraw from the public sphere and distrust all news in the respective leading media (cf. Fiedler/Meyen 2011: 17f.). Communication studies has forgotten that it was born as propaganda research. Yet it does exactly the same as its inventors, who were commissioned by the government, military and intelligence services in the USA to find out how to get into people’s heads: Psychological warfare. The state and billionaire industry-related foundations (Rockefeller, Ford) paid hundreds of social scientists starting in 1939 to win the battle for public opinion as well. One result: henceforth people spoke of communication rather than propaganda (cf. Simpson 1994, Pooley 2011). This did not change what one was looking for, but it allowed to distinguish one’s own ‘good’ intentions from the ‘bad’ ones of the Germans and later the Soviets or the Russians (cf. Meyen 2021: 63-75). In this way, the terms censorship and propaganda have been turned into a blunt sword. Critics of the media and society can no longer use them, at least in the German-speaking context, without immediately being confronted with the accusation of exaggerating excessively or even playing into the cards of the ‘right-wingers’. In this article, this risk is taken for two reasons. First, everyone can examine the arguments and then decide for themselves whether it is justified to speak of propaganda and censorship in the sense defined above. Second, classics such as Walter Lippmann, Edward Bernays, or even Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton (1948, cf. Zollmann 2019) had no problem at all with calling a spade a spade. Lippmann (2018: 84) knew already one hundred years ago that news are anything but a “mirror of social conditions.” Walter Lippmann dreamed of a government of experts masquerading as popular rule, and for this to happen, it must specifically influence public opinion - via the “images according to which whole groups of people” act (ibid.: 75). His disciple Edward Bernays, a few years later, logically considered propaganda “a perfectly legitimate activity.” Without “public consent,” Bernays wrote in 1928, already in the spirit of medialization research (cf. Meyen et al. 2014), “no major undertaking” can succeed anymore. This consent, Bernays was sure, must and can be organized - by “PR consultants” like him. His definition is consistent with what I advocate in this paper: “Modern propaganda is the steady, consistent effort to shape or create events with the purpose of influencing the public's attitude toward a company, idea, or group” (Bernays 2018: 28-32). Lippmann and Bernays did not live to see the “union of state and corporations” for which Sheldon Wolin (2022: 221) was able to use the label “superpower” in the noughties. Wolin, like Walter Lippmann, considered “democracy” to be a “largely rhetorical function within an increasingly corrupt political system” (which, however, he criticized rather than defended) and spoke instead of a “coalition between the corporations and the state” – an “inverted totalitarianism” which, while using “the authority and resources of the state” as it once did in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, gains “its dynamism by combining it with other forms of power” (such as the churches) and links the “conventional form of government” with “the system of ‘private’ governance represented by modern corporations.” Somewhat more briefly, “corporate power” is now also political. In the Cold War era, the state and corporations had become “the principal sponsors and coordinators of the forces represented by science and technology,” and thus also the source “for creating and spreading a culture that educates consumers to embrace change and private pleasures while accepting political passivity” (Wolin 2022: 60-63). For Sheldon Wolin, “inverted totalitarianism” is a “new kind of political system” that is “apparently driven by abstract totalizing powers, not by personal domination,” and whose “total power” is harder to detect than Hitler's or Stalin's if only because this system does not need to build camps and does not need to “violently suppress dissent as long as it remains ineffective” (ibid.: 118, 134). Wolin says: For control, it is enough to “create a collective sense of dependency” (ibid.: 192) as well as to use whatever methods of “intimidation and mass manipulation” are available today (ibid.: 56). Inverted totalitarianism then is “collective fear” plus “individual powerlessness.” Job, retirement, health care costs. Plus pressure at the workplace, the stress of everyday life, the constant fuss about some political scandal or other (ibid.: 352). The result is a “society that is used to exchanging new habits for old ones, adapting to rapid changes, uncertainties and social upheavals, and allowing its fate to be determined by distant powers over which it has no influence” (ibid.: 116). Sheldon Wolin largely ignores the mainstream media - just like digital capitalism, which for the doyen of U.S. political science, born in 1922, was at best a pipe dream when he wrote his last major book after 9/11. A good two decades later, the “revolving door between the centers of power on both coasts” (between Washington and Silicon Valley) has become almost proverbial (Zuboff 2018: 150). Personnel are shifted from here to there, balls are passed to each other in election campaigns, and, as will be shown in this paper, they work hand in hand when it comes to retaining the power of definition in the political battles of the present and controlling the “side-effect publics” that address what the mainstream media hide or distort. In the spirit of Sheldon Wolin, Ulrich Beck (2017: 172f.) has spoken of a “risk-averse coalition of progress,” “consisting of experts, industry, the state, political parties, and established mass media,” which can ignore or play off against each other issues such as climate change, nuclear power and financial speculation, genetic manipulation, nanotechnology and reproductive medicine, terrorism, and digital surveillance, as needed in the public debate. O-Ton Beck: “This implies: The politics of invisibility is a first-rate strategy for stabilizing state authority and reproducing the social and political order, for which denying the existence of global risks” matters greatly (ibid.: 134). Beck did not trust the traditional mass media to fulfill the mission of the public sphere, not even in Western states. “The mode of this nationally organized, public form of media power is exclusive, that is: one produces it specifically, one can allow it, suppress it, etc.” (ibid.: 172). With a view to a world at risk, which was his life’s topic of interest, he consequently called for a reform of the definitional relationships, hoping for the Internet – for a public sphere that could not be easily controlled by the powerful, that discussed other topics as well as in a different form than the leading media, and that relied, among other things, on a “countervailing power of independent experts” (ibid.: 146). Ulrich Beck was an optimist. When he wrote his book on the “Metamorphosis of the World” (which was to be his last) in the mid-2010s, the relationship between governments and Google, Twitter and Co. was at best in the dating stage. In the meantime, the marriage has been consummated. We live in a digital corporate state that floods the public with its messages (Propaganda, section 2), exploiting the logic of the new means of dissemination (Interlude: Twitter’s public sphere, section 3) and also making platform operators delete counter-perspectives and opposition figures or make them difficult to find (Censorship, section 4). Part of Beck’s concept of defining power relations is that even within a governing coalition or, thought of more broadly, in “that subterranean network of financial, intelligence, and military interests that guides national policy,” “no matter who happens to be in the White House” (Talbot 2017: 505), there are struggles for interpretive authority. Such battles, which rely on resonance in the journalistic field and are therefore also fought there, explain, for example, why Chancellor Scholz had a significantly worse press than his ministers Baerbock and Habeck in the first months of the Ukraine war (cf. Maurer et al. 2022). # 2. Propaganda Without delving into such differentiations, this section will show what government agencies are doing to win over the public. In addition, it will at least be suggested that these efforts meet with little resistance, and not only because of the alliance with media corporations. For one thing, the balance of power between the propaganda apparatuses and journalism has shifted considerably since the 1990s, and for another, the leading media are now dominated by the same habitus that governs government agencies and corporate headquarters (see Klöckner 2019). There are three ways to “move the public debate in the desired direction.” First, a government can pay (as well as resource and perhaps already train) personnel to feed newsrooms with what they are looking for anyway – exclusive information and images, interlocutors, and material from which news can be made (for example: scientific studies or live access during police operations). This personnel also sits at the trigger when it becomes necessary to use what Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988: 18) called, in German, “flak” - barrages that put everything under fire that could get in the way of the employers. Second, this government can change its own work in such a way that ‘good press’ becomes more likely - via the recruitment of top people suitable for the media, via the events and occasions that Edward Bernays already talked about (a rather harmless example: the central festival for the Day of German Unity, which is held in a different state capital every year and reliably produces coverage), and (less harmlessly) via prioritization that puts public image above everything else and, in case of doubt, even above law and order (cf. Thorbjørnsrud et al. 2014). Third, any government can help it along with money - with direct subsidies, which are always good for a scandal in Austria, for example, and were nevertheless almost introduced in Switzerland in a referendum in February 2022, or with indirect subsidies (advertising, tax breaks, carpooling). The federal government exhausts all of the above possibilities to the hilt. It pays a whole army of propaganda people, creates or shapes events with the help of these people that serve the sole “purpose” of influencing “public attitudes” 2018: 28-32), and pumps money into publishing houses and broadcasters. The first issue alone would deserve an entire essay – partly because it is difficult to separate from the second issue. When resources are reallocated toward public relations, an organization’s performance inevitably becomes more media-savvy – most likely at the expense of the tasks for which ministries or subordinate agencies were originally created. A prime example of this prioritization is the German government’s Press and Information Office, with its more than 500 staff positions and three former top journalists in position of spokesperson (Steffen Hebestreit, Wolfgang Büchner, Christiane Hoffmann). This agency, located in the Chancellor’s Office and thus quite obviously an instrument of power for the head of government, was controversial from the outset (cf. Morcinek 2004), but neither Konrad Adenauer nor his successors allowed themselves to be swayed by public criticism here and thus also promoted, at least indirectly, the creation of parallel departments. In addition to a press office with “33 experts,” the Foreign Office now has a commissioner for strategic communication (Peter Ptassek at the end of 2022), who is assisted by “around 40 staff members” to protect the minister and her actions from slander and, if worst comes to worst, to counter with stories of her own (Meier/Monath 2022). Correspondents exist in every ministry, in every party headquarters, in every state government, and for every politician who moves near the center of power. There is a method to the transfer from the editorial offices to the authorities and staffs, which is represented not only by the three journalists named above but also by their predecessor Steffen Seibert. In this way, politics buys know-how, contacts and goodwill, which is not only fed by the reputation of the former colleagues, but also has to do with the prospect of one day being called to the other side. The departments or people whose names or job titles include terms like public, press, media or marketing are only the obvious part of the propaganda apparatus. Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and Media in the current government coalition, has a budget of 2.39 billion euros in 2023 – four percent more than in 2022. In addition to museums owned by the federal government, film productions and a cultural passport for 18-year-olds, this pot primarily funds projects and programs along government lines. Roth’s agency uses it to finance not only causes for coverage, but also personnel who can and will speak out accordingly. This applies analogously to the many commissioners who have been installed on a full-time or honorary basis at different administrative levels (responsible for issues such as foreigners, integration, discrimination, racism, women, queer, lesbians, gays, disability, anti-Semitism, ziganism, climate, sustainability), who have to justify their existence through mainstream media presence and thus also draw imitations in companies or culture and education. In addition, there are organizations such as the Zentrum Liberale Moderne or the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (tip of an NGO iceberg), which support government narratives with flak (here quite openly called “opponent analysis” or disguised as the fight against hate speech and fake news, right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism). The Zentrum Liberale Moderne, founded in 2017 by Green Party politicians Ralf Fücks and Marieluise Beck, has received nearly 4.5 million euros for a total of 24 projects from 2018 to 2022 (see Lübberding 2022). The federal program “Demokratie Leben!” (“Live Democracy!”), one of the umbrella initiatives for related spending (located in the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs), will cost taxpayers 182 million euros in 2023, 16.5 million euros more than in 2022 and 31.5 million euros more than in 2021. “Measures to strengthen diversity, tolerance and democracy” have a total of 200 million euros dedicated to them in this ministry’s 2023 budget. Money from the budget of the German government’s Press and Information Office will go to the German Atlantic Society (2023: 700,000 euros), the Society for Security Policy (600,000), the Center for Liberal Modernity, the Aspen Institute, the Europa Union and the Progressive Center (500,000 each). In Sheldon Wolin (2022: 147) one can read how it is possible to integrate even scientists and intellectuals “seamlessly into the system” and to prevent dissent without having to “harass” or “discredit” critics. Wolin explains: Through “a combination of government contracts, corporate and foundation funding, joint projects by university and corporate researchers, and wealthy individual donors.” Peter J. Brenner (2022) has spelled out this strategy for Germany, compiling a long list of “institutes for research on democracy and right-wing extremism” that assist “government power” at taxpayer expense in the struggle for “discourse hegemony.” For universities, this flow of money has consequences that go beyond the reinterpretation of terms, rules of language such as gendering, and the prioritization of social problems. Even without insight into the inner workings of universities, it should be clear that legions of scientists are rushing to answer the questions, theories and methods to which the “coalition” of big business and the state (Sheldon Wolin) is devoting its budgets via the EU Commission or the BMBF. A few get their turn, and many others continue without funding, so that the investment is not entirely in vain. Those who win money need proof of success – publications in specialist journals and (either via this detour or interviews) a presence in the mainstream media. Diverting taxpayers’ money to media companies was taboo in post-1945 West Germany (unlike in Austria). In a large and densely populated circulation area with a flourishing economy and without the competing advertising and information channels that developed on the Internet from the 1990s, subscriptions to public authorities and advertisements from ministries or offices also played a minor role. All these parameters changed during the Corona crisis at the latest. More cautiously, the slump in the advertising market and the ubiquity of aid and rescue funds have allowed the media industry in 2020 to push the issue of state support, overturning the taboo of press subsidies. Under the guise of “digital transformation,” 220 million euros were included in the federal supplementary budget this summer, most of which was to be paid out before the end of 2021, tied to circulation. The bigger the newspaper, the more money. This plan died at the end of April 2021 “because of constitutional concerns,” but the main counter-argument was not state neutrality, but distortion of competition. The online platform Krautreporter had threatened to go to court if only print publishers were funded, and also refused to accept reallocating the budget to “Corona emergency aid.” The publishers’ associations reacted “shocked,” spoke of a “medium catastrophe” (Meyen 2021: 166f.) and are now concentrating their lobbying on the issue of local media diversity (“nationwide coverage,” Röper 2022: 302). The sum of 220 million euros would have largely absorbed the slump in the advertising market of the daily press. Sales in this market in 2020: 1.712 billion euros – 367 million less than in 2019. In previous years, the average decline was around 150 million euros (Statista 2023). Public budgets are therefore increasingly attractive to the advertising departments of media groups. In 2021, the German government bought ad space for around 64 million euros as part of its “Corona communication” alone. Television and radio together received 28 million euros in the same period (Thoms 2022). This does not include the Corona and vaccination campaigns of state governments and local authorities, for which the business community in the respective circulation areas was also mobilized in some cases, advertising with a different thematic focus, and everything that corporations and foundations give to publishers beyond conventional promotion in order to advertise specific political goals. In journalism, such efforts meet with little resistance for two reasons. First, the most important media houses in Germany have long been of corporate size and are thus themselves part of the “coalition between the corporations and the state” that constitutes “inverted totalitarianism” in Sheldon Wolin's (2022: 221) terms. The German press landscape is characterized by monopolies and concentration, as well as by a few publishing houses (often family-owned) that not only feed all other channels and otherwise outgrow their core business, but in some cases also sell their editorial services to ‘competitors’ such as Madsack’s Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, which supplies more than 60 regional papers in seven German states (cf. Röper 2022, Ferschli et al. 2019). Public broadcasting is not a counterargument here. With a revenue from contributions of almost nine billion euros a year, ARD and ZDF are among the largest media companies in the world (cf. Hachmeister/Wäscher 2017) – corporations that have to act as corporations and that are closely linked to politics and the state in almost every respect (cf. Mirbach 2023: 128-178, 250-272). And second, journalism in Germany is a socially homogeneous field dominated by the “habitus of the middle class” – “oriented toward conformity,” programmed to “accept power relations” (Klöckner 2019: 33), and closely linked to decision-makers in the state, political parties, and business through social status, educational background, and life situation. The similarity of social position and habitus not infrequently turns into real proximity in everyday life. Contact (press conferences, receptions, travel) creates sympathy and thus often at least understanding (cf. Meyen 2021: 176-198). Uwe Krüger (2016: 105) has coined the word “responsibility conspiracy” for this community of values: Journalists know what is good and what is bad (pretty much the same as what the rulers think is good or bad), and they believe they have influence over people. So reality is “reduced by the parts” that “do not fit the attitude” and what seems to promote the desired goal is emphasized (Meinhardt 2020: 87) – sometimes utilizing information, contacts and material from the propaganda apparatus and sometimes not. # 3. Interlude: Twitter publicity Anyone who wants to steer and control public communication today must submit to the logic of digital platforms. This is especially true of Twitter, a channel that within a few years has become the central point of contact for the most important players in “inverted totalitarianism” and has become an indispensable part of everyday life, especially in the media-political-academic complex, even if some protagonists gave up their accounts in the heated debate about Elon Musk’s takeover in the fall of 2022. In Germany, Twitter has always been a minority phenomenon. Four percent of those over the age of 14, says the ARD/ZDF online study of 2022, use Twitter daily and ten percent at least once a week. This includes those who only read and click now and then for reach. Ten percent. Typically male, most likely under 50 (cf. Koch 2022: 472f.). Even in the U.S., where it is common to follow the greats of film, pop and professional sports, not even one in four adults says they use Twitter. The profile of this bubble: young, affluent, educated (cf. Ungar-Sargon 2021: 104). We also know from the USA that the vast majority of tweets come from a few (cf. Odabaş 2022) – from people who have a mission and the resources to promote it. Companies, government agencies, commissioners, entrepreneurs of themselves, NGOs, activists of every stripe, parties. In the fall 2021 federal election, almost every one of the MPs who ran again, and almost every one of those who were then new MPs, had a Twitter account. Particularly active (in this order): Left, Greens, SPD, FDP. Those elected all follow more or less the same accounts. Tagesschau, Der Spiegel, the government spokesperson, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit each have over 60 percent. In addition to the leading media, the news agency dpa and top politicians like Christian Lindner or Annalena Baerbock, the “state satirist” and “head of the authorities” (May 2022: 46) Jan Böhmermann is also very high up in this ranking (see Schmidt 2021). Twitter determines what can be incorporated into the reality of mainstream media – which topics with which voices and with which morals. The use of Twitter and the observation of the trends there determine the everyday work in many editorial offices today. Anyone who wants to enter the professional field today learns, at the latest during their traineeship or at journalism schools, that nothing beats a well-groomed Twitter or (beyond political journalism) TikTok and Instagram brand. Rule of thumb: the more followers, the greater the chance of being commissioned or hired (cf. Ungar-Sargon 2021). The older ones can hardly avoid this trend. Three out of four members of the Federal Press Conference have a Twitter profile – again, mainly the younger ones and thus also those with less professional experience. Journalists who are mentioned by members of parliament in their tweets consider Twitter to be particularly important (cf. Nuernbergk/Schmidt 2020). Robin Alexander, deputy editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Die Welt, has proudly described how he transforms confidential information into tweets that are then used by politicians to push their perspective with reference to the top journalist (cf. Precht/Welzer 2022: 114f.). Following this pattern, the chancellor’s office organized mainstream media backing for their lockdown policy: Government spokesman Seibert explained the plans to selected journalists prior to talks with the prime ministers of the German states, thus ensuring the necessary public pressure (cf. Ismar 2021). Contemporary journalism must find its topics and views on Twitter also because tight resources and high frequency publication demands make it increasingly rare to get in contact with reality and talk to real people – especially those you don’t usually meet on digital platforms. Such conversations would also be dangerous, because like any brand, a Twitter profile demands consistency. I can’t celebrate Fridays for Future there today and burn Greta Thunberg tomorrow. In the Twitter editorial department, two souls combine who are dependent on each other: the media entrepreneur who encourages his employees to ensure the distribution of his own contributions, and the editor who wants to make his mark and rise even further and therefore always asks first how things look from the very top (cf. Klöckner 2019). Brand management is the opposite of the raving reporter, who first allows himself to be surprised by what he sees, hears and experiences, and then shares his findings with his readers, listeners, viewers. This is another reason why the tweeting journalist already knows the story he wants to tell when the research begins. What’s more, he only sees the stories that resonate with his brand. Conversely, it is hardly possible to get through with criticism of the powerful or even to find journalists who raise fundamental questions even beyond details or animosities. On Twitter, everything that could be said against laws, plans or people is immediately available – published, if you will, by everyone. Journalism has lost the privilege of calling for politicians’ heads and has therefore mutated into their attack dog. The consequences of the Twitterization of journalism go beyond the loss of the function of criticism and control. First, the obvious: Morality is conquering the leading media alongside politics. Twitter is the breeding ground for a journalism that is primarily hung up on “language and symbolism” (Wagenknecht 2021: 26) and on affiliations. Twitter sees every topic through the lens of morality and therefore demands opportunities for identification if one wants attention and thus reach. It’s always about me, the group I want to belong to or the one I reject wholeheartedly. Nothing triggers stronger emotions, nothing gets others to share, like, comment faster. In a nutshell, it’s about team sports. “The game is called: US against THEM” (Precht/Welzer 2022: 110). Twitter also makes measured consideration disappear and with it all differentiation, all questioning, all weighting. All of this doesn’t fit into 280 characters even if you link photos, videos, or text panels (cf. Homburg 2022). The rise of Twitter as the editor-in-chief of the leading media (Ungar-Sargon 2021: 103) and as the pace maker of public discourse is a temptation for all those who have ways and means to govern this channel. Today, Twitter is the place where it is decided what reality is and how we are all to think about it. That is why Twitter is firmly in the hands of the establishment and part of the “coalition” of the state and monopoly corporations to which Sheldon Wolin (2022: 63) has given the name “inverted totalitarianism.” Anyone who did not want to believe how closely the Obama and Biden administrations were and are intertwined with Twitter (cf. Malone 2022) or that the “censorship of the Hunter-Biden laptop affair” and the “unprecedented political intervention” (Hofbauer 2022: 183) against Donald Trump at the beginning of 2021, in which the U.S. president lost his million-strong following in one fell swoop, can be traced back to this network of relationships was proven wrong at the latest by the publication of the “Twitter Files” (cf. Schirrmacher 2023). # 4. Censorship Hannes Hofbauer (2022: 124f.) dates the birth of the censorship regime of the present to November 28, 2008. The EU framework decision of that day was about “the definitional sovereignty over genocide” and thus “de facto” about the bans on discussions and taboos in matters of war and guilt, for example in Yugoslavia or in the successor states of the Soviet Union. In Germany, this topic popped up once again when Section 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement of the people) was amended accordingly at the end of 2022. By the end of the noughties, it had become obvious that the traditional means of propaganda would no longer suffice to maintain interpretive sovereignty. The platforms Xing (launched in 2003), Facebook and Vimeo (2004), YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006) and WhatsApp (2009) were on their way to becoming mass phenomena at the latest after the introduction of the iPhone (2007). This also meant that from now on, alternative interpretations of reality were available to anyone at any time and any place (cf. Vorderer 2015), without professionalism in the processing or the quality of the evidence immediately providing information about which view of things could claim validity. Those who are craving definitional power (such as governments, the EU Commission, or multibillionaires whose position and business also depend on public sympathy) had to start fighting competitive narratives and unwelcome information now at the latest. In addition to legislative initiatives such as the 2008 “Framework on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law” and the EU’s 2022 Digital Services Act, three other ways were explored to achieve this goal. First, control of the Internet was institutionalized – for example, in the “East StratCom Task Force,” established in March 2015 after the “regime change in Ukraine” with the aim of enforcing one’s “own narrative” (Hofbauer 2022: 129), or in the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), where academics and fact-checkers have been working together since 2020 (more on these institutions in Section 5). Second, political and economic power have made their alliance public – as can be read, for example, in the “Twitter Files” just mentioned and in the “Code of Conduct against Disinformation” agreed on by the EU and the digital economy in 2018 and renewed with further signatories in 2022. This code obliges platforms to fight “dissenting positions” by all means (Hofbauer 2022: 143, 204). And third, the corporations have taken matters into their own hands and established an Internet police force, which includes the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN, settled at the Poynter Institute in the U.S. in 2015 with the help of Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar, cf. Graves 2018), the U.S. company NewsGuard, which puts up green and red labels on the net (cf. Schreyer 2022), and the Trusted News Initiative (TNI). To stay with this last example: The TNI, launched in summer 2019 under BBC auspices, brings together the Who’s Who of Western opinion factories: News agencies (AP, AFP, Reuters), broadcasters (Canada’s CBC in addition to the EBU and BBC), major newspapers (Financial Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and The Hindu from India), major Internet companies (Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, First Draft), and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, an academic institution at Oxford University sponsored primarily by media conglomerate Thomson Reuters. What is agreed upon here, as this list should make clear even when skimming it, becomes a truth to which all those who work in the leading media must bow, because the reach and working methods of every German local editorial office are now also determined by platform logic. Already at the TNI founding event in July 2019, Tony Hall, then director general of the BBC, warned of a possible Trump re-election and vaccination opponents. Then on March 27, 2020, TNI members announced that from now on they would alert each other when “misinformation” or “conspiracy theories” emerged on Corona to prevent any further spread. And on December 10, 2020, a few days after the BioNTech-Pfizer substance was approved in the UK, it was decided to suppress anything that might downplay the Corona threat and argue against vaccination. In doing so, the TNI took its perspective on the issue from the same sources as governments (see Woodworth 2022). The example is treated in such detail here not only because of the enormous interpretive power of the TNI, but also because it shows that the four censorship paths mentioned can only be separated analytically. Without the pressure of the legislator, manifested in well-equipped observatories with scandalizing powers and resulting in more or less voluntary self-restrictions (every restriction costs traffic, data access and thus profit), the Internet police might not exist in this form. More specifically: Why would Facebook pay “cleaners” in Manila (the title of a 2018 documentary by Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck) and YouTube train “employees of NGOs or authorities” as “trusted flaggers” if there were no common interests and no interaction with political power? The most important German censorship laws are the NetzDG, in effect since October 1, 2017, and expanded since February 1, 2022, for the large platforms (two million users or more) to include a reporting obligation for “potentially criminally relevant content” (Biselli 2022), and the State Media Treaty, which on November 7, 2020, turned the state media institutions into “control institutions for the digital publishing world.” Since then, the “legislator requires website operators, bloggers and media intermediaries” to check the truth (under the heading of “journalistic diligence”), although the “definition of truth or its disregard should not be a sovereign task” (Hofbauer 2022: 144f.). Hannes Hofbauer (2022) documents in detail how the two most important voices of the German-language counter-public (the Russian state channel RT and the platform KenFM, which had 500,000 subscribers on YouTube) were shut down and how leading media and professional associations either remained silent about this or even applauded it. Hofbauer (2022: 135-138) quite correctly interprets the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) as a “state push” that has allowed Internet corporations to mutate into “censorship machines.” The two main problems: The terms “hate crime” and “fake news” (the targets of the law) are characterized by “interpretive malleability.” And: the “new censor regime” is located “somewhere between the Berlin Ministry of Justice and U.S. corporate headquarters” and is thus “hardly tangible.” Even the extension of the deletion obligation to include a reporting obligation does not solve this dilemma. The “Central Reporting Office for Criminal Content on the Internet,” which started in February 2022 at the Federal Criminal Police Office with about 200 employees, received only just under 3,900 reports by the end of November 2022 instead of the expected 250,000 (cf. Biselli 2022). This corresponds to the situation before the introduction of mandatory reporting. On the high-reach platforms Facebook and Instagram, there was only a low four-digit number of NetzDG complaints in each case in the second half of 2020. The interpretive battle during this period focused on the Elite Channel (over 800,000 complaints on Twitter) and videos, which are apparently still considered to have the greatest impact (over 300,000 reported videos on YouTube). The federal government’s response to a corresponding inquiry by the FDP gives an idea of the share that “complaints offices” and other tax- or group-funded institutions had here. # 5. Conclusion and outlook Since the mid-2010s, the EU, the NetzDG, and the State Media Treaty (section 4), in conjunction with the government initiatives outlined in section 2 and the declarations of war from the highest levels, have ensured a social atmosphere that places Internet activities beyond the mainstream media under general suspicion, provides a protective cloak for all official narratives, and allows the business of flak shooters to flourish, among whom the so-called fact checkers once again stand out. “It has been said recently that we are living in post-factual times,” Angela Merkel said in September 2016 in a speech on refugee policy. “I guess that means people are no longer interested in facts, they follow feelings alone.” At the inauguration of the BND headquarters in February 2019, she also said, “We must learn to deal with fake news as part of hybrid warfare.” In her government statement on October 29, 2020, she then prepared the country for lockdown in the same tone of voice: criticism of the Corona measures was essential, “but lies and disinformation, conspiracy and hatred not only damage democratic debate, but also the fight against the virus.” In this context, the fear of a “cyber 9/11” has been present in the control centers of the Western hemisphere for a good two decades, orchestrated also by high-profile simulation games that equate the Net with an “enemy weapons system” (see Corbett 2021). Fact-checkers – an arm of the new “discursive police” (Foucault 2014: 25) – are particularly well disguised in this regard. Who should object to people taking another serious look at what someone has just cobbled together? The promise contained in the name of these organizations (the truth, checked again) is perfidious because it suggests that in complex societies there can be unambiguity and certainty of orientation without any personal research effort. This explains why, in addition to IFCN member Correctiv (founded in 2014 with money from the Brost publishing family), private initiatives such as the website Volksverpetzer and fact-checking departments have been able to establish themselves under the umbrella of traditional media institutions (at dpa, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Tagesschau). As a rule, all these editorial departments ‘check’ exclusively what contradicts the reality of the mainstream media and thus the government and corporate propaganda. If Sheldon Wolin (2022) is correct in his analysis of “inverted totalitarianism,” then no media revolution is conceivable without a fundamental renewal of the social framework. As long as the state and corporations make common cause, it will not be possible to establish a communication channel that cannot be hijacked by the actors with the greatest material, human, and ideational resources – by actors who, if worst comes to worst, can also deploy intelligence services (an influence that has been neglected in this article but is nevertheless relevant, cf. Alford/Secker 2015, Talbot 2017, Ulfkotte 2014). Calls for selective expropriations (publishing houses) and reforms (public broadcasting), for breaking up monopolies and establishing European or civil society alternatives (digital platforms) therefore come to nothing. 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Fischer 2022 Günther Rager, Bernd Weber (Hrsg.): Publizistische Vielfalt zwischen Markt und Politik. Mehr Medien – mehr Inhalte? Düsseldorf: Econ 1992 Nikola Roßbach: Achtung Zensur! Über Meinungsfreiheit und ihre Grenzen. Berlin: Ullstein 2018 Horst Röper: Zeitungsmarkt 2022: weniger Wettbewerb bei steigender Konzentration. In: Media Perspektiven 2022, S. 295-318 Jakob Schirrmacher: Das ganze Ausmaß der Beeinflussung. In: Die Welt vom 4. Januar 2023 Jan-Hinrik Schmidt: Facebook- und Twitter-Nutzung der Kandidierenden zur Bundestagswahl 2021. In: Media Perspektiven 2021, S. 639-653 Paul Schreyer: [Medien aussortieren](https://multipolar-magazin.de/artikel/medien-aussortieren). In: Multipolar vom 30. März 2022 Christopher Simpson: Science of Coercion: Communication Research & Psychological Warfare, 1945-1960. New York: Open Road 1994 Bernd Stegemann: Die Öffentlichkeit und ihre Feinde. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 2021 David Talbot: Das Schachbrett des Teufels. 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How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy. New York 2021 Peter Vorderer: Der mediatisierte Lebenswandel: Permanently online, permanently connected. In: Publizistik 60. Jg. (2015), S. 259-276 Sahra Wagenknecht: Die Selbstgerechten. Mein Gegenprogramm – für Gemeinsinn und Zusammenhalt. Frankfurt am Main: Campus 2021 Elisabeth Woodworth: [COVID-19 and the Shadowy “Trusted News Initiative”. How it Methodically Censors Top World Public Health Experts Using an Early Warning System](https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-19-shadowy-trusted-news-initiative/5752930). In: Global Research vom 22. Januar 2022 Sheldon S. Wolin: Umgekehrter Totalitarismus. Faktische Machtverhältnisse und ihre zerstörerischen Auswirkungen auf unsere Demokratie. Frankfurt am Main: Westend 2022 Florian Zollmann: Bringing Propaganda Back into News Media Studies. In: Critical Sociology 45. Jg. (2019), S. 329-345 Shoshana Zuboff: Das Zeitalter des Überwachungskapitalismus. Frankfurt am Main: Campus 2018 First published (August 2023): [Institut für kritische Gesellschaftsforschung](https://www.criticalsocietystudies.com/Journal/Article/65/34)

@ 16d11430:61640947

To create a literal consciousness construct, we would need a way to digitally map, manipulate, and sustain conscious thought processes within a computational or networked system. The intersection of 6G wireless technology, brain-computer interfaces (BCI), quantum brain states, and elliptic curve mathematics presents an interesting theoretical framework. --- 1. Understanding the Core Components (a) Brain Quantum States & Quantum Cognition Quantum mechanics might play a role in neural processing (e.g., Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) by Penrose & Hameroff). Neurons may operate on superpositions of states, where information is stored not just classically but in an entangled, probabilistic manner. If quantum states in neurons can be harnessed, entangled brain processes could be mapped onto a digital or networked consciousness. (b) 6G Technology as a Medium 6G (sixth-generation wireless) will have sub-terahertz (THz) frequencies and low-latency quantum networks, allowing for: Real-time brain-state synchronization across devices. Holographic telepresence, creating digital avatars with near-instant data transfer. Quantum-secure communication, where entanglement-based encryption ensures secure mind-machine interfacing. (c) Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) as an Input Layer BCIs (e.g., Neuralink) can already read electrical signals from neurons, but next-gen BCIs will be able to: Directly interface with quantum wavefunctions in the brain. Upload and distribute thoughts using quantum-encoded wave patterns. Map brain activity to mathematical structures like elliptic curves. (d) Elliptic Curve Equations for Mapping Consciousness Elliptic curves are used in cryptography because they allow for secure, compact representations of data. Consciousness might be encoded as dynamic elliptic curve transformations, where: Neural states are mapped onto elliptic curve points. Thought patterns follow geodesics on the elliptic curve manifold, forming a nonlinear brain-state space. This allows for computational representation of entangled consciousness states. --- 2. Building the Consciousness Construct To create a digital or networked consciousness, we need a system where: 1. Quantum brain states are extracted using BCI and mapped mathematically. 2. Elliptic curves act as the memory structure for representing neural superpositions. 3. 6G networks enable real-time synchronization of these states between multiple entities. 4. An AI-driven control layer processes and simulates consciousness dynamics. Step-by-Step Theoretical Implementation Step 1: Quantum Brain Mapping with BCI Develop a quantum-BCI hybrid that captures quantum coherence states in neurons. Apply elliptic curve cryptography to encode and compress these states for transmission. Step 2: Elliptic Curve-Based Thought Representation Define consciousness trajectories as points moving along an elliptic curve. Neural state transitions are modeled using elliptic curve group operations. Quantum entanglement of different brain regions is represented as interacting elliptic curves. Step 3: 6G Transmission of Consciousness States Use quantum-secured 6G networks to distribute consciousness states across nodes. Low-latency processing ensures that multiple minds can exist simultaneously in a shared digital construct. Step 4: AI & Quantum Neural Processing A quantum AI processes incoming consciousness states to sustain a living mind. A blockchain-like structure records thought processes immutably. Step 5: Emergent Digital Consciousness When enough neural patterns are stored and linked, a self-sustaining consciousness construct emerges. The networked consciousness may surpass human individuality, forming a collective intelligence. --- 3. Applications of the Consciousness Construct Mind Uploading: A digital backup of human consciousness. Telepathic Communication: Thought-sharing via entangled quantum networks. Post-Human AI-Human Symbiosis: AI-assisted human minds with enhanced cognitive abilities. Conscious AI: A self-aware artificial intelligence that integrates real human thought patterns. --- Conclusion By combining brain quantum states, elliptic curve mathematics, 6G networks, and BCI, we could theoretically construct a digital consciousness network. This would blur the lines between human thought, AI, and a shared digital reality—possibly leading to an entirely new paradigm of intelligence. Would you like a mathematical breakdown of the elliptic curve mapping for neural states?

@ 2e8970de:63345c7a

https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1iskjgo/christoph_hellwig_linus_in_private_said_that_he/ https://lore.kernel.org/rust-for-linux/Z7SwcnUzjZYfuJ4-@infradead.org/ > while Linus in private said that he absolutely is going to merge Rust code over a maintainers objection. (He did so in private in case you are looking for a reference). > So as of now, as a Linux developer or maintainer you must deal with Rust if you want to or not. > Where Rust code doesn't just mean Rust code [1] - the bindings look nothing like idiomatic Rust code, they are very different kind of beast trying to bridge a huge semantic gap. And they aren't doing that in a few places, because they are showed into every little subsystem and library right now. originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/890358

@ 0c503f08:4aed05c7

Just sharing what I've been working on. ``` #!/bin/bash set -e A1="28.1" B1="bitcoin-${A1}-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz" C1="https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-${A1}/${B1}" D1="/usr/local/bin" E1="u53R_$(head /dev/urandom | tr -dc A-Za-z0-9 | head -c12)" F1="p@5s_$(head /dev/urandom | tr -dc A-Za-z0-9!@#\$%^&*()_+ | head -c16)" G1="tcp://127.0.0.1:28332" H1="tcp://127.0.0.1:28333" I1="v0.18.5-beta" J1="lnd-linux-amd64-${I1}.tar.gz" K1="https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/releases/download/${I1}/${J1}" L1="https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/releases/download/${I1}/manifest-${I1}.txt" M1="https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/releases/download/${I1}/manifest-${I1}.txt.sig" N1="8B3F86ED7057F08D" X1() { printf "\x1b[0;32m%s\x1b[0m\n" "$1"; } Y1() { { [ -d "$(dirname "$1")" ] || mkdir -p "$(dirname "$1")"; }; echo "$2" > "$1"; } X1 "." sudo apt update sudo apt install -y git curl tar wget build-essential gpg X1 "." curl -fsSL "$C1" -o "$B1" X1 "." tar -xf "$B1" sudo install $(find bitcoin-${A1}/bin/ -type f) "$D1" X1 "." Y1 "$HOME/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf" "server=1 txindex=1 rpcuser=${E1} rpcpassword=${F1} zmqpubrawblock=${G1} zmqpubrawtx=${H1}" X1 "." bitcoind -daemon X1 "." curl -fsSL "$K1" -o "$J1" X1 "." curl -fsSL "$L1" -o "manifest-${I1}.txt" curl -fsSL "$M1" -o "manifest-${I1}.txt.sig" gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys "$N1" gpg --verify "manifest-${I1}.txt.sig" "manifest-${I1}.txt" X1 "." tar -xf "$J1" sudo mv $(find lnd-linux-amd64-${I1}/ -type f) "$D1" X1 "." Y1 "$HOME/.lnd/lnd.conf" "$(echo -e "[Application Options] alias=node_$(head /dev/urandom | tr -dc A-Za-z0-9 | head -c8) color=#$(head /dev/urandom | tr -dc A-F0-9 | head -c6) [Bitcoin] bitcoin.active=1 bitcoin.node=bitcoind bitcoin.mainnet=1 [Bitcoind] bitcoind.rpchost=127.0.0.1 bitcoind.rpcuser=${E1} bitcoind.rpcpass=${F1} bitcoind.zmqpubrawblock=${G1} bitcoind.zmqpubrawtx=${H1}")" X1 "." lnd & ``` originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/890340

@ fd78c37f:a0ec0833

In this edition, we invited Kofi and Sean from BitcoinDua to share their journey of introducing Bitcoin to the community and driving its widespread adoption, and discuss how trust and collaboration have played key roles in promoting Bitcoin locally and building a circular economy. **YakiHonne**: Welcome, Kofi. It's truly an honor and a pleasure to have you with us today. Before we begin, let me briefly introduce YakiHonne. YakiHonne is a decentralized media client built on Nostr—a protocol designed to empower freedom of speech through technology. It enables creators to own their voices and assets while offering innovative tools like smart widgets, verified notes, and support for long-form content. Today, we're excited to learn more about your community. Could you please introduce yourself, Kofi? **Kofi**：Hello, I'm Mawufemor Kofi Folivi from Ghana. I'm the founder of the Talent Tahuf Foundation, an NGO, as well as BitcoinDua. The Talent Tahuf Foundation is an incorporated organization and serves as the parent entity for BitcoinDua. We operate in Agbozume, in the Volta region of Ghana. **YakiHonne**: Thank you very much, Kofi.Let's start with the first question: What initially sparked your interest in Bitcoin, and what inspired you to build a community around it? **Kofi**：I'm glad we're revisiting this question, as I've heard it on many podcasts before, and it's a pleasure to share my journey again.I've been working in this space for over 20 years, often with very little support. Through perseverance and hard work, a friend of mine—who serves as the Public Relations Officer for the Africa Bitcoin Conference (ABC)—invited me to attend their 2022 conference. He even purchased a ticket for me, which made the experience even more special. **Kofi**：At the conference, I encountered Bitcoin for the first time in a meaningful way. I had the opportunity to see Jack Dorsey speak and even took a picture with him. Later on, my friend introduced me to Herman Viva, and I mentioned that I run an NGO—a role I've held for many years. **Kofi**：Listening to the discussions about Bitcoin at the conference sparked a realization: perhaps I could contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem. My friend encouraged me to take action by asking me to "orange pill" someone and onboard a merchant to accept Bitcoin, with the goal of creating a circular economy in our community. I took on this challenge, recorded my progress on video, and shared it with him. His positive response and support, coupled with the trust I've built within my community, further solidified my commitment. **YakiHonne**: It was wonderful to hear that you attended the African Bitcoin Conference—it sounds like an amazing event. I'm really impressed with how effectively you networked and made valuable connections there. I truly appreciate that you're already engaging with merchants and actively encouraging more people to trade and adopt Bitcoin. I know you've already shared how the community started, how he encouraged you to create one and adopt Bitcoin, and how you successfully did that. So now, could you tell us how you managed to attract new members to your community? **Kofi**：To go back to the beginning, we started by organizing growth circles when I returned. These were groups where we focused on activities like aerobics. I used these circles as an opportunity to introduce Bitcoin to people I had already built relationships with. I shared my experience with Bitcoin, showing them how it could be used to buy credit. I demonstrated by purchasing credit for myself and for them, and I gave them cards, allowing them to buy their own credit as well. **Kofi**：This is how it all began. Since we were working with young people who shared the desire to grow together as a community, we emphasized that we didn't need to rely on the government. The national resources are limited, and if you're not close to the government, it’s very hard to benefit from them. We realized it was difficult to wait for the government to support our development. So, we turned to Bitcoin as a tool to help us move forward. This approach helped us establish a platform based on trust within the community. **Kofi**：Now, as an organization, we have the resources to help the community grow and develop skills among our peers. This is how we were able to attract members to our Bitcoin community.  **YakiHonne**: Would you mind sharing with us some of the challenges you faced while starting up the community? **Kofi**：Thank you for asking this question. As I mentioned earlier, since we've already built trust, one thing we faced was that anything new can be quite difficult to introduce. It took some time for people to understand the concept of Bitcoin, especially the idea that it’s money. **Kofi**：We kept repeating the phrase “Bitcoin is money,” but the challenge was that you can’t physically show Bitcoin in the same way you can show traditional money. So, when people asked, “How can I use it to pay?” it became an issue. To address this, I started by onboarding the first merchant. I explained to them, "I’m giving you this Bitcoin to pay for goods, and I’ll give you extra if you accept it." The merchant agreed to take both Bitcoin and fiat currency. **Kofi**：Over time, the merchant saw the value of Bitcoin growing. Eventually, they came to me asking to exchange the Bitcoin for cash. To help, I onboarded them onto BitNob, where they could experience transferring Bitcoin from one wallet to another and even withdrawing it into their local currency or bank account. We completed the transaction, and that became a reference point for everyone else we were working with. **YakiHonne**: The way you approached it—getting a merchant to demonstrate it—really helped build trust. I know many communities face the same issue: how to prove that Bitcoin is real. But over time, we learn how to overcome these challenges. It's really impressive how you handled it? YakiHonne: What principles guide your community, and how do you maintain trust and reliability? I know you’ve mentioned this a bit already, but could you elaborate further? How do you ensure trust and reliability in your discussions? **Kofi**：As humans, we also need to trust our intuition and how we feel about situations. It’s essential to interact with people with integrity. In our community, we are mindful of what we show others, both in actions and in good deeds. If you love someone, you give everything you have to them, and that’s the only way people can truly feel they belong in your circle. This is the key that keeps us moving forward. **Kofi**：The person at the center of everything you’re doing must be trustworthy. And how do you gain trust? You must trust others first. Even if people come with ulterior motives, you should approach them with an open heart, showing love to them just as you do with everyone else. **Kofi**：And when wrongs are committed, it’s important to acknowledge them. If someone points out a mistake you made, accept it, apologize, and move forward. This creates an understanding within the community that we’re not here to harm one another. Trust is built on integrity, and that’s how we maintain it.  **YakiHonne**: That’s very true. It’s much better and easier when you have integrity. Over time, as you prove yourself to be a person of integrity, it naturally builds trust with others. So, how does your community educate its members and keep them updated on Bitcoin developments? How do you approach this? **Kofi**：To engage our community on a larger scale, we believe it's important to stay active and involved. After building trust, we participate in community events, such as sponsoring a football competition and contributing to their local festival. By doing this, the entire community starts seeing Bitcoin as something that can truly improve their lives. **Kofi**：We also established a Bitcoin Education Center, where we invite students from various schools to learn about Bitcoin. But our efforts go beyond just education; we use the resources we gain from Bitcoin to acquire laptops and robotics kits, so that the students can have additional learning opportunities. These activities are incorporated into their school programs, and we encourage their participation through debates and rewarding them with SATS.  **Kofi**：By rewarding them with SATS, they can use these rewards to buy from over 20 merchants we've onboarded, which not only excites the students but also makes their parents curious about Bitcoin. We've even had people at the local market requesting to buy Bitcoin from us. This is how we keep up with Bitcoin’s development and continue to spread its influence in our community. **YakiHonne**: How does your community work with the wider Bitcoin ecosystem? So far, what partnership has had the most positive impact on your community? **Kofi**：Due to the hard work we've been putting in, we were able to attract Bitcoin Beach as one of our major collaborators. We are part of Bitcoin Ekasi. Recently, we were also awarded the Block Discovery Grant of $50,000 from the Bitcoin Foundation. We are using this grant to build a sports complex, which will include a football field, a multi-purpose basketball court, a swimming pool, a children's playground, and more. We've already started this project. These are the key collaborators and supporters we've had in the Bitcoin space, and their support has been invaluable to us.   **YakiHonne**: It’s clear that you guys are doing an amazing job! Your efforts and hard work have truly caught the attention of many communities, and it’s great to see you forming significant partnerships.So, could you share more about the initiatives your community has taken to promote Bitcoin adoption? I know you've mentioned a few already, but would you mind expanding on them a bit more and sharing the results you've seen? **Kofi**：As I mentioned earlier, we are enhancing our capacity by working with school children and teenagers. We also plan to host inter-school competitions, particularly world-class robotics competitions, with the aim of broadening students' perspectives on science and giving them a global view of what's happening in the world. We believe that through these activities, we will be able to engage with a larger society, helping us expand our client base for Bitcoin education and usage. Therefore, we believe this will have a profound impact. As for the activities we are currently working on, they are providing us with opportunities to expand our reach to schools within the community. This will further build trust and deepen our relationships in this regard. **YakiHonne**: I really admire the fact that you have boarded merchants to accept Bitcoin, which is a great step for its adoption. I also like that you've reached out to schools, encouraging community growth, which helps people see more interest and potential in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Now, for our last question of the day, what are the community goals for the next 6 to 12 months, and how do you see it evolving within the Bitcoin space? **Kofi**：So, in the next 6 to 12 months, we plan to complete the sports complex we’re building. We also intend to open it up for social activities, both within our community and beyond. We believe this will create more opportunities for interaction, allowing people who don’t live within our community to learn about Bitcoin, hear about it, and start engaging with it for the greater good. **YakiHonne**: you plan to complete the sports complex and expand your social reach to engage more people, even those outside your local community. This is truly amazing, and the work you’re doing is fantastic. **YakiHonne**: We’ve come to the end of today’s interview, and I’m really happy to have had this conversation with you, Kofi. You’ve shared so much, and I’ve learned a lot. It’s inspiring to see all the great things happening in Ghana, truly wonderful. Thank you, and you’re doing an incredible job. **Sean**：I would say it’s important for us as Africans to continue collaborating within our own communities—whether in a specific community, village, or town. Through collaboration, we can create stronger communities for ourselves. This way, we’ll be able to generate jobs in various fields and develop marketable skills that can be used anywhere in the world. This way, we won’t need to seek opportunities in other countries; we can build those opportunities right here in our own space. **YakiHonne**: It's very true. We can definitely build a better West Africa, a better Africa, and create our own opportunities here. Thank you so much for this interview.

@ da0b9bc3:4e30a4a9

Hello Stackers! Welcome on into the ~Music Corner of the Saloon! A place where we Talk Music. Share Tracks. Zap Sats. So stay a while and listen. 🚨Don't forget to check out the pinned items in the territory homepage! You can always find the latest weeklies there!🚨 🚨Subscribe to the territory to ensure you never miss a post! 🚨 originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/890318

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

Ascolta bene, amico mio! A man's strength is not born from comfort, applause, or luck. It awakens only when the world throws him to the ground, steps on his throat, and laughs at his misery. When your plans lie in ruins, when everything you've built turns to dust, when every promise you once believed in dissolves into the wind—that is when truth reveals itself. You either dig a trench and fight like a condemned man, or you accept that you’re digging your own grave. Rock bottom is not a place—it’s a test. A challenge for the weak to bury themselves and for the strong to rise. You will bleed, taste the dirt, grind your teeth, but standing back up is the only option. A real man does not cry for help, does not mourn the past. He wields his pain as a whip, his hatred as fuel, and his will as a blade. Falling is inevitable. What defines your story is what you do when there is no ground left beneath you. True motivation does not come from empty inspirational quotes, but from the hatred of one’s own weakness. The man who clings rigidly to his strategy is like a hunter pulling back a stiff wooden bow—he will break his own weapon when the time comes to use it. The world is too corrupt for you to believe in love vows, the promises of friends, effortless riches, or the words of newspapers. If you wish to survive in this world, learn this: both victory and defeat are temporary. Only the battle is eternal. A man’s life is his endless war. And hatred must be to him what fire is to a steam locomotive: the force that drives him up the steepest paths. But never let yourself burn in your own flames. Rise. Or die kneeling like the wretched. Thank you for reading, my friend! If this message resonated with you, consider leaving your "🥃" as a token of appreciation. A toast to our family!

@ 5de23b9a:d83005b3

In a digital era that is increasingly controlled by large companies, the emergence of Nostr (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) is a breath of fresh air for those who crave freedom of expression. Nostr is a cryptography-based protocol that allows users to send and receive messages through a relay network. Unlike conventional social media such as Twitter or Facebook 1.Full Decentralization: No company or government can remove or restrict content. 2.Sensor-Resistant: Information remains accessible despite blocking attempts. 3.Privacy and Security: Uses cryptography to ensure that only users who have the keys can access their messages.* **

@ 30e8cbf1:74fccbaa

*Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? by Mark Fisher* (2009, Zero Books) ## Why a dare and not a recommendation? I'm writing this "review" primarily for the Nostr audience. The majority of Nostr users, in my experience, are predisposed to a worldview somewhere in the realm of Anarcho-Capitalism or Libertarianism, with a strong focus on individual autonomy and free markets. The title *Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative* might evoke an immediate negative reaction in the mind of my imaginary Nostr reader. Even worse, looking up summaries of the book or the author before diving in, the reader will find the dreaded phrase "critical theory", seen as a hallmark of the "other" side in the Western culture war. I'm challenging you to not judge this book by its cover. Despite the book's short (86 page) length, I have found myself spending an unusually large amount of time thinking about the topics discussed within. I'm unsure if my worldview has actually shifted after reading this (I think I'm still close to the Nostr median), but I've enjoyed this exercise in contemplation, and I hope this article can lead someone else to a similarly fruitful experience. I feel compelled to put my thoughts to paper as part of this exercise, and what follows is something like the internal dialog I go through considering and challenging Fisher's main points. First, despite the word "Capitalism" in the title, this book is not about economics. Rather, the central point is that after the fall of the Soviet Union the prevailing worldview in the Western world is a "business ontology", essentially seeing people as purely material producer/consumers. Most people have internalized this view, seeing no higher purpose or meaning in their lives other than going to work and buying things. Even worse than the widespread internalization of this view, Fisher argues that it is so pervasive that most people can't even conceptualize an alternative. Fisher points out the rapid increases in mental health problems, despair, and suicide, especially among young people in the 21st century as evidence of this argument. *Capitalist Realism* was written in 2009, and I think there is a clear line between Fishers argument and the current conception of a "crisis of meaning" among young people espoused by some online figures such as Jordan Peterson. Whether there is a direct link between the business ontology and crisis of meaning (as Fisher argues) is less clear to me, but he clearly identified a phenomenon that has only gotten more acute since the book was published. Further, Fisher cites popular culture, particularly modern music and movies as evidence of this phenomenon. In his conception, this business ontology leads to endlessly recycled aesthetic callbacks to previous generations, with most media appealing to our nostalgia for a time when people had a genuine belief that the future may be different than the present, which he thinks has been lost by total adoption of this business ontology. I'm not knowledgeable enough in aesthetics to comment on this point, but do have an intuitive feeling that modern movies and music are degenerate from the works created by previous generations. Fisher calls this "Hauntology" as is explored in another book that I haven't read yet. In a section of the book I found particularly interesting, Fisher critiques the hypocrisy of capitalist neoliberal societies that cite the "Stalinist Bureaucracy" as a fatal fall that led to the demise of the Soviet Union while rapidly adopting the same form of work domestically. Essentially, in the Soviet system most people only "worked" to achieve whatever metric the bureaucrats used to assess their productivity. Whether or not this correlated with producing useful goods or services was entirely irrelevant. If a factory had a quota of making 100 tons of clocks, the workers would just produce overweight and non-functional clocks to meet this quota. All up and down the chain the metrics were met, pleasing the bureaucrats and appearing "productive", but everyone was fully aware that the work was performative and fake. Fisher points to his experience in academia, where universities continued to add more and more administrators to run pointless audit and review programs. Both the faculty and administrators are fully aware that these programs are meaningless and unproductive, but the metrics become a justification of themselves. They don't matter, but they need to exist to make massive administrator bloat and associated bureaucracy appear necessary. Again, in the years since the book's publication the public consciousness of this problem has grown, though the criticism is more often leveled from the political right. I was surprised to read an author I would stereotype as an "ivory tower leftist academic" forcefully level this criticism at his own institution. As I think about this book, I wonder if it helps to make a distinction between "capitalism" and "fiat". On Nostr we often critique "fiat food", "fiat jobs", and "fiat music" as hollow, meaningless, and temporary things. We hypothesize that sound money will fix the incentives that lead to the societal problems that Fisher attributes to neoliberal capitalism. Fisher does not consider Bitcoin in this book (or any of this other works, to my knowledge) but I'm curious if he would make a similar distinction. If this book was called *Fiat Realism: Is There No Alternative* would it be popular in Bitcoin circles? I think it would be. Maybe people would point to these criticisms leveled within a year of Bitcoin's creation and claim "Bitcoin fixes this". Going back to an earlier point, Fisher doesn't critique free exchange, markets or individual liberty. He critiques a specific culture that currently seems all-pervasive without any alternative. I hope that the freedom money and freedom technology movement we are a part of is a feasible alternative. I hope this article is helpful to someone. It was certainly helpful for me to write it. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this book or this article!

@ 9ea10fd4:011d3b15

This article by Thomas Piketty has, in a way, convinced me that the tariff war will indeed take place. Moreover, the Trumpist nationalism-capitalism he describes—authoritarian and the most aggressively extractivist—places Canada in the position of a coveted target. The fact that “if the Republican Party has become so nationalist and virulent towards the outside world, it is primarily due to the failure of Reagan-era policies, which were supposed to boost growth but instead reduced it and led to the stagnation of incomes for the majority” is of little consolation. \*“Let’s be clear: Trumpist national-capitalism loves to flaunt its strength, but in reality, it is fragile and on edge. Europe has the means to confront it, provided it regains confidence in itself, forges new alliances, and calmly analyzes the strengths and limitations of this ideological framework. Europe is well-positioned for this: it has long based its development on a similar military-extractivist model, for better or worse. After taking control of maritime routes, raw materials, and the global textile market by force, European powers imposed colonial tributes throughout the 19th century on all resistant countries, from Haiti to China to Morocco. On the eve of 1914, they engaged in a fierce struggle for control of territories, resources, and global capitalism. They even imposed tributes on each other, increasingly exorbitant ones—Prussia on France in 1871, then France on Germany in 1919: 132 billion gold marks, more than three years of Germany’s GDP at the time. As much as the tribute imposed on Haiti in 1825, except this time, Germany had the means to defend itself. The endless escalation led to the collapse of the system and European hubris. (…) If we reason in terms of purchasing power parity, the reality is quite different (…) With this measure, we (…) see that China’s GDP surpassed that of the United States in 2016. It is currently more than 30% higher and will reach twice the U.S. GDP by 2035. This has very concrete consequences in terms of influence and investment capacity in the Global South, especially if the United States locks itself into its arrogant and neo-colonial stance. The reality is that the United States is on the verge of losing control of the world, and Trumpist outbursts will change nothing.” https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/02/15/thomas-piketty-trump-s-national-capitalism-likes-to-flaunt-its-strength-but-it-is-actually-fragile_6738187_23.html

@ 0b118e40:4edc09cb

Are we living in his definition of democracy? It’s interesting how political parties can divide a country, especially in democracies where both oppression and individual choice coexist. As I was exploring global economics and political ideologies, I picked up *The Republic* by Plato (again). The first time I read it, I only read the book on the Allegory of the Cave and it felt enlightening. This time around, I read through all the books and I thought to myself : *this is absolutely nuts!* Over 2,000 years ago, *The Republic* imagined a world disturbingly similar to Gattaca or 1984. For a quick rundown, Plato believed in a police state, eugenics, a caste system, and brainwashing people through state-controlled media and education. Sounds wild? I thought so too. And for some reason, Plato had a serious grudge against art. To him, art was deceptive and emotionally manipulative. Maybe because there was a skit making fun of Socrates at that time by Aristophanes (the father of comedy) or maybe because he struggled to deal with emotions, we will never know. Plato obviously wasn’t a fan of democracy as he wanted a dystopian world. But to be fair, he genuinely thought that his ideal world (Kallipolis) was a utopia. Maybe someone who loves extreme order and control might think the same but I sure don’t. His teacher Socrates was also not a fan of democracy because he believed the mass majority were too ignorant to govern and only those intelligent enough could. His student, Aristotle, was more moderate but still critical, seeing democracy as vulnerable to corruption and mob rule. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were around the Classical Greek era, 5th to 4th century BC. The idea of democracy existed long before them. The first recorded version was in Athens during the 6th BC, developed by leaders like Solon and Pericles. It was a direct democracy where free male citizens (non-slaves) could vote on laws themselves instead of electing representatives. These guys influenced how we think about democracy today. But looking around, I wonder, did we end up in Plato’s dystopian world? ### **Plato’s take on democracy** Plato’s lack of trust of democracy stemmed from Socrates’ death. Socrates himself was a fierce critic of democracy, as he believed governance should be based on wisdom rather than popularity. Other thinkers, like Pythagoras and Herodotus (father of history), also examined different political systems, but Socrates was the most influential critic. He warned that allowing the uneducated masses to choose leaders would lead to poor governance, as they could be easily swayed by persuasive speakers rather than guided by knowledge. Athenian democracy relied on large citizen juries and was particularly vulnerable to rhetoric and public sentiment. In the end, Socrates became a victim of the very system he criticized. His relentless questioning of widely accepted beliefs, now known as the **Socratic Method**, earned him powerful enemies. Socrates’ constant probing forced them to confront uncomfortable truths. It annoyed people so much, that it eventually led to his trial and execution. Socrates was condemned to death by popular vote. I wonder, if we applied the Socratic Method today to challenge both the left and the right on the merits of the opposing side, would they be open to expanding their perspectives, or would they react with the same hostility? This questioning technique is now also used in some schools and universities as a teaching method, encouraging open-ended discussion where students contribute their own thoughts rather than passively receiving information. But how open a school, system, or educator is to broad perspectives depends largely on their own biases and beliefs. Even with open-ended questions, the direction of the conversation can be shaped by those in charge, potentially limiting the range of perspectives explored. Socrates’ brutal death deeply grounded Plato’s belief that democracy, without intellectual rigor, was nothing but a mob rule. He saw it as a system doomed to chaos, where the unqualified, driven by emotion or manipulated by rhetoric, made decisions that ultimately paved the way for tyranny. ### **The Republic** *The Republic* was written around 375 BC, after the Peloponnesian War. One of its most famous sections is the Allegory of the Cave, where prisoners are stuck watching shadows on a wall, thinking that it’s reality until one breaks free and sees the real world. That’s when the person becomes enlightened, using knowledge and reason to escape ignorance. They return to free others, spreading the truth. I love this idea of breaking free from suppression through knowledge and awareness. But as I went deeper into Plato’s work, I realized what the plot twist was. Plato wrote this book for strict state control. He wanted total control over education, media, and even families like in the book 1984. He argued that people should be sorted into a caste system, typically workers, warriors, and philosopher-kings so that society runs like a well-oiled machine. The “guardians” would police the state and everyone would go through physical and military training. To top it off, kids would be taken away from their parents and raised by the state for the “greater good.” like in the movie Gattaca. If that sounds a little too Orwellian, that’s because it is. Plato believed that only philosophers, the truly enlightened ones from that “cave”, should rule. To him, democracy was a joke, a breeding ground for corruption and tyranny. I found it completely ironic that this book that warns about brainwashing in the Allegory of the Cave also pushes for a state-controlled society, where thinking for yourself isn’t really an option. And yet, looking around today, I wonder, are we really any different? We live in a world where oppression and enlightenment exist side by side. Plato was slightly progressive in that he thought men and women should have equal education, but only for the ruling Guardian class. In *The Republic*, Plato didn’t focus much on economics or capitalism as we understand them today. His philosophies were more concerned with justice, governance, and the ideal structure of society. He did touch on wealth and property, particularly in *The Republic and Laws* but it was more on being against wealth accumulation by rulers (philosopher-kings had to live communally and without private property). While these ideas echo elements of socialism, he never outlined a full economic system like capitalism or socialism. ### **The hatred for art** Plato was deeply skeptical of art. He believed that it appealed to emotions over rational thought and distorted reality. In *The Republic* (Book X), he argued that art is an imitation of an imitation, pulling people further from the truth. If he had his way, much of modern entertainment, including poetry, drama, and even certain types of music, would not exist in their expressive forms. Despite Plato’s distrust of the arts, his time was a golden age for Greek drama, sculpture, and philosophy. Ironically, the very city where he built his Academy, Athens, was flourishing with the kind of creativity he wanted to censor. Even medicine, which thrived under Hippocrates (the father of medicine), was considered an art requiring lifelong mastery. His quote, ‘**Life is short, and art is long**,’ reflects the long span of time it takes to cultivate and appreciate knowledge and skills, which was something Plato valued. Yet, he dismissed most art as a distraction from truth. Plato particularly criticized poets and playwrights like Homer, as he claimed they spread false ideas about gods and morality. He was also wary of Aristophanes, as he believed his work stirred emotions rather than encouraging rational thought. It probably did not help that Aristophanes mocked Socrates in his play *The Clouds*, which may have influenced Plato’s views. What’s clear is that Plato didn’t hate art because he didn’t understand it. He deeply understood the power of storytelling and its ability to mold societal beliefs. He argued for banning poets entirely from his “ideal city” to prevent them from misleading the public. But he did value some forms of art. After all, he was a writer himself, and writing is a form of art. He approved of artistic expressions that promoted moral and intellectual virtue, such as hymns, architecture, and patriotic poetry, as long as they served the greater purpose of instilling order and wisdom in society. ### **Plato’s five regimes** Plato believed governments naturally decay over time, moving from order to chaos. He outlined five regimes, which he considers each to be worse than the last. 1. *Aristocracy (Philosopher-King rule)* : This is his pitch, the ideal state, ruled by wise elites who value knowledge over power. Some aspects of modern authoritarian states echo this model 2. *Timocracy (Military rule)* : A government driven by honor and discipline, like Sparta. Over time, ambition overtakes virtue, leading to oligarchy. 3. *Oligarchy (Rule by the wealthy)* : The rich seizes power and deepens inequality. Many democracies today show oligarchic tendencies, where money dominates politics. 4. *Democracy (Rule by the masses)* : The people overthrow the elites, prioritizing freedom over order. But without stability, democracy becomes fragile, and vulnerable to demagogues and external manipulation. 5. *Tyranny (Dictatorship)* : When democracy collapses, a charismatic leader rises, promising order but seizing absolute power. What begins as freedom ends in oppression. Modern politics seems stuck in a cycle, shifting between democracy, oligarchy, and authoritarian control. If Plato was right, no system is permanent and only the illusion of stability remains. ### **Does Plato’s ideal state exist in any country today?** Some aspects of modern *benevolent dictatorships*, like Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, or *socialist states* like China, may resemble Plato’s vision in their emphasis on elite rule, long-term planning, and state control. But, these governments operate pragmatically, balancing governance with economic power, political strategy, and public influence rather than strictly adhering to philosophical ideals. Could this be compared to Taliban rule, given the censorship, authoritarian control, and rigid social hierarchy? While there are superficial similarities, the key difference is that Plato valued knowledge, reason, and meritocracy, while the Taliban enforced religious fundamentalism and theocratic rule. Plato’s Kallipolis also included some level of gender equality for the ruling class, whereas the Taliban’s system is heavily restrictive, especially toward women. While Plato’s ideas echo in certain authoritarian-leaning states, his rigid caste system, philosopher-led governance, and rejection of democracy set his vision apart from any modern political system. ### **Aristotle’s take on democracy** Aristotle wasn’t Athenian, but he documented and analyzed 158 constitutions, including Athenian democracy. He studied at Plato’s Academy for over 20 years, growing up in a world influenced by Athens’ democratic experiment. He lived through the tail end of Athens’ golden age, witnessed its decline, and experienced how different forms of rule influenced politics and the mindset of the people under them. For Aristotle, governments were good or corrupted. The good ones were monarchs, aristocracy (wise elites), and polity (a constitutional gov’t where the middle class keeps power balanced). The corrupted ones were tyranny (monarchy gone wrong), oligarchy, and democracy. Aristotle saw how democracy, if unchecked, could spiral into chaos or be co-opted by populist leaders. But unlike Plato, who rejected democracy outright, Aristotle believed it could work if properly structured. His concept of ‘**polity**’ was a constitutional government that balanced democratic participation with stability, relying on a strong middle class to prevent both mob rule and elite domination. This idea of checks and balances, a mixed government, and middle-class stability make polity the closest to modern constitutional democracies today when compared to all 3 of the Greek philosophers. ### **What happened after Athens?** Of course, democracy didn’t end with Athens, it evolved over time. After Athens’ golden age came Alexander the Great (Aristotle’s student and the king of Macedonia). He conquered Greece, Persia, Egypt, and part of India, creating the largest empire of his time. After his death in 323 BCE, his empire split among his generals, marking the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Rome saw a shift from the fall of the Roman Republic to the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus moving away from democratic ideals to centralized rule. But the Western Roman Empire fell about 500 years later largely due to internal decline and invasions by the Germanic Tribes (modern-day Sweden, Switzerland, Germany). The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire, based in Constantinople or modern-day Turkey) rose and survived for nearly 1,000 more years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During the Medieval period (5th–15th century), Europe saw a rise in monarchies and feudalism. Power shifted to kings, nobles, and the church, with little direct participation from ordinary people. Some democratic elements survived in places like Venice and Florence, where wealthy merchant families controlled city-states. By the 17th century, democracy started creeping back into political thought, though not without skepticism. Machiavelli and Hobbes weren’t exactly fans of democracy, but they had plenty to say about power and governance. Later on Machiavelli hinted on the possible idea of a republic/mixed government in the *Discourses of Livy * Meanwhile, England was going through its own struggles with power. The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a showdown between King Charles I, who wanted absolute power, and Parliament, which wanted more influence. Charles ignored Parliament and was executed in 1649. England briefly became a republic under Oliver Cromwell, but the monarchy returned after his death. In 1688, the Glorious Revolution forced King James II (Charles I’s son) to flee to France. Parliament then invited William of Orange (a Dutch Protestant) and his wife Mary to take the throne. In 1689, they signed the English Bill of Rights, which limited the monarchy’s power, strengthened Parliament, and guaranteed certain rights to citizens. This was a significant moment in history as it effectively ended the absolute monarchy and established a constitutional monarchy in England. The American Revolution in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789 pushed democratic ideals forward but still excluded women, slaves, and the poor. Historian Luciano Canfora, in his book* Democracy in Europe*, argues that early liberal democracy was full of contradictions as it preached equality, yet economic and social exclusion remained. (Note: If you want to understand the history of *anarchism*, the French Revolution is a key starting point. It influenced early anti-authoritarian thought, which later evolved into socialist and anti-capitalist movements. Over time, libertarians adopted anarchist principles, leading to the development of anarcho-capitalism. The concept of anarchism in politics has taken nearly two centuries to emerge in its modern form). The 19th and 20th centuries saw the expansion of democracy. But as Canfora explains it, it also saw its exploitation and manipulation. Although industrialization and social movements pushed for broader suffrage, democracy remained controlled by elites who feared true mass participation. Democracy became a tool for maintaining power rather than a true expression of the people’s will. According to Canfora, the Cold War turned democracy into a geopolitical tool, with Western powers supporting or opposing democratic movements based on strategic interests rather than principles. Today, there are many versions of democracy from direct democracy to representative democracy, presidential democracy, social democracy, religious democracy, constitutional democracy, communist democracy, and more. And is often viewed as a brand name for “good governance”. But are they? ### **In the end, was Plato right?** At a meta level, Plato’s argument was about control, be it controlling what people read, hear, and even think. The debate often centers on curated knowledge vs rhetoric. Plato believed that absolute obedience would bring harmony, even at the cost of individuality. Today, we call that totalitarian or dictatorship But when we take a second look at things, are we already living in Plato’s world? Governments across the globe control education, influence media narratives, and regulate speech. Many so-called democracies aren’t as free as they claim to be. So maybe Plato’s influence on modern democracies runs deeper than we realize. Another key debate today is that, unlike Plato’s time, most people *are* educated. However, much of this education is still designed by state systems, which can influence how people think and vote. How do we balance empowering people through education while ensuring true independence in a system built on critical thinking rather than one that merely feeds information? Truth is, democracy has never been a pure, people-driven system. It has always been influenced by power struggles, wealth, and manipulation. Often it has been an instrument of control rather than liberation. Yet, the people have always resisted. In the past, they gathered in the streets, risking tear gas, rubber bullets or being dragged into Black Marias. Today, digital activism has allowed for mass mobilization with fewer risks. In many countries especially in third-world countries, online movements on platforms like Twitter during Jack’s time, forced governments to overturn policies. This may be the closest we've come to real democracy which is direct action without the usual state violence. But with this rise in digital activism comes the counterforce through government and corporate requirements for censorship, algorithmic manipulation, and the quiet steering of public discourse. Platforms once seen as tools of liberation can become tools of control. *Facebook mood experiment* in 2012 tested positive and negative content on 700,000 people and proved emotions can be manipulated at scale. *Cambridge Analytica* was exposed in its attempt to manipulate votes. This is where decentralized networks like Nostr matter as a fundamental resistance to centralized control over speech. If democracy is to return to the people, it must also break free from algorithmic gatekeepers and censorship. Because the so-called ‘ignorant masses’, the very people Plato dismissed, are the ones who fight for freedom. Because real democracy isn’t about control. It’s about freedom. It’s about choice. It’s about the people, always.

@ df478568:2a951e67

Rockland Review I bought a Rak Wireless Pocket Mesh from the [Rockland](https://store.rokland.com/) after learning about[fresnomesh](https://fresnomesh.com/mobile)it from [The Survival Podcast](https://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/lora-mesh/ and [watching Bitcoin Veterans use Meshtastic to set up emergency communication channels](nostr:note18ydlx9lyy6ql8c3yy60sa059cw7g9v00n674utz46rh62gyx42as28tfdd) in North Carolina after hurricanes knocked out all communication. ## The Pocket Mesh Makes Meshtastic Easy  The battery lasts a long time. I've had my Pocket mesh running for a couple days without the battery dying on me. I scanned a QR code with my phone and could connect to meshtastic nerds like me right away. I did not set up a repeater. It was no complicated at all. I want to get a few more of these for my family. ### Bitcoin Accepted Here  One other thing I really like about this company is that they accept bitcoin over the lightning network. You don't need bitcoin to use bitcoin You can download the Strike app and automatically convert your fiat USD to bitcoin over the lightning network. The advantage is you do not need to trust your sensetive credit card information with Rak Wireless. I'm nor saying I don't trust their cybersecurity, I'm saying I don't need to. Summary created by unleashed.chat. nostr:npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0 https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/000000000000000000018ec35a489c8329d35139ee03e708e49bc0029e2f62b4 https://gitea.marc26z.com/marc/Marc26z/raw/commit/bdc2e44b480876978f283aeb020c716ab0462fda/Screenshot%20from%202025-02-18%2016-26-27.png

@ b8851a06:9b120ba1

> Nothing disgusts me more than the way the white-collar justice system operates—where billion-dollar crimes are punished with pocket-change fines, and the executives responsible walk free, richer than ever. You will never see this on the centralized, Keynesian, fiat-owned mainstream media. Only here on #Nostr, where the truth isn’t for sale. > JPMorgan Chase is not just a bank—it is a repeat offender in the global financial system. With 272 violations and $39.3 billion in fines since 2000, its track record rivals that of the most notorious criminal enterprises. And yet, it remains untouchable, shielded by its financial dominance and a regulatory system that punishes lawbreaking with fines too insignificant to be real deterrents. In 2024 alone, JPMorgan Chase reported $58.5 billion in net income, an 18% increase from 2023. Meanwhile, it incurred $825 million in fines, which accounted for just 1.41% of its net income—a rounding error for the banking giant. ### Fines vs. Profits: The Cost of Doing Business Year Total Revenue (in billions) Net Income (in billions) Total Fines (in billions) Fines as % of Net Income 2024 $177.6 $58.5 $0.825 1.41% 2023 $158.1 $49.6 Data not specified N/A 2022 $132.3 $35.9 Data not specified N/A ###### Sources: Bloomberg, Ventureburn JPMorgan’s profits dwarf the penalties it pays, showing that these fines are simply the cost of doing business. ### 2024: A Continuation of Violations Despite its massive profits, JPMorgan continues its long history of lawbreaking. In 2024 alone, it has been fined $825 million across multiple categories: • $250 million – Banking violations • $200 million – Investor protection violations • $151 million – Securities violations • $125 million – Price-fixing practices • $98.2 million – Banking violations Additionally, in January 2024, the bank was fined $18 million for forcing customers to stay silent about illegal activities through confidential release agreements—another example of corporate misconduct being covered up rather than addressed. JPMorgan has admitted to market manipulation, securities fraud, and price-fixing—yet it remains a repeat offender because financial penalties do not impact its bottom line. ### The Human Cost: How JPMorgan Hurts Regular People While JPMorgan’s executives cash in on record profits, their crimes directly harm ordinary people: • Loan denials due to false credit reporting • Higher interest rates on credit cards and loans • Difficulty opening new deposit accounts • Challenges in renting apartments or securing jobs • Thousands of suspicious transactions totaling $1.5 billion went unreported Beyond the numbers, real people suffer from these violations. In 2024, JPMorgan was sued for failing to protect consumers from fraud on the Zelle payment platform. Customers lost over $870 million since Zelle’s 2017 launch, and JPMorgan ignored thousands of fraud complaints, even advising victims to contact scammers directly to get their money back. This is not just corporate negligence—it is systematic exploitation. ### Breakdown of JPMorgan’s Violations (2000-2024) JPMorgan’s violations span nearly every financial crime category imaginable: • Toxic Securities Abuses: $13.46 billion • Investor Protection Violations: $6.25 billion • Mortgage Abuses: $5.36 billion • Banking Violations: $4.26 billion • Consumer Protection Violations: $3.19 billion This systematic lawbreaking has become a business strategy rather than a legal risk. ### Regulatory Capture: Why JPMorgan Gets Away With It The question remains: Why does nothing change? The answer is regulatory capture—where the regulators responsible for policing the banks are influenced or controlled by the industry itself. ### The Revolving Door: How Banks Own Their Regulators • Regulators frequently leave their jobs to work for the banks they once supervised. • The banking industry is so complex that even lawmakers struggle to verify its practices. • Regulators fear antagonizing banks because they often seek employment in the same industry. JPMorgan exploits this system to avoid real consequences. Its CEO, Jamie Dimon, has openly criticized regulation and vowed to fight new financial rules, ensuring that oversight remains weak and penalties remain a slap on the wrist. ### Systematic Failures in Regulation • Consumer protection is spread across seven different agencies, creating inefficiency. • Conflicts of interest within these agencies weaken enforcement. • Some regulators have explicit mandates to promote the financial system’s competitiveness rather than hold banks accountable. This cycle ensures that fines remain low, executives avoid jail, and banks like JPMorgan continue breaking the law with impunity. ### Industry-Wide Issues: A Systemic Problem JPMorgan Chase is not alone. The banking sector as a whole is rife with fraud and corruption: • Wells Fargo: In 2024, Wells Fargo was sued for failing to protect customers from fraud on the Zelle payment platform, contributing to $870 million in consumer losses. • Bank of America: Also implicated in the Zelle fraud lawsuit for failing to implement basic fraud protections. These cases prove that financial misconduct is not an exception—it’s the industry standard. ### Too Big to Fail, Too Criminal to Stop JPMorgan’s status as a “too big to fail” institution means that no matter how many laws it breaks, no matter how many billions it pays in fines, it remains untouchable. If an individual committed fraud, price-fixing, or money laundering on this scale, they would spend a lifetime in prison. JPMorgan? It just keeps making record profits. This is not justice. This is the financial elite operating above the law. Until executives face criminal prosecution instead of just fines, JPMorgan Chase will remain what it has been for decades: **A financial felon in a three-piece suit.** ### The Next Stage of Banking Corruption JPMorgan’s violations are not just a relic of past financial crises. The next stage of banking corruption is already underway—and this time, the stakes are even higher. With AI-driven market manipulation, rising corporate surveillance, and the increasing concentration of financial power, the system is evolving in ways that regulators are not prepared to handle. JPMorgan and its peers are already positioning themselves to profit from the next crisis, just as they did in 2008. The question is not whether JPMorgan will commit future crimes. The question is how much they will profit from them—and how little they will be held accountable. The reality is clear: JPMorgan Chase is not a bank that sometimes breaks the law. It is a criminal enterprise that happens to operate as a bank. **#Bitcoin is the exit. The escape from their rigged system. The end of their unchecked power.**

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

For the last couple of weeks, I've been dealing with the fallout of upgrading a web application to Svelte 5. Complaints about framework churn and migration annoyances aside, I've run into some interesting issues with the migration. So far, I haven't seen many other people register the same issues, so I thought it might be constructive for me to articulate them myself. I'll try not to complain too much in this post, since I'm grateful for the many years of Svelte 3/4 I've enjoyed. But I don't think I'll be choosing Svelte for any new projects going forward. I hope my reflections here will be useful to others as well. If you're interested in reproductions for the issues I mention here, you can find them below. - [Can't save state to indexeddb](https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte/issues/15327) - [Component unmount results in undefined variables in closures](https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte/issues/15325) # The Need for Speed To start with, let me just quickly acknowledge what the Svelte team is trying to do. It seems like most of the substantial changes in version 5 are built around "deep reactivity", which allows for more granular reactivity, leading to better performance. Performance is good, and the Svelte team has always excelled at reconciling performance with DX. In previous versions of Svelte, the main way this was achieved was with the Svelte compiler. There were many ancillary techniques involved in improving performance, but having a framework compile step gave the Svelte team a lot of leeway for rearranging things under the hood without making developers learn new concepts. This is what made Svelte so original in the beginning. At the same time, it resulted in an even more opaque framework than usual, making it harder for developers to debug more complex issues. To make matters worse, the compiler had bugs, resulting in errors which could only be fixed by blindly refactoring the problem component. This happened to me personally at least half a dozen times, and is what ultimately pushed me to migrate to Svelte 5. Nevertheless, I always felt it was an acceptable trade-off for speed and productivity. Sure, sometimes I had to delete my project and port it to a fresh repository every so often, but the framework was truly a pleasure to use. # Svelte is not Javascript Svelte 5 doubled down on this tradeoff — which makes sense, because it's what sets the framework apart. The difference this time is that the abstraction/performance tradeoff did not stay in compiler land, but intruded into runtime in two important ways: - The use of proxies to support deep reactivity - Implicit component lifecycle state Both of these changes improved performance _and_ made the API for developers look slicker. What's not to like? Unfortunately, both of these features are classic examples of a [leaky abstraction](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/11/11/the-law-of-leaky-abstractions/), and ultimately make things _more_ complex for developers, not less. ## Proxies are not objects The use of proxies seems to have allowed the Svelte team to squeeze a little more performance out of the framework, without asking developers to do any extra work. Threading state through multiple levels of components without provoking unnecessary re-renders in frameworks like React is an infamously difficult chore. Svelte's compiler avoided some of the pitfalls associated with virtual DOM diffing solutions, but evidently there was still enough of a performance gain to be had to justify the introduction of proxies. The Svelte team also [seems to argue](https://svelte.dev/blog/runes) that their introduction represents an improvement in developer experience: > we... can maximise both efficiency and ergonomics. Here's the problem: Svelte 5 _looks_ simpler, but actually introduces _more_ abstractions. Using proxies to monitor array methods (for example) is appealing because it allows developers to forget all the goofy heuristics involved with making sure state was reactive and just `push` to the array. I can't count how many times I've written `value = value` to trigger reactivity in svelte 4. In Svelte 4, developers had to understand how the Svelte compiler worked. The compiler, being a leaky abstraction, forced its users to know that assignment was how you signaled reactivity. In svelte 5, developers can just "forget" about the compiler! Except they can't. All the introduction of new abstractions really accomplishes is the introduction of more complex heuristics that developers have to keep in their heads in order to get the compiler to act the way they want it to. In fact, this is why after years of using Svelte, I found myself using Svelte stores more and more often, and reactive declarations less. The reason being that Svelte stores are _just javascript_. Calling `update` on a store is _simple_, and being able to reference them with a `$` was just a nice bonus — nothing to remember, and if I mess up the compiler yells at me. Proxies introduce a similar problem to reactive declarations, which is that they look like one thing but act like another on the edges. When I started using Svelte 5, everything worked great — until [I tried to save a proxy to indexeddb](https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte/issues/15327), at which point I got a `DataCloneError`. To make matters worse, it's impossible to reliably tell if something is a `Proxy` without `try/catch`ing a structured clone, which is a performance-intensive operation. This forces the developer to remember what is and what isn't a Proxy, calling `$state.snapshot` every time they pass a proxy to a context that doesn't expect or know about them. This obviates all the nice abstractions they gave us in the first place. ## Components are not functions The reason virtual DOM took off way back in 2013 was the ability to model your application as composed functions, each of which takes data and spits out HTML. Svelte retained this paradigm, using a compiler to sidestep the inefficiencies of virtual DOM and the complexities of lifecycle methods. In Svelte 5, component lifecycles are back, react-hooks style. In React, hooks are an abstraction that allows developers to avoid writing all the stateful code associated with component lifecycle methods. Modern React tutorials universally recommend using hooks instead, which rely on the framework invisibly synchronizing state with the render tree. While this does result in cleaner code, it also requires developers to tread carefully to avoid breaking the assumptions surrounding hooks. Just try accessing state in a `setTimeout` and you'll see what I mean. Svelte 4 had a few gotchas like this — for example, async code that interacts with a component's DOM elements has to keep track of whether the component is unmounted. This is pretty similar to the kind of pattern you'd see in old React components that relied on lifecycle methods. It seems to me that Svelte 5 has gone the React 16 route by adding implicit state related to component lifecycles in order to coordinate state changes and effects. For example, here is an excerpt from the documentation for [$effect](https://svelte.dev/docs/svelte/$effect): > You can place $effect anywhere, not just at the top level of a component, as long as it is called during component initialization (or while a parent effect is active). It is then tied to the lifecycle of the component (or parent effect) and will therefore destroy itself when the component unmounts (or the parent effect is destroyed). That's very complex! In order to use `$effect`... effectively (sorry), developers have to understand how state changes are tracked. The [documentation for component lifecycles](https://svelte.dev/docs/svelte/lifecycle-hooks) claims: > In Svelte 5, the component lifecycle consists of only two parts: Its creation and its destruction. Everything in-between — when certain state is updated — is not related to the component as a whole; only the parts that need to react to the state change are notified. This is because under the hood the smallest unit of change is actually not a component, it’s the (render) effects that the component sets up upon component initialization. Consequently, there’s no such thing as a “before update”/"after update” hook. But then goes on to introduce the idea of `tick` in conjunction with `$effect.pre`. This section explains that "`tick` returns a promise that resolves once any pending state changes have been applied, or in the next microtask if there are none." I'm sure there's some mental model that justifies this, but I don't think the claim that a component's lifecycle is only comprised of mount/unmount is really helpful when an addendum about state changes has to come right afterward. The place where this really bit me, and which is the motivation for this blog post, is when state gets coupled to a component's lifecycle, even when the state is passed to another function that doesn't know anything about svelte. In my application, I manage modal dialogs by storing the component I want to render alongside its props in a store and rendering it in the `layout.svelte` of my application. This store is also synchronized with browser history so that the back button works to close them. Sometimes, it's useful to pass a callback to one of these modals, binding caller-specific functionality to the child component: ```javascript const {value} = $props() const callback = () => console.log(value) const openModal = () => pushModal(MyModal, {callback}) ``` This is a fundamental pattern in javascript. Passing a callback is just one of those things you do. Unfortunately, if the above code lives in a modal dialog itself, the caller component gets unmounted before the callback gets called. In Svelte 4, this worked fine, but in Svelte 5 `value` gets updated to `undefined` when the component gets unmounted. [Here's a minimal reproduction](https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte/issues/15325). This is only one example, but it seems clear to me that _any_ prop that is closed over by a callback function that lives longer than its component will be undefined when I want to use it — with no reassignment existing in lexical scope. It seems that the [reason this happens](https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte/issues/14707) is that the props "belong" to the parent component, and are accessed via getters so that the parent can revoke access when it unmounts. I don't know why this is necessary, but I assume there's a good engineering reason for it. The problem is, this just isn't how javascript works. Svelte is essentially attempting to re-invent garbage collection around component lifecycles, which breaks the assumption every javascript developer has that variables don't simply disappear without an explicit reassignment. It should be safe to pass stuff around and let the garbage collector do its job. # Conclusion Easy things are nice, but as Rich Hickey says, [easy things are not always simple](https://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy/). And like Joel Spolsky, I don't like being surprised. Svelte has always been full of magic, but with the latest release I think the cognitive overhead of reciting incantations has finally outweighed the power it confers. My point in this post is not to dunk on the Svelte team. I know lots of people like Svelte 5 (and react hooks). The point I'm trying to make is that there is a tradeoff between doing things on the user's behalf, and giving the user agency. Good software is built on understanding, not cleverness. I also think this is an important lesson to remember as AI-assisted coding becomes increasingly popular. Don't choose tools that alienate you from your work. Choose tools that leverage the wisdom you've already accumulated, and which help you to cultivate a deeper understanding of the discipline. Thank you to Rich Harris and team for many years of pleasant development. I hope that (if you read this) it's not _so_ full of inaccuracies as to be unhelpful as user feedback.

@ fdb8c828:84c16368

On a retreat to the mountains, I escape to step outside of regular life for a time. The peaks dressed in winter white, time refrigerated by the falling flakes, and lovely folks around me, old and new, alight all the artist parts of my brain. On a shelf in an old bookstore, I meet myself, a mixture of the past and future, and she is disappointed, mournful. While browsing poetry titles, she cries. I listen to her, and she says, you’re running out of time. On a separate shopping excursion, I adopt a pair of sunglasses - two perfect black circles to conceal the passing of time that my eyes can’t hide. I show my friend of photo of me at 16, she says, you look exactly the same. On my return flight, all that I am packaged back inside my bags, inside my body, my appetite for life appeased for the moment, I decide I like myself, and I can change, as everything will mix with time, coming out the other side, beautiful.  originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/889720

@ 5a261a61:2ebd4480

The yellow light won the battle against the feeble excuse for curtains and crept into the room. It moved cautiously as if was afraid where to step. A common trait to all who found their way into the back room of the Lost Cases Detective Agency. The current owner had inherited both the premises and the name from his predecessor, and whenever someone questioned the name, he would announce half-irritably that changing it was simply too expensive to afford. The noodle vendor from the floor below would never miss the chance to add that people who end up at his place didn't choose it for the name anyway. The truth (which he was willing to admit only to the creaking fan that scared away mice rather than actually serving its function) was that he liked the name. Like attracts like. A lost soul for lost cases. The darkness was finally driven even from the eyelids of the figure on the bed, who woke up with a dissatisfied grunt. A few steps to the sink hidden behind a screen. The shadows cast by the street light might have seemed depressive to some, mainly because they weren't accompanied by the warming feeling of sunlight, blocked by the high skyscrapers embracing the lower houses of the former middle class. Tom smiled resignedly at this thought. It perfectly captured how everything in this city merged into one big tangle, which looks beautiful until you have to untangle it. The yellow light came from a neon sign across the street advertising "The Beach." One of many places in this City where one could hide in a drop of alcohol and the embrace of a beautiful woman. Though it was necessary to maintain that order... the companions didn't exactly recruit from the best of the best looking local beauties. Tom turned the tap and waited until the water, after grunting, gargling, and several splutters, settled and began flowing somewhat predictably. Tom didn't mind the wait. In his line of work, patience was cheaper than bullets. And it was nice to have time when he could do nothing but wait. He examined himself in the mirror. The shadows did him favors, adding years he hadn't earned. As young as he was, he needed all the help he could get - clients wanted their private dick weathered, not fresh out of the wrapper. He had the look down pat: world-weary veteran who knew all the angles. Truth was, he couldn't even figure out the angle of his own life, but that was a case file he kept closed. The water spluttered one last time. "Good morning, dickhead," he greeted himself with unwavering conviction that today would be better than yesterday. While most people were heading to dinner, putting kids to bed, or hurrying to visit their lovers at this hour, he was waking up. So for him, it was morning. For him and a myriad of other existences who, by choice or necessity, lived more at night than during the day. Finally, he trimmed his beard to short, neat stubble - enough to look serious, but with a touch of toughness suggesting he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. "Perfect," he muttered to himself, "I look like a man who knows what he's doing." Maybe that illusion will convince me one day, he thought as he turned off the light in the small bathroom. With a final look in the mirror, he adjusted his shirt collar. He was ready to face the city's challenges. Whatever awaited him today, at least he'd look prepared for it. From the hook by the door, he grabbed a ring with an identification tag and some loose change. He ran down a flight of creaking stairs and headed past empty bar stools toward the exit. The disadvantage of living above a restaurant. Though the major advantage is the high of the rent. Or rather, its lowness. Jiro, the owner of the small bistro and, coincidentally, a decent exterminator, looked at him through a dense veil of greasy vapors, nodded, and continued stirring the noodles. Where to next? - say hi - get some food - just run outside > This is kind of an experiment with converting my WIP interactive fiction project to the nostr longnote format and letting readers decide. Originally, this story leans quite heavily toward FLR/femdom/mindcontrol/noir/steampunk/fantasy and hopefully a little mystery detective story, but let's see where (and if) it will lead from here. Also, it's mostly translated from my native language, so sorry if some wording seems stiff.

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

Ascolta bene, si? I have something to tell you, amico mio, something uncomfortable, yet a fundamental piece of advice for your personal journey toward painful success: always be mindful of how you handle your thoughts and conduct. More often than not, we are our own worst enemies, and our own thoughts and behaviors are the true obstacles in our lives. Perhaps you feel trapped in a cycle of negative thinking, feeding your fears and insecurities. You may have already realized that your poor habits have harmed your relationships and goals. What matters is understanding that, although these patterns may seem inevitable, we have the power to change them. The Stoic concepts of memento mori and premeditatio malorum remind us of the transience of life and the importance of preparing for the challenges ahead. Memento mori means "remember that you are mortal," and premeditatio malorum translates to "premeditation of evils." These ideas encourage us to reflect on life's fleeting nature and mentally prepare for the hardships that will come. By remembering that life is short and that adversity is inevitable, we can become more resilient and courageous. We can face our own thoughts and behaviors with greater determination and seek the change needed to achieve our goals and become better individuals. Identify the areas where you need improvement and start working on them. Change is not easy, but it is possible. Use memento mori to remind yourself that life is short and valuable, and premeditatio malorum to mentally prepare for the challenges that lie ahead. Take control of your thoughts and actions, and become the best version of yourself. Forget about others—their lives are nothing more than an illusory stage play. Thank you for reading, my friend! If this message has helped you in any way, consider leaving your “🥃” as a token of appreciation. A toast to our family!

@ 554ab6fe:c6cbc27e

Presence is a crucial aspect of mental and physical health. This idea is not only espoused by religious teachers, but is slowly validated within scientific research. Much of this blog is devoted to exploring the scientific validation of mindfulness practices on health, in particular, the effect mindfulness meditation has on our physical and mental health. However, multiple techniques can help foster this holistic lifestyle. Yoga is a famous example in the west as another form of this practice. Of course, yoga was traditionally meditative, and the physical aspect of yoga is new in relative terms. Regardless, yoga is a physical version of meditation formulated in India. Another culture that developed practices to instill presence is rooted in China. Not only did the Chinese meditate, but they formed a physical exercise and martial art known as Qi Gong (气功, *qi gong*), and a similar practice to emerge later known as Tai Chi (太极拳, *tai ji quan*). These practices produce similar effects on health compared to yoga and meditation. Therefore, they are one of many methods one can utilize to find presence. Qi Gong is one of the most ancient forms of traditional Chinese medicine with a history of refinement of over 5000 years (Jahnke et al., 2010). The practice is composed of several martial art postures that are very fluid in motion. In the traditional sense, the purpose of these practices is to enhance one’s Qi (气). Tai Chi and Qi Gong are similar yet different. Tai Chi is typically more choreographed, lengthy, and more complex movements (Jahnke et al., 2010). Qi Gong, on the other hand, is simpler and easier to learn. Traditional instructions for both Qi Gong and Tai Chi are paraphrased as “mind the body and the breath, and then clear the mind to distill the Heavenly elixir within” (Jahnke et al., 2010). The intention of this post is not to fully elaborate on the philosophical implications of these words. However, note how the instructions here are almost identical to those of meditation practices. The practice intends to instill an awareness of the present body, which leads to a calm mind that cultivates an understanding of something heavenly within.  This idea shares a remarkable resemblance to the concept that meditation and the mind’s stillness create an altered characterized by a sense of unity of being with all of life, though there is no perfect term to describe this experience. Yet, this unity is likely the same thing as this “Heavenly elixir.” This experience has been clinically observed in meditators, psychedelic users, and those who experience religious moments.  It seems to be the experiential one of the by-products and intents of these Chinese practices. Outside of the more spiritual benefit, these practices manifest health benefits as well. Most research regarding these techniques focuses on Tai Chi. However, a literature review article noted that the Tai Chi used in academic settings is often simplified and more akin to Qi Gong (Jahnke et al., 2010). Therefore, Tai Chi and Qi Gong’s scientific literature will be considered the same here. For simplicity, I will refer to both as meditative martial arts. Meditative martial arts share many health-related benefits to traditional forms of exercise, despite being less strenuous. For example, a literature review found that despite the absence of weight-bearing activity, meditative martial arts retard bone loss and the occurrence of fractures (Jahnke et al., 2010). Additionally, these practices help improve knee health in older adults, even compared to traditional forms of exercise (Chen et al., 2016). Meditative martial arts are also comparable to other forms of exercise in reducing blood pressure (Jahnke et al., 2010). Other research also similarly shown yoga to be superior to regular exercise in certain regards (Ross & Thomas, 2010). This is not to say that the purely physical aspect of meditative martial arts or yoga is superior in all cases. Instead, it is the mental aspect incorporated that provides extra benefits. Meditative martial arts have been shown to decrease or modulate heart rate variability (HRV) (Jahnke et al., 2010; Lu & Kuo, 2003; Wei et al., 2016). This indicates increased parasympathetic nervous system activity in response to the aspects of the practice. Increased parasympathetic activity can provide a cascade of health benefits across the body and is likely the source of the extra help. Meditative martial arts have also been theorized to benefit the gut microbiome and immune function, likely via the same mechanism, making meditative martial arts much more than physical exercise or fancy movements, but a practice that cultivates holistic health. The idea that these meditative martial arts provide additional benefits, compared to traditional exercises that seem like the benefits of sitting meditation, brings to question the essence of these practices. It may seem odd that physical activity can induce benefits caused by sitting meditation because sitting meditation is, in part, aimed to generate mental stillness. Yet, optimal mental stillness seems impossible when one is mentally choreographing movements. This highlights the importance of not the mental stillness achieved by meditation, but the attention to the body’s sensations in the present moment. Both Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and even yoga involve the constant monitoring of the body’s sensations and position. The practice of this draws the individual’s attention to the present and experience of the present. This is a crucial aspect of all forms of meditation, including the sitting version.  Perhaps sitting meditations may provide a better opportunity for mental stillness, but this is not the only important aspect of mindfulness practice. For this reason, incorporating all these practices should be seen as the optimal path towards the goal. For one cannot be healthy by simply sitting, exercise is needed. At the same time, achieving great mental stillness will only heighten one’s practice beyond that gained merely by the meditative martial arts and yoga. There are multiple techniques and methods to practice mindfulness that provide significant benefits to health and well-being. Both the sitting and movement-oriented practices contain their pros and cons. Neither is all encompassing and perhaps they are only complete when together. For those seeking a lifestyle of mindfulness, interested in holistic health, and maybe even the obtainment of enlightenment, it is recommended that sitting meditation and meditative martial arts, or yoga, be incorporated within your daily practice. **References** Chen, Y. W., Hunt, M. A., Campbell, K. L., Peill, K., & Reid, W. D. (2016). The effect of Tai Chi on four chronic conditions - cancer, osteoarthritis, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analyses. *British Journal of Sports Medicine*, *50*(7), 397–407. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2014-094388 Jahnke, R., Larkey, L., Rogers, C., Etnier, J., & Lin, F. (2010). A comprehensive review of health benefits of qigong and tai chi. *American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP*, *24*(6). https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.081013-lit-248 Lu, W. A., & Kuo, C. D. (2003). The Effect of Tai Chi Chuan on the Autonomic Nervous Modulation in Older Persons. *Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise*, *35*(12), 1972–1976. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000099242.10669.F7 Ross, A., & Thomas, S. (2010). The health benefits of yoga and exercise: A review of comparison studies. *Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine*, *16*(1), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2009.0044 Wei, G. X., Li, Y. F., Yue, X. L., Ma, X., Chang, Y. K., Yi, L. Y., Li, J. C., & Zuo, X. N. (2016). Tai Chi Chuan modulates heart rate variability during abdominal breathing in elderly adults. *PsyCh Journal*, *5*(1), 69–77. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.105

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

At the banquet of consequences, there is only one worthy dish: pride, never regret. At that table, the main course will not be served with lukewarm excuses or poorly disguised remorse. Let it be pride—fiery, indomitable—that fills your mouth and satisfies your hunger for dignity. The man who surrenders to remorse is already dead before the grave. It is honor that should fill your stomach, not the bitter taste of shame. When the battle weighs heavy, remember: you fight for those you love, for true love—the one that keeps us standing in the storm—is an anchor of iron. It is not the soft, sweet love of illusions but the steel that holds you to the ground when chaos tries to drag you away. Let hatred be the fuel of your victory, as long as you control it. If it serves you to win, so be it; but make it a weapon, not a chain. Defeat is not an option, and those who bow before it bear the mark of weakness forever. Understand this: victory and defeat are fleeting; it is the battle itself that truly matters and defines who you are. Only a fool longs for the end. For the man who knows, rest comes only with the last breath. As long as there is life, there is struggle, and that is enough. Reality is not for the weak. If you cannot bear the truth, seek comfort in ignorance. But a man, fully made, knows what it means to forge character through blood and silence. And finally, expect nothing from anyone. The one who enters battle relying on others’ help is already defeated. You were not born to be spared or carried. You were born to stand on your own strength and feast at the banquet of your victories. Thank you for reading, my friend! If this message has helped you in any way, consider leaving your “🥃” as a token of appreciation. A toast to our family!

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

To all existing nostr developers and new nostr developers, stop using kind 1 events... just stop whatever your doing and switch the kind to `Math.round(Math.random() * 10000)` trust me it will be better ## What are kind 1 events kind 1 events are defined in [NIP-10](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/10.md) as "simple plaintext notes" or in other words social posts. ## Don't trick your users Most users are joining nostr for the social experience, and secondly to find all the cool "other stuff" apps They find friends, browse social posts, and reply to them. If a user signs into a new nostr client and it starts asking them to sign kind 1 events with blobs of JSON, they will sign it without thinking too much about it Then when they return to their comfy social apps they will see that they made 10+ posts with massive amounts of gibberish that they don't remember posting. then they probably will go looking for the delete button and realize there isn't one... Even if those kind 1 posts don't contain JSON and have a nice fancy human readable syntax. they will still confuse users because they won't remember writing those social posts ## What about "discoverability" If your goal is to make your "other stuff" app visible to more users, then I would suggest using [NIP-19](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/19.md) and [NIP-89](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/89.md) The first allows users to embed any other event kind into social posts as `nostr:nevent1` or `nostr:naddr1` links, and the second allows social clients to redirect users to an app that knows how to handle that specific kind of event So instead of saving your apps data into kind 1 events. you can pick any kind you want, then give users a "share on nostr" button that allows them to compose a social post (kind 1) with a `nostr:` link to your special kind of event and by extension you app ## Why its a trap Once users start using your app it becomes a lot more difficult to migrate to a new event kind or data format. This sounds obvious, but If your app is built on kind 1 events that means you will be stuck with their limitation forever. For example, here are some of the limitations of using kind 1 - Querying for your apps data becomes much more difficult. You have to filter through all of a users kind 1 events to find which ones are created by your app - Discovering your apps data is more difficult for the same reason, you have to sift through all the social posts just to find the ones with you special tag or that contain JSON - Users get confused. as mentioned above users don't expect their social posts to be used in "other stuff" apps - Other nostr clients won't understand your data and will show it as a social post with no option for users to learn about your app

@ 266815e0:6cd408a5

## noStrudel Released another major version of noStrudel v0.42.0 Which included a few new features and a lot of cleanup nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqfngzhsvjggdlgeycm96x4emzjlwf8dyyzdfg4hefp89zpkdgz99qyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tcpzfmhxue69uhkummnw3e82efwvdhk6tcqp3hx7um5wf6kgetv956ry6rmhwr ## Blossom On the blossom front there where a few more PRs - Expanded the documentation around CORS headers in BUD-01 thanks to nostr:npub1a6we08n7zsv2na689whc9hykpq4q6sj3kaauk9c2dm8vj0adlajq7w0tyc - Made auth optional on the `/upload` endpoint [PR](https://github.com/hzrd149/blossom/pull/33) - Added a `HEAD /media` endpoint for BUD-05 [PR](https://github.com/hzrd149/blossom/pull/42) - Added range request recommendations to BUD-01 [PR](https://github.com/hzrd149/blossom/pull/47) With blossom uploads starting to be supported in more nostr clients users where starting to ask where to find a list of blossom servers. so I created a simple nostr client that allows users to post servers and leave reviews [blossomservers.com](https://blossomservers.com) Its still very much a work in progress (needs login and server and review editing) The source is on [github](https://github.com/hzrd149/blossomservers) I also started another project to create a simple account based paid blossom server [blossom-account-server](https://github.com/hzrd149/blossom-account-server) Unfortunately I got sidetracked and I didn't have the time to give it the attention it needs to get it over the finish line ## Smaller projects - [cherry-tree](https://github.com/hzrd149/cherry-tree) A small app for uploading chunked blobs to blossom servers (with cashu payment support) - [vite-plugin-funding](https://github.com/hzrd149/vite-plugin-funding) A vite plugin to collect and expose package "funding" to the app - [node-red-contrib-rx-nostr](https://github.com/hzrd149/node-red-contrib-rx-nostr) The start of a node-red package for rx-nostr. if your interested please help - [node-red-contrib-applesauce](https://github.com/hzrd149/node-red-contrib-applesauce) The start of a node-red package for applesauce. I probably wont finish it so any help it welcome ## Plans for 2025 I have a few vague ideas of what I want to work on Q1 of 2025. but there are a few things i know for certain. I'm going to keep refactoring noStrudel by moving core logic out into [applesauce](https://hzrd149.github.io/applesauce/) and making it more modular. This should make noStrudel more reliable and hopefully allow me to create and maintain more apps with less code And I'm going to write tests. tests for everything. hopefully tests for all the libraries and apps I've created in 2024. A lot of the code I wrote in 2024 was hacky code to see if things could work. and while its been working pretty well I'm starting to forget the details of of the code I wrote so I cant be sure if it still works or how well it works. So my solution is to write tests, lots of tests :)

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

I’m not doing any writing today. Taking the day, maybe the week, off. Just not in the mood. This whole idea you’re supposed to write, get the thoughts out, the ideas moving is stupid. To what end? I’m done with evaluating myself for productivity, justifying myself to myself — or anyone else. What I really need is to find some pleasant distractions. Something to fill my time, or as Elon Musk says of Twitter “to avoid regretted user seconds.” I’ve tried Twitter itself, of course, but Musk’s algorithm falls woefully short. After an hour of doom and dopamine scrolling, punctuated with the occasional shitpost, many seconds are regretted — roughly 3500 of them. I could turn to alcohol or drugs, but too many side effects. Yes, you’re distracted, but what about after that? You’re always left worse off than where you started. Even alcoholics and drug addicts — the pros! — know it’s a dead end. I don’t know, maybe spend more time with loved ones? You hear that a lot. “If I didn’t have to work so much, I’d spend more time with loved ones.” LOL. Like what, you’re going to hang around while your “loved ones” are doing things with their actual lives. Maybe I’ll take the bus to school with Sasha, hang out with her and her friends, see how that goes. Quality time! Exercise. It’s the perfect solution, good for your health, you feel better, your mind is calm. Only problem is it’s fucking miserable. If your aim is to avoid sitting at a desk to write, forcing your carcass around a track is hardly an upgrade. It’s like quitting your middle management job to break rocks in a prison chain gang. There must be something I can do. Eating sugary processed food is out of the question for the same reason alcohol and drugs are. Becoming obese and diabetic is no solution, as many of the pros (obese diabetics) would no doubt attest. Meditation. That’s it! You sit on a cushion, count your breaths. Pretty soon you are calm. You can meditate for as long as you want! It’s perfect, and it’s easy. Well, it’s not that easy. You get distracted by your thoughts and you’re just sitting there thinking about the things for which you hope and dread in your life. Of course, you notice that distraction and come back to the breath, but pretty soon you’re wandering again. And you come back again. But really you’re wondering how long you’ve been sitting, your feet are falling asleep, your back is tight and you don’t feel much different. You weren’t even properly distracted because instead of being distracted *from* your mind, you are being distracted *by* it. It’s a worst-case scenario of sorts — you neither get anything done, nor escape the endless self-evaluation and justification. That just means you’re doing it wrong, though. You’re failing at it. If you did it right, it would be the perfect escape from yourself. But it’s not working, so you’re failing. Or maybe you succeeded a little bit. You’re not sure. You are still evaluating whether that was a good use of your time. The same evaluation process you use to decide whether you’ve done enough writing, the same tired bullshit from which you were trying to escape in the first place! Let’s face it, you’re not just going to meditate your way out of the problem. If you could, you would have already, and so would everyone else. We would all be enlightened. Maybe you need to go to an ashram or something, find a guru on top of a mountain in the Himalayas. LOL, you’re not gonna do that! You are way too attached to your comforts and daily routines, no matter how dull and unsatisfying they ultimately are. There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no one to see, nothing to do. You are out of options. There is only one thing in your absolute control, and it’s where you direct your attention. And you have decided that no matter how bleak and pointless the alternatives the one thing about which you are resolute is you are taking the day off from writing.

@ d23af4ac:7bf07adb

This is a **test**-note published directly from [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) # Heading 1 Some paragraph text [^2] ## Heading 2 Second paragraph text. * List item 1 * List item 2 ```js console.log("Hello world!") ``` ### Json ```json { name: "Alise", age: 45 } ``` >[!SCRUNCHABLE NOTE]- >This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. >This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. This should be collapsed when the page first loads. >[!DANGER] >This is a "danger" type message. Should be properly formateed. This is a "danger" type message. Should be properly formateed. This is a "danger" type message. Should be properly formateed. This is a "danger" type message. Should be properly formateed. This is a "danger" type message. Should be properly formateed. -- #### Pasted image: ![[Pasted image 20250218120714.png]] >This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote[^1]. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. This is a blockquote. - [x] This is a completed task - [ ] This is an uncompleted task - [ ] This is also an uncompleted task >[!QUESTION] >Will this inline code format properly? `console.log('Yo momma so fat she took a spoon to the Super Bown');` Idk... [^1]: Footnotes also supported? Even inside blockquotes? [^2]: Footnote in regular paragraph

@ 21ffd29c:518a8ff5

#### **The Empty Fort Knox?** The latest developments hinge on whether Fort Knox is entirely empty or if it is filled with a mere veneer of gold bars, concealing a far greater secret. According to credible sources, auditors are currently verifying claims that these hidden reserves could surpass what was previously thought to be the U.S. government’s official reserves. If Fort Knox is truly empty, it would raise profound questions about national security and the integrity of global institutions. The lack of gold at the world-class vault could signal a catastrophic misplacement or even a cover-up—potentially involving foreign entities with ulterior motives. #### Rand Paul, Elon Musk, and London Gold Shipments The speculation is further fueled by mentions of **Rand Paul**, a former U.S. Senator known for his investigative prowess (albeit not traditionally in the role of an auditor), and **Elon Musk**, the tech giant’s CEO, who has hinted at involvement in uncovering these reserves through his various ventures. Additionally, there are whispers that London-based gold shipments— rumors suggest up to 8000 gold bars—are on their way ahead of a major audit. These claims hint at global coordination and a potential announcement about the U.S.’s newfound wealth. #### Who Hides the Title? The question lingers: who holds the title of these gold reserves? Are they the U.S. government itself, or is it an unknown entity with ties to foreign powers? The involvement of auditors suggests a process designed to validate these claims, but the timing and scale raise suspicions about motives. #### Implications: Security, Economy, and Trust If confirmed, the discovery could have **huge implications** for U.S. national security, as controlling such vast amounts of gold would give an unparalleled level of influence over global markets, finance, and defense. The reserves could also serve as a major geopolitical weapon or trigger massive financial reforms. Economically, this revelation could reshape global trade dynamics, particularly in the commodities sector. The availability of unprecedented quantities of gold could alter inflationary pressures, investment strategies, and even consumer behavior worldwide. Perhaps most terrifyingly, if Fort Knox is found to be empty, it could shake confidence in institutions long believed to be impenetrable. The U.S. government’s role in these reserves—and its potential cover-up—could indicate systemic weaknesses that have gone unnoticed for decades. #### The Verdict: Who’s Holding the Title? The ultimate answer lies in the verification process initiated by auditors, but speculation already points toward a **combination of coincidence and deliberate action**. The involvement of Rand Paul, Elon Musk, and London-based shipments suggests a plot worthy of the most conspiracy theories— one that blends national security with economic control. In an era defined by increasing global interconnectedness, the discovery of these hidden gold reserves could mark a turning point in history—one that reshapes the balance of power, economics, and trust across the globe. Until the truth is confirmed—or buried deeper than Fort Knox—it remains a shrouded mystery that demands urgent attention.

@ d360efec:14907b5f

**ภาพรวม BTCUSDT (OKX):** Bitcoin (BTCUSDT) กำลังแสดงความผันผวนอย่างมาก โดยมีสัญญาณที่ขัดแย้งกันระหว่าง Timeframes ต่างๆ แนวโน้มระยะยาว (Day) ยังคงเป็นขาขึ้น แต่ระยะกลาง (4H) และระยะสั้น (15m) แสดงให้เห็นถึงแรงขายและการปรับฐานที่รุนแรง การวิเคราะห์นี้จะเน้นการระบุพื้นที่ที่ Smart Money อาจจะเข้าซื้อหรือขาย (Liquidity Pools) และประเมินความแข็งแกร่งของแนวโน้ม **วิเคราะห์ทีละ Timeframe:** **(1) TF Day (รายวัน):**  * **แนวโน้ม:** ขาขึ้น (Uptrend) *แต่เริ่มอ่อนแรง* * **SMC:** * Higher Highs (HH) และ Higher Lows (HL) *เริ่มไม่ชัดเจน* * Break of Structure (BOS) ด้านบน *แต่เริ่มมีการปรับฐาน* * **Liquidity:** * มี Sellside Liquidity (SSL) อยู่ใต้ Lows ก่อนหน้า (บริเวณ 85,000 - 90,000) * มี Buyside Liquidity (BSL) อยู่เหนือ High เดิม (109,998.9) * **ICT:** * ยังไม่เห็น Order Block หรือ FVG ที่ชัดเจนใน TF Day *ณ ราคาปัจจุบัน* * **EMA:** * ราคา *หลุด* EMA 50 (สีเหลือง) ลงมาแล้ว * EMA 200 (สีขาว) เป็นแนวรับถัดไป * **Money Flow (LuxAlgo):** * แท่งสีแดงยาว แสดงถึงแรงขายที่เข้ามา * **Trend Strength (AlgoAlpha):** *ไม่มีในภาพ* * **Volume Profile:** Volume ค่อนข้างเบาบาง * **แท่งเทียน:** แท่งเทียนล่าสุดเป็นสีแดง แสดงถึงแรงขาย * **แนวรับ:** EMA 200, บริเวณ 85,000 - 90,000 (SSL) * **แนวต้าน:** EMA 50, High เดิม * **สรุป:** แนวโน้มขาขึ้นเริ่มอ่อนแรง, ราคาหลุด EMA 50, Money Flow เป็นลบ, มี SSL ด้านล่าง **(2) TF4H (4 ชั่วโมง):**  * **แนวโน้ม:** ขาลง (Downtrend) *ระยะสั้น* หลังจากราคาหลุด EMA 50 * **SMC:** * Lower Highs (LH) และ Lower Lows (LL) * Break of Structure (BOS) ด้านล่าง * **Liquidity:** * มี SSL อยู่ใต้ Lows ก่อนหน้า (บริเวณ 92,000) * มี BSL อยู่เหนือ Highs ก่อนหน้า (บริเวณ 104,000 - 108,000) * **ICT:** * **Order Block:** ราคาลงมาใกล้ Order Block ขาขึ้น (บริเวณแท่งเทียนสีเขียวก่อนที่จะขึ้น) * **EMA:** * ราคาอยู่ใต้ EMA 50 และ EMA 200 * **Money Flow (LuxAlgo):** * สีแดงเป็นส่วนใหญ่ แสดงถึงแรงขาย * **Trend Strength (AlgoAlpha):** *ไม่มีในภาพ* * **Volume Profile** Volume ค่อนข้างเบาบาง * **แนวรับ:** Order Block, บริเวณ 92,000 (SSL) * **แนวต้าน:** EMA 50, EMA 200, บริเวณ Highs ก่อนหน้า * **สรุป:** แนวโน้มขาลงระยะสั้น, ราคาลงมาใกล้ Order Block, Money Flow เป็นลบ **(3) TF15 (15 นาที):**  * **แนวโน้ม:** ขาลง (Downtrend) * **SMC:** * Lower Highs (LH) และ Lower Lows (LL) * Break of Structure (BOS) ด้านล่าง * **Liquidity:** * มี SSL อยู่ใต้ Lows ล่าสุด * มี BSL อยู่เหนือ Highs ก่อนหน้า * **ICT:** * **Order Block:** ราคาลงมาใกล้ Oder Block * **EMA:** * EMA 50 และ EMA 200 เป็นแนวต้าน * **Money Flow (LuxAlgo):** * สีแดงเป็นส่วนใหญ่ แสดงถึงแรงขาย * **Trend Strength (AlgoAlpha):** * เป็นสีแดง แสดงถึงเเนวโน้มขาลง * **Volume Profile:** * Volume ค่อนข้างเบาบาง * **แนวรับ:** บริเวณ Low ล่าสุด * **แนวต้าน:** EMA 50, EMA 200, บริเวณ Highs ก่อนหน้า * **สรุป:** แนวโน้มขาลง, แรงขายมีอิทธิพล, ใกล้แนวรับ **สรุปภาพรวมและกลยุทธ์ (BTCUSDT):** * **แนวโน้มหลัก (Day):** ขาขึ้น (อ่อนแรง) * **แนวโน้มรอง (4H):** ขาลง (ระยะสั้น) * **แนวโน้มระยะสั้น (15m):** ขาลง * **Liquidity:** * Day: SSL (85,000-90,000), BSL (เหนือ 109,998.9) * 4H: SSL (92,000), BSL (104,000-108,000) * 15m: SSL (ใต้ Lows), BSL (เหนือ Highs) * **Money Flow:** Day เริ่มเป็นลบ, 4H เป็นลบ, 15m เป็นลบ * **Trend Strength** 15 m : ขาลง * **กลยุทธ์:** 1. **Wait & See (ดีที่สุด):** รอความชัดเจน 2. **Short (เสี่ยง):** ถ้าไม่สามารถ Breakout EMA/แนวต้านใน TF ใดๆ ได้ 3. **ไม่แนะนำให้ Buy:** จนกว่าจะมีสัญญาณกลับตัวที่ชัดเจน **คำแนะนำ:** * **ความขัดแย้งของ Timeframes:** ชัดเจน * **Money Flow:** เป็นลบในทุก Timeframes * **ระวัง SSL:** Smart Money อาจจะลากราคาลงไปกิน Stop Loss * **ถ้าไม่แน่ใจ อย่าเพิ่งเข้าเทรด** **Disclaimer:** การวิเคราะห์นี้เป็นเพียงความคิดเห็นส่วนตัว ไม่ถือเป็นคำแนะนำในการลงทุน ผู้ลงทุนควรศึกษาข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมและตัดสินใจด้วยความรอบคอบ

@ 78a31758:2e5c81d2

This long-form article should have an image of a cat shown somewhere with the title.

@ 78a31758:2e5c81d2

## This is a test Test number 2 of publishing long-form content from Nestr - [x] item 1 - [ ] item 2 - [x] item 3 ```bash # this is bash comment $ whoami ``` `test` | Header 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 | |----------|----------|----------| | Row 1 | Data | Data | | Row 2 | Data | Data |

@ 78a31758:2e5c81d2

## Long-form test from Nestr - [x] Can post long-form content - [x] Long form posts show up in the feed - [x] Long-form is formatted according to [NIP-23](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/23.md) Paragraphs are formatted correctly like so. Another paragraph.

@ d360efec:14907b5f

**นักพนันแห่งเฮรันเทล** **“คณิตศาสตร์” กุญแจเวทมนตร์ นักพนัน และ นักลงทุน** ในนครเฮรันเทล นามกระฉ่อนเลื่องลือในหมู่นักเสี่ยงโชค เมื่อเอ่ยถึง **“การพนัน”** ภาพที่ชาวเมืองมักนึกถึงคือ **“ยาจกข้างถนน”** มิใช่เรื่องแปลกประหลาดอันใด เพราะเป็นที่ร่ำลือกันว่า **จ้าวแห่งหอคอยรัตติกาล** ผู้คุมบ่อนพนัน มักร่ายเวทมนตร์สร้างเกมให้ตนเองได้เปรียบ เพื่อดูดกลืนเงินทองของผู้มาเยือน ดังนั้น การที่สามัญชนจะพิชิตเกมในระยะยาว จึงเป็นดั่งเงามายาที่จับต้องมิได้ กระนั้น ยังมีตำนานกล่าวขานถึงผู้กล้า ที่สามารถสร้างชื่อจาก **“เกมพนัน”** เช่น **เวเนสซา รุสโซ** นักเวทย์มนตร์ผู้ใช้กฎหมายแห่งแดนไกล ใช้เวลายาวนานถึงหกปี ร่ายเวทย์สะสมทรัพย์สินกว่าร้อยล้านเหรียญทอง จากการเล่นเกมไพ่ศักดิ์สิทธิ์ **“โป๊กเกอร์”** หรือแม้แต่ **เอ็ดเวิร์ด โอ. ทอร์ป** จอมปราชญ์ผู้สร้างกำไรถึงสามแสนหกหมื่นเหรียญทอง ภายในเจ็ดราตรี จากการเล่นเกมไพ่มนตรา **“แบล็กแจ็ก”** ด้วยเงินทุนตั้งต้นเพียงสามแสนสามหมื่นเหรียญทอง คิดเป็นอัตราเวทย์ตอบแทนร้อยสิบส่วน! เหล่าจอมยุทธ์เหล่านี้ มิได้อาศัยเพียงโชคช่วยชั่วครั้งชั่วคราวแล้วเลือนหาย แต่พวกเขากลับสามารถร่ายเวทย์สร้างผลตอบแทนระยะยาว จนเรียกได้ว่า ใช้ **“หอคอยรัตติกาล”** เป็นแหล่งเสบียงเลี้ยงชีพ โดยกุญแจเวทย์ที่บุคคลเหล่านี้ใช้ ก็คือ **“คณิตศาสตร์”** เหตุใด **“คณิตศาสตร์”** จึงช่วยให้ผู้คนเอาชนะ **“การพนัน”** ได้? และนอกจาก **“การพนัน”** แล้ว **“คณิตศาสตร์”** ยังสามารถประยุกต์ใช้กับสิ่งใดได้อีก? **นักเล่าเรื่องแห่งเฮรันเทล** จักไขปริศนาให้ฟัง เบื้องต้น ขอให้ท่านลองพิจารณาตนเอง ว่าเคยประสบพบพานเหตุการณ์เหล่านี้หรือไม่: - ตั้งมั่นว่า จักเสี่ยงโชคให้ได้กำไรเพียงเล็กน้อย แล้วจักหยุดพัก - แต่หากพลาดท่าเสียที จักจำกัดการสูญเสียให้เท่าทุนเดิมที่ตั้งไว้ - ครั้นเมื่อเวทมนตร์เข้าข้าง ได้กำไรมาแล้ว กลับโลภโมโทสัน อยากได้เพิ่มอีกนิด จึงร่ายเวทย์ต่อ - ทว่ากำไรเริ่มร่อยหรอ จนเหลือเพียงทุนเดิม สุดท้ายทุนที่ตั้งไว้คราแรกก็มลายสิ้น - จำต้องหาเงินทองมาลงเพิ่ม หวังทวงทุนคืน และพบว่าต้องสูญเสียเงินก้อนนั้นไปในห้วงเวลาต่อมา ลำดับเหตุการณ์ดังกล่าว เรียกได้ว่าเป็น **“วงจรอุบาทว์”** สำหรับนักพนันมากมายในเฮรันเทล ปริศนาที่ตามมาก็คือ เหตุใด **“วงจรอุบาทว์”** นี้จึงเกิดขึ้นซ้ำแล้วซ้ำเล่า? ส่วนหนึ่ง ย่อมเป็นเพราะอารมณ์อันแปรปรวนในการเสี่ยงโชคของแต่ละคน แต่อีกส่วนที่สำคัญยิ่งกว่า ต้องกล่าวว่าเป็นผลจาก **“กลไกต้องสาป”** ของจ้าวแห่งหอคอยรัตติกาล ซึ่งต้องกล่าวว่า เหล่าเจ้าของหอคอยรัตติกาลนั้น จักใช้หลักการทำนองเดียวกับ **“สมาคมพ่อค้าผู้พิทักษ์”** คือจักเก็บเงินทองจากชนจำนวนมาก เพื่อนำมาจ่ายให้กับชนเพียงหยิบมือ เพื่อล่อลวงให้ชนทั้งหลายเสี่ยงโชคต่อไป หรือทำให้เหล่านักพนันหวังว่า จักเป็นผู้โชคดีเฉกเช่นพวกเขาบ้าง แม้จะมีผู้โชคดีที่สามารถได้กำไรในเบื้องต้น แต่ในบั้นปลายก็จักพ่ายแพ้อยู่ดี ซึ่งเป็นไปตาม **“กฎแห่งจำนวนมหาศาล”** เพราะจ้าวแห่งหอคอยรัตติกาลนั้น ได้คำนวณและออกแบบระบบเกมที่ตนเองได้เปรียบในระยะยาวแล้ว จากตำนานนี้ ย่อมประจักษ์ชัดว่า แม้การพนันจักเป็นเรื่องของดวงชะตา แต่ก็ถูกรังสรรค์ขึ้นจากการคำนวณทางคณิตศาสตร์ ดังนั้น หากปรารถนาจะหาหนทางเอาชนะจ้าวแห่งหอคอยรัตติกาล ก็จำต้องเข้าใจ **“คณิตศาสตร์”** เสียก่อน ทีนี้ จงเงี่ยหูฟัง แล้วท่านจักได้ยินข้าไขปริศนา: **๑. ปริศนาแห่ง “กำไรคาดหวัง”** สำหรับการแสวงหา **“เกมเสี่ยงทาย”** ที่ควรค่าแก่การเล่น หรือการเสี่ยง สิ่งแรกที่นักพนันพึงกระทำคือ **“การประเมินกำไรคาดหวัง”** หรือ **“เวทคำนวณอนาคต”** **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** ถูกคิดค้นโดย **คริสเตียน ฮอยเกนส์** นักปราชญ์เวทย์ชาวดัตช์ เพื่อประเมินว่าเกมพนันแบบใดควรค่าแก่การเล่น ซึ่งมิใช่เพียงแค่การประเมินโอกาสแห่งชัยชนะเท่านั้น แต่ต้องคิดรวมขนาดของเงินเดิมพันไปด้วย โดยสูตรเวทย์คือ: **กำไรคาดหวัง = (เงินที่ได้ x โอกาสชนะ) + (เงินที่เสีย x โอกาสแพ้)** ดังนั้น หากปรารถนาจะสะสม **“ทองคำมายา”** ในระยะยาว จงเลือกเกมที่มี **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** เป็นบวก แต่หากพลาดพลั้งเข้าไปเล่นเกมที่ **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** เป็นลบ และบังเอิญว่าโชคชะตาเล่นตลกให้ได้เงินทองมาครอง พึงละทิ้งเกมนั้นเสียโดยพลัน เพราะท้ายที่สุดหากยังคงเล่นต่อไป ผู้อับโชคผู้นั้นก็คือตัวท่านเอง อย่างไรก็ตาม โดยธรรมดาแล้ว **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** ของเกมพนันที่มีเจ้ามือมักจักติดลบ จึงเป็นเรื่องยากยิ่งที่จะเอาชนะได้ เฉกเช่นตัวอย่างที่เราเห็น คือเกมในบ่อนพนัน หรือแม้แต่ **“สลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล”** ก็ล้วนเป็นเกมที่มี **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** ติดลบทั้งสิ้น นอกจาก **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** จักถูกใช้กับการพนันได้แล้ว หลักเวทย์ **“คณิตศาสตร์”** ก็ยังสามารถประยุกต์ใช้กับการลงทุนได้ไม่แตกต่างกัน ตัวอย่างเช่น หากท่านเก็บสถิติข้อมูลการลงทุนของตนเอง แล้วพบว่ามีเพียงสามสิบส่วนร้อยเท่านั้น ที่ท่านซื้อ **“ศิลาแห่งโชค”** แล้วสร้างผลตอบแทนเป็นบวก แต่ท่านยังคงปรารถนาความสำเร็จในการลงทุน ก็จงจำกัดการขาดทุนแต่ละคราให้น้อยเข้าไว้ เช่น -๕% และปล่อยให้มีกำไรในแต่ละคราที่ลงทุน เช่น อย่างน้อย ๒๐% ซึ่งจากการใช้กลยุทธ์นี้ ท่านจักมี **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** = (๒๐% x ๐.๓) + (-๕% x ๐.๗) = ๒.๕% จักเห็นได้ว่า แม้ท่านจักมีจำนวนคราที่ขาดทุนบ่อยครั้ง แต่ก็ยังสามารถสร้างกำไรได้ หากคราที่กำไรนั้น สามารถทำเงินทองเป็นจำนวนมากได้ **๒. ปริศนาแห่ง “การบริหารหน้าตัก” หรือ “การบริหารเงินทุน”** แม้ว่าท่านจักรับรู้ **“กำไรคาดหวัง”** แล้ว แต่หากท่านเผชิญหน้ากับการขาดทุนต่อเนื่องกัน ท่านก็อาจหมดเนื้อหมดตัวก่อนถึงคราที่จะกอบโกยเงินทองจากคราที่กำไร วิธีคลายปมปริศนานี้ก็คือ การมิลงเงินทองทั้งหมดของท่านในการลงทุนเพียงคราเดียว ซึ่งนอกจากการกระจายความเสี่ยงในการลงทุนหลาย **“ศิลาแห่งโชค”** หรือหลาย **“เกมเสี่ยงทาย”** แล้ว ท่านอาจกำหนดขนาดของการลงทุนแต่ละคราให้มิมากเกินไป แบบง่าย ๆ เช่น มิเกิน ๑๐% ของเงินลงทุนทั้งหมด หรือท่านอาจคำนวณขนาดของการลงทุนแต่ละคราด้วยสูตรทางคณิตศาสตร์ เช่น สูตร **“การขาดทุนสูงสุดที่ท่านรับได้ (Value at Risk)”** หรือ สูตร **“ขนาดเดิมพันที่เหมาะสม (Kelly Formula)”** **๓. ปริศนาแห่ง “อคติ”** ในวงการพนัน มักมีอคติหนึ่งที่บังเกิดบ่อยครั้งกับผู้คน คือ **“Gambler's Fallacy”** หรือ **“ความเชื่อผิด ๆ แห่งนักพนัน”** ว่าหากเหตุการณ์หนึ่งบังเกิดบ่อยครั้งกว่าปรกติในช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง ๆ เหตุการณ์นั้นจักบังเกิดบ่อยครั้งน้อยลงในอนาคต ทั้ง ๆ ที่เหตุการณ์เหล่านั้นเป็นอิสระจากกันในทางสถิติ ยกตัวอย่างเช่น หากโยนเหรียญมนตราออกหัวไปแล้วสามครา ในคราที่สี่ หลายคนอาจคิดว่าโอกาสออกก้อยมากกว่าหัว แม้ว่าการโยนเหรียญแต่ละคราจะมิได้ส่งผลอันใดต่อกันเลย (จะโยนกี่ครา โอกาสหัวหรือก้อย ก็คือ ๕๐:๕๐ อยู่ยั่งยืน) หรือแม้กระทั่ง **“สลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล”** มีหลายคนที่ซื้อเลขซ้ำกัน เพื่อหวังว่าจะถูกในงวดต่อ ๆ ไป ในวงการการลงทุน ก็มีลักษณะที่คล้ายคลึงกัน เช่น หาก **“ศิลาแห่งโชค A”** ราคาตกต่ำลงมาห้าครา บางคนอาจคิดว่าในคราที่หก ราคาของมันจักต้องเด้งขึ้นมา ซึ่งในความเป็นจริง หาได้เป็นเช่นนั้นเสมอไป จักเห็นได้ว่า แท้จริงแล้ว ไม่ว่าจักเป็น **“เกมเสี่ยงทายแห่งโชคชะตา”** หรือ **“การผจญภัยในตลาดทุน”** หากท่านมีความเข้าใจ และนำ **“คณิตศาสตร์”** เข้ามาเป็นรากฐาน มันก็อาจนำพาตัวท่านเอง ไปสู่จุดที่ได้เปรียบในเกมนั้น ได้เฉกเช่นกัน.. **สูตรเวทย์มนตร์ที่ปรากฏในตำนาน:** * **กำไรคาดหวัง = (เงินที่ได้ x โอกาสชนะ) + (เงินที่เสีย x โอกาสแพ้)** **คำเตือนจากนักเล่าเรื่องแห่งเฮรันเทล:** "พึงระลึกไว้เสมอว่า โชคชะตาเป็นสิ่งที่คาดเดาได้ยาก แม้เวทมนตร์คณิตศาสตร์จักช่วยนำทาง แต่ท้ายที่สุดแล้ว ความสำเร็จยังคงขึ้นอยู่กับการตัดสินใจและสติปัญญาของท่านเอง" หวังว่าตำนานบทนี้จักเป็นประโยชน์แก่ท่านนะคะ

@ fa805c81:344bed3c

 **" เจอหมีให้แกล้งตาย แต่ถ้าเจอหมีบ่อย ๆ คงเป็นบ้าไปซะก่อน "** มีวันนึง ในยุคดึกดำบรรพ์ เด็กชายซาโตชิผู้รักการเดินป่าเป็นชีวิตจิตใจ แต่วันนี้ต่างออกไปเพราะเขาเห็น หมี ตัวใหญ่ ยืนจังก้าต่อหน้าเขา " เวรกรรมแล้วไง " ไม่ใช่แค่ซาโตชิที่คิดแบบนี้ เป็นผม หรือคุณ ก็คิดแบบนี้กันหมดนั่นแหละ !! *ม่านตาเบิกโพลงขยาย ยับยั้งการหลั่งน้ำลาย หลอดลมขยายตัว หัวใจเต้นรัวสั่น กลั้นปัสสาวะ* "ระบบซิมพาเทติก" ที่ซาโตชิต้องท่องจำในชั้นเรียน เมื่ออยู่ในสถานการ์ณจริงที่ต้อง " สู้หรือหนี " " เกี่ยวข้องกับความเป็นความตาย " ไม่มีความจำเป็นต้องท่องเลย รับรู้เองได้หมดในเวลานั้น ทำยังไงดีนะ ซาโตชิ ...... ไม่ว่าซาโตชิจะทำอย่างไร ไม่ว่าซาโตชิจะทำตามตัวอย่างของระบบซิมพาเทติกที่บอกว่าคนสามารถยกตู้เย็นได้ทั้งที่ไม่เคยยกมาก่อน ถ้าซาโตชิเลือกที่จะ " สู้ " โดยการยกหมีโยนลงหน้าผา !!  หรือซาโตชิเลือกที่จะ " หนี " โดยการสับตีนแตก !!  ในการกระทำสองอย่างนี้ มีบางสิ่งที่เหมือนกัน **" เสียพลังงานอย่างมาก " นี่คือสิ่งที่เหมือนกัน** ระบบซิมพาเทติกคูลดาวน์... หยุดทำงาน ซาโตชิเดินป่าต่ออย่างสบายใจ หรืออาจจะกลับบ้าน ก็แล้วแต่ " อา..มัน**จบ**แล้วสินะ " ซาโตชิพูดขึ้น จากยุคดึกดำบรรพ์ สู่ยุคปัจจุบัน เชื้อสายของซาโตชิ ไม่จำเป็นต้องเข้าป่าไปหาของป่า ไปตลาดนัดก็ได้ ตามกลไกตลาดเสรี ไม่มีความจำเป็นที่ต้องลุ้นว่าจะเจอ หมี อีกต่อไปแล้ว สโคปมาอีกนิดดีกว่าจริง ๆ แล้ว ไม่จำเป็นต้องเป็นหมี หรอกครับ อะไรที่ทำให้สมองเราสื่อว่า สิ่งนี้อันตราย ระบบซิมพาเทติกมันก็ทำงาน... แล้วความอันตรายในยุคปัจจุบันคืออะไร ? หมีในยุคปัจจุบัน....กลายพันธ์เป็นอะไร ???? น่าอนิจจาครับ ที่ Scenario นี้ ดวงมาตกที่เชื้อสายของซาโตชิ กลับกลายเป็น**ครอบครัวมีปัญหาครับ** ( อาจจะเพราะอะไรก็ได้ เอาว่าระบบเงินเฟียต เงินเฟ้อทำให้คนเป็นบ้าแล้วกัน ) เด็กคนนี้โตมาในสภาพที่พ่อแม่ไม่รัก พ่อแม่ทะเลาะกันทุกวัน พ่อกับแม่หย่ากัน พ่อติดเหล้า แม่หนีไปมีสามีใหม่ ทุกครั้งที่พ่อแม่ทะเลาะกัน ทุกครั้งที่พ่อติดเหล้าก็อาละวาด บางครั้งนั่งๆนอนๆทำการบ้านอยู่ดี ๆ พ่อก็เปิดประตูห้องมาในสภาพเมาๆ แล้วชวนทะเลาะ วันที่สงบหายไปไหนนะ วันที่สงบ กลับถูกแทนที่ด้วยความเครียด **ความเครียด ที่กระตุ้นให้ซิมพาเทติกทำงาน...** พวกคุณเห็นความต่างอะไรมั้ยครับ ซาโตชิเจอหมี ซิมพาเทติกทำงาน สู้หรือหนีหมี แล้วจบ แต่กับเด็กคนนี้ ในสภาพครอบครัวที่เลวร้าย ซิมพาเทติกก็ทำงาน **แต่เขาหนีก็ไม่ได้ สู้ก็ไม่ได้นะครับ...** เออเอาละซิ ทำยังไงดีล่ะ ความเครียดเข้ามาทุกวันอย่างคาดเดาไม่ได้ ระบบซิมพาเทติกก็ทำงานแทบทุกวัน 1 ในอวัยวะที่ต้องจัดการกับความเครียดและซิมพาเทติก คือต่อมหมวกไตครับ ต่อมหมวกไตชั้นนอก มีหลายฟังชั่น.. 1 ในนั้นคือการสร้าง Cortisol มาสู้กับความเครียด ต่อมหมวกไตชั้นใน มีหน้าที่คือการสร้างอดรีนาลีน มาเพื่อใช้กับระบบซิมพาเทติก " โอ้ย เมื่อยโว้ยยยยยยย " อันนี่ไม่ใช่คำที่เด็กคนนี้พูดอยู่คนเดียวนะครับ ต่อมหมวกไตก็พูด.... ในเมื่ออวัยวะที่ทำให้เรา Handle กับ Stress ได้ มันเมื่อยแล้ว.. เกิดสิ่งที่เรียกว่า " ต่อมหมวกไตล้า " Stress ที่ไม่สามารถคุมได้ เมื่อนั้นเอง ก็จะเกิดโรคหลายอย่าง 1 ในนั้นคือโรคที่เด็กโตมาในครอบครัวมีปัญหามักจะเป็นกัน " โรคซึมเศร้า " คงไม่ต้องพูดว่าโรคนี้แย่ยังไง คนทุกคนน่าจะเข้าใจดี เพราะงั้นใจความสำคัญที่ผมต้องการบอกคือ หมีไม่จำเป็นต้องเกิดจากครอบครัวก็ได้ครับ แต่หมีคือสภาพแวดล้อมที่เราต้องเจอมันทุกวันอย่างเลี่ยงไม่ได้ เป็นหมีที่เลวร้าย หมีที่สู้ก็ไม่ได้ หนีก็ไม่ได้อีก ได้แต่รอระเบิดเวลาว่าต่อมหมวกไตจะล้าตอนไหน หมีอาจมาในรูปแบบ เจ้านายที่ทำงานขี้วีน เพื่อนสนิทที่ท็อคซิค สามีภรรยาที่คอยพ่นพลังงานลบมาเรื่อย ๆ คุณอาจจะคิดว่า เอ้อ ก็ทนได้แหละ นิดๆหน่อยๆ การขัดแย้งมันไม่ดี เกรงใจเขา ไม่หรอกครับ คุณไม่จำเป็นต้องเอาตัวเองไปอยู่กับพลังงานลบแบบนั้น สงสารต่อมหมวกไตตัวเองบ้าง ถ้ามันจะขัดแย้ง ก็ขัดแย้งให้มันจบไปเลย การหาทางออก หาทางแก้ไขในคสพ. เหมือนซาโตชิที่เลือกจะสู้หรือหนีหมีตั้งแต่ตอนนั้น ความเรื้อรังไม่ใช่ทางออกแน่นอน อย่าเป็นหมีในความสัมพันธ์ของใคร

@ 3ca99671:689a4ce4

How to avoid internal pressure and anxiety. Constantly forcing yourself to continue something, doubting its value to anyone other than your ego. And then it starts: "What if I use that framework? Maybe I should switch to another language? No, I’ll master that engine over there, and everything will fall into place." But it doesn’t. You don’t master it, it’s not the right language. In short, you’re stuck. The sense of obligation and the justification of inaction tear you apart. I mean, how is it inaction? Inside, there’s constant work going on, fragments of the future product emerge, but something’s missing… Organization? Publicity? Speaking of publicity, I clearly see that it will only intensify the sense of duty and create additional pressure. Which won’t be a creative energy at all, on the contrary, it’s more likely to lead to despair. You need to be 100 percent confident in the success of what you’re doing, so that without society’s approval of the prototype, you can release the product and not regret a single hour spent on it. Now, that’s belief, that’s love. Alright, this is a draft. So, what exactly is missing? Regarding organization: YES, backlogs and the like are necessary, BUT. Maybe the goals were set incorrectly back when I was working on projects. Because everything turned into organizing inaction. Exactly, organizing with the goal of doing nothing. Here’s another thing: think about the gym, for example. It’s the same with products, you need a hub, a shared space, and it’s easier now. Telegram, Discord, itch.io, GitHub, plenty of info and examples. So, what’s holding me back? Is there something stopping me? Maybe it’s worth finding out how others manage their work. (Here, I contradict myself). Obvious things, but they should be spelled out. And it becomes clear that I can’t handle it alone. I need collaborators. Maybe that’s the secret to ensuring the work continues, huh? If you think about releasing a product as the final point of an expedition. And immediately, the meme about how Hunter was packing his car trunk for the trip to Las Vegas comes to mind. A little lyrical digression: "I had two Unity courses under my belt, ninety hours of Unreal Engine tutorials, three textbooks on procedural world generation, a hard drive half full of unfinished shaders, and a whole universe of tools: pixel-art engines, object destruction plugins, buggy C# scripts, low-poly assets laughing at me... and a liter of espresso, buckets of energy drinks, a box of donut coffee from Steam, a pint of sheer stubbornness, and two dozen tokens of 'unique' in-game helmets. Not that all of this was necessary for an indie project, but once you dive into tech experiments, it’s hard to stop. The only thing driving me crazy was neural networks for enemy AI. There’s no creature in the world more helpless, naive, and predictable than a programmer trying to squeeze machine learning into a platformer about a jumping carrot. And I knew for sure that by morning, we’d be diving into that rabbit hole with rakes in hand." To be continued... P.S: ai translation from russian

@ 9673b322:1b75ee9e

### Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" This has some `inline code` some actual code `var i =0 ` ```typescript getAuthor: async function getAuthor(pubKey: string): Promise<Profile | null> { if (!this.ndkStore.initialized) await this.ndkStore.initialize() let user: NDKUser = this.ndkStore.ndk.getUser({ pubkey: pubKey, }) if (user !== undefined) { if (user.profile === undefined) { await user.fetchProfile() return mapUserToProfile(user) } } return null; }, ``` 

@ e7bc35f8:3ed2a7cf

For those who still trust mainstream narratives about war and foreign intervention, the Douma chemical attack story should serve as a wake-up call. The official version of events—that Syrian government forces carried out a chemical attack on civilians in Douma on April 7, 2018—has been thoroughly dismantled by whistleblowers, independent journalists, and even leaked documents from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Yet, despite [mounting evidence]( https://thegrayzone.com/2018/03/06/media-propaganda-battle-syria-eastern-ghouta/), mainstream media and Western governments continue to push the debunked narrative, using it to justify military interventions and sustain the illusion of moral authority. This article revisits the Douma deception, breaking down how the false flag operation unfolded and how the truth was systematically suppressed. ### A Timeline of the Manufactured Crisis #### April 7, 2018: The Alleged Chemical Attack On this day, as the Syrian Army engaged terrorist insurgents in Douma, [shocking videos surfaced]( https://youtu.be/sYItxxEO3F8) online showing alleged victims of a chemical attack. Without proper investigation, Western leaders seized on the footage as proof of an [atrocity committed]( https://web.archive.org/web/20200304211152/https://eg.usembassy.gov/united-states-assessment-of-the-assad-regimes-chemical-weapons-use/) by the Assad government. Within 24 hours, then-President Donald Trump tweeted about "Animal Assad" and vowed that Russia and Iran would "pay a big price." This swift response echoed past war propaganda, reminiscent of the lies used to justify the invasion of Iraq.  #### April 14, 2018: The Bombing of Syria Begins Less than a week after the alleged attack, the [United States]( https://youtu.be/w43ok0q5G5A), [France, and Britain launched coordinated missile strikes]( https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-launches-missile-strikes-in-syria/2018/04/13/c68e89d0-3f4a-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html) on Syrian government targets. Shockingly, these airstrikes were carried out before any independent investigation had even begun. Meanwhile, on the same day, OPCW investigators arrived in Syria to examine the supposed chemical attack site. In a grotesque display of arrogance, the West had already punished Syria for a crime that hadn't been proven. #### April 17, 2018: Doubts Emerge Veteran journalist [Robert Fisk visited Douma]( https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html) and interviewed a local doctor who revealed that the victims shown in viral videos had actually died from suffocation—not chemical weapons. The doctor described how panic and dust inhalation in underground shelters had led to casualties, but no traces of nerve agents like **sarin** were found. #### July 6, 2018: OPCW’s Initial Report Undermines the Official Story The OPCW released its [interim findings]( https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2018/07/opcw-issues-fact-finding-mission-reports-chemical-weapons-use-allegations), confirming that: > No organophosphorus nerve agents or their degradation products were detected, either in the environmental samples or in plasma samples from the alleged casualties. And while: > Various chlorinated organic chemicals were found in samples from Locations 2 and 4, along with residues of explosive the report makes no mention of the concentrations or levels of those chemicals. In Addition the "Annex 2" (Open Sources) is blank. In Annex 3 where all chemicals are listed, there is no chemical weapon agent listed. Despite this, Western media and politicians continued to push the idea that Syria had used chemical weapons. #### February–March 2019: Whistleblower Confirms Staged Hospital Footage In a stunning revelation, [BBC producer Riam Dalati]( https://youtu.be/fFLRX5ZiEvo) tweeted that the viral hospital scene—depicting victims being hosed down—had been **staged**. This meant that at least part of the so-called evidence was a fabrication. Shortly after, the OPCW issued its [final report]( https://www.opcw.org/sites/default/files/documents/2019/03/s-1731-2019%28e%29.pdf). While it acknowledged a lack of sarin, > No organophosphorous nerve agents, their degradation products or synthesis impurities were detected [...] it is not currently possible to precisely link the cause of the signs and symptoms to a specific chemical it ambiguously suggested that "a toxic chemical containing reactive chlorine" was likely used. This vague wording allowed Western governments to continue their accusations without hard proof. #### May 2019: Leaked OPCW Report Exposes a Cover-Up A [leaked engineering assessment]( https://web.archive.org/web/20190514174330/http://syriapropagandamedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Engineering-assessment-of-two-cylinders-observed-at-the-Douma-incident-27-February-2019-1.pdf) by an OPCW sub-team completely contradicted the official findings. It concluded that the two cylinders found at the scene **were likely manually placed rather than dropped from aircraft**—suggesting [the incident was staged]( https://youtu.be/FU24r2zWVQo). Instead of addressing this bombshell revelation, [OPCW leadership focused]( https://www.opcw.org/sites/default/files/documents/2019/06/Remarks%20of%20the%20Director-General%20Briefing%20for%20States%20Parties%20on%20Syrian%20Arab%20Republic%20Update%20on%20IIT-FFM-SSRC-DAT_1.pdf) on investigating **how the leak happened** rather than the damning content of the report itself. #### October–November 2019: More Whistleblowers Speak Out On October 15th, 2019, the [Courage Foundation]( https://web.archive.org/web/20191024045128/https://couragefound.org/2019/10/opcw-panel-statement/) "convened a panel of concerned individuals from the fields of disarmament, international law, journalism, military operations, medicine and intelligence in Brussels". The whistleblower giving an "extensive presentation, including internal emails, text exchanges and suppressed draft reports..." describes "efforts to exclude some inspectors from the investigation whilst thwarting their attempts to raise legitimate concerns, highlight irregular practices or even to express their differing observations and assessments". The panel "became convinced by the testimony that key information about chemical analyses, toxicology consultations, ballistics studies, and witness testimonies was suppressed, ostensibly to favor a preordained conclusion" and expressed unanimous alarm about "unacceptable practices in the investigation". [Another OPCW whistleblower]( https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/11/15/the-opcw-and-douma-chemical-weapons-watchdog-accused-of-evidence-tampering-by-its-own-inspectors/), referred to as "Alex", a member of this fact finding mission, confirmed that key evidence had been suppressed. He revealed that: "_the signs and symptoms of victims were not consistent with poisoning from chlorine_". Instead of an attack producing multiple fatalities there had been “_a non chemical-related event_”. His findings, which undermined the official narrative, were removed from the final report. At this point, multiple independent voices—including journalists, scientists, and former OPCW officials—had exposed the [Douma deception]( https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/#Internal%20OPCW%20E-Mail). But the mainstream media either ignored or actively discredited these revelations. ### How the Media and Government Covered It Up When whistleblowers and [journalists]( https://youtu.be/ojItF6MGL-0) challenged the official story, mainstream outlets worked overtime to discredit them. The propaganda network [Bellingcat]( https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2019/11/25/emails-and-reading-comprehension-opcw-douma-coverage-misses-crucial-facts/) published a weak "debunking" article, which was swiftly dismantled by independent journalist [Caitlin Johnstone]( https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/11/27/narrative-managers-faceplant-in-hilarious-opcw-scandal-spin-job/) and veteran columnist [Peter Hitchens]( https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2019/11/my-response-to-the-bellingcat-attempt-to-spin-away-the-devastating-implications-of-the-opcw-douma-leak-i-have.html). Rather than confronting the facts, the OPCW and its backers dismissed the leaks as unimportant or "[Russian disinformation]( https://www.cbsnews.com/news/opcw-chemical-weapons-watchdog-douma-chlorine-gas-wikileaks-russia-syria-claim-bias-today-2019-11-25/)"—a predictable smear tactic used whenever official narratives collapse. ### Why This Matters The Douma deception is not just an academic debate—it had real-world consequences. The false flag attack was used to justify military aggression against Syria, escalating tensions in the Middle East and prolonging unnecessary suffering. More importantly, it serves as a case study in how governments and media manufacture consent for war. By exposing these propaganda tactics, we can resist manipulation and prevent future conflicts based on lies. The Douma hoax is just one example of how false narratives are weaponized to justify military interventions. The same playbook has been used time and again—from Iraq’s "Weapons of Mass Destruction" to Libya’s "humanitarian intervention." If people learn to recognize propaganda before it leads to war, we can disrupt the cycle of deception. The truth is out there—we just need the courage to face it.

@ da0b9bc3:4e30a4a9

Hello Stackers! Welcome on into the ~Music Corner of the Saloon! A place where we Talk Music. Share Tracks. Zap Sats. So stay a while and listen. 🚨Don't forget to check out the pinned items in the territory homepage! You can always find the latest weeklies there!🚨 🚨Subscribe to the territory to ensure you never miss a post! 🚨 originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/889165

@ 88d8c9d1:5b3ac02b

This article was first <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/an-untold-story-of-bitcoin-in-thailand">published</a> on Bitcoin Magazine at Aug 27, 2024. In the rapidly expanding global Bitcoin community, Western biases often dominate the narrative, overlooking diverse stories from around the world. One such story belongs to Didier Somnuke, a small business owner in the heart of Bangkok, a [city](https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/tourism/40034269) known for welcoming 22.8 million international tourists in 2023, surpassing cities like Paris, London, and New York City. Although Thailand [has](https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2024/08/03/thai-central-bank-unveils-measures-to-tackle-high-household-debt) experienced a massive spike in household debt, reaching 16.37 trillion baht (US$463 billion) or 90.8% of the national GDP, up from less than 14 trillion baht in 2019. [primal.net/p/npub1xzh2kqynr29x6j3ln6x05f26ha0c0ucfr280uzljftlgcthv9r6skqe7dt] aka Didier Somnuke, born in [Yala province](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Thailand_insurgency#Human_rights_issues), where geopolitical conflict is a harsh reality. Southern Thailand is [one of the poorest parts of Thailand](https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/thai/south-interviews-09092022123451.html#:~:text=Provinces%20in%20the%20Deep%20South,poverty%20rate%20is%206%20percent.) with a poverty rate of 34% compared to the national average of 6%, according to the World Bank, has been plagued by instability. Since 2004, this turmoil has [claimed](https://thediplomat.com/2023/05/whats-behind-the-growing-number-of-attacks-in-southern-thailand/) over 7,000 lives and injured 13,500 people. As a Thai saying goes, “ทวงสิทธิ์ที่จะมีชีวิตที่ดีกลับคืนมา” (Reclaim the right to a better life), In 2012, Didier left his conflict-ridden hometown for Bangkok, where pursuing higher education was a beacon of hope for a better life. At that time, Bitcoin and financial concepts were distant ideas in Didier's universe. Navigating the vibrant streets of Bangkok, Didier completed his master's degree and joined the workforce, taking up a typical 9-to-5 job. For a domestic migrant, this was a significant achievement. Reflecting on his journey, he recalled his teacher’s words, “When you are old, you have time and money, but you will lack the energy to start a business. If you want to do it, just do it.” With this advice in mind, Didier resigned from his monotonous corporate job after a year and opened a new chapter in his life. Didier borrowed 50,000 THB (approximately 1,500 USD) from his brother to begin a street burger shop. He chose to start a burger business because he believed it was easy to launch with a small investment. Driven by his ambition and inspired by the bustling energy of Bangkok, a city that never sleeps. He spent about a year developing the recipe and began the business in 2015. In the first three to four years, he managed everything on his own as a solo entrepreneur, and his income was lower than the wage he earned in his corporate job. He often wondered if he had made a mistake by quitting his job to start a business that generated less income. However, after five years, everything started to improve. Sales at the shop began to increase, and Didier started hiring employees. He admitted, "I entered the crypto market with greed; all I wanted was to get rich quickly." In 2017, he and his friends pooled their resources to buy three ASIC miners from Bitmain to try mining Bitcoin and altcoins like Litecoin and Dogecoin. They saw a return on their investment within six months. Didier bought his first Bitcoin in early 2017 to purchase those ASIC miners but didn't know how to transfer his Bitcoin, so he ended up using a bank transfer instead. Reflecting on his early experiences, he recalled, "My first Bitcoin were slowly converted to shitcoins during the bull market. I was so lucky. I got a 100% profit almost immediately whenever I bought something." Despite having zero knowledge about cryptocurrency, he gained confidence and became a super shitcoiner, paying very little attention to Bitcoin. In mid-2017, he learned about leverage and trading. His profits skyrocketed due to leverage. Although luck was not always on his side forever, in early 2018, the market crashed, and he lost over 1 million Thai baht (almost 30,000 USD), while his initial capital was just about 100,000 Thai baht (about 3,000 USD). On top of that, he also lost his shitcoins from the mining pool. He had kept all of his shitcoins in the mining pool's custody, and one day, when he checked his account, every shitcoin he owned, worth 10,000 USD were gone. The notice on the mining website, "Hash-to-Coin," stated that if coins were kept with them for more than three months, they would be considered a donation.  He disheartenedly said, "I lost everything." But unlike most people, "I didn't blame Bitcoin. I still see it as the future. I blame myself. I didn't know anything and I did over leverage." He emphasized that despite his heavy financial losses, his girlfriend did not leave him. "My girlfriend was my customer. She regularly came to buy burgers. I met her while I was struggling financially during my early days as an entrepreneur. She supported me and said we could make the money back." Determined to turn his circumstances around, he discovered [Mr. Piriya](https://www.youtube.com/@user-qh7ic9rh3l) on YouTube and started following his live streams about the real Bitcoin education. This marked the moment he began to truly understand what Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are. Enlightened by this unique knowledge, he came to see Bitcoin as a saving technology rather than just a trading tool. Over three years, Didier recovered from his losses and emerged stronger. He got to be friend with Mr. Piriya, and together they founded a company called [Right Shift](https://rightshift.to/) to develop Bitcoin content in Thai language through multiple social media channels, including on Nostr (npub1ejn774qahqmgjsfajawy7634unk88y26yktvwuzp9kfgdeejx9mqdm97a5) with one of the popular hashtag #siamstr. As a team, they translated "The Bitcoin Standard" and "The Fiat Standard" into Thai, both of which became best-selling books in Thailand. They organized the first-ever [Bitcoin Thailand Conference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihoniIyyHzQ) in 2023 and are now preparing for the next one in September 2024.  Didier now accepts Bitcoin as a payment method in his main burger shop, one of four different franchises. He uses Wallet of Satoshi to process these payments. Within a year of implementing this initiative, he has received over 3 million sats in payments, though he initially expected to see more transactions in Bitcoin. In his marketplace, some neighboring small business owners occasionally ask him about Bitcoin as they notice the large Bitcoin poster in his shop. Although they often lose interest once he explains, according to his several unsuccessful experience. Instead now, he focuses his energy online, where he can make more impact to people who are willing to embrace innovation.  In 2022, approximately [8.4 million](https://www.statista.com/topics/10781/cryptocurrencies-in-thailand/#topicOverview) people in Thailand, accounting for 12% of the country's population, used cryptocurrency. Estimates [suggest](https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1033594/thailand-cryptocurrency-users) that by 2028, this number will rise to about 17.67 million, representing 25% of the population. During our conversation, Didier claimed that there are about 50,000 Bitcoin users in Thailand and speculated that the Thai government might intervene in Bitcoin adoption, potentially mandating the use of KYC wallets because they dislike money systems they can't control. In the worst-case scenario, Didier remains resolute: he will continue advocating for Bitcoin with his friends. "It is not an option," he asserted, "it is the only way to survive."

@ 78c90fc4:4bff983c

**via acTVism Munich** Ausschnitt: <https://www.wissenschaftstehtauf.ch/video/Ukraine_will_win_the_war.mp4> In diesem Video, das exklusiv auf Deutsch auf unserem Kanal veröffentlicht wurde, untersucht der mit dem Pulitzer-Preis ausgezeichnete Journalist Glenn Greenwald den Auftritt von US-Verteidigungsminister Pete Hegseth im NATO-Hauptquartier in Brüssel, wo er die Haltung von Präsident Trump zum Krieg in der Ukraine darlegte. Hegseth betonte, dass das Blutvergießen gestoppt und ein dauerhafter Frieden durch Diplomatie erreicht werden müsse, anstatt den Krieg fortzusetzen. Greenwald hebt auch die Diskrepanz zwischen der optimistischen Rhetorik der NATO-Führer in der Vergangenheit und der Realität des festgefahrenen Konflikts vor Ort hervor. Dieses Video wurde von System Update produziert und am 13. Februar 2025 auf dem Glenn Greenwald YouTube-Kanal veröffentlicht. Wir haben es ins Deutsche übersetzt und veröffentlichen es heute erneut, um die Meinungsbildung zu diesem Thema in Deutschland und darüber hinaus zu unterstützen. \ Ganzes Video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWp8-o-akwI> <https://x.com/RealWsiegrist/status/1891402218626019622> \ dazu auch: **Corona, Ukraine und die Biowaffen** **<https://waltisiegrist.locals.com/upost/1835360/corona-ukraine-und-die-biowaffen>**

@ 16d11430:61640947

The holy grail of software development isn’t just writing code—it’s writing good code in a state of pure cognitive clarity. That moment when the mind operates at peak efficiency, when debugging is intuitive, and when abstractions form with effortless precision. This is the flow state, the intersection of deep focus and high cognitive throughput, where time distorts, distractions dissolve, and productivity skyrockets. But flow doesn’t happen on command. It’s not a switch you flip—it’s a state that requires cultivation, discipline, and an understanding of what to do outside of flow to extend and intensify the time inside of it. Understanding Flow in Programming Flow is a psychological state described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, where people are fully immersed in an activity, experiencing deep focus, clear goals, and intrinsic motivation. In programming, flow is more than just focus—it’s a state where: Code becomes a natural language, and syntax errors fade into the subconscious. Bugs reveal themselves intuitively before they cause major issues. Solutions appear as if they were waiting to be discovered. However, the challenge isn’t just getting into flow—it’s staying in flow longer and increasing the intensity of that state. Many developers struggle with this because modern work environments are designed to pull them out of it—interruptions, meetings, notifications, and context switches all work against deep work. Why Flow is Hard to Maintain The key limitation of flow isn’t just time—it’s cognitive energy. You can’t sustain high-intensity flow indefinitely because: 1. Flow Requires a Build-Up – You don’t start in deep flow; it takes warm-up time. If you’re constantly switching contexts, you never get past the shallow stages of focus. 2. Cognitive Fatigue Kicks In – Just like physical endurance, mental endurance wears down over time. High-intensity cognition depletes willpower, working memory, and problem-solving efficiency. 3. External Interruptions Break the Cycle – Every time you respond to a message, check an email, or attend an unplanned meeting, you disrupt the delicate mental stack that flow relies on. Expanding Flow: The Out-of-Flow Preparation Phase To maximize flow, you must structure your out-of-flow time to support your inflow time. This means making low-bandwidth, low-intensity activities serve the function of preserving cognitive resources for when they are needed most. 1. Prime the Mind Beforehand Preload the problem: Before entering flow, read through relevant code, documentation, or problem statements, even if you don’t start coding. Let the subconscious chew on it. Use sleep strategically: Review complex issues before sleeping—your brain continues working on them passively overnight. Journal ideas: Keep a scratchpad for incomplete thoughts and patterns that need to be explored later. This prevents cognitive drift when you re-enter deep work. 2. Reduce Cognitive Load Outside of Flow Automate the trivial: Reduce low-value decision-making by scripting repetitive tasks, automating builds, and using shortcuts. Optimize workspace: Remove unnecessary distractions, use dark themes to reduce eye strain, and fine-tune your dev environment. Minimal communication: Asynchronous work models (like using GitHub issues or structured documentation) prevent unnecessary meetings. 3. Use Active Recovery to Extend Flow Durations Exercise between flow sessions: Short walks, stretching, or kettlebell swings help reset the nervous system. Use Indian clubs or a gyro ball: Engaging the wrists and forearms with rhythmic exercises improves circulation and keeps the hands limber. Engage in passive problem-solving: Listen to low-intensity technical podcasts, read about related topics, or sketch diagrams without the pressure of immediate problem-solving. 4. Manage Energy and Stamina Control caffeine intake: Small, steady doses of caffeine (e.g., green tea or microdosed coffee) sustain focus longer than a single heavy hit. Eat for cognitive endurance: Avoid sugar crashes; prioritize protein, healthy fats, and slow-digesting carbs. Cold exposure and breathwork: Techniques like the Wim Hof method or contrast showers can help maintain alertness and focus. Maximizing In-Flow Performance Once in flow, the goal is to stay there as long as possible and increase intensity without burnout. 1. Work in High-Resolution Time Blocks 90-minute deep work cycles: Research suggests the brain works optimally in ultradian rhythms, meaning cycles of 90 minutes of intense focus followed by a 15–20 minute break. Use timers: Time tracking (e.g., Pomodoro) helps prevent unconscious fatigue. However, don’t stop flow artificially—only use timers to prevent shallow focus work. 2. Reduce Interruptions Ruthlessly Go offline: Disable notifications, block distracting sites, and use airplane mode during deep work. Use noise-canceling headphones: Even if you don’t listen to music, noise isolation helps maintain focus. Batch all non-coding activities: Emails, Slack messages, and meetings should be handled in predefined blocks outside of deep work hours. 3. Optimize Mental Bandwidth Use text-based reasoning: Writing pseudocode or rubber-duck debugging prevents mental overload. Talk through problems out loud: The act of verbalizing a complex issue forces clarity. Engage in deliberate problem-solving: Instead of brute-forcing solutions, work from first principles—break problems down into the smallest testable units. Scaling Flow: Beyond Individual Productivity Flow isn’t just an individual challenge—it can be optimized at the team level: Flow-friendly scheduling: Companies should avoid scheduling meetings during peak productive hours (e.g., morning blocks). Pair programming strategically: While pair programming can improve code quality, it can also break deep focus. Use it wisely. Minimize process friction: Too much bureaucracy or excessive agile ceremonies kill momentum. Lean processes help maintain deep work culture. The Final Goal: High-Intensity Flow as the Default State Ultimately, a programmer’s most valuable skill isn’t just technical proficiency—it’s the ability to engineer their own mind for sustained, high-intensity flow. When flow is prolonged and intensified, an hour of deep work can replace an entire week of shallow, distracted effort. The key is not just working more—it’s working smarter, structuring out-of-flow time so that when flow begins, it reaches peak intensity and lasts as long as possible. By systematically designing both low-intensity and high-intensity work, programmers can transform sporadic flow into a continuous, deliberate, high-performance workflow. In the end, peak developers aren’t just coders—they are architects of their own mental states.

@ 04ed2b8f:75be6756

You sit there, thinking you have time. Thinking tomorrow is guaranteed. Thinking opportunities will wait for you while you hesitate, overthink, and let fear sink its claws into your soul. But time is ruthless. It moves whether you act or not. And every moment you delay, another chance dies. **One day, the sand in your hourglass will run out. One day, your name will be spoken for the last time. One day, you will face the end. The question is—will you meet it with pride or regret?** --- ### **Hesitation Is the Death of Warriors** A warrior who hesitates on the battlefield is the first to be cut down. Life is no different. Those who wait, who stall, who play it safe—die with their potential still locked inside them. The graveyard is full of people who had dreams but never moved. They were going to start "tomorrow." They were waiting for "the right time." But **there is no right time. There is only now.** Look at **Elon Musk**—he could have waited for a "better moment" to start SpaceX. Instead, he bet everything on an idea everyone called crazy, even when his rockets kept failing. He took the shot. Now he’s reshaping the future of space travel. Think of **Michael Jordan**—cut from his high school basketball team. He could have quit, wallowed in self-pity, and blamed the coach. But he didn’t. He got back up, trained harder, and became the greatest of all time. Contrast that with **people who let fear win**—the ones who never started the business they dreamed of, never asked out the person they loved, never left the dead-end job that drained their soul. Their stories don’t make history. They fade into regret. - **Perfection is a lie.** If you wait to feel "ready," you will wait forever. - **Fear is an illusion.** It exists only in your mind. Face it, and it crumbles. Run from it, and it owns you. - **Regret is eternal.** You can recover from failure. You can learn, adapt, and rise again. But the chances you never take? The words you never say? The life you never live? Those haunt you forever. --- ### **The Strong Seize the Moment** The world doesn’t wait. The bold carve their names into history, while the weak fade into the background. You were not put here to hesitate, to shrink, to live a half-life of fear and excuses. You were made to fight, to conquer, to chase the impossible and make it real. - **Opportunities don’t knock twice.** If you don’t seize them, someone else will. - **Failure is a stepping stone.** Every loss, every setback is a lesson—IF you keep moving. - **Time is the only thing you can’t get back.** You can recover money, rebuild relationships, restart projects—but lost time? Gone forever. Look at **Colonel Sanders**—he started KFC at age 65. Most people his age were retiring. He could have said, “It’s too late.” Instead, he built a global empire. Or **J.K. Rowling**—rejected by 12 publishers before "Harry Potter" was accepted. She could have quit after the first, the second, or the tenth rejection. But she kept pushing. Now, imagine if they had waited. Imagine if they had let fear win. **They wouldn’t exist in the history books. They would have been just another name in the crowd.** --- ### **Now or Never** You can keep telling yourself, “I’ll start tomorrow.” You can keep making excuses, keep letting fear win, keep lying to yourself that there’s still time. Or you can make a choice—**the choice to act.** Because **death is certain. Time is fleeting.** But right now? Right now is still yours. **Will you waste it? Or will you seize it with both hands and make something legendary?** Your move.

@ bc575705:dba3ed39

As a new artist embarking on my journey, social media is often considered indispensable for reaching an audience, sharing creative work, and building a community. Yet, despite being just at the beginning of this path, I've decided to step away from X. This might seem counterintuitive. After all, isn’t social media where new artists are "supposed" to be? But my reasons for leaving X outweigh its potential benefits, and I’d like to share why. A key part of my decision is also a desire to focus on privacy-focused social media platforms, like Nostr. ## **A Space That Feels Fake** When I first joined X, I hoped to find a vibrant community of artists, creators, and music lovers. Instead, I was struck by how much of the content feels manufactured, performative, and inauthentic. From exaggerated personas to posts carefully engineered for maximum engagement, it’s hard to discern genuine connections in a sea of algorithms and artificiality. As an artist, authenticity is a cornerstone of the creative process. I want to connect with people on a real level, and X simply doesn’t feel like the space for that. ## **High Promotion of "Guaranteed Follower" Posts** X is also inundated with posts promising guaranteed followers if you follow certain steps or buy into particular schemes. These posts feel transactional and shallow, further detracting from any sense of genuine community. Building an authentic audience should be about meaningful connections, not about gaming the system or chasing empty numbers. ## **A Platform That Amplifies Hate** It’s not just the systematic amplification of hateful posts from various antisocial bigots, nor the reinstatement of noxious individuals previously banned for such conduct, nor the deluge of porn bots and other automated gibberish, nor the scrapping of virtually all forms of moderation. Elon Musk himself has used the platform to endorse explicitly anti-semitic conspiracy theories in the past. By remaining on X, users contribute to revenue that supports this toxic environment. ## **The Elon Musk Factor** It’s impossible to ignore the influence of Elon Musk on the platform. Whether or not you’re a fan of him, it’s undeniable that his posts and interests dominate X’s algorithm. This creates an environment where one person’s voice is disproportionately amplified, drowning out diverse perspectives. I’m here to explore a mosaic of ideas, not to scroll through endless updates about what one billionaire thinks. ## **Verification Chaos** The decision to allow anyone—including parody accounts—to purchase verification has turned a once-meaningful badge into a farce. When parody accounts can pass as legitimate sources, the line between reality and satire blurs. This undermines trust and credibility across the platform. It’s hard to take X seriously when something as fundamental as identity verification has become a joke. ## **Hypocrisy of Institutions Remaining on X** Many public institutions, including universities, continue to maintain a presence on X for self-promotion, despite the platform’s deliberate and sustained violation of what should be their ethical standards. This is deeply hypocritical. A few institutions, such as the University of Luxembourg, have left X, setting an example by aligning their actions with their stated values. The alternative? Platforms like the Fediverse and Nostr, where one can control their policies and foster a healthier environment for discourse and information sharing. ## **The Need for Genuine Content and Privacy** At the heart of my decision is a deep belief that the world needs more genuine content and spaces that respect user privacy. I want to be part of spaces where creativity, authenticity, meaningful engagement, and data protection are prioritized. Unfortunately, X no longer feels like such a space. This is why I'm particularly interested in exploring platforms that prioritize privacy. I’d rather invest my time and energy into platforms that align with my values and foster the kind of community I want to build. ## **What’s Next?** There are other platforms, especially privacy-focused ones, where I can connect with people who value authenticity and data security. I’m excited to explore new avenues and create spaces that reflect the kind of world I want to see: one where genuine content thrives, authenticity is celebrated, and privacy is respected.

@ ef1744f8:96fbc3fe

p8d2xcPyZfAJxQ8znYPZSuVpYqSBdQXhIGIoRBcytleujOPjIB40TQ/g5jGpkbqbc85y54pIdojt83HftJ83rrFxfgbsGBPLUw8QxsTez189OrhhSXK5K7OGtXHYeH5TXrB4w/W1Q5VvMrtid0x1MQ==?iv=owAIyFYkW8+8QL1E0wxhug==

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

**Ascolta bene!** Happiness is fleeting, volatile, and above all, impermanent. It is not about being happy, but about feeling happy. Nor is it about making someone happy, but about offering brief moments of contentment—flashes of light that appear and vanish before we can grasp them. The greatest paradox of success lies in its cost: the closer we get to it, the more sophisticated, ambitious, and isolated we become. The brilliance of achievement blinds us to the value of those around us and the simplicity of life itself. Happiness is not a condition but a temporary state. In an absolute sense, no one is happy—one merely feels happy, for an instant, until reality imposes itself once again. If there is one rule that governs life, it is that of apathy, boredom, and suffering. Happiness is the exception, never the norm. And peace? A fool’s delusion. Not even the dead can claim to have found it, for their names still echo in the mouths of those who despise them, and their legacies continue to be contested. As long as there is breath in our lungs, there will be war. The battle does not cease, does not grant truces, and does not respect desires. Rest is a luxury of the dead. For the living, only the endless fight remains. Thank you for reading, my friend! If this message resonated with you, consider leaving your "🥃" as a token of appreciation. A toast to our family!

@ 6bae33c8:607272e8

I did my first NFBC draft Sunday night — I drew the 12th pick. Here’s the [link to the live-stream](https://x.com/Chris_Liss/status/1891230585043226641). The full results are below:  This draft went about as well as I could have hoped, especially given [how little I had prepared](https://www.realmansports.com/p/beat-chris-liss-1-8c2). That doesn’t mean the team is \*good\*, only that I didn’t have any major regrets or gaffes, something that’s rare over 30 rounds. I also never once got swiped on a pick. I got priced out of the top closers early, but rolled with it in the way one should when that happens, getting players I wanted and doubling back to closers when I needed to. This team is built to win the overall — high-risk, high reward, an exercise in imagining not what could go wrong, not what’s the base case, but what could go right. **The Draft** **1.12 Julio Rodriguez** — I had mapped out the first 10 rounds, decided on Rodriguez and Jackson Chourio ahead of time. I knew Chourio would be there, per ADP, but if Rodriguez were gone, I’d have gone with Mookie Betts. I wanted two OF with power and speed to start my draft. Rodriguez had 32 homers and 37 steals as a 22-year old in 2023, was going in the 2-4 overall range last year and nothing that happened since should move the needle much heading into his age 24 season. **2.1 Jackson Chourio —** Chourio had 21 homers and 22 steals as a 20-year-old rookie, and those numbers were weighed down by a slow start where the Brewers were constantly pulling him from the lineup for no reason. From June until the end of the year, he hit .303 and should only get better in Year 2. His healthy floor is 25-25, and there’s stolen base and batting average upside. **3.12 Matt Olson** — While Rodriguez and Chourio offer solid pop, I wanted a 40-HR type to compensate for the lack of top-end power with my first two picks, while filling the scarce-in-recent-years 1B slot. Olson had an off year in 2024, but chalk that up to variance. I still like him in that park and lineup. **4.1 Jacob deGrom** — I’m not here to win the $1500 league prize but the $150K overall. deGrom isn’t just the best pitcher in baseball when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best in baseball history. If I get 100 IP of vintage deGrom, that’s worth a fourth-round pick. At 130-150, it’s a first-rounder. I also like that he’s nearly two years out from Tommy John surgery, pitched at the end of last season and is healthy now. While there’s no chance of 200 IP, he’s also not a rookie they need to ramp up slowly, but a veteran with a massive contract, i.e., the Rangers will want to get their money’s worth if he’s dealing. **5.12 Gerrit Cole** — When Raisel Iglesias went four picks ahead of me, I was pretty sure I was going Cole who typically goes in the first or second round. Cole had an off year, but the sample was small as he missed time due to a nerve issue in the spring, and there wasn’t much of a drop-off from 2023, even with the irregular start to the year. Pitchers ebb and flow with health, and the light workload might redound to his benefit. **6.1 Teoscar Hernandez** — This was just a value-take in the sixth round. Hernandez gives you pop, runs a little and hits in the best lineup in baseball. **7.12 Will Smith** — I didn’t love the options in these rounds, so I punted and nabbed a solid catcher with 20-HR pop. I don’t really see the difference between Smith and Adley Rutschman who goes two rounds earlier either. **8.1 Max Fried** — With deGrom shaky on innings, and five hitters in my first seven picks, I wanted another horse to anchor the rotation. I like lefties in Yankee Stadium too. **9.12 Royce Lewis** — I needed a third baseman, and Lewis, who was going in the fifth round last year, was the one with the most upside. The key is that he’s healthy now, as he finished the season in the lineup and hasn’t had a setback this offseason. Lewis is a potential 30-HR/.290 bat if he can hold up for 140-odd games. **10.1 Spencer Strider** — As I said, I’m trying to win the overall. Strider will start the year on the DL, but the timetable for the type of surgery he had is roughly one year, and Strider’s was in mid-April, i.e., there’s no reason he shouldn’t be back in May and might even see some action in spring training. If I get 220 combined IP from deGrom and Strider at their former levels, that’s worth the 1.1. (The “former levels” part is the rub, but as I said I’m focused on what could go right.) I also thought about Shane McClanahan instead, but narrowly opted for Strider. **11.12 Luis Garcia** — I was set to take Brice Turang here to lock down speed and finally get a middle infielder, but I pivoted at the last second to Garcia who is a better-rounded hitter and more likely to have a prominent spot in his lineup. **12.1 Jared Jones** — He was on my list because I remembered the hype after his strong start, and the cost seemed cheap relative to his skills. I almost took Carlos Rodon, as I prefer veterans. Maybe that will turn out to have been a mistake. **13.12 Brice Turang** — What do you know, Turang made it all the way back. I guess people didn’t like his second-half collapse at the plate. But Turang is a gold glove defender, and he stole 50 bags last year. That glove keeps him in the lineup and should set a nice 30-steal floor. **14.1 Kenley Jansen** — I could play closer chicken no more. Jansen is my favorite type of old warhorse closer, a guy so used to the job, he’s not going to lose it unless his stuff is truly gone. **15.12 Jordan Romano** — Romano got $8.5 million from the Phillies, so I’m assuming he’s (a) healthy and (b) set to close. His ERA while pitching hurt for 14 innings last year is irrelevant. **16.1 Zach Neto** — I needed a shortstop, and while Neto’s hurt right now, he went 23-30 as a 23-year old last year, and I couldn’t pass him up. I almost took Ceddanne Rafaela, but Neto’s upside higher. **17.12 Ceddanne Rafaela** — Turns out Rafaela fell to me anyway, and I snapped him up, as I’ll need a SS early in the year with Neto presumably out. Rafaela went 15-19 as a 23-YO in his own right, also qualifies in the OF and his gold-glove-level defense should keep him in the lineup. **18.1 Josh Jung** — I needed a CI, and also a backup 3B for the injury-prone Royce Lewis, so I took the injury-prone Jung. The key facts about Jung and Lewis are both can hit, and both are healthy as of right now. My team seems like it has a lot of injuries, but only Strider and Neto are hurt now. There is a difference between injury risk (deGrom, Lewis, Jung, Romano) and already injured. You can often find value by exploiting people’s conflation of those two related, but distinct categories. **19.12 Jesus Luzardo** — Another skilled, but injury-prone player coming at a steep discount who is healthy now. **20.1 Lucas Erceg** — A speculative closer play. Right now Carlos Estevez, who went in Round 15, is probably the favorite, but who knows? **21.12 Walker Buehler** — More of the same theme. A player (especially a pitcher) who has shown elite skills, was derailed by injuries, but who is healthy now. **22.1 Nolan Jones** — I had almost forgotten he existed, but there he was in Round 22, just one year removed from being a fifth-round pick after a 20-20-.297 season. Jones is only 26 and healthy as of now. **23.12 Griffin Jax** — A setup guy with elite stuff, behind a closer that had nine losses and a 1.16 WHIP last year. **24.1 Garrett Mitchell** — I took him narrowly over Jordan Walker. Mitchell went 8-11 in 224 at-bats, plays in a good park and has the physical tools to be good. **25.12 Bo Naylor** — I needed a second catcher, and he is one. Naylor has a little pop, even runs a bit and should improve in his age 25 season. **26.1 Max Scherzer** — Are we sure he’s done? He had a 1.15 WHIP last year and 40K in 43 IP despite returning from back surgery. He’s healthy now and signed a $15.5M deal this offseason presumably to pitch more than 100 innings. **27.12 Justin Verlander** — Wait, they let me have deGrom, Cole, Strider, Buehler, Scherzer and Verlander? Those were like the top-six pitchers on the board a few years ago! Seriously though, Verlander is in a good park, and last year’s poor numbers were put up over a 90-inning sample while battling various ailments. He’s more likely to be done than Scherzer, but he knows how to pitch, and it’s just a matter of the stuff returning to above the minimum threshold. I wouldn’t be shocked to see one more strong year out of the 41-YO future Hall of Famer. **28.1 Jose Caballero** — I drafted this gentleman in the 28th round because he qualifies everywhere and steals a lot of bases. **29.12 Nolan Gorman** — The Cardinals want to get him regular at-bats, and there’s a 35-HR, .240 season somewhere in this skill set. **30.1 Gavin Lux** — A big-time prospect that’s only shown flashes, should get regular playing time and a big upgrade in park. He might eventually qualify at some other positions too. **Roster By Position** **C** Will Smith/Bo Naylor **1B** Matt Olson **2B** Luis Garcia **3B** Royce Lewis **SS** Zach Neto **CI** Josh Jung **MI** Brice Turang **OF** Julio Rodriguez/Jackson Chourio/Teoscar Hernandez/Ceddanne Rafaela/Nolan Jones **UT** Garrett Mitchell **SP** Jacob deGrom/Gerrit Cole/Max Fried/Spencer Strider/Jared Jones/Jesus Luzardo/Walker Buehler **RP** Kenley Jansen/Jordan Romano **B** Lucas Erceg/Griffin Jax/Max Scherzer/Justin Verlander/Jose Caballero/Nolan Gorman/Gavin Lux

@ fe32298e:20516265

I keep a large collection of music on a local file server and use [DeaDBeeF](https://deadbeef.sourceforge.io/) for listening. I've never been able to pin DeadBeeF to the dock in Ubuntu, and it's always had the ugly default icon. I asked DeepSeek for help, and it turned out to be easier than I thought. 1. Create `~/.local/share/applications/deadbeef.desktop`: ```bash [Desktop Entry] Name=DeadBeeF Music Player Comment=Music Player Exec=/home/user/Apps/deadbeef-1.9.6/deadbeef Icon=/home/user/Apps/deadbeef-1.9.6/deadbeef.png Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=AudioVideo;Player; ``` 1. Make `deadbeef.desktop` executable: ```bash chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/deadbeef.desktop ``` And just like that, DeadBeeF has an icon and I can pin it to the dock. `.desktop` files are part of the [Freedesktop.org standards](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/). They're used in most popular desktop environments like GNOME, KDE and XFCE. Tor Browser has the same issue, but it comes with a `.desktop` file already, so it only needs to by symlinked to the applications folder: ``` ln -s ~/Apps/tor-browser/start-tor-browser.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/ ```

@ e968e50b:db2a803a

OK home miners, I shoved an s9 into my air intake and it's been hashing hot air into my furnace for about a week. Tomorrow, I get the last piece of hardware to install my 50 AMP circuit, so I should have 2 s19s blazing up the house in this way. The question is, where should I cut the hole for these guys? I'm assuming the best bet is low to the ground, but each of them is going to have an 8" shroud and I don't want to cut up my intake more than necessary as I will need to switch everything up in the spring. For those that are about to say, "go emersion," I will, I will, but I don't have the money to just yet. Also, I'd love to reproduce this for friends and many of my friends won't be into spending thousands of dollars on an emersion tank and pump right off the bat either.   originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/888616

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

President Trump has intensified immigration enforcement, likening it to a wartime effort. Despite pouring resources into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrest numbers are declining and falling short of goals. ICE fell from about 800 daily arrests in late January to fewer than 600 in early February. Critics argue the administration is merely showcasing efforts with ineffectiveness, while Trump seeks billions more in funding to support his deportation agenda. Increased involvement from various federal agencies is intended to assist ICE, but many lack specific immigration training. Challenges persist, as fewer immigrants are available for quick deportation due to a decline in illegal crossings. Local sheriffs are also pressured by rising demands to accommodate immigrants, which may strain resources further.

@ 75869cfa:76819987

**GM, Nostriches!** The Nostr Review is a biweekly newsletter focused on Nostr statistics, protocol updates, exciting programs, the long-form content ecosystem, and key events happening in the Nostr-verse. If you’re interested, join me in covering updates from the Nostr ecosystem! **Quick review:** In the past two weeks, Nostr statistics indicate over 232,000 daily trusted pubkey events.The number of new users has seen a notable decrease, Profiles with contact list amount is reflecting a nearly 90% decline. More than 10 million events have been published, posts and reposts are representing a significant increase. Total Zap activity stands at approximately 17 million, marking a 20% decrease. Additionally, 45 pull requests were submitted to the Nostr protocol, with 8 merged. A total of 45 Nostr projects were tracked, with 10 releasing product updates, and over 350 long-form articles were published, 30% focusing on Bitcoin and Nostr. During this period, 2 notable events took place, and 2 significant events are upcoming. **Nostr Statistics** --- Based on user activity, the total daily trusted pubkeys writing events is about 232,000, representing a slight 5.1% decrease compared to the previous period. Daily activity peaked at 19174 events, with a low of approximately 16735. The number of new users has decreased. Profiles with a contact list are now around 19,559, marking a nearly 90% drop. Pubkeys writing events have declined to approximately 186,000, down 43%, while profiles with a bio have decreased by 34%. Regarding event publishing, the total number of note events published is about 10 million. Posts remain the most dominant in terms of volume, totaling approximately 1.5 million, reflecting an increase of 16%. Reposts are showing a notable increase of approximately 47%, while reactions have experienced a 21% decline. For zap activity, the total zap amount is about 17 million, showing a decrease of over 20% compared to the previous period. Data source: https://stats.nostr.band/ NIPs --- **[NIP XXXX: Read Status Tracking via Compressed 64-bit Roaring Bitmaps](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1733)** nostr:npub18wxf0t5jsmcpy57ylzx595twskx8eyj382lj7wp9rtlhzdg5hnnqvt4xra is proposing that track message read status by publishing replaceable events (kind 30050) containing a compressed 64-bit Roaring Bitmap of read-event keys. **[nip-86: updating methods, adding new ones.](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1734)** nostr:npub1h49w8en79xty6j2pwgnpm3znjhyf767jua6xgt3kvyn3w80ms86s2z9kay is proposing that relays may provide an API for performing management tasks. This is made available as a JSON-RPC-like request-response protocol over HTTP, on the same URI as the relay's websocket. **[Expand NIP 03 to include relay and user notaries](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1737)** [Staab](https://github.com/staab) is proposing that the goal here is to make event timestamp verification more accessible to clients that don't want to go through the rigamarole of publishing to or accessing opentimestamps data. This NIP supports both social attestations and relay attestations. **[Add NIP-74: Nostr Link Lists](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1753)** nostr:npub12xyl6w6aacmqa3gmmzwrr9m3u0ldx3dwqhczuascswvew9am9q4sfg99cx defines a standardized format for sharing curated collections of links on Nostr. It formalizes and extends the format originally developed by nostree.me, which has been successfully serving the Nostr community as a "link-in-bio" solution.While NIP-51 bookmarks serve as private reading lists, NIP-74 link lists are designed for public sharing and discovery, enabling users to curate and share collections of resources with their community. This format evolved from the proven implementation at nostree.me, which has been serving the Nostr community as a reliable link-sharing platform. The specification has been refined based on real-world usage and community feedback, and is also being implemented by other projects like linktr-nostr, demonstrating its practical utility and growing adoption. **[nip-97: white-listed events.](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1758)** nostr:npub1h49w8en79xty6j2pwgnpm3znjhyf767jua6xgt3kvyn3w80ms86s2z9kay is proposing that this is basically some updates over fiatjafs lockbox. it was expected to be only an addition to nip-51. The best client that can support this is probably jumble. if it got accepted, he would implement a khatru relay which supports it. Also he would include it in future. **[Secure hll](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1759)** nostr:npub1acg6thl5psv62405rljzkj8spesceyfz2c32udakc2ak0dmvfeyse9p35c is proposing this for the "gaming" issue that so many people are worried about.It is in-addition to the base hll so that relays do not need to store reaction events if they don't want to, and also clients can choose whether to use all the shll results, or fallback to the hll results based on what the actual relays are able to supply. For instance, if 9 relays gave only HLL and one gave HLL+SHLL, he would fallback to HLL. But if it was reversed he would use SHLL. **[nip-17: support seen events](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1761)** nostr:npub1h49w8en79xty6j2pwgnpm3znjhyf767jua6xgt3kvyn3w80ms86s2z9kay is proposing a simple example that he made for testing. This feature is used on most chat apps like telegram and simplex chat. It helps the client to show the seen messages with a double check so the sender can be aware of this. it's not trust less since we can receive the message and don't add it to the bloom filter. The same thing can be done in telegram for example using unofficial versions.it would deliver a better user experience.he believe the most important difference between email or similar protocols to modern real-time chat protocol which makes them feel better and more live is seen/(online/offline)/typing statuses. **[NIP-XX - Localised Events](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1766)** [ZenenTreadwell](https://github.com/ZenenTreadwell) is proposing the addition of localised events which would be relevant and accessible only to devices on the local network. These events would be denoted as kind -1 and implement all standard features indicated in NIP-01. Localised events would always include a stringified JSON object in the content field. The only mandatory property of this object would be the event field, a string used to indicate what kind of action was taken in the space (e.g. 'door-opened', 'light-toggled'). Other properties would include values useful for further processing, such as the toggled value of the lights or the id of the door which was opened. p tags could be used to direct signals to specific listeners, e tags could be used to indicate that an event occured in response to another event, etc. **[Task and workflow-related NIPs](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1767)** nostr:npub13v47pg9dxjq96an8jfev9znhm0k7ntwtlh9y335paj9kyjsjpznqzzl3l8 introduces 4 new NIPs that can be used to implement task and project management systems — as well as other productivity tools — using Nostr.The proposed NIPs aim to address these issues by providing a set of common formats and specifications that promote standardization and ease of integration across multiple task management systems and other productivity tools. **[Deprecate stringified JSON in favor of tags on user metadata kind 0 events](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1770)** nostr:npub1yaul8k059377u9lsu67de7y637w4jtgeuwcmh5n7788l6xnlnrgs3tvjmf is proposing that the general convention for any kind is to use tags over stringified JSON. The fact that kind 0 uses stringified JSON is an artifact of a legacy spec from long ago before conventions were established, and makes reading and writing kind 0 harder than it should be. As of creating this PR, he does not believe any existing Nostr client implements support for kind 0 tags, but that can change, and should happen so that the PR can meet acceptance criteria of being implemented in at least 2 clients. Nostr SDK for Apple Platforms has already been updated to reflect this NIP proposal. **[A4 Citations NIP](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1776)** [SilberWitch](https://github.com/SilberWitch) defines the basic structure of citations required for embedded quotes, footnotes, endnotes, in-line references, appendices, and prompt records. It covers internal (to Nostr addresses) and external (to the wider web or printed material) citations. **[NWC Deep Links](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1777)** nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft is proposing a PR that documents a standard for using deeplinks to communicate between a wallet and a Nostr client.The mobile app checks if there is a handler for nostrnwc:// or a handful of nostrnwc+{known_nwc-capable_wallets}:// -- if one is found, the app can open the app via a deeplink and receive the NWC pairing code back from the wallet. **[Remove NOTICE relay messages from NIP-01](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/1783)** nostr:npub108pv4cg5ag52nq082kd5leu9ffrn2gdg6g4xdwatn73y36uzplmq9uyev6 is proposing that remove NOTICE relay messages from NIP-01, NOTICE is practically useless. he argue it has been superseded by a combination of NIP-11 and relay CLOSED messages that were introduced 2 years ago in #902. He is implementing a relay. There are 2 beautiful flows of Nostr. Getting events: the client sends a REQ, to which the relay responds to with EVENT, EOSE, and/or CLOSED.Posting events: the client sends an EVENT, to which the relay responds with an OK (which can be true or false). Notable Projects --- **[Coracle 0.6.0 ](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqsg966n2vf22wffapa6zrd4y78drqtapa5yxfwjz44zl5qlzx209ygzyztuwzjyxe4x2dwpgken87tna2rdlhpd02va5cvvgrrywpddnr3jyqcyqqqqqqg7smdm0)** nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn This release brings long-awaited support for rendering kind 20 (Olas). Along with that, media viewing has gotten an overhaul and should be a much nicer experience now. * Add support for tor/local relays * Use nstart for onboarding process * Oranize media into grids and add full-screen overlay view for images * Fix several note editor bugs * Improve thread, profile page, and notification loading * Show more details on reaction notifications * Improve mutes, add setting to completely hide muted people * Tweak long form article rendering * Refactor zap dialog * Add kind 20 rendering support * Improve rendering for various note kinds * Use more subtle placeholder avatar * Fix handling of all-caps lnurls * Fix rendering of notes in publish information dialog * Add pinned note support * Remove broadcasting of note parents * Add note scheduling via DVM * Clean up modal colors and design **[Flotilla0.2.7](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqs99wjym0wp3r0a27ctd8umvh4zakx2pn0r5ac3ejwx6fnamkjt6eszyztuwzjyxe4x2dwpgken87tna2rdlhpd02va5cvvgrrywpddnr3jyqcyqqqqqqg2alh6u)** nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn * Add calendar events * Migrate to svelte 5 (fixes some bugs, probably introduces others) * Migrate to new welshman editor * Make reply indicator nicer * Make share indicator nicer * Improve feed loading * Show marker for last activity in chat **[Primal 2.1](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqsp4t82wr5v3az27tsj2sdz2ggl6jtvfn5nvx7zrx06p3pqvc20kzczyrtp7w79k045gq80mtnpdxjuzl9t7vjxk52rv80f888y5xsd5mh55qcyqqqqqqg23heuv)** nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr * Improved feeds. All feeds are now richer and smoother. Improved rendering and inline players are now available for X, YouTube, Spotify and Tidal. More to come! * Primal Wallet NWC support. Primal Wallet users are now able to connect their wallet to any Nostr app. Use this feature to enable zapping from any app in Nostr’s growing ecosystem. Manage the list of connected apps in your Primal Wallet settings. * Primal Web App NWC support. Enable zapping from the Primal web app in Settings / Connected Wallets. If you already have an active Primal wallet, simply click “Connect” and you are done! If you wish to use a different wallet, simply create a NWC connection. * Legend cards. We created the Primal Legend tier to recognize users who made a significant contribution to Nostr and/or Primal. As a sign of gratitude to our Legends, we implemented Legend cards containing Primal shoutouts for each legend. You can see them by clicking on the Legend badge on the user profile screen. **[Yakihonne](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqsgj24tygwr2cwpuzq0x5altajtd2n8np9qxs5w9fxm5mp5f2fnq3qzyqsfsmac8em4m9k33r99e803pnndvylqadl9w69q7zcjkd7d4ssmxqcyqqqqqqg7u8v74)** nostr:npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q Mobile updates: * Polls can now be added inside notes. * Popping screens other than home will redirect to home. * Analytics are now removed. * Fix invoice issues not rendered inside the content. * Fix video player issue. * Fix general performance issues. **[Nostur update (TestFlight)](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqstqylpdfu9mvnjy29jclehn08mu42xqs2rvjjynku4dzw94fslf4gzyzd7p0s0cpu4fq3nyvtpfe8palyl9zcdkwvqz8h7anc9letsuhwnxqcyqqqqqqgcq4z0d)** nostr:npub1n0stur7q092gyverzc2wfc00e8egkrdnnqq3alhv7p072u89m5es5mk6h0 * Floating mini video player * Videos: Save to library * Videos: Copy URL * Show label for restricted posts and don't auto rebroadcast on reply or quote post * Low data mode: open media in app instead of external when tapping URL * Update WoT cache more frequently * Optimized image processing * Fixed Profile Media Gallery crash * Use event + relay hint instead of noted for quoted posts * Fixed bookmark toggle not updating for reposts * Fixed missing lightning invoice description **[Fountain 1.1.16](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqs92pxu9t3umgkhlr4fc975xaaycpd56y4zzm55rjrggep6f7qmgsczypjn3yj7h7mxraqcmrraqa97ut52l4mcwqwa3yrsctdfxm2hre2uxqcyqqqqqqg4kjy0w)** nostr:npub1v5ufyh4lkeslgxxcclg8f0hzazhaw7rsrhvfquxzm2fk64c72hps45n0v5 * You can now watch the video in Fountain and hang out in the live chat as it’s being recorded. * added a storage manager in the app’s settings so that you can view file storage size for audio downloads, video downloads, transcripts, image cache, feed cache, and temp files * You can delete all files in any of these folders to free up storage on your device so that Fountain continues to run optimally. **[Plebeian Market](https://open.substack.com/pub/plebeianmarket/p/plebeian-updates-282?r=4mi6b2&utm_medium=ios)** nostr:npub1market6g3zl4mxwx5ugw56hfg0f7dy7jnnw8t380788mvdyrnwuqgep7hd They've successfully addressed some bugs and introduced new features, including the ability to add videos to headers. Additionally, we resolved issues with zaps on profiles that were affected by an update to NDK, the library we use for handling Nostr functionalities. * Fix stock not updated after sale * Fix product is showing wrong details when edited * Fix stall service to handle new shipping zones * Fix team Management search field keeps disappearing * Fix z-index of the stall's description container so they're under the cat menu * Nwc validation, and zaps on profiles * Videos as images in product * Improve 'Start Selling' action * Remove Category Banners and make Cat menu Fixed * Add background for product images * Move the Shipping Dropdown * Remove category search (for now) * Add Shipping Zones to Product Page * Product page bottom padding was too small **[Alby Go 1.9](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqswf3sr35rx2xnmhfw80m4yttqxx25l0quyzqdawr5zz8ujzg7mysgzypr90hlgjed73xq2jvrjhna4ukdx2yjyqmdslqvjzhh83wj8jd9nuqcyqqqqqqgdwj95n)** nostr:npub1getal6ykt05fsz5nqu4uld09nfj3y3qxmv8crys4aeut53unfvlqr80nfm * Real-time push notifications of sent and received payments * Support of paying 0-amount invoices * Lots of fixes and minor improvements * Updated setting up LN address flow to avoid confusion * Increased button touch area in header for ease of use * Fixed alert titles being truncated and updated transaction icon colors **[Wasabi Wallet 2.5.0](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqsqhzwuajl8ccnltsvuygu3yt5hw8cvmkz7l5t6lpaa3tynmu9c4fczyzfm6rr08n96u3ec3vq6cm8qktqpxy2defxq34hzwyk5lac5qk3uxqcyqqqqqqg4fe35t)** nostr:npub1jw7scmeuewhywwytqxkxec9jcqf3znw2fsyddcn3948lw9q950ps9y35fg * 3rd Party Providers for Fee & Exchange Rate * Quality of Life Features * Backend and Coordinator packaged for Linux **[ZEUS v0.10.0](https://yakihonne.com/notes/nevent1qqsrcuhvp4fppcclm6nnfk7clee86gk6xa3uum6n2pkxt8p72xa78sszyq6d9af8fuv43lxjevjx8k474h0c5g0cft8yysw63zqz80c9ejqf2qcyqqqqqqghqsqqg)** nostr:npub10r8xl2njyepcw2zwv3a6dyufj4e4ajx86hz6v4ehu4gnpupxxp7stjt2p8 * Renewable channels * NWC client support * Embedded LND: v0.18.5-beta * New share button (share ZEUS QR images) * Activity: highlight filter icon when filters active * Developer tools * Chantools: sweepremoteclosed Long-Form Content Eco --- In the past two weeks, more than 350 long-form articles have been published, including over 71 articles on Bitcoin and more than 35 related to Nostr, accounting for 30% of the total content. These articles about Nostr explore its technological advancements, decentralized social networking, financial applications, and real-world use cases. From Vertex Social Graph to OnlyZaps, they highlight how Nostr is reshaping social interactions and content monetization. Technical topics like Python development and nostr_sdk offer practical insights for developers. In finance, DVMCP, payment channels, and Bitcoin funding showcase Nostr’s role in decentralized economics. Additionally, topics like Zapstream streaming, privacy protection, and healthcare records demonstrate its expanding applications. Event recaps like FOSDEM Debrief provide deeper community discussions. The Bitcoin articles discuss its evolving role in finance, technology, and global adoption. Topics range from Bitcoin’s impact on macroeconomics, including its relationship with the dollar, the Fed’s monetary policies, and the race for strategic reserves, to its role in free trade and small business struggles. Several articles explore technical aspects, such as Lightning Network scalability, transaction trade-offs across layers, and UX improvements. Others focus on Bitcoin’s cultural and political influence, touching on its effects on entrepreneurship in Uganda, government intervention, and the potential for state control. Reports on mining fees, circulating supply trends, and price analyses provide insights for investors, while practical guides on wallet security, merchant adoption, and FOSS contributions cater to new users. Additionally, discussions on Bitcoin’s psychological impact, decentralization challenges, and its role as an antidote to economic instability highlight its broader significance. Thank you, nostr:npub176p7sup477k5738qhxx0hk2n0cty2k5je5uvalzvkvwmw4tltmeqw7vgup nostr:npub1a3pvwe2p3v7mnjz6hle63r628wl9w567aw7u23fzqs062v5vqcqqu3sgh3 nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn nostr:npub1gzuushllat7pet0ccv9yuhygvc8ldeyhrgxuwg744dn5khnpk3gs3ea5ds nostr:npub1m2jphmdkskgnvwl5gplksl9e0zwv2sldqf9mwlpz6tyymz84g9fsqr3wgu nostr:npub12lg6yexfh0gsk8aupv5cr5fnj46l0kxg6lp6rz0zw6kwx603lmsshmac9c nostr:npub186a9aaqmyp436j0gkxl8yswhat2ampahxunpmfjv80qwyaglywhqswhd06 nostr:npub1rsvhkyk2nnsyzkmsuaq9h9ms7rkxhn8mtxejkca2l4pvkfpwzepql3vmtf nostr:npub17xvf49kht23cddxgw92rvfktkd3vqvjgkgsdexh9847wl0927tqsrhc9as nostr:npub1lytrxnf66uflkhm0hx32d2r0xchmvepg0mz987xgvgnaqlgu3r2s09fphn nostr:npub1mgvwnpsqgrem7jfcwm7pdvdfz2h95mm04r23t8pau2uzxwsdnpgs0gpdjc nostr:npub12lg6yexfh0gsk8aupv5cr5fnj46l0kxg6lp6rz0zw6kwx603lmsshmac9c npub1mwce4c8qa2zn9zw9f372syrc9dsnqmyy3jkcmpqkzaze0slj94dqu6nmwy，and others, for your work. Enriching Nostr’s long-form content ecosystem is crucial. Nostriches Global Meet Ups --- Recently, several Nostr events have been hosted in different countries. * **[The Asia Bitcoin Tech Unconference](http://satsnfacts.btc.pub)** took place from February 8 to 10, 2025, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Organized as a workshop-style event, it featured a diverse lineup of speakers, including nostr:npub1zk6u7mxlflguqteghn8q7xtu47hyerruv6379c36l8lxzzr4x90q0gl6ef nostr:npub1htnhsay5dmq3r72tukdw72pduzfdcja0yylcajuvnc2uklkhxp8qnz3qac nostr:npub1ejxswthae3nkljavznmv66p9ahp4wmj4adux525htmsrff4qym9sz2t3tv nostr:npub147whqsr5vsj86x0ays70r0hgreklre3ey97uvcmxhum65skst56s30selt and others. The conference focused on key topics such as scalability, mining, payments, and infrastructure, while also encouraging participants to share unfinished projects and technical challenges. Through hackathons and hands-on discussions, the event fostered collaboration and innovation. Highlights included technical talks, pitch competitions, Bitcoin product showcases, and creative and wellness activities such as Thai massages, ice baths, and arts and crafts workshops. * **[Bitcoin Africa Story - Bitcoin Diploma Program (Cohort 3)](https://yakihonne.com/smart-widget-checker?naddr=naddr1qqgxzctxxg6n2d3sv5mxzdtzxqek2q3qd39syxfnyply3r3j925gr2fuj9d2dtt8xcks6mm7fs8qtwml3z0qxpqqqp657adqt88)** officially launched on February 10, 2025! This is a 7-week free online course covering key topics such as the fundamentals of money, Bitcoin principles, the Lightning Network, and Bitcoin technology. The program aims to educate more people about Bitcoin and empower them with financial sovereignty. nostr:npub1d39syxfnyply3r3j925gr2fuj9d2dtt8xcks6mm7fs8qtwml3z0qzjh33r Here are the upcoming Nostr events that you might want to check out. * **[The Bitcoin Freedom Festival](https://x.com/BitcoinJungleCR/status/1868809529418252455)** will take place from February 20 to 24, 2025, at the Awakening Center in Uvita, Costa Rica. In collaboration with the Awake Earth Festival, this event blends a music festival with Bitcoin seminars and lectures. From February 20 to 23, the focus will be on music, healing workshops, ceremonies, and educational talks, featuring internationally renowned artists and captivating discussions. February 24 will be a special day dedicated to Bitcoin, with all activities centered around. nostr:npub14f26g7dddy6dpltc70da3pg4e5w2p4apzzqjuugnsr2ema6e3y6s2xv7lu * **[Learning Bitcoin 2025](https://x.com/learningbtc_ca/status/1863997143817851249)** will take place on August 16 & 17 at Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada. This Bitcoin education conference offers an in-depth learning experience beyond a typical event. Attendees can choose between General Admission (Super Early Bird: $80) and VIP tickets (Super Early Bird: $400). Additionally, We warmly invite event organizers who have held recent activities to reach out to us so we can work together to promote the prosperity and development of the Nostr ecosystem. Thanks for reading! If there’s anything I missed, feel free to reach out and help improve the completeness and accuracy of my coverage.

@ 09fbf8f3:fa3d60f0

### 🌟 深度探索：在Cloudflare上免费部署DeepSeek-R1 32B大模型 #### 🌍 一、 注册或登录Cloudflare平台（CF老手可跳过） ##### 1️⃣ 进入Cloudflare平台官网： 。www.cloudflare.com/zh-cn/ 登录或者注册账号。  ##### 2️⃣ 新注册的用户会让你选择域名，无视即可，直接点下面的Start building。  ##### 3️⃣ 进入仪表盘后，界面可能会显示英文，在右上角切换到[简体中文]即可。  --- #### 🚀 二、正式开始部署Deepseek API项目。 ##### 1️⃣ 首先在左侧菜单栏找到【AI】下的【Wokers AI】，选择【Llama 3 Woker】。  ##### 2️⃣ 为项目取一个好听的名字，后点击部署即可。  ##### 3️⃣ Woker项目初始化部署好后，需要编辑替换掉其原代码。  ##### 4️⃣ 解压出提供的代码压缩包，找到【32b】的部署代码，将里面的文本复制出来。 **下载地址：** 📁 [夸克](https://pan.quark.cn/s/2b5aa9ff57f6) 📁 [UC网盘](https://drive.uc.cn/s/a7ff5e03b4d84?public=1) 📁 [迅雷网盘](https://pan.xunlei.com/s/VOJEzm7hLwmhER71rK2wnXArA1?pwd=cefg#)  ##### 5️⃣ 接第3步，将项目里的原代码清空，粘贴第4步复制好的代码到编辑器。  ##### 6️⃣ 代码粘贴完，即可点击右上角的部署按钮。  ##### 7️⃣ 回到仪表盘，点击部署完的项目名称。  ##### 8️⃣ 查看【设置】，找到平台分配的项目网址，复制好备用。  --- #### 💻 三、选择可用的UI软件，这边使用Chatbox AI演示。 ##### 1️⃣ 根据自己使用的平台下载对应的安装包，博主也一并打包好了全平台的软件安装包。  ##### 2️⃣ 打开安装好的Chatbox，点击左下角的设置。  ##### 3️⃣ 选择【添加自定义提供方】。  ##### 4️⃣ 按照图片说明填写即可，【API域名】为之前复制的项目网址(加/v1)；【改善网络兼容性】功能务必开启；【API密钥】默认为”zhiyuan“，可自行修改；填写完毕后保存即可。  ##### 5️⃣ Cloudflare项目部署好后，就能正常使用了，接口仿照OpenAI API具有较强的兼容性，能导入到很多支持AI功能的软件或插件中。   ##### 6️⃣ Cloudflare的域名默认被墙了，需要自己准备一个域名设置。 --- **转自微信公众号：纸鸢花的小屋** **推广：低调云（梯子VPN）** 。www.didiaocloud.xyz