@ f296e355:c28d00bc

The history of codes and cryptography is a fascinating topic that spans thousands of years and involves many different methods and technologies. I have wanted to write on this topic for quite some time now but couldn’t complete it due to other projects at hand. Many people on individual basis and even companies use cryptographic techniques for various reasons from protecting sensitive data and preventing espionage to enabling the creation and exchange of cryptocurrency and other digital assets. But many people have little to no idea about the evolution of codes and cryptographic systems. In this piece, we shall briefly overview some of the main phases and milestones in the development of cryptology, the science of making and breaking codes.

Photo by cottonbro studio from Pexels

Feel free to read all my articles on the anti-censorship long content platform yakihonne

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Ancient Ciphers and Early Encryption Techniques

Ancient ciphers and early encryption techniques are methods of transforming messages or information in such a way that only authorized parties can access them. They usually involve replacing or rearranging the letters or symbols of the original message with a secret key or algorithm. Here are some examples of ancient ciphers and early encryption techniques:

The Caesar Shift Cipher

The Caesar cipher, employed by Julius Caesar and his army during the 1st century BC, served as a means to encrypt military and official messages. Operating as a simple substitution cipher, it involved replacing each letter in the message with another letter positioned a fixed number of places away in the alphabet. For instance, with a shift of 3, ‘A’ would be substituted with ‘D’, ‘B’ with ‘E’, and so forth. The key for this cipher represented the number of positions to shift, encompassing values ranging from 1 to 25. To decipher the message, the recipient needed knowledge of the key to revert the letters to their original positions. However, the Caesar cipher was susceptible to frequency analysis, a method involving the tabulation of letter occurrences in the ciphertext and comparing them against the expected frequencies in the language, thus rendering it relatively easy to break.

The Scytale Cipher

The Spartans and other ancient Greeks utilized a cipher during the 7th century BC for the encryption of military and political messages. This particular cipher operated as a transposition cipher, whereby the arrangement of letters in the message was altered based on a concealed pattern. The pattern, in this case, was determined through the utilization of a cylindrical rod known as a scytale. To encrypt the message, the sender would encircle a strip of parchment or leather around the scytale and proceed to inscribe the message along its length. Subsequently, the strip would be unwrapped and dispatched to the intended recipient. For decryption, the recipient would require a scytale possessing an identical diameter to rewrap the strip around it and decipher the concealed message. This cipher’s security was compromised, as its vulnerability lay in attempting various diameters of rods until the message became intelligible, rendering it relatively easy to break.

The Steganography

Steganography, distinct from a cipher, represents a technique employed to conceal messages in plain sight by disguising them as something else. Its origins can be traced back to ancient times, and it has found utility across a range of endeavors encompassing espionage, propaganda, and art. Several examples of steganography include inscribing a message on a shaved head, allowing the hair to regrow and obscure the hidden text, utilizing invisible ink or microdots to convey information, and embedding messages within different mediums, such as texts, images, audio, or video files. If executed adeptly, steganography can prove challenging to detect; nevertheless, it can be exposed through meticulous scrutiny or by subjecting the medium to careful examination or analysis.

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The Renaissance and Early Modern Cryptography

The Renaissance and early modern period witnessed a flourishing of cryptography as a result of political, religious, and scientific developments. Cryptography became more sophisticated, diverse, and widespread, as well as more subject to cryptanalysis and code-breaking. Here are some aspects and examples of cryptography in this era:

The rise of diplomatic cryptography

During the Renaissance, a notable transformation occurred in the realm of diplomacy, paving the way for the establishment of a modern system characterized by permanent embassies, the formulation of international law, and multilateral negotiations among autonomous states. Given the crucial need for secure communication between ambassadors and their respective home governments, as well as among allies and adversaries, the significance of cryptography as an indispensable tool for diplomats became apparent. Cryptography served a dual purpose, enabling diplomats to safeguard their confidential information while simultaneously providing a means to engage in covert intelligence gathering, influencing public sentiment, and monitoring their rivals’ activities. As diplomatic relations evolved, cryptography emerged as an essential component in the arsenal of tools employed by diplomats to navigate the intricate web of international affairs during the Renaissance.

Here’re a few examples of diplomatic cryptography are:

• The Vigenère cipher, a polyalphabetic substitution cipher that was considered unbreakable for centuries. It was invented by Giovan Battista Bellaso in 1553 and improved by Blaise de Vigenère in 1586. It was widely used by European diplomats until the 19th century.
• The Babington Plot, a conspiracy to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots in 1586. The plot was exposed by Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s spymaster, who intercepted and deciphered the letters between the plotters using a nomenclator, a combination of symbols and code words.
• The Great Cipher, a complex substitution cipher that was used by the kings of France from Louis XIV to Louis XVI. It was invented by Antoine and Bonaventure Rossignol in 1645 and remained unsolved until 1890.

One component of a customary nomenclator employed during the era of Louis XIV, 1690. Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Image.

The role of cryptography in religion and science during the Renaissance

Within the backdrop of the Renaissance, a period characterized by profound intellectual and societal transformations, religious conflicts like the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation took center stage. Simultaneously, the era bore witness to groundbreaking scientific advancements and methodologies, including the revolutionary Copernican heliocentric model and the Baconian induction. In the middle of these developments, cryptography emerged as a significant factor influencing both religious and scientific domains. Cryptography served as a means to express dissent, preserve orthodoxy, and facilitate the clandestine transmission of knowledge. Furthermore, it became a subject of scholarly inquiry and experimentation for esteemed scholars and natural philosophers of the time. Cryptography thus acquired a dual role, influencing and being influenced by the intellectual currents that shaped the Renaissance era.

Some examples of cryptography in religion and science are:

• The Trithemius cipher, a progressive polyalphabetic substitution cipher that was invented by Johannes Trithemius, a German abbot and occultist, in 1508. It was disguised as a book on magic called Steganographia, which claimed to teach how to communicate with angels using hidden messages in texts.
• The Baconian cipher, a biliteral substitution cipher that was devised by Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and scientist, in 1605. It used two different typefaces or fonts to encode messages within other texts. Bacon also proposed a method of hiding messages in musical notes or knots.
• The Newtonian cipher, a numerical substitution cipher that was used by Isaac Newton, an English physicist and mathematician, to encrypt his private notes on alchemy and theology. He assigned numbers to the letters of the alphabet according to their order or frequency and wrote them in groups of five.

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

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The Enigma Machine and World War II

The Enigma machine and World War II are closely related, as the Enigma was a cipher machine used by Nazi Germany to encrypt and decrypt messages for military and diplomatic purposes. The Enigma was considered to be very secure and reliable, but it was eventually broken by the Allies, who used the intelligence gained from reading the German messages to gain an advantage in the war.

The Enigma machine

The Enigma machine, conceived by German engineer Arthur Scherbius in 1918 and patented in 1923, emerged as a remarkable electro-mechanical apparatus consisting of several components. Comprising a keyboard, lampboard, plugboard, and a set of rotors, it enabled the encryption and decryption of messages.

Photo by Christian Lendl on Unsplash

Users would input plaintext or ciphertext through the keyboard, and the corresponding encrypted or decrypted letters would be displayed on the lampboard. The plugboard facilitated additional permutations of letters, while the rotors, altered with each keystroke, modified the electrical connections between the keyboard and lampboard. The Enigma machine boasted an extensive array of potential settings, rendering the key challenging to guess or crack via brute-force methods. These settings involved the selection and order of rotors, initial rotor positions, and the plugboard configuration. To maintain security, these settings were altered daily or even more frequently, using secret key lists that were distributed to operators in advance. Although initially intended for commercial purposes, the Enigma machine swiftly gained traction among various military and government entities worldwide, most notably the Nazi regime in Germany, who employed it extensively before and during World War II.

World War II

World War II, a global conflict spanning from 1939 to 1945, witnessed the engagement of two opposing alliances: the Axis powers and the Allied powers. The devastating war led to vast casualties, widespread destruction, and profound socio-political transformations.

Cryptography played a pivotal role during this period as both sides employed various encryption and decryption techniques to secure their communications and gather intelligence on their adversaries.

Among these methods, the Enigma machine held paramount importance for Nazi Germany, serving as a device to encode critical messages across all branches of the German military. The initial breakthrough in cracking the Enigma code came in 1932 when Polish mathematicians developed techniques and machines to decipher it. They subsequently shared their achievements with British and French intelligence prior to the outbreak of the war. In 1939, Britain established the clandestine code-breaking unit Ultra at Bletchley Park, led by mathematician Alan Turing and a team of experts. Building upon the Polish methods, they refined decryption processes and devised new machines, such as the Bombe, to decipher Enigma messages on a larger scale. The successful decryption of the Enigma code provided the Allies with a pivotal advantage in numerous battles and campaigns, including the Battle of Britain, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the pivotal D-Day invasion. It also allowed for vigilant monitoring of German movements, plans, and intentions. Estimates from historians suggest that the breaking of the Enigma code potentially shortened the war by two to four years, resulting in the preservation of millions of lives.

Photo by Mauro Sbicego on Unsplash

The Digital Age and Public-Key Cryptography

The digital age and public-key cryptography are interrelated, as the advent of digital technologies and the internet created new challenges and opportunities for cryptography.

Public-key cryptography, aka asymmetric cryptography, is a cryptographic field that employs a pair of interconnected keys, namely a public key and a private key, for the purpose of encrypting and decrypting messages.

Public-key cryptography revolutionized the field by allowing secure communication between parties who have no prior knowledge or trust of each other, using mathematical techniques such as asymmetric encryption and digital signatures.

The digital age

The digital age is the period of history characterized by the widespread use of digital technologies, such as computers, the internet, mobile devices, and social media. The digital age began in the late 20th century and continues to the present day. This age has brought many benefits and challenges for cryptography. On one hand, it has enabled faster, cheaper, and more accessible encryption and decryption of data, as well as new applications and domains for cryptography, such as e-commerce, online banking, cloud computing, cryptocurrency, and blockchain.

On the other hand, it has also increased the risks and threats of cyberattacks, hacking, surveillance, identity theft, and data breaches. It has also increased the demand and complexity of cryptography. As more data is generated, stored, transmitted, and processed online, there is a greater need for protecting its confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, and availability. As more users and devices are connected to the internet, there is a greater challenge for distributing and managing cryptographic keys securely.

Public-key cryptography

Public-key cryptography was invented in 1976 by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in their seminal paper “New Directions in Cryptography”. They proposed a method of key exchange that allowed two parties to establish a shared secret key over an insecure channel without any prior communication or trust. This method is known as the Diffie-Hellman key exchange.

This type of cryptography that uses pairs of related keys:

a public key that can be openly distributed without compromising security, and

a private key that should be kept under secrecy by the owner of the key

The keys are generated with cryptographic algorithms based on mathematical problems called one-way functions, which are easy to compute in one direction but hard to reverse.

Public-key cryptography has two main functions: encryption and digital signatures. Encryption is the process of transforming a message into an unreadable form using a key. Digital signatures are the process of creating a unique code that can verify the identity of the sender and the integrity of the message using a key. Anyone with a public key can encrypt a message for a specific recipient who has the corresponding private key. The decryption of the message can only be performed by the intended recipient using their private key.

Consider this example, Alice can send Bob an encrypted message using Bob’s public key that only Bob can decrypt with his private key. In public-key digital signatures, anyone with a private key can sign a message with their private key to create a signature. The authenticity of the signature and its association with the signer can be verified by anyone possessing the corresponding public key and confirming if it matches the message. For example, Alice can sign a message with her private key to create a signature that Bob can verify with Alice’s public key.

This type of cryptography was further developed by Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman in 1977 when they created the RSA algorithm, which is one of the most widely used public-key encryption and digital signature schemes today. RSA stands for Rivest-Shamir-Adleman, the initials of its inventors.

Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, & Leonard Adleman, 1977. Photographed by: Unknown. Source: National Cryptographic Foundation

Quantum Cryptography: A New Era of Encryption

A new era of encryption phrase that describes the use of quantum physics to create and secure cryptographic systems that are theoretically immune to conventional attacks.

Quantum cryptography exploits the properties of quantum mechanics, such as superposition, entanglement, and uncertainty, to perform tasks that are impossible or infeasible with classical cryptography.

Quantum key distribution

Quantum key distribution (QKD) stands as the most extensively explored and implemented approach within the realm of quantum cryptography. Serving as a technique, QKD enables two parties, commonly referred to as Alice and Bob, to establish a shared secret key over an insecure communication channel, including fiber-optic cables or free space, devoid of any prior communication or established trust. QKD capitalizes on the principle that quantum states, such as photons, cannot be replicated or measured without perturbation. Thus, any potential eavesdropper, often denoted as Eve, who endeavors to intercept or tamper with the quantum signals will inevitably introduce errors or irregularities, which can be detected by Alice and Bob. Through the implementation of suitable protocols and error correction techniques, Alice and Bob can generate a key that boasts provable security and randomness. This key can subsequently be utilized for encrypting and decrypting messages using conventional symmetric-key algorithms like AES or DES.

The notable advantage of QKD lies in its ability to securely distribute keys, addressing a prominent vulnerability within classical cryptography. Additionally, QKD facilitates the frequent updating of keys, thereby amplifying the security and freshness of the encryption process. The conceptualization of QKD originated from independent proposals by Stephen Wiesner in 1970 and Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard in 1984. The first experimental demonstration of QKD occurred in 1990, conducted by Bennett and John Smolin. Since then, QKD has been further developed and tested across diverse settings, including metropolitan networks, satellite links, and underwater channels.

Stephen Wiesner, 1988. Public Domain Image. Wikimedia Commons.

Quantum-resistant cryptography

Quantum-resistant cryptography, also known as post-quantum cryptography or quantum-proof cryptography, is a branch of classical cryptography that aims to create encryption methods that cannot be broken by quantum computers. Quantum computers are hypothetical machines that can exploit quantum phenomena to perform certain computations faster than classical computers.

QRC is motivated by the fact that some of the most widely used public-key algorithms, such as RSA and ECC, are based on mathematical problems that are hard to solve with classical computers but easy to solve with quantum computers. For example, Shor’s algorithm is a quantum algorithm that can factor large numbers efficiently, which would break RSA encryption. Similarly, Grover’s algorithm is a quantum algorithm that can search unsorted databases faster than classical algorithms, which would reduce the security of symmetric-key algorithms. The objective is to develop novel public-key algorithms that rely on mathematical problems posing challenges for both classical and quantum computers in terms of solving them. Some of the candidates for quantum-resistant cryptography are based on lattice problems, code problems, multivariate problems, hash-based problems, or supersingular elliptic curve problems. These algorithms are currently being evaluated and standardized by various organizations, such as NIST and ETSI.

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Cryptography has evolved from simple manual methods to complex mechanized and digital systems, driven by the needs and demands of communication, security, and privacy. It has also played a very crucial role in many historical events (the Babington plot, for example), such as wars, revolutions, and discoveries, as well as in many modern applications, such as e-commerce, online banking, and cryptocurrency. It’s not only a practical tool, but also a scientific and mathematical discipline that explores the limits and possibilities of information theory, computation, and quantum physics. It is constantly changing and most certainly evolving, as new threats and opportunities emerge in the digital age.

By：Sunny Labh Link：https://www.cantorsparadise.com/the-history-of-codes-and-cryptography-from-caesar-cipher-to-quantum-encryption-262992255320

@ 0b5f0269:f0f93f1b

欢迎来YakiHonne找我，一起叨叨

室温超导体又称常温超导体（Room-temperature superconductor），是指可以在高于0°C的温度有超导现象的材料。相较于其他的超导体，室温超导体的条件是日常较容易达到的工作条件。截至2020年，最高温的超导体是超高压的含碳硫化氢系统，压力267 GPa，其临界温度为+15°C。

在常压下的最高温超导体是高温超导体铜氧化物（cuprates），在138 K（−135 °C）的温度下有超导现象。

之往有许多的研究者曾怀疑室温超导体是否可能实现，不过超导的温度一再提高，其中也有许多是以往没有预期到，或是以往认为不可能的温度。

早在1950年代就有人提出在“接近室温”下出现的超导现象。若可以找到室温超导体，可解决全世界能耗问题、开发速度更快的电脑、用在先进的储存装置、超灵敏的感测器，以及许多其他的可能性。

2023年7月23日，来自韩国科学技术研究院（KIST）的量子能源研究中心的韩国团队在arXiv预印本服务器上发布了一篇名为“The First Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor”（首个室温常压超导体）的论文，描述了他们称之为LK-99的新型室温超导体。该论文还伴随着arXiv上的姊妹论文，一篇韩国期刊上的论文以及一项专利申请。多位专家对此表示怀疑，牛津材料科学教授Susannah Speller表示，“目前还为时过早，我们还没有得到这些样本超导性的有力证据”，因为缺乏超导性的明确标志，如磁场响应和热容量。其他专家也对数据可能被“实验过程中的错误和LK-99样本的缺陷”解释表示担忧，一位科学家质疑了研究人员使用的理论模型。

来源：维基百科 链接：https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%A4%E6%BA%AB%E8%B6%85%E5%B0%8E%E9%AB%94

欢迎来YakiHonne找我，一起叨叨

@ cb5a5f84:c8b15664

Originally published here: https://medium.com/@kemalyaylali/insatiable-rising-appetite-for-lab-grown-meat-investments-e92d0b3536df

In recent years, a revolutionary concept has taken center stage in the food industry — lab-grown meat, known by various names like cultured, cultivated, clean, and cruelty-free. This groundbreaking technology has become a hot topic among investors, and for good reason. In a significant development, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted clearance to Good Meat and Upside Foods, allowing them to sell lab-grown chicken in stores and restaurants across the United States. With the FDA also endorsing the technology, these companies are now accelerating their production efforts.

Environmentalists are hailing this innovation as a much-needed solution to the environmental issues caused by traditional meat production. Conventional meat sources contribute to nearly 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from food production, along with deforestation and water scarcity. In stark contrast, lab-grown meat has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint by a staggering 92 percent compared to beef, 17 percent compared to chicken, and 52 percent compared to pork. Furthermore, animal welfare activists are optimistic that this technology could ultimately put an end to the cruelty seen in slaughterhouses and inhumane conditions on farms.

For those unfamiliar with lab-grown meat, here’s a simplified explanation: In specialized food factories, scientists cultivate and grow cell samples from animals, such as pigs and cows, until these cells transform into a form of meat that we are familiar with, like pork or burger patties. Once approved by regulatory bodies, the resulting food is deemed safe for human consumption.

However, ongoing scrutiny by these agencies ensures the continued safety of lab-grown meat. The prospects of lab-grown meat have set investors’ expectations soaring. Leading consulting firm McKinsey predicts that the cell-based meat industry could generate a whopping $30 billion in revenue by 2030. Some experts even foresee a future where 60 percent of all meat could be produced in labs by 2040. The industry has witnessed a surge of interest, with nearly 100 startups entering the market in 2020, compared to just four in 2016. These startups have attracted over $1.2 billion in investments from enthusiasts and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio.

Additionally, around 40 companies are gearing up to provide support and tools for these enterprises to bring their products to market. However, skeptics remain cautious. The cost of growing meat in a factory remains high, as evident from the first lab-grown burger produced in 2013, which cost over $300,000 to create. Although production costs have dropped significantly since then, lab-grown meat may still be beyond the reach of the average consumer for some time. There are also concerns about consumer acceptance — are people willing to consume meat produced in a lab, and will they feel confident about its safety?

For aspiring investors looking to jump into this emerging market, there are currently limited options for publicly-traded companies. Steakholder Foods (STKH), an Israeli company that utilizes 3D printing technology in cultivated meat production, is listed on the Nasdaq. Cult Food Science Corp. (CULTF), based in Vancouver, Canada, is the first publicly-traded cultivated meat company in North America, listed on the Toronto and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges.

However, most of the companies in this sector are privately held startups. Among them are notable players such as Prolific Machines, Bond Pet Foods, and Momentum Foods, with the latter combining lab-grown meat with plant-based products. South Korea’s TissenBioFarm claims to have a unique method for producing whole-cut meat, setting itself apart from others that focus on ground or minced meat.

Investors looking to gain early exposure to the lab-grown meat market might consider buying stocks in established companies like Tyson Foods (TSN), which has invested through Tyson Ventures in startups like Memphis Meats and Future Meat Technologies. JBS, a Brazilian-based enterprise with a 51 percent stake in the Spanish firm BioTech, is also planning to go public. JBS is constructing a factory in 2024 that could potentially produce 1,000 metric tons of lab-grown beef annually.

The underlying message is clear: Thought leaders, including Bill Gates, believe that if we truly want to combat climate change, all meat produced in wealthy nations should come from laboratories. This visionary idea not only promises a sustainable future but also opens up exciting investment opportunities for those who recognize its potential. As lab-grown meat gains momentum, investors stand to make a positive impact on the planet while reaping significant rewards.

@ fff7f6f7:db288ed1

Sekibaku

El estilo de shibari kinbaku de Yagami Ren se llama sekibaku, se trata de shibari enfocado en la muta satisfacción del deseo erótico. No se basa en el amor o en la confianza, se basa en el deseo y la mutua responsabilidad.

Se fundamenta en la lógica, el conocimiento científico y la aplicación eficaz de la técnica, combinando las antiguas artes marciales con los mas avanzados conocimientos en neurociencia y psicología.

No es un estilo basado en formas o figuras, sino en el conocimiento y comprensión de bases y fundamentos, para luego poder aplicarlos en las interacciones cotidianas.

Técnicamente, se trabaja sobre tres áreas: la gestión emocional, el manejo del cuerpo, y el manejo de la cuerda.

En este estilo no hay elementos gratuitos o meramente ornamentales, todo lo que se hace tiene una finalidad práctica encaminada a la satisfacción del deseo erótico. Por ese motivo, es eficaz desde el minimalismo y el cuerpo toma tanto protagonismo.

Se trata de un estilo apto para todos los cuerpos y para todos los niveles de conocimiento y experiencia.

@ 7cc328a0:2a247c0e

I built a really cool little temperature and air quality sensor that reports data to particle.io events and from there into influxdb cloud.

With Free Dashboards!!

Yes I mean free as free can get. Particle.io, free (to 100 devices). InfluxDB cloud, free (to (x) amount of stats). We're not talking about a lot of stats here, but after many hours of research for a free dashboard solution this was the absolute best!

InfluxDB cloud dashboards look really nice as well.

Build Components

• RedBear Duo github

Note, particle.io has since aquired RedBear labs and the Duo is old, yet still available in some places. You may also want to try particle devices like Argon instead of a redbear.

• DHT22 Temperature/Humidity sensor adafruit
• PM2.5 Air Quality Sensor and Breadboard Adapter Kit - PMS5003/PMS7003 adafruit

Note, I used a slightly different adapter, and it was lame to have to order it once I realized the PMS7003 I ordered did not come with an adaptor! The adafruit link above should get you hooked up. These air quality sensors come in different flavors just make sure you have a breakout board along with it when you order!

Software

• Sign up for (free) particle.io
• Sign up for (free) InfluxDB Cloud

Steps

The Hardware wiring diagram

Plug in your device and connect it to particle.io

I used the following guide for the Redbear DUO here

Coding the application

• Go to console.particle.io, open the IDE by clicking the icon (bottom left < >)
• Create a new application.
• Click the "Libraries" icon on the bottom left of the screen.
• In the "Libraries" search enter "PMS7003-Particle-Sensor-Serial" and import it into the project.
• Click "Libraries" again, and search for "Adafruit_DHT_Particle" and import it into the project.

Paste this code into your app: ```arduino // This #include statement was automatically added by the Particle IDE.

include

// This #include statement was automatically added by the Particle IDE.

include

PMS7003Serial pms7003(Serial1, D0);

define DHTPIN D0 // what pin we're connected to

// Here we define the type of sensor used

define DHTTYPE DHT22 // DHT11 or DHT22

DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);

void setup() { //Serial.begin(); dht.begin();

}

unsigned long last = 0; unsigned long last_pm_reading = 0;

void loop() {

unsigned long now = millis();

// check every time to see if there is data if (pms7003.Read()) { last_pm_reading = now; }

if ((now - last) > 10000) { float f = dht.getTempFarenheit(); float h = dht.getHumidity(); Particle.publish("TempDegreesF", String(f)); Particle.publish("PercentHumidity", String(h)); // Let us be generous. Active state the device // reports at least every 2.3 seconds. if ((now - last_pm_reading) > 10000) { Particle.publish("No reading for at least 10 seconds!"); } else { Particle.publish("pm1", String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.pm1_0))); Particle.publish("pm2_5",String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.pm2_5))); Particle.publish("pm10",String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.pm10))); // I didn't use these but they're there if you want them in the future. /Serial.println("um_3:" + String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.count0_3um))); Serial.println("um_5:" + String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.count0_5um))); Serial.println("um1:" + String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.count1um))); Serial.println("um2_5:" + String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.count2_5um))); Serial.println("um5:" + String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.count5um))); Serial.println("um10:" + String(pms7003.GetData(pms7003.count10um))); / } last = now; } } ```

Flash the application to the device

You should see events coming into the particle.io console

Now we're ready to setup InfluxDB

• Create a new bucket called "sensors" (or whatever you like)
• Keep this window open or copy these settings, we need them to setup particle.io webhooks.
• Open organization settings
• Copy the info for ClusterURL and OrganizationID
• Go to tokens and generate a new API token (and save it for the next step!)

Go back to particle.io console "Integrations"

• Create new WebHook Integration Setting | Value --------|------ Event Name | pm2_5 URL | https://YourClusterURL/api/v2/write?org=YourOrganizationID&bucket=sensors&precision=s Request Type | POST Request Format | Custom Body Device | Any Status | Enabled

• Expand the Advanced Settings!

Setting | Value --------|------|- Custom Request Body | envSensors,sensorID={{{PARTICLE_DEVICE_ID}}} {{{PARTICLE_EVENT_NAME}}}={{{PARTICLE_EVENT_VALUE}}} HTTP HEADERS (two fields) | Authorization | Token YOUR-API-TOKEN * After you're done creating the webhook it should look like this -> * While viewing the webhook we should start to see the webhook logs below -> You can inspect the logs by clicking a response. Hopefully all is well so far. * Repeat the steps above for Temperature and Humidity (change the Event Name)

Now we can build an influxDB dashboard!

• You can create a new dashboard and play around. For example: create a new cell.
• Use QUERY BUILDER to point-and-click the sensor data.

Done! Enjoy the free charts!

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

What Is Bitcoin

According to Pablo Xannybar Bitcoin exists outside the control of nation states, as well as central investment, and commercial banks, or any other single third party--It is money ruled solely by code, mathematics, and compute power, not a government or any other body of fallible humans." This is important because the peer-to-peer electronic cash system does not have a central point of failuresince bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system; a system built on distributed computer networking instead of a centralized third party. This is different from almost all technology most people use in their day to day lives. Apple is the biggest technology company in the world. It has many servers all around the world. Your data on the Apple cloud is protected from natural disasters because Apple has backups all over the word. To be honest, I have assume someone else has seen it.not verified this, but I don't imagine the Apple cloud is just running on a laptop in somebody's closet. If one of Apple's server breaks, your data will surely survive.

They say this cloud is secure, yet somehow naked celebrity pictures get hacked from the iCloud and the FBI can break the iCloud encryption. To be fair, bitcoin stored on hot wallets can also be hacked. If you type a seed phrase onto an Internet computer, assume someone else has seen it. That's why most Bitcoiners advise to only keep a small amount of your stack on a hot wallet. That's why governments don't like "unhosted wallets." Unhosted wallets are a euphimism for big random number the government can't guess. Their Internet surveillance doesn't work on a calculator plugged into a 9v battery inside a shed at the middle of nowhere. This is also why we can rest assured that the bitcoin we keep in cold storage can be safer than even data kept on the servers of the biggest companies in the world.

Bitcoin Full Nodes Keep The Network Decentralized

Imagine if there was only one person running a bitcoin node. This node verified all the transactions on the network. If the power went out or if it got droned, bitcoin would die. There would be no record of the bitcoin time chain anymore. Nobody would verify transactions. There would be no network to broadcast to.

What if there are 17,000 bitcion nodes. Let's say my node gets droned. Bitcoin is still alive like Eddie Vedder. There are still 16,999 nodes validating transactions all over the world. Maybe one bitcoin node dies every now and then, but there are more peers on the network. They are distributed all over the globe. As long as several nodes remain on the network, bitcoin will not die.

The same is true of miners now that mining bitcoin and running a node are not the same thing.. We only need one bitcoin miner for the network to work. Of course, if that miner gets droned or a government tells it to censor transactions bitcoin would not make it. Miners mine bitcoin blocks all over the world . These people maintain the rules of the bitcoin network no matter what the drone pilots do. This means the bitcoin network is not at the mercy of a single government. Governments could shut down exchanges, but they cannot shut down the bitcoin network.

Bitcoin will be alive as long as many humans run the software on computers. Some will mine, some will run full nodes that validate every transaction since the genesis block. There are thousands maybve tens of thousands of nodes like this in the world. For bitcoin to die, all of these nodes would need to die. A node is just a computer running the bitcoin software. I won't say this is impossible, but I remain optimistic that even the most evil of nuclear armed, drone wielding governments will not destroy all the bitcoin nodes in the world.

What Is A Bitcoin Wallet?

A bitcoin wallet is created using elliptical key cryptography. I just like to call it a big ass random number. The goal of this chapter is not to make you an expert on eliptic curve cryptography. If you want to learn how to do the math like an OG cypherpunk, take some discreet mathematics classes. WAtch the MIT Cryptography course and read Jimmy Song's book, Programing Bitcoin. The purpose of this chapter is to teach you how the math of bitcoin works without learning to program or earning a bachelor's degree in applied cryptography. I won't teach you how to do SHA256 using a pencil and paper or the command line interface. We will use tools available to anyone with an Internet connection instead. If you are interested in learning a bit more about eliptic curve cryptography, LN Capital has a pretty good thread about it on the dead bird app

To create a bitcoin wallet, we can hash some random data or we can create a 256 bit number using dice rolls. We could also flip a coin 256 times to get 256 bits. Say heads =0 and tails=1. We get a 256 bits f 1's and zero's that computers sees as a totally random, almost impossible to guess number. According to Yan Pritzker, in Inventing Bitcoin you have about the same chance of guessing a bitcoin private key as winning the Powerball 9 times in a row. Your bitcoin seed is a tiny needle in the haystack called the all of the atoms in the universe. If you would like to learn how to make a bitcoin wallet the hard way, check out armantheparman's article, but in the next chapter, you will learn how to make a bitcoin wallet using Padawan. Padawan only uses testnet bitcoin and they give them to you for free. If you F up your Padawan-have no fear. Testnet bitcoin is for practicing and it's not worth anything.

What Is Mining?

Bitcoin mining is the act of applying the SHA256 algorithm to . People often compare bitcoin mining to solving a puzzle. This is not wrong. I think of it as a mathmatical Rubix Cube of sorts, but no analogy does bitcoin mining justice.. During the government mandated lockdowns, my wife became quite adept at solving Rubix Cube. She watched a YouTube video that taught her how to solve it using an algorithm. It helps to visualize the SHA256 as a way of twisting a Rubix Cube in a certain pattern. Each twist gives a different result, but you spin and spin until all the colors match on each side. The Secure Hash Algorithms work in a similar way, except with numbers instead of colors. unfortunately, like all analogies, this Rubix Cube analogy doesn't tell you much about how bitcoin mining works. The best way I can descibe it is like a Rubix Cube with letters and numbers. I dont know how to solve a rubix cube, but my wife says she uses an algorythym. SHA256 is also an algorithym , but instead of creating sides with uniform colors. it searches for a random number with a certain amount of zeros in the front of it. All the other numbers and letters look random, but the zeros of a block do not look random, do they.

### On SHA256

According to Satoshi, "Writing a descreiption for this thing for general audiences is bloody hard, Theres nothing to relate it to." Everyone tries to explain bitcon by analogy like I just did with the rubix cube. Although this was the best visual representation I cold think of, it's still not perfect. I believe there is something in the world bitcoin can be compared to, back then, you had to be a real cryptographer like Adam Back to see it. Adam Back was cited in the white paper because he discovered a way to prevent spam, hashcash. Hashcash is an electronic stamp of sorts. You can use the command line to see how it works if you want to do it the hard way, but the easy way requires https://www.duckduckgo.com. To learn how SHA256 works , we will perform SHA256 on the lowercase letter "a" by entering the following into DuckDuck Go:

sha256 a

You will receive this result:

ca978112ca1bbdcafac231b39a23dc4da786eff8147c4e72b9807785afee48bb

Notice how even though we only did a sha256 hash of one letter, we still get a 64 character hexadecimal number. If we add the number 0 to the letter a, sha256 a0 we get the following hash:

4e1195df020de59e0d65a33a4279f1183e7ae4e5d980e309f8b55adff2e61c3e

If we add the numbver 1, sha256 a1, we get:

f55ff16f66f43360266b95db6f8fec01d76031054306ae4a4b380598f6cfd114

There is no other output to each of these because each change no matter how large or small gives us a different output. That's why a number is only used once in the mining process. This is called a nonce. It makes sense. You can almost deduce the meaning by the sound of that word in the same way nobody ever had to explain to you what the word "sharted" means.

We can also has letters and any character on the keyboard. You may have heard computers only understand 1's and 0's. This is true at the base layer of the machine. but the bitcoin blockchain uses hexadecimals and all kinds of text in the transactions. This is because each character on your keyboard is represented by a number so you could do these mathmatical calculations on text like this.

sha256 Blogging Bitcoin

You will see the following SHA-256 hash digest:

965aef3b925ed3d5b5315906e49a4956863528be3bfeaa357a62be6b74def0a0

If we SHA-256 Chapter 8 of George Orwell's 1984 we get:

7d7c0aad69d213e113fbaa53be74f0f88f98791c79fe44f6adb809e0787654e3

If we SHA-256 the book, War And Peace, we get:

8e09cbbbc608d61fb61f012819259987a7399351aaffb1c1790c88f134ec840e

By the way, War And Peace is a big book. it's easier to hash it by using https://xorbin.com/sha256-calculator instead of duck duck go. I copied and pasted evertying from here. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2600/pg2600-images.html The intetresting thing aout SHA256 is that you always get a 64 character output weather you has a single letter or a huge novel. If you change one character, you get an entirely new 64 character output that looks nothing like the previous output.

Notice how each one of these gives us 64 unique hexadecimal numbers, no matter how small or large the amount of data being hashed is.

We would not make a bitcoin wallet out of a novel because anyone with that novel can take our bitcoin We want to use random numbers to make our bitcoin wallet. The purpose of writing this is to show you that anythhing from a single letter to a large book can be hashed into 64 characters.

The math is a little complicated, but I highlighted it here in case your interested, but the War And Peace number is actually this:

92,013,536,190,004,391,427,498,867,800,243,235,304,388,826,599,257,256,328,980,806,975,182,967,533,301

We will make our first bitcoin wallet in the next chapter, but before we do, let's talk more about mining?

How The F$@$% Does Bitcoin Mining Work?

Just like I can hash War and Peace, bitcoin miners can hash all the data in the bitcoin mempool. In other words all the transactions sent since the last block. Here's a good visualization of how it works. All the falling orange squares represent transactions that go into the mempool. These orange squares are really text. Miners hash this text with a nonce. They are also more likely to hash transactions that pay a higher transaction fee than transactions that pay a lower trasnsaction fee since these transaction fees are part of the reward for solving the puzzl. All the miners all over the world do this trillions of times until one of these nonces produces a number with a certain number of leading hex zeros.

https://cdn.nostr.build/p/nb10627.mp4

Bitcoin actually uses a double SHA256 hash to make it more secure. This also makes it more complex to explain, but we are going to demostrate it using a simpler Secure Hash Algorithym, First, let's look at the the SHA-256 hash of War and Peace again.

8e09cbbbc608d61fb61f012819259987a7399351aaffb1c1790c88f134ec840e

Now we will hash the entire text of war and peace plus a number we will only use once. The number could be anything, but we will use the number 0. In other words, we append War And Peace by adding a zero to the end of our text

"...This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.0"

We get this hash

e5a1d7ce9bb2d1c3450c7149633ddd3738a8f88e93457fb46df32c312361f0b4 Which is much different from: 8e09cbbbc608d61fb61f012819259987a7399351aaffb1c1790c88f134ec840e

Yet, we only changed one out of thousands of characters.

Now we will replace the Number Only Used Once, 0 with a new number we will only use once,1 and get this result: c600f3e297f850a1b5e4620b0719556a4f7b1e3614875bbe083a31ad84c40367

** TK video of this using https://xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator**

### How This Works In Bitcoin

I could keep adding new nonces uWell, I can't, but an ASIC miner can. eventually I will get some cool looking result that has 0000000000000000000 in front of it. I can't do this by hand and it would be a waste of energy to hash War and Peace over and over again with a new number until we get a number with a certain number of zeros in front of it, but that's not the easy way of demonstrating things.

Bitcoin mining is just a souped up version of hashcash I mentioned earlier in this chapter Satoshi referenced hashcash in the white paper because the bitcoin blockchain is simmilar to hashcash, with a few differences. Hashcash uses SHA-1. Bitcoin uses a double SHA-256 hash which means it actually does it twice. The specifics are beyond the scope of this book, but hashcash is a little different.

I previously stated that we can hash any data from a single letter to the novel war and peace.

I have also demonstrated that if we add just one single number to all that data again and again, we will recieve a different result every time.

The zeros I told us are the answer to the puzzle miners are looking for.

For example, the header of the Genesis block, or block 0, is:

000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f

Block height 1: 00000000839a8e6886ab5951d76f411475428afc90947ee320161bbf18eb6048

block 210,000 000000000000048b95347e83192f69cf0366076336c639f9b7228e9ba171342e

Block height 700,000:

0000000000000000000590fc0f3eba193a278534220b2b37e9849e1a770ca959

Like I said before, the leading hex-zeros are like the colored sides of a Rubix Cube. The software adjusts so miners find the answer to this puzzle every 2016 blocks. We say it is two weeks because, on average, there are 6 ten minute blocks in an hour. If blocks come too quickly, more zeros are required. If they come to slow, less zeros are required. This is a little more complicted than this, but this is the easy way of explaining The Difficulty Adjustment.

There are 144 ten minute blocks in a day, 1008 blocks in a week and 2016 bloks in two weeks. Pretty neat, huh?

Hash Cash--The Easy Way

You can see how this works by using hashcash, a sort of digital stamp discovered by Adam Back. Back used SHA1. I found some interesting things while perusing the the hashcash documentation. Hash the following in either duck duck go or xobin calculator.

0:030626:adam@cypherspace.org:6470e06d773e05a7

---

Imagine "0:030626" is the header of the previous block.

Imagine ":adam@cypherspace.org" is all the data in the mempool we are trying to mine.

Imagine "6470e06d773e05a7" is the nonce. Sure the actual bitcoin timechain takes terahashes per second to solve, but the results are easily verifiable. We use a number only once because each number only yields one answer. It would be a waste of energy to use the same number twice. Instead of double hashing the actual mempool, we can use this simpler version of data to see how bitcoin mining works. Notice how the header of the last block is used in this system. This means that every bitcoin block, except the genesis block, requires information from the previous block. Becaise of this, we can say these blocks are chained together. It cannot be undone because eaach new block requires information from the previous block.

---

Let's use duck duck go to find the SHA-1 hex hash of this data by entering the following into the duck duck go browser.

sha1 0:030626:adam@cypherspace.org:6470e06d773e05a7

You should get this: 73f88e0645f8ca92ef3a0bc02ef4b7edf85fadbd

Unfortunately, this is like a jumbled up Rubix Cube and will not create a new block, but when we try the next nonce, we get this:

sha1 0:030626:adam@cypherspace.org:6470e06d773e05a8 This is from the hashcash documentation at https://hashcash.org.

00000000c70db7389f241b8f441fcf068aead3f0

Now we have a required amount of zeros and we can say the puzzle is complete. It is not that complicated, but requires doing this a gazillion times before we get an answer

The Halfing

There is a debate. Some people prefer Halvening, others Halfing. I like Halfing because it makes me think of Hal Finney, but that's just this authors personal opinion. My opinion does not matter but the math does.

After 210,000 blocks, the block reward gets cut in half, until the last Satoshi is mined in about the year 2139 or 2140. Nobody really know for sure, but we can forsee the future of a bitcoin to a certain degree. We are like the Oracle in the Matrix who knew the spoon would drop. I never took calculus. I never learned what a summation was in college, but the following made perfect sense to me right away. I could see this goofy math thing-a-majig described the halfings. It made sense because I knew the halving was every four years. Then I realized this summation really tells the same story Satoshi told, but in the language of mathmatics. The actual story is told in C++, yet another language. Copernicus called "mathematics the language of the universe". In this framing, bitcoin is more than just software. It is a work of art, a monumental mathmatical achievement that can be awed after for hundreds of years to come like the Cistine Chappel.. (Anil Patel aka @anilsaidso)

The block reward was 50 for the first epoch.

In the language of mathmatics, it is divided by two every 210,000 blocks.

We get a new block every ten minutes.

144 blocks every day

The blocks start to get to big to manage when we get into these higher numbers, but you get the idea.

144 x 7 = 1,008 one week

144 x 14 = 2016 The difficulty adjustment is every 2016 blocks, but 2016 ten minute blocks are exactly two weeks.

144 x 365 = 52,560 blocks in a year

4(144 x 365.25) = 210,384 in 4 years

That's 4 years and 2.67 days, but we round and say the having happens every four years.

We just say we have a halving every 4 years, but the subsidy stops after 32 of them. Then fees incentivize the miners to solve this numeric Rubix Cube

That's how bitcoin works in a nutshell.

By the year 2032, a solo miner who creates a block will receive a block subsidy of 0.78125. Unless fees drastically increase, miners will not receive a whole coin for solving this puzzle in just nine years. You might want to get some before then, but first we need to learn how to create a wallet

[Next Chapter-- Practice Makes Perfect: The Padawan Wallet(#)

@ 7cc328a0:2a247c0e

Here is an nginx config for setting up a streaming server that serves HLS. This is what you need if you want to stream from your own streaming server and be viewed on zap.stream, amethyst or other nostr clients that support streaming.

You can connect to it using RTMP -or RMTPS from OBS.

This is an 'advanced guide' it assumes all you need is the nginx.conf and that you can install nginx and use certbot to create the certificates.

I've tested this config on a t3.micro (very small) amazon server and it works great for streaming to my friens.

All you have to do is install nginx, point a DNS record to the server, and use certbot to get some SSL certificates.

nginx.conf ```nginx worker_processes auto; pid /run/nginx.pid; include /etc/nginx/modules-enabled/*.conf;

events { worker_connections 768; # multi_accept on; }

http {

map $sent_http_content_type $expires { default 1d; application/vnd.apple.mpegurl epoch; }

server { allow all; sendfile off; tcp_nopush on;

aio on;

directio 512;

include mime.types;
default_type application/octet-stream;

access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;

index test.html;

location / {

            expires $expires;
     # Disable cache
    add_header Cache-Control no-cache;

    # CORS setup
    add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*' always;
    add_header 'Access-Control-Expose-Headers' 'Content-Length';

    # allow CORS preflight requests
    if ($request_method = 'OPTIONS') {
        add_header 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' '*';
        add_header 'Access-Control-Max-Age' 1728000;
        add_header 'Content-Type' 'text/plain charset=UTF-8';
        add_header 'Content-Length' 0;
        return 204;
    }

types {
            application/dash+xml mpd;
            application/vnd.apple.mpegurl m3u8;
            video/mp2t ts;
    text/html html;
        }

    root /tmp/hls;
}


    listen 443 ssl;
    server_name mysite.com;
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.com/privkey.pem;

 # managed by Certbot

} include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/.;

}

stream { upstream backend { server 127.0.0.1:1935; }

server {
    listen 1936 ssl;
    proxy_pass backend;
    proxy_protocol on;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/mysite.com/privkey.pem;
}

}

rtmp { server { listen 1935 proxy_protocol; chunk_size 4000;

application live {
    live on;
    hls on;
    hls_path /tmp/hls;

    # Use HLS encryption
    hls_keys on;

    # Store auto-generated keys in this location rather than hls_path
    hls_key_path /tmp/hls/keys;

    # Prepend key url with this value
    hls_key_url /keys/;

    # Change HLS key every 2 fragments
    hls_fragments_per_key 100;
        #hls_playlist_length 5s; 
    #hls_fragment 2s;
    }
}

} ```

here is an index.html page that displays a video player embedded.

```html

```

As you can see, the URL you would give to zap.stream to setup the stream is https://yoursite/test2.m3u8

You can test the stream is online by visiting mysite/index.html and hitting play.

Hope this helps! At the very least, now I won't lose these precious working configs. PV.

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

📝 Summary: The annual specification meeting in NYC discussed package relay, commitment transactions, and zero fee commitments. The Wolf team was thanked for organizing the LN Summit, with technical observations on package relay and minimum relay fees. A proposal was made to use a tapscript branch for unilateral closes and MuSig2 for mutual closes. Unconditional fees were suggested as a simple monetary solution. Carla thanked everyone for participating and acknowledged the hosts and note provider. Clara suggested making attackers pay for resources used to turn them into a profit center, but implementing fees based on HTLC holding time poses challenges.

👥 Authors: • Clara Shikhelman ( nostr:npub1uyhgpz5nsfnvdlcqm3erjsdjasd9pdeaejeetwtkvumm6mp3ujlqxt9vwk ) • Carla Kirk-Cohen ( nostr:npub17xugd458km0nm8edu8u2efuqmxzft3tmu92j3tyc0fa4gxdk9mkqmanw36 ) • ZmnSCPxj ( nostr:npub1g5zswf6y48f7fy90jf3tlcuwdmjn8znhzaa4vkmtxaeskca8hpss23ms3l ) • Anthony Towns ( nostr:npub17rld56k4365lfphyd8u8kwuejey5xcazdxptserx03wc4jc9g24stx9l2h ) • Antoine Riard ( nostr:npub1vjzmc45k8dgujppapp2ue20h3l9apnsntgv4c0ukncvv549q64gsz4x8dd )

📅 Messages Date Range: 2023-07-19 to 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 6

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 173328

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Carla Kirk-Cohen on 19/07/2023: The text is a summary of the annual specification meeting held in NYC. It includes discussions on package relay, commitment transactions, and zero fee commitments.

✉️ Message by Antoine Riard on 20/07/2023: The sender thanks the Wolf team for organizing the LN Summit and hopes they become the YC of Bitcoin. Technical observations on package relay and minimum relay fees are discussed.

✉️ Message by ZmnSCPxj on 24/07/2023: A proposal was made to use a tapscript branch for unilateral closes and only sign with MuSig2 on mutual closes. Nonces can be stored in volatile RAM and mutual closes can be restarted on reconnection. Unconditional fees are suggested as a simple monetary solution for pricing.

✉️ Message by Antoine Riard on 26/07/2023: Proposal to use a tapscript branch instead of MuSig2 signing for unilateral closes in the Lightning Network. Discusses dynamic fees and Bitcoin as a universal clock.

✉️ Message by Anthony Towns on 26/07/2023: Carla thanks everyone for their participation in the meeting and acknowledges Wolf for hosting in NYC and Michael Levin for providing notes.

✉️ Message by Clara Shikhelman on 31/07/2023: A different approach to dealing with attacks on the network is to scale up capacity and make attackers pay for the resources they use, turning them into a profit center. This could be done through fees for message spam and holding funds. However, there are challenges in implementing fees based on the time an HTLC is held. The suggested fees are low, so hourly precision should be sufficient.

Follow nostr:npub1j3t00t9hv042ktszhk8xpnchma60x5kz4etemnslrhf9e9wavywqf94gll for full threads

@ e75c0d43:6c0b0482

Finance is experiencing rapid evolution, with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) at the forefront. With over a hundred nations currently in different stages of CBDC adoption, the signs of a global monetary system transformation are evident. It's critical to keep in mind, however, that changes in our monetary system should not merely reflect technological advancements, but also the principles of privacy and individual freedom that underpin our society.

Earlier this year, the Bank of England (BoE) launched a series of technical and consultation papers regarding a prospective 'Digital Pound.' With the consultation period on June 30th now closed, it is crucial that we are aware of the suggested changes and their potential implications on personal freedoms and privacy. It's worth reflecting on the 'Digital Pound' not just as an operational innovation, but as a societal change that could alter our understanding of private property and individual autonomy.

CBDCs, positioned as the digital counterpart of central bank money, promise to reshape our financial systems. The proposed 'Digital Pound' could deliver several potential benefits, including streamlined transactions and enhanced financial inclusion. Nonetheless, these perks warrant careful evaluation, with an eye on the potential for economic manipulation facilitated by this advanced technology. We must remember that any technology, while offering potential conveniences, also bears the capacity to restrict or surveil. Therefore, the wider societal implications of these developments need thoughtful contemplation.

CBDCs represent more than mere operational enhancements - they symbolise a fundamental transformation in our monetary framework to align with an ever-increasing digital world. They promise game-changing modifications in monetary flow, ensuring compatibility within the domestic financial system and with international currencies. However, any systemic change inevitably comes with systemic risks. Despite proposed limits on CBDC’s, the long-term impacts on banking and financial stability remain uncertain. In this sense, we need to be wary of over-optimism in the face of such radical change for the sake of ‘innovation’ and remember that such fundamental transformations should not be carried out lightly.

There are two forms of CBDCs, Wholesale and Retail, these serve different financial entities. Wholesale CBDCs are designed for banks and financial institutions, while Retail CBDCs offer a digital alternative to cash for households and businesses. The BoE's consultation primarily revolves around Retail CBDCs. While the 'Digital Pound' is described like a digital equivalent of physical cash, it fundamentally alters the transaction experience. Unlike cash transactions, which afford a certain level of anonymity, the adoption of CBDCs could set the stage for a financial system where every transaction is potentially traceable and permanently logged onto a digital ledger.

Essentially, we are looking at a system that doesn't merely modernize our transactions but redefines the very concept of money, along with its relationship to personal freedom and anonymity. Although assurances have been made about the anonymization or use of pseudonymisation personal data, it has been shown in various studies that pseudonymised data, given enough data points, can be identified. The task of identification will likely be made easier with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Considering we live in an increasingly digital age, there is a vast amount of data available for analysis. From this rich trove of information, it's possible to derive a plethora of insights about an individual - their social circles, political inclinations, and health, to name a few - just by examining the everyday spending habits of each person. This level of transparency might deter fraud and other illicit activities, but it also provides institutions with unprecedented access to personal financial data. The ability for institutions to scrutinize every transaction inevitably raises questions about personal privacy and governmental overreach. The government's close watch on cash usage within the economy is implicit. They are undeniably aware of studies from other countries, such as Sweden, where it was projected, that retailers will stop accepting cash by 2025. Similarly, we've seen a declining trend in cash usage in our own market, which the pandemic has only accelerated.

The consultation documents mention, 'The decline in the use of cash is expected to continue as commerce and payments become more digital, even though UK authorities are committed to keeping cash available as long as there is demand for it.' This phrase seems to hint at an eventual phase-out of cash. If cash gradually becomes obsolete, the only bearer instruments left in the economy would be bullion coins, which today, are rarely used as a medium of exchange. One must consider what we lose in the transition from tangible to digital - the anonymity and direct control over our own money.

The proposed 'Digital Pounds' would be stored in digital 'wallets'. These are provided by private-sector banks and financial institutions acting as Payment Interface Providers (PIPs). Accessible via smartphones and cards, these wallets would necessitate personal identifiers to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations. Some of these are outlined in the consultation papers like: • Knowledge (something you know) – A Personal Identification Number (PIN) or password, either validated on the device or online. • Possession (something you have) – Most commonly, this would be the smart device or card used for the transaction. • Inherence (something you are) – Biometric authentication methods such as facial or fingerprint recognition.

These requirement aligns with the notion of digital ID’s, which is convenient given the consultation of ID’s earlier this year, potentially paving the way for a holistic digital infrastructure. Of particular concern is the use of biometric data. When paired with the increasing integration of biometric surveillance, the outlook can be rather unsettling. It's important to acknowledge that this could escalate concerns surrounding surveillance and civil liberties. The compilation of financial data necessitates robust data protection and privacy laws to prevent potential misuse. Nonetheless, it's worth remembering that even the most comprehensive laws can have loopholes, and they are also subject to change.

Project Rosalind, a collaborative venture between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the Bank of England (BoE), has been focusing on the application programming interface (API) for retail CBDCs. This project involves prominent companies such as Amazon, Barclays, and Mastercard and is developing use cases with both public and private sectors. It is worth noting that the project does not favour non-custodial wallets—those that permit direct custody of private keys.

Instead, they advocate the use of custodial wallets, which relegate the control of private keys to a third party. This practice has proven to be problematic in the world of cryptocurrencies, as demonstrated by the case of FTX. When this crypto exchange went under, those who did not transfer their crypto assets to non-custodial wallets lost access to them.

The consultation suggests a deposit cap for these digital wallets, set between £10,000 and £20,000. This restriction serves a dual purpose. Primarily, it seeks to prevent disintermediation of bank deposits to maintain the stability of commercial banks. Secondly, though not explicitly stated, it aims to guard against dollarisation from other CBDCs, which refers to the domestic circulation of a more robust foreign currency.

Certainly, the 'Digital Pound', akin to other CBDCs, can be programmed with smart contracts, a point underscored in both current and previous Bank of England discussion papers. Smart contracts, essentially self-executing contracts with the terms directly written into lines of code, can promote various applications, build system trust, and eradicate the need for expensive intermediaries. Nonetheless, they also introduce fresh challenges. The inherent inflexibility of smart contracts might not adequately accommodate the nuanced demands of real-world financial agreements. Moreover, their functionality heavily relies on the quality of the foundational code, making them vulnerable to both coding bugs and potential manipulation.

Consequently, the topic of smart contracts is primed for debate in future design phases. A thorough evaluation will be crucial for successful implementation and prudent regulatory decisions. The issue of technological control is not new and has been previously observed with the use of smart meters and the Internet of Things.

Interestingly, the BoE acknowledged this in a 2020 paper where it stated, 'More advanced smart contracts could be used (for example) to automatically initiate payments upon the confirmed receipt of goods, or routing tax payments directly to the tax authorities at the point of sale. Transactions could also be integrated with physical devices, or the ‘Internet of Things’. For instance, code could be written such that ‘when £X is transferred to account Y, device Z switches on'. Such a level of control can potentially be problematic if abused. This has been recently illustrated in the case of an American citizen who was locked out of his Amazon smart home devices due to an unfounded racism allegation. Another instance is the recent patent by Ford titled ‘Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle,’ where driverless cars can be disabled and redirected when payments fail to come through. These examples underscore the delicate balance between technological innovation and the safeguarding of individual freedoms and rights.

As we delve deeper into the realm of CBDCs, we encounter a trade-off between convenience and privacy. The prospect of every financial transaction leaving an indelible digital mark heightens the tension between the allure of a tech-forward future and potential risks. The 'Digital Pound' may promise benefits like seamless transactions and better financial inclusion, but significant trade-offs, most notably in terms of personal privacy, come with these benefits. The 'Digital Pound' might reveal our personal expenditures unlike anonymous cash transactions. While such transparency may deter financial crime, it simultaneously transfers an unprecedented amount of personal financial data, tilting the balance of power towards surveillance.

The widespread adoption of CBDCs could provide governments and central banks with exceptional insights into citizens' everyday lives. While they deny any intent to misuse this information, the scenario could be exploited, with financial access potentially being used as a control tool. As we advance towards this digital frontier, it is paramount to advocate for solid legislative and regulatory protections that prioritise privacy and individual freedom.

Governments worldwide, particularly in places like China but also alarmingly in countries such as Canada, have demonstrated their ability to leverage financial power to influence their citizens. For instance, during the recent Canadian truckers' protests, individuals discovered themselves locked out of their bank accounts for making donations as small as $20. Intriguingly, it's not only governments; private corporations also play a role. The practice of 'debanking' has also been increasing, where individuals and businesses holding dissenting views find themselves excluded from the financial system. Governments may not need to act directly if regulators and third parties can enforce their agenda. This notion is evident in the potential consequences of the proposed 'Online Harms Bill.' If passed, it carries the risk of high fines and even criminal prosecutions if not complied with, compelling social media companies to set stringent standards in their terms of use to avoid potential repercussions.

Despite the apparent innovation that CBDCs bring, their necessity is debatable. Many of their proposed features are already present in our existing financial infrastructure and through advancements in the private sector. Industry-led solutions continue to refine systems, addressing security and privacy concerns without the complexity brought by CBDC proposals.

This interest of central banks in CBDCs is conspicuous, given the unparalleled control they offer over monetary policies, efficient transaction processing, and a potential competitive edge in global currency markets. However, we must not allow the urgency to adopt CBDCs to overshadow potential pitfalls. A sense of competitive anxiety permeates the discourse surrounding CBDCs, with no central bank wanting to be left behind.

One could delve into the implications of this competitive urgency. This could be a manifestation of a kind of technocratic arrogance, which forgets that human institutions exist to serve individuals, not the other way around. Technological advancement doesn't necessarily equate to human progress, and the obsession with being at the forefront may neglect the moral and ethical implications of such advancements.

The technical documents provided often avoid specific details, making sweeping statements that lack clear explanations. These 'innovations' and 'features' are presented as unquestioned benefits without providing tangible justification or examples for this seismic shift in our financial system and technological structure. There is no consideration of the adequacy of existing infrastructure, that works day-in day-out, with this all smelling like the central banks using this digital upheaval to give itself comprehensive control over the monetary system. This is not just domestically, but internationally also.

Considering that countries exploring or already implementing CBDCs represent about 95% of global GDP, CBDCs seem almost inevitable, regardless of consultation outcomes. Even if the initial implementation appears to be a diluted version of some CBDCs, once introduced, it is here to stay, leaving room for gradual and potentially unnoticed changes over time.

Considering the significant transition proposed towards this brave new digital world, it's quite fitting to question who holds the mandate or authority to initiate a Central Bank Digital Currency. Consultations like these, not unlike others of similar nature, are often hidden in the deep recesses of government or banking websites, leaving the average citizen none the wiser. For decisions that could bring about such foundational changes, it's crucial that these matters be more readily accessible to the public, even possibly by referenda. This type of governmental organization can make the administration seem more like a group of Vogons, rather than people trusted to run a nations monetary system.

npub1uawq6sm97a8y5vuecdeqljcm2zx43d0w959793dzhspeymqtqjpqhcax2t

@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

昨天寫了兩位讀者給我的感動，今天再來一位。

茅小姐在美國，我們素昧平生，沒有機會見過面，最近因為寫Bilbao，茅小姐給我留言，講到她最近剛剛到過此地，讀到文字有點激動，她還到了Getxo，去當地友人家裡做了客。我碰巧也寫到了這個讓人讚嘆不已的濱海小城，與茅小姐隔海共鳴了一下。

然後茅小姐跟我講起，回看了6月裡我寫的那套《東京散步》系列，寫到一段音樂會，掃到一筆王羽佳，那段文字是這樣寫的：

昨晚去聽了一場音樂會，小提琴Volkhard Steude，維也納愛樂的首席小提琴，與日本中生代的女鋼琴家三輪郁，非常非常過念頭的一場奏鳴曲專場。Volkhard 是1971年出生的東德好青年，1988年已經在西德的柏林深造，1989年柏林牆崩潰，如此的天才青年，有了輝煌的舞台，29歲成為維也納愛樂的首席。昨晚他52歲，琴音非常複雜，聽得到很多很多層次，像一個初老男人的娓娓傾訴，雖然都是技巧很厲害的曲子，不過Volkhard並不炫技，跟王羽佳小姐是兩個境界，什麼年紀說什麼話、穿什麼衣，這好像也是沒有辦法的事情，初老有初老的好處，很多很多好處，王羽佳小姐還沒有老，我可以慢慢等她。

然後茅小姐講了一段往事給我聽，下面是茅小姐的文字：

呵您那句關於王羽佳，讓我笑出聲來。讓我講個小插曲。
那是應該十年前了，前一夜在卡耐基聽完王羽佳的音樂會，第二天傍晚回家在LaGuardia 機場門口，見王羽佳跟當時的男朋友在那裡難捨難分，我過安檢，等等。
後來我坐在飛機上見她往後面經濟艙走，想她連續演奏兩天蠻辛苦的，然後後面一天又有音樂會，我就跟她說，跟你換座位吧，你可以休息一下，我反正回家而已。我是有買了她後面一天在我們那裡音樂會的票，全家都去聽的。
她很真誠地說不用，說你出差也是累的。
那一句讓我對她印象很不一樣，畢竟most of the kids are quite spoiled these days ，更何況她作為celebrities 。
後來抵達了，從登機口出來，一路跟她聊了不少。我們機場是美國最大的，還是全球流量最大的，所以需要不少時間才坐到luggage claims那一站。覺得是蠻樸實真誠的一個。

徵得了茅小姐的同意，我把她的這一段錄在這裡，致敬我世界各地優秀的讀者，也致敬王羽佳小姐。

今天的圖片來自網上，是各種罐頭海鮮，Bilbao很多這種罐頭的舖子，每一間都漂亮得像賣化妝品或者賣珠寶的，每一個罐頭都讓人愛不釋手。

我從來沒有想到，會為一個罐頭流連忘返顛倒再三。

人世的很多美、很多好，給我們勇氣和溫暖，讓我們戀戀紅塵不已。

感恩遇見。

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

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@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

寫了十篇《夏日拾珠》系列，後台斷斷續續，看到讀者留言，問是不是寫一點美食，巴斯克食物享有盛名。

於巴斯克食物，我還是小學生，在努力學習中，越學越覺得水深，所以遲遲沒有寫。

昨天的文字裡，貼了一幅圖，讀者留言問，那个用土豆泥做的、有馅的炸团子是叫什么名字？小时候家裡好婆常常做，她说叫“骨落饺”，是根据西餐改良的，自己放了香菇肉末的馅料。

英國的讀者Angela回覆說，叫Croquette。

兩位讀者的留言往復，讓我莫名感動。

寫一點Croquette。

Croquette 最早是法國人的食物，炸土豆泥球，17世紀就有了，如今已經遍佈全世界，各大洲、各個民族，都有自己版本的Croquette，是人見人愛的小食。巴斯克人的Croquette，出名好吃，是因為土豆泥裡揉入了巴斯克的火腿、鱈魚、香腸、奶酪，滋味特別富饒，香美無比。

Croquette 在巴斯克人，通常做得小小的，大不過雞蛋、小不過核桃的尺碼，方便拿手指拈食。晚餐之前的那杯開胃酒，Croquette 通常是首選的下酒菜，這個香噴噴、營養豐富、熱量充足的小食，通常也是首選的、喂孩子的食物，哪個小朋友會不喜歡Croquette 呢？

前些日，與西班牙女友一起吃飯，女友是職業廚師，我們都袖起手，偏勞她點菜。女友教我們說，第一個要點Croquette，Croquette 是餐館的試金石，Croquette 做得好、肯用心，館子不會差，其他菜可以放心點下去。Croquette 是敷衍之作，那就不用往下吃了，換一家比較好。

格麼，Croquette 怎麼個敷衍法呢？

女友笑笑，說，用冷凍貨預製菜啊。

原來如此，全世界的廚房偷起懶來，步調一致，都是一個思路的。

太陽底下真是沒有新鮮事物。

這些日子在巴斯克各地行走，食過形形色色的Croquette，確實每一家都有自己的風格，隨心所欲變化無窮，共同的一個特點，是幾乎沒有人用香料，巴斯克料理裡，基本上不用香料，連黑白胡椒都不用，因為當地不出產胡椒，老祖宗不用的，子子孫孫也不愛用，這種品德，我太喜歡了。

說句題外的，我們老祖宗研究營養食品，至少有千年的歷史，水平之高，無庸置疑。可惜，我們如今把老祖宗丟在一邊，沒頭沒腦向西方學營養學，西方營養學有多少見識呢？笑笑。

讀者講的，好婆教的名字，骨落餃，多麼美好啊，如此音韻跌宕的一個芳名，我這種吃字比吃飯要緊的吃字分子，真是喜歡到心軟。好婆落地改良成香菇肉糜版，好婆是千古絕唱。願每一個童年裡，都有如此卓越的好婆溫暖我們的心與腸永永遠遠。

今天的圖片，是巴斯克人的罐頭食物和Croquette。

我是來了此地才知道，巴斯克人的罐頭食物，是用最好的食材製作的，一洗我對罐頭食品的半輩子的偏見。

以前一直以為，罐頭食品都是用食材的邊角料製作的垃圾食品，是不得已的危機時刻才會食用的下下之選，比如行軍打仗、比如插隊落戶，等等。

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

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@ 5afa711a:eae0d7b8

It’s been four months since I started the carnivore diet. For the past month I have been experimenting with a more “keto” approach and added nuts and dairy products to my diet. The results are mixed, as I’ve stopped losing weight as rapidly as in the first 2 months. My BMI went down from 34 to 26.8, so I am pretty well pleased with the weight loss itself. I also feel more clear headed, more active, and my fatigue is generally gone. I am still a coffee addict, so I do get cranky and tired if I miss my morning cup, but I just love the effect coffee has on me too much to give it up completely, but I did cut back on my overall caffeine consumption. I usually drink coffee with butter, salt and coconut oil once or twice a day, and I don’t drink milk.

I figured I was due for a lab check, and I’ve compared it to the one I had 3 months ago, which was just one month into my new diet. I unfortunately don’t have a baseline test for comparison, as I had no expectations of success, so I didn’t think I’d need one.

At the start of May, my fasting Glucose was 5.4 mmol/l (97.2 mg/dl) with an HbA1c of 5.2%. These results were okay, but I didn’t test for fasting insulin, which gives a more accurate picture of metabolic health. Today, my fasting Glucose was 5 mmol/l (90 mg/dl), my HbA1c was 5.1% (mild improvement) and my fasting insulin was 13 µIU/mL (90.3 pmol/l). These measures allowed me to determine something called HOMA-IR, which takes into account your fasting insulin and fasting glucose levels. HOMA-IR correlates well with insulin resistance and can asses the risk for developing Diabetes. You can calculate the number yourself, there are plenty of calculators online, just beware of unit conversions. My HOMA-IR amounts to 2.9, which is not great, but also not terrible. I definitely think I was on the verge of developing true diabetes, and my guess is that this is an improvement, but I can’t say for sure due to having no baseline study for comparison. It is important to realize that 88% of Americans have at least one symptom of metabolic syndrome. Nobody is healthy, we are all sick due to the influence of the unholy trinity of Big Food, Big Pharma and Government, but that is another topic I intend to write about soon, don’t worry.

So, what about my lipids? Well, this surprised me. Compared to the numbers in May, my total cholesterol decreased, on account of the LDL component (”bad” cholesterol). Total cholesterol went down from 4.5 to 3.6 mmol/l (174 to 139 mg/dl), LDL went down from 3.2 to 2.2 mmol/l (124 to 85 mg/dl). HDL and triglycerides stayed the same at around 1 mmol/l (39 and 89 mg/dl respectively). The LDL reduction was significant and I’d bet you my cardiology colleagues would be surprised I managed to achieve this without a statin. I was a bit surprised that my HDL remained stationary, which is not ideal, but I’m not upset about it that much. A more accurate predictor of metabolic health than LDL is the TG:HDL ratio. In May it was 2.55, and now it’s 2.29, which actually means I have a lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome today than 3 months ago. The role of lipids in developing heart disease, however, might be overstated, and cholesterol (actually LDL) is a much lower risk factor for developing heart disease anyway when compared to diabetes, obesity, smoking and hypertension. I definitely need to do more research here, and I will talk about this in future blog posts, but I think us physicians might have jumped on the statin train a bit too eagerly. Many studies tout the benefits of cholesterol reduction, and falsely imply causality between cholesterol and heart disease, but this is simply impossible to determine without a randomized control trial (rct), which is costly and ethically untenable. These bad studies then get agglomerated into bigger studies called metaanalyses, which are treated as the gold standard of truth among clinicians... but a metaanalysis is only as good as the studies included in it.

I also tested my liver enzymes, which were all good and mean I probably don’t have fatty liver disease. It is important to asses your liver enzymes when looking for signs of metabolic illness because they can point to said fatty liver disease. Fatty liver eventually turns into full blown hepatitis, and cirrhosis soon follows, with a chance for developing cancer. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the second most common cause of liver transplantation in Europe and the US, and the incidence is only increasing. NAFLD also practically didn’t exist a couple decades ago, which says a lot about the current health state of humanity, and the direction we are heading in.

My serum urate levels were slightly increased, at about 477 umol/l. You probably don’t need to test this, as causation between hyperuricemia and associated diseases like gout and uric renal stones was not demonstrated. It is probably increased due to an increased purine metabolism caused by meat consumption, and might be a leftover from a period when I used to consume more fructose and caffeine. I don’t have the baseline study for comparison, but this lab result is not cause for concern.

Overall, taking into account my lab results, my age (early thirties) and family history of heart disease, I award my metabolic health a C+. I need to continue this diet, and decrease/eliminate all carbohydrates, because I will probably develop diabetes if I re-start eating processed vegetable based foods. My lipids actually showed improvement, but I’d prefer it if my HDL were higher. I don’t think I have to worry about fatty liver disease at least, and I’m not afraid of kidney stones or gout with only a slightly elevated urate level. Diabetes is the most important risk factor for developing heart disease, according to a women’s health study from 2021: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/article-abstract/2775559, and I would like to avoid it if possible. My father and brother are both diabetic, the former had a heart attack at 50, and the latter at 40.

So, going forward, what’s the plan? So far I have not been exercising, and I should probably change that. Any person who recommends exercise to a patient with 30kg of extra weight should be forced to run a mile with a heavy fatsuit on a hot summer day. The overweight patient will injure himself, fail to exercise properly, fail to lose weight because the diet would remain relatively unchanged, and will proceed to give up on the whole effort of weight loss, which is precisely what Big Food and Big Pharma want you to do. So, if you are obese, focus on your diet ++FIRST++, stop eating junk, and when you shed that extra weight, then begin to exercise.

I will also cut back on the “keto” snacks, i.e. nuts. I love peanuts, pistachios and the like, but they are not a necessary and vital part of my diet either. I’ll probably leave them aside for special occasions, like going to the movies or something like that.

In my next blog entry I will talk more about what kind of food you should be eating and avoiding, what processed food does to us and how we were all victimized by the trinity of evil: Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Government; all based on the excellent book Metabolical, written by Robert Lustig.

@ 7f4f672a:c184579e

The feeling of Wonder inspired a whole generation to innovate, explore, experiment, and discover new technologies, places, theories, and ideas. This book goes on a journey with some of the era's finest characters and protagonists on their quest to quench their curiosity.

The stories of astronomer William Herschel , high-flying (and sometimes reckless) hot air balloonists, and the explorer Joseph Banks, bring the reader into this magical time - where anything seemed possible and Wonder captured not just the eccentrics, but the masses. I can't help but feel that this sense of Wonder is lost today. In an era inundated with information - we seem to have forgotten how little we truly know, or have eased into the false comfort of the status quo, choosing ignorance of the true depth of our ignorance. After huge success and advancement in the last 100 years - it is easy to be convinced that science can have a full stop, that it is a sentence we can finish. Inevitably, we will get a rude awakening, when the next William Herschel tunes their polished mirrors - and brings a whole new world into focus.

wonder #nostr

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

📝 Summary: The author argues that implementing a first seen safe rule would avoid negative impacts on merchants and users who accept unconfirmed transactions. However, the validity of this claim is questioned as no evidence of actual merchants accepting unconfirmed payments is found. Daniel Lipshitz disputes this conclusion, providing evidence of Coinspaid's use of 0-conf and offering to connect with the CEO for confirmation. He also mentions Changelly's confirmation of GAP600 as a service provider. The request for concrete examples of merchants relying on unconfirmed transactions remains unanswered. Lipshitz disputes the recipient's assessment of their dishonesty, providing evidence to support their claims and challenging the recipient to provide concrete examples. GAP600's research is based on monitoring transactions and network activity, not specific hashing pools or client engagement. Coinpaid's root addresses can be validated using tools like Chainanlysis, and Max at Coinpaid can confirm GAP600's use. Changelly may not have implemented GAP600's service across all its offerings.

👥 Authors: • Daniel Lipshitz ( nostr:npub1t97ak5ltnq0v72nv4jssnhw0fr09axwqvc20623jfdnvrajae7nqufg2yy ) • Peter Todd ( nostr:npub1m230cem2yh3mtdzkg32qhj73uytgkyg5ylxsu083n3tpjnajxx4qqa2np2 )

📅 Messages Date Range: 2023-08-01 to 2023-08-02

✉️ Message Count: 5

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 21371

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Peter Todd on 01/08/2023: The author argues that implementing a first seen safe rule would avoid negative impacts on merchants and users who accept unconfirmed transactions. However, the author questions the validity of the claim, as they could not find any evidence of actual merchants accepting unconfirmed payments.

✉️ Message by Daniel Lipshitz on 01/08/2023: The author claims that the research is not thorough and reaches an incorrect conclusion. They provide evidence of Coinspaid's use of 0-conf and offer to connect with the CEO for confirmation. They also mention speaking to Changelly for confirmation of GAP600 as a service provider. The author questions the need for full RBF and requests contacts of mining pools that have adopted it.

✉️ Message by Peter Todd on 02/08/2023: Daniel Lipshitz argues that the research is flawed and reaches an incorrect conclusion. He provides evidence of Coinspaid's use of 0-conf and offers to connect with Max, the CEO, for confirmation. He also mentions Changelly's offer to confirm GAP600 as a service provider. However, the request for concrete examples of merchants relying on unconfirmed transactions remains unanswered.

✉️ Message by Daniel Lipshitz on 02/08/2023: The sender disputes the recipient's assessment of their dishonesty, stating that it is based on baseless assumptions and lacks commercial experience. They provide evidence to support their claims and challenge the recipient to provide concrete examples.

✉️ Message by Daniel Lipshitz on 02/08/2023: GAP600's research is based on monitoring transactions and network activity. They do not assess specific hashing pools or engage with clients for their names and applications. Coinpaid's root addresses can be validated using tools like Chainanlysis. It is possible to reach out to Max at Coinpaid to confirm GAP600's use. Changelly may not have implemented GAP600's service across all its offerings.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ f8e6c643:03328ca9

Here’s the neat part, you don’t...

...or rather, you can’t find rare satoshis. Rare satoshis don’t exist because individual satoshis don’t actually exist within the bitcoin network, only UTXOs.

But my wallet says I have satoshis.

And the container of your food says it has calories. The bathroom scale says your body has lbs/kg. The tape measure says your floors have inches/cm. These are units of measure of a property of something, but they are not distinct individual units of the thing being measured. Calories measure energy. Scales measure mass. Rulers measure distance. These are properties of a thing, but not the thing itself.

Likewise, satoshis (aka, sats) are a unit of measure for bitcoin UTXOs, which are the "things" that actually exist within the bitcoin network. A UTXO, or "unspent transaction output," can be very small, only a few hundred sats, or it can be very large, hundreds of millions or even billions of sats, but there are only UTXOs measured in sats and spendable by their corresponding private keys. There are no satoshis sitting in storage in bitcoin wallets and nodes.

If that's true, then why is Bitcoin Magazine selling "rare satoshis"?

They are salesmen in search of profit, and not all salesmen are honest. The product they are selling misrepresents the truth. Put simply, Bitcoin Magazine is lying about what they are selling.

What they are actually selling is a UTXO measured in some amount of sats that can be cryptographically linked to another UTXO from the past that no longer exists. Why doesn't it exist? Because a UTXO is, by definition, "unspent." Once you spend one UTXO, new UTXOs are created and mined into a new block.

So I can't buy one of Hal Finney's satoshis?

Unfortunately, no, you cannot. At best you could pay someone like Bitcoin Magazine to spend one of their UTXOs to a new UTXO at an address you control. It is up to you to decide if the cryptographic link to previous entries in the ledger has any added value or meaning beyond the sats-denominated value of the UTXO.

It would be a little bit like if I had a dollar bill, and I went to the bank and deposited it into your account, and then the bank destroyed that physical bill and replaced it with a new one when you came in to withdraw it. While you would now possess access to the $1 of value, you would not have the dollar bill that I deposited. In fact, it no longer exists, even though there is proof on the bank's ledger of the transfer of value from me to you.

Ok, so what? I can do what i want with my money.

Yes, you can. That is the freedom afforded to you by bitcoin. You are free to trade your sats for a lesser amount of sats. It's just my opinion that you ought to at least understand that that's all you're doing.

🌽 🤙

@ 4d444439:7ed2458b

Historically, major breakthroughs and innovations were achieved when complex systems were studied and analyzed from interdisciplinary perspectives. For example, at low temperatures, the phenomenon of superconductivity and cryopreservation were discovered. Similarly, when altering the force of gravity, other forces like surface tension, capillary forces become predominant while sedimentation, hydrostatic pressure, and convection become absent.

Feel free to read all my articles on the anti-censorship long content platform yakihonne.com.

Image Credit: The Scientist

Since the International Space Station’s inception in 1980, NASA launched the first biological experiment with Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA) in 1996 to study microgravity’s effects on biological samples. In the latter half of the 20th century the field of microgravity research has seen tremendous growth. Since then, microgravity research has rapidly advanced due to space technology advancements and a growing interest in exploring new scientific frontiers. Altered gene expressions, cellular signaling, and protein interactions in microgravity offer possibilities for groundbreaking medical discoveries and innovative pharmaceutical solutions, benefiting space exploration and healthcare on Earth.

Pharmaceutical studies in microgravity

Some pivotal areas of pharmaceutical research in microgravity encompass:

Protein crystallization- The absence of sedimentation and convection in microgravity allows for the formation of larger and more well-ordered protein crystals. These larger crystals yield higher-resolution structural data, providing a clearer picture of the protein’s structure. Consequently, this enhanced understanding of protein structures enables researchers to design more precise and effective drugs with improved target specificity.

Drug stability — Absence of gravity impacts drug stability, affecting diffusion, crystal formation, protein binding, and aggregation. During space travel, drugs encounter cosmic and solar radiation, leading to chemical degradation, polymerization, oxidation, and radical formation. Understanding drug stability in space is vital for maintaining crew health during space missions. Additionally, this research may impact drug manufacturing and storage on Earth, where drugs can be exposed to radiation during transportation or storage.

Drug delivery systems — In microgravity, drug delivery systems like microencapsulation, colloidal formulations, and nanoparticle formulations have piqued interest in space research. Microencapsulation involves enclosing drugs in microscopic particles or capsules, exhibiting different behaviors from Earth conditions, impacting drug release and stability. Similarly, nanoparticle formation and behavior in microgravity are affected, leading to improved homogeneity, reduced sedimentation, enhanced drug targeting, and controlled drug release. Such research optimizes drug delivery systems for space missions and offers valuable insights for terrestrial applications.

Pharmacokinetic studies — Pharmacokinetics refers to the study of how the body absorbs, distributes, metabolizes, and eliminates drugs. Several factors unique to the space environment can influence pharmacokinetics which include:

• Altered absorption
• Distribution changes
• Metabolism alterations
• Elimination effects
• Drug-drug interactions
• Spacecraft-specific factors such as temperature, humidity, and storage conditions.

By conducting pharmacokinetic studies in space, researchers can gain valuable insights into how drugs behave which can be used to optimize drug dosing, develop personalized medication regimens, and ensure astronauts’ health and well-being during space missions.

Pharmaceutical Companies embarking on Space-based Research

AstraZeneca initiated an investigation in collaboration with the ISS National Lab in 2019 to advance the development of a nanoparticle drug delivery system for therapeutic cancer vaccines. In this approach, nanoparticles play a crucial role as carriers for the drug, allowing targeted and controlled release, ultimately enhancing the treatment’s effectiveness while minimizing side effects.

The primary objective of the investigation is to study how nanoparticle formation occurs in microgravity. The expected outcome is the development of improved nanoparticle formulations for therapeutic cancer vaccines, which could potentially lead to more cost-effective treatments.

Earlier this year, Bristol Myers Squibb sent a selection of its protein-based medicines to the International Space Station (ISS) to study protein crystallization. By analyzing the higher-resolution crystals formed in microgravity, the company aims to improve the biomanufacturing of potent medicines, particularly those used to treat cancer. This research could lead to reformulating medicines as injectable doses, enhancing stability and concentration.

By identifying the physical conditions that promote large, high-quality crystals, Bristol Myers Squibb hopes to gain valuable insights for producing biologic medicines in crystal form.

Merck & Co. is utilizing the unique microgravity environment of the space station through a multinational collaboration to conduct research on monoclonal antibodies as crystalline suspensions. The primary objective of this research is to enhance drug delivery and manufacturing, aiming for safer and more convenient methods.

Merck’s experiments on the active ingredient in their oncology drug Keytruda demonstrated that crystals grown in space were smaller and more uniform compared to those grown on Earth. The crystals obtained from the space experiments showed improved properties, including lower viscosity and better injectability.

These findings allowed Merck to develop processes on Earth that mimic the results obtained in microgravity. The goal is to provide patients with a more straightforward and convenient way to receive monoclonal antibody crystalline suspensions. For instance, drugs like Keytruda, which currently require cumbersome multi-hour infusions, could potentially be administered as quick shots at the doctor’s office in the future, thanks to the insights gained from extraterrestrial research.

In 2020, European scientists conducted a groundbreaking COVID-19 medicine experiment in microgravity. The study aimed to understand how the drug remdesivir interacts with its delivery agent cyclodextrin, with the goal of improving the drug’s effectiveness. This research collaboration involved InnoStudio and Cyclolab, The objective was to increase the drug’s efficiency and reduce its risk profile by improving the drug formulation.

In conclusion, pharmaceutical research in microgravity holds exciting potential for revolutionizing the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Pharmaceutical companies are utilizing the ISS and space missions to enhance drug targeting with higher-resolution data. Through international collaborations, space-based research continues to drive cutting-edge medical science, even exploring antiviral drugs’ efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leveraging space’s unique conditions, the pharmaceutical industry’s involvement in microgravity research promises groundbreaking medical discoveries and innovative drug solutions, benefitting healthcare both in space and on Earth.

References

Pharma goes to space — Chemical & Engineering News Drugs in space: the pharmacy orbiting the Earth — The Pharmaceutical Journal Examining Nanoparticle Formation in Microgravity for Improved Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines Bristol Myers Squibb Heads to Outer Space ISS20: First NASA Research on Station

Article Author

Sasha Thomas — Biotech Scientist, Vellon Space

Contact: sasha@vellon.in

By：Vellon Space Link：https://vellonspace.medium.com/space-age-medicine-the-transformative-power-of-microgravity-research-in-pharmaceutical-studies-f9397eff65ff

@ 4044176c:b3f3c23c

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Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

AI is a broad term that encompasses many different types of systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. The examples are reasoning, learning, planning, decision-making, and problem-solving.

However, not all AI systems are created equal. In fact, there are different levels of AI, depending on how general or specific their abilities are.

The AI that we see today in our smartphones, search engines, social media platforms, and smart devices is mostly narrow AI, or artificial narrow intelligence (ANI). ANI systems can excel at one or a few specific tasks, such as recognizing faces, playing chess, or translating languages.

They can do these tasks faster and better than humans, but they cannot do anything else. They are not flexible or adaptable to new situations or domains. They are not aware of themselves or their surroundings. They are not intelligent in the same way that humans are.

The AI that we often imagine in science fiction movies and novels is general AI, or artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI systems can perform any intellectual task that a human can do, such as understanding natural language, reasoning logically, learning from experience, and creating new knowledge.

They can also transfer their skills and knowledge across different domains and contexts. They can think and act like humans, or even surpass them. They may have consciousness, emotions, and goals.

AGI is the ultimate goal of AI research, but it is also the most elusive and controversial one. There is no consensus among researchers on when or how AGI will be achieved, or even if it is possible at all.

Some are optimistic and predict that AGI could be developed by the mid-21st century, while others are skeptical and think that it is a distant or unrealistic goal.

Some are excited and hopeful about the benefits that AGI could bring to humanity, while others are worried and fearful about the risks and challenges that it could pose.

One of the biggest challenges of developing AGI is unsupervised learning, which is a type of machine learning that does not require labeled data but learns from the inherent structure or patterns in the data.

Unsupervised learning could enable a system to learn from any kind of data without human supervision or guidance. It could also enable a system to learn more generalizable and autonomous skills that could be applied to different tasks and situations.

However, unsupervised learning is also a very difficult and active area of research, with many open problems and limitations. Some of the recent advances in unsupervised learning include generative adversarial networks (GANs), which can generate realistic images or texts from random inputs. The other one is self-supervised learning, which can learn useful representations from unlabeled data by solving auxiliary tasks.

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

Another challenge of developing AGI is ethical and social responsibility.

If we ever create a system that can think and learn like humans, how should we treat it? How should we ensure that it aligns with our values and goals? How should we regulate its use and development?

These are not easy questions to answer, and they require careful consideration and collaboration among researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, civil society groups, and the general public.

We need to establish clear guidelines and principles for the design, development, and governance of AI systems. We need to ensure that AI systems are accountable, ethical, safe, and beneficial for all.

We also need to be aware of the potential dangers and threats that AI systems could pose to humanity if they are not aligned with our ethical values.

One of the worst scenarios that we want to avoid is autonomous weapons: weapons that can select and engage targets without human intervention.

Autonomous weapons could increase the speed, scale, and scope of warfare beyond human control. They could also lower the threshold for armed conflict and violate international humanitarian law.

AI is a remarkable technology that has already changed our world in many ways. But it is also a technology that has not yet reached its full potential or its full implications.

We need to be mindful of the opportunities and challenges that AI presents us with as we move forward in this exciting and uncertain journey.

We need to be curious and creative in exploring the possibilities of AI for enhancing our lives.

We have to be cautious and responsible in ensuring that AI serves our values and respects our dignity.

By：Rudi Widiyanto Link：https://medium.com/predict/how-far-are-we-from-achieving-agi-ad10bd641bb8

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

A entrada de WallStreet (através da criação de ETFs Spot) está a gerar opiniões contraditórias na comunidade de bitcoiners, uns são a favor, outros contra, mas a verdade é que o Bitcoin não quer saber. Bitcoin é a pura liberdade, utiliza quem quer e faz dele o que quer, isto é liberdade.

Eu sou um purista, não gosto dos EFTs, mas é uma realidade, temos que viver com isso. Se existe procura por estes ativos, é porque tem algum valor, logo são necessários. Desde que seja 1 para 1 (spot), sem reserva fracionária.

Eu acredito que estes ETFs e a respectiva entrada das grandes gestoras de ativos, como a BlackRock, vão desempenhar um papel importante no ecossistema, primeiro dá mais credibilidade ao Bitcoin e torna-o mais mainstream. Segundo, estes fundos vão dar um preço-alvo para orientar os seus clientes, aconselhando quando devem entrar ou sair do btc, evitando assim, que os cliente comprem na euforia e que venda no pânico, isto irá ajudar a reduzir a volatilidade do btc.

Os EFTs vão ajudar, mas não são essenciais para o bitcoin, mas é claro que acelera a adoção.

Stablecoins

Em países com inflação muito alta, a maioria das pessoas estão optando por stablecoins. A utilização do btc ainda é menor, devido à volatilidade.

Os países andam vigorosamente a criar regulamentações para poder controlar e limitar o mundo cripto, será uma espécie de colete de forças. Os EUA estão a criar regulamentação para as criptos, mas o principal alvo é as stablecoin em dólar. O FED vai querer rédeas curtas ou mesmo controlar as stablecoins de dólar.

No caso das stablecoins, eu sou a favor de algo mais drástico, o FED é que devia de controlar, não faz sentido ser uma empresa privada a fazer este serviço. A estrutura das stablecoins hoje em dia,  coloca um risco adicional à moeda e agora (devido a sua dimensão) coloca também um risco ao sistema financeiro na generalidade. 

As reservas são de tal dimensão, tornou-se um problema guardá-las:

• Se colocar nos bancos comerciais, os bancos têm reserva fracionária, se existir uma grande quantidade de levantamentos pode levar o banco à falência e consequentemente um grande problema na stablecoins, que pode levar ao seu colapso.
• Os bonds como colateral, talvez agora seja a melhor solução, mas também poderá ser um problema, caso exista uma corrida aos levantamentos de USDT. A Tether terá que fazer uma brusca venda de bonds, gerando uma desvalorização desses títulos no mercado, podendo criar problemas no resto da economia, que utilizam o Bonds como um seguro.

Esse montante de dinheiro tem que ficar à guarda direta do FED, é a única maneira de garantir toda a segurança. Por isso, eu concordo com o controle total das stablecoins de FIATs pelos seus respectivos bancos centrais.

Assim que a CBDCs estiver pronta, eu acredito que as stablecoins vão ser proibidas ou extremamente limitadas e com obrigação de KYC, irá provocar um êxodo em massa destes tokens.

No início, o objetivo das CBDCs era combater o Bitcoin, com o passar do tempo, o objetivo principal é combater as stablecoins.

O fim das stablecoins ( as pessoas não acreditam nas stablecoin algorítmicas) será um forte golpe nas DEXs, algo que os estados também querem controlar.

Expatriação de Capitais

O que está a acontecer agora na Argentina é um excelente exemplo e possivelmente vai acontecer em outros países com inflações altas.

O país está com uma inflação anual de 100%, o peso argentino perdeu 99% do seu valor nos últimos 20 anos e o povo para defender as suas poupanças está a utilizar massivamente stablecoins e bitcoin. Como eu acredito que os governos vão começar a restringir o uso de stablecoins, irá provocar um crescimento exponencial da utilização do btc como um meio de troca, como uma moeda.

A desvalorização da moeda FIAT não é só um problema para os locais, também acontece com as empresas multinacionais, que têm problemas em expatriar os seus capitais/lucros devido às políticas de controlo de capitais. Esses capitais estão na moeda local, as empresas não conseguem converter em dólares, ou por estar fortemente desvalorizado ou simplesmente não existem dólares disponíveis no mercado oficial. 

A Argentina é um bom exemplo, onde existe uma diferença abismal entre o câmbio oficial e o informal.

---

As empresas portuguesas têm sofrido periodicamente problemas devido à escassez de dólares em Angola. Cada vez que o preço do crude cai, Angola entra em crise e voltam o problema da expatriação de capitais. Possivelmente estamos a entrar noutro momento crítico da economia angolana, o preço do crude está a cair e houve uma forte desvalorização do Kwanza, só em 2023 a queda é superior a 63% contra o dólar, não deverá faltar muito para as empresas começarem a apresentar dificuldades na expatriação.

Devido às suas características descentralizadas do Bitcoin, o tornam inconfiscável e impossível de o proibir, o que não acontece com as stablecoin. Assim o Bitcoin é a ferramenta ideal para o comércio internacional, será inevitável o seu uso.

Wallstreet através dos EFTs poderá acelerar a reduzir a volatilidade e estabilizar o preço, facilitando a adoção em larga escala. O btc vai circular nessas economias locais, as pequenas empresas e multinacionais poderão fazer as suas reservas em Bitcoin. Assim poderão expatriar capitais sem qualquer problemas, sem a necessidade da permissão de governos, será um win win.

Um bom exemplo de uma empresa que poderia beneficiar com isto, seria a Nestlé, está praticamente em todos os países do mundo. É um forte comprador de matérias primas em África, Ásia e América Latina, uma parte ou a totalidade desses produtos poderia ser pagos em Bitcoin, desenvolvendo as economias locais. Os produtos são transformados e exportados para as suas filiais. Por fim, as filiais expatriam os lucros para as sedes, tudo isto em Bitcoin.

Diásporas e Refugiados

Quem também está aproveitando as características intrínsecas do bitcoin, como incensurável e moeda global, são os refugiados.

Como existe controle nas fronteiras que confiscam o património ou grupos armados que roubam, os cidadãos guardam as suas poupança em bitcoin, é a solução utilizada por iranianos, sírios, ucranianos e muitos outros refugiados.

As diásporas também se beneficiam, o bitcoin permite enviar remessas sem pagar taxas exorbitantes e também permite enviar dinheiro para países com embargos, como Cuba. Querem embargos? façam aos tiranos, aos seus familiares e amigos, deixem os povos em paz, não tem culpa e já sofrem o suficiente no dia-a-dia. Castiguem os criminosos e deixem os inocentes viver.

---

Todos vamos beneficiar com a existência de uma moeda global e descentralizada, onde não seja possível ser manipulada por políticos.

Fix the Money, Fix the World

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Keagan McClelland ( nostr:npub1f2nxequ09nz44775vv6lkffq2plzqvrqramnk29eddmwcc9z7jys8ms289 )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-08-02

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 15187

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Keagan McClelland on 02/08/2023: There is a debate about whether to price space in the UTXO set to determine if transactions are spam. This could offend some Bitcoin users.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 7f4f672a:c184579e

Obsidian is an amazing markdown editor, word processor, note organiser, and idea synthesiser: the perfect tool for writers.

Nostr represents the future of how we communicate and distribute the written word: decentralised, free, independent, incorruptible.

They seem to me to be a match made in heaven...

For Writers

This tool is low-friction..

1. Add your Nostr private key (once on set-up).
2. Write in Obsidian
3. Hit publish to Nostr, and that's it.

A Quiet Place

Avoid the web browser and all it's distractions!

This tool is completely abstracted from Nostr, allowing you to stay focused - the plugin does not read Nostr messages or give you any view into the public space. It just publishes what you've written. Stay focused on your work and disconnected from the noise.

Writing On Nostr

It's time to start building your blog, speaking to your audience, and publishing your work freely outside of any walled garden.

With Nostr, you are not wed to any platform like Substack, Medium, or Twitter - who can all shut you down and delete your work with the push of a button.

Why Nostr?

1. Ownership: When you post on Nostr, you own your content. There's no platform claiming any rights to your work, so you can do what you want with it - republish it, sell it, etc.

2. Get Paid (No Middlemen): Nostr allows for direct monetization options, you can earn directly from your readers without sharing a percentage of your earnings with a platform like Substack or Twitter.

3. Readership Building: Nostr allows writers to build and manage their own communities. This can foster a more personal and engaged readership compared to larger, more impersonal platforms.

4. Open-source and Community-driven: As an open-source project, Nostr is driven by the community and its development is guided by the needs and wants of its users. You are not at the mercy of corporate decisions or profit-driven changes.

5. Cost-Effective: Nostr does not charge you fees for using their platform, unlike platforms like Substack. This makes it an economical choice for writers, particularly those who are just starting out or those who want to maximize their earnings.

Long-Form Content

On Nostr you can write messages specifically tagged as "long-form". This tool publishes messages of this kind. Long-form content aggregators and clients such as https://habla.news & https://blogstack.io/ specifically channel these messages to readers. There'll be much more in the future.. 😉

Short-Form Content

This tool focuses on publishing full .md files in the long-form from Obsidian. However, if you've got a short message to send out there - an idea or a quip - just toggle on short-form writer in settings; this will give you a place to write a message and send.

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Security Notice

This plugin stores your private key within your local Obsidian settings file, specifically in:

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/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-nostr-writer/data.json

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Please be aware that if an unauthorized person gains access to your device or your Obsidian files, they might be able to access your private key. The plugin obscures the key in its settings interface but this doesn't equate to strong encryption or secured storage.

Therefore, it's important to ensure the overall security of your device and your Obsidian files to keep your private key safe.

Remember, the security of your private key is your responsibility.

grownostr #buildingonnostr #obsidian #writers #writing

@ 29621ac8:a3e8f4ea

In the context of unincorporated associations and private membership associations, the concepts of intimate association and expressive association are crucial in understanding the rights and protections afforded to these entities under the law. These two types of associations are distinguished by the nature of their relationships and the purposes they serve.

Intimate Association refers to the close, personal relationships that are formed within a small, selective group of individuals. These relationships are typically characterized by a high degree of intimacy, trust, and mutual concern for one another's well-being. In the context of an unincorporated association or private membership association, intimate associations may include family units, close-knit social clubs, or other small groups that are formed for primarily personal reasons. The law recognizes the importance of protecting the freedom to form and maintain such intimate relationships, as they are essential to an individual's emotional and psychological well-being.

Expressive Association, on the other hand, pertains to the collective expression, advocacy, or pursuit of shared beliefs, ideas, or interests by a group of individuals. These associations are typically larger and more diverse than intimate associations, and their primary purpose is to engage in activities that promote or advance a particular cause, viewpoint, or mission. Examples of expressive associations include political organizations, labor unions, and advocacy groups. The law protects the right to form and participate in expressive associations, as they are vital to the functioning of a democratic society and the exercise of free speech.

In the context of unincorporated associations and private membership associations, the distinction between intimate and expressive associations is important for several reasons. First, it helps to determine the scope of legal protections and rights afforded to these entities. For instance, intimate associations may be entitled to greater privacy protections, while expressive associations may enjoy broader free speech rights.

Second, the distinction between intimate and expressive associations can impact the legal obligations and liabilities of the association and its members. For example, an unincorporated association engaged in expressive activities may be subject to certain disclosure requirements or campaign finance regulations, whereas an intimate association may be exempt from such requirements.

Lastly, the classification of an association as either intimate or expressive can have implications for its governance structure, membership criteria, and internal decision-making processes. For instance, intimate associations may have more informal governance structures and less stringent membership requirements, while expressive associations may require more formalized governance and membership processes to ensure the effective pursuit of their objectives. The concepts of intimate association and expressive association play a critical role in shaping the legal rights, obligations, and protections afforded to unincorporated associations and private membership associations. Understanding the distinction between these two types of associations is essential for navigating the complex legal landscape surrounding these entities and ensuring their compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Los turoperadores de Rusia acaban de hundir las expectativas de que Cuba se convierta en un destino preferente para sus veraneantes durante el duro invierno en la nación euroasiática. Y es que, según sus consideraciones, hay varios destinos mucho más económicos.

De acuerdo con un reporte de la Asociación de Operadores Turísticos de Rusia (ATOR), Cuba va a ser uno de los lugares más caros para veranear en la denominada temporada alta en la Isla, justo cuando la industria del ocio local espera conseguir sus mayores beneficios.

Según los agentes de viajes, en la próxima temporada otoño-invierno, los turistas rusos que quieran relajarse en el mar elegirán entre tres países: Tailandia, Egipto y los Emiratos Árabes Unidos. En cambio, los destinos más caros serán Cuba y las Islas Seychelles.

Según el medio ruso Lenta.ru, en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos nueve días costarán para esas fechas a partir de 152.000 rublos (poco más de 1.600 dólares), mientras que un paquete de nueve noches en Tailandia es solo un poco más caro, y valdrá alrededor de 174.000 rublos (casi 1.900 dólares) para dos.

En cambio, una reservación vacacional de similares características a Cuba no baja de los 190.000 rublos (casi 2.100 dólares).

Los pronósticos de ATOR se dan a conocer poco después de que las cifras del primer semestre de 2023 mostraran un incremento de apenas el 45% de veraneantes rusos en Cuba, en comparación con igual periodo de 2022.

De acuerdo con datos de la Embajada de Cuba en la Federación de Rusia, entre enero y junio de 2023 visitaron la Isla 67.600 turistas procedentes de la nación euroasiática. La asesora de turismo de la sede diplomática, Christina León Iznaga, indicó que ahora Rusia es el cuarto mercado turístico de la Isla, superada por Canadá, que ha vuelto a ser el principal emisor, los cubanos residentes en el exterior, y los turistas de Estados Unidos.

Los números de la primera mitad de 2023 no son todo lo halagüeños que quisiera La Habana, pues en 2021 habían viajado a la Isla 178.000 veraneantes de Rusia.

"Según los turoperadores, el interés de los turistas rusos por el destino cubano es alto incluso en verano: se puede volar a Cuba en agosto durante siete días a un hotel 5 estrellas todo incluido por precios a partir de los 200.000 rublos (poco más de 2.200 dólares) para dos personas", indicó ATOR.

"Gracias al lanzamiento de vuelos regulares a Varadero, los turoperadores han ampliado la gama de productos para el destino caribeño: por ejemplo, han aparecido los tours combinados Habana + Varadero. Según los expertos, para finales de año la Isla puede recibir al menos 100.000 turistas", aseguró la entidad.

En julio último, Juan Carlos García Granda, ministro de Turismo cubano, dijo ante los diputados a la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular reunidos en La Habana que el turismo cubano mantiene la línea de recuperación, tras el impacto negativo que la pandemia de Covid-19 provocó sobre este sector estratégico para el régimen.

El funcionario detalló que el arribo total de viajeros en el primer semestre de 2023 ascendió a 1.298.539, que planteó como una recuperación del 50% respecto a 2019.

Ante tales cifras, el economista cubano Pedro Monreal advirtió: "El Gobierno cubano debería revisar la meta de 3,5 millones de turistas en 2023. Los datos de junio no hacen creíble ese objetivo. Con un acumulado de 1.289.539 visitantes en el primer semestre, se necesitarían 2.201.461 en el segundo semestre, pero tal nivel nunca ha sido alcanzado".

"El número máximo histórico de visitantes recibidos por Cuba en un segundo semestre es 2.199.408, y se registró en 2018, que tiene el récord anual de visitantes, con 4.68 millones. No es plausible asumir que el segundo semestre de 2023 será mejor que igual periodo de 2018", subrayó.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Operadores de empresas de personal laboral con sede en Key West, condado de Monroe, han sido sentenciados a prisión por delitos relacionados con impuestos e inmigración, según un comunicado del Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos (DOJ, por sus siglas en inglés).

En este caso se encuentran involucradas compañías como PSEB Services JD, Inc., Paradise Hospitality Solutions LLC, Paradise Hospitality Group LLC, Paradise Hospitality Inc. y HBSM Corp.

De acuerdo con documentos judiciales y declaraciones presentadas ante el tribunal, durante un período comprendido entre enero de 2014 y noviembre de 2020, Eka Samadashvili, Davit Pavliashvili y otros colaboradores dirigieron una serie de empresas de contratación de personal.

Mediante sus operaciones facilitaron la contratación de extranjeros con estancia irregular en EEUU. Pese a la falta de autorización, estas personas comenzaron a trabajar en hoteles, bares y restaurante del islote y otras localidades de Florida.

Lo más preocupante es que estas empresas no cumplían con sus obligaciones tributarias al no retener los ingresos federales, así como los impuestos del Seguro Social y Medicare de los salarios de los trabajadores, y tampoco informaban estos salarios al Servicio Interno de Impuestos (IRS, por sus siglas en inglés).

El comunicado precisó que Samadashvili recibió una pena de 36 meses de prisión por conspirar para albergar extranjeros e inducirlos a permanecer en territorio estadounidense, además de conspirar para defraudar al país.

El juez del Tribunal Federal de Distrito, José E. Martínez, ordenó también que este sujeto cumpla tres años de libertad supervisada y realice una restitución por un monto cercano a los ocho millones 473 mil 785 dólares a favor del Estado.

Pavliashvili fue condenado a 18 meses de prisión por conspirar para albergar a extranjeros e inducirlos a permanecer en el país norteño, así como por presentar una declaración de impuestos federales falsa ante el IRS. Este acusado también deberá cumplir tres años de libertad supervisada y pagar aproximadamente 16.925 dólares en concepto de restitución.

Este fallo es una muestra más de la lucha contra el empleo ilegal y la evasión fiscal en EEUU, y también refuerza la importancia de que las empresas cumplan con sus responsabilidades legales.

La investigación y el enjuiciamiento de este caso estuvieron a cargo del fiscal federal para el Distrito Sur de Florida, Markenzy Lapointe; y el fiscal general adjunto interino de la División de Impuestos del Departamento de Justicia, Stuart M. Golberg.

También colaboraron el agente especial de Investigaciones de Seguridad Nacional en Miami, Anthony Salisbury; y el agente especial a cargo de la Línea de Investigación Criminal del IRS (IRS-CI), Oficina de Campo de Miami, Matthew D.

@ 28246aee:62b108ad

This post was originally published on https://tftc.io by Marty Bent.

Read original post

Japan bonds (JGBs, corporates, etc) have come under tremendous pressure since the BOJ's mild tweak to yield curve control.

Group just clocked the worst 2-day slump in at least 23 years pic.twitter.com/lhkxN2BHJj

— David Ingles (@DavidInglesTV) July 31, 2023

As everyone and their mother seems to be mentally prepping for a soft landing, it seems that things are starting to go terribly awry in the world of sovereign debt. Late last week the Bank of Japan made a surprise policy change and didn't put a confident foot forward when changing the range within which they plan to employ yield curve control. Since the policy change JGBs have experienced their worst two-day slump in at least 23 years and the yen has weakened significantly against the dollar. Reaching 142.5 earlier today. In layman's terms, markets are signsling that the little confidence they had left in the Bank of Japan's ability to maintain the monetary system was just destroyed with this spastic move. This move follows their abrupt policy change around Christmas of last year, which spooked markets at the time.

In a world that runs on a hyper-connected and intertwined financial system where everything everywhere needs to be in place for everything to function properly, the Bank of Japan, the JGB market, and the yen are the canary in the coal mine that signal turbulance on the horizon. And if we pan over to the US, things aren't looking so hot on the sovereign debt side of things either.

Earlier today, Fitch downgraded the US governments sovereign debt rating to AA+ from AAA. Joining S&P which downgraded to AA+ in 2011. Leaving the US with no AAA rating to point at while declaring that it has iron clad credit. While we've learned to be wary of credit ratings coming from these ratings agencies due to their abject negligence and pandering during the lead up to the 2008 finacial crisis, it is safe to say that the US debt situation is becoming impossible to ignore. These agencies tend to be very generous with their ratings. If they're downgrading the US government, you know things have to be pretty bad. Likely much worse than a AA+ status. Just look at how much debt Treasury is looking to take out to finish out their pillaging of the American people in 2023.

The Treasury's new guidance today is that they want borrow

::checks notes::

$1.85 trillion during the second half of this year. pic.twitter.com/zIYTB38oDe

— Lyn Alden (@LynAldenContact) July 31, 2023

If my back-of-the-napkin math is in the right ballpark, we're about to increase the national debt by ~10% this year. Utter insanity. And don't look now, but oil prices have been creeping higher and look like they are about to break out. Especially when you consider the inventory draws we've seen recently.

WTI first consecutive closes over the 40-week MA since July 2022. pic.twitter.com/oGLXTy2lQL

— Larry Tentarelli, Blue Chip Daily (@LMT978) July 31, 2023

Your Uncle Marty thinks the inflation problem is still pervasive, but it will begin to become even more obvious as it will be forced to be recognized by CPI prints because of energy costs rising. Let's hope this superconducter stuff is legit.

I don't think there's anything more attractive on the planet than bitcoin hovering between $28,500 and $31,000. The tremors are beginning to rumble louder and louder, the central banks have lost control of their monetary systems and the governments have absolutely no ability to stop themselves from binging on debt, which makes for a pretty precarious situation. It's not shocking that they want you focused on aliens, climate change, and the latest round of Trump indictments. They have completely lost control of the money behind the scenes.

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Final thought...

Headed to the Big Apple tomorrow. Come check out the mining mert up at PubKey tomorrow night if you're in town.

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This rag was delivered to you via Ghost. If you are thinking about starting a newsletter or website and are looking for the most robust and sovereign option you should check out Ghost. For sovereign payments connect your Ghost site to Scrib.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

El 1 de agosto de 2023 comenzó en La Habana la campaña “Cero Efectivo” impulsada por la Empresa Eléctrica del territorio para suprimir por completo el cobro de la factura de corriente con dinero en efectivo. Las únicas vías posibles que ahora les quedan a los clientes que pertenecen a las oficinas comerciales de Plaza, Nuevo Vedado, Almendares y Santa Fe es la vía digital.

Para el pago electrónico hace falta tener una tarjeta magnética de un banco cubano que tenga saldo suficiente en pesos cubanos (CUP). Además, es necesario un teléfono celular con conexión a Internet y dominio tecnológico para efectuar todo el procedimiento.

Aquellos que no puedan reunir todos estos requisitos, un grupo donde se pueden incluir múltiples personas de la tercera edad que viven solas, tienen la opción de acudir a un “vecino solidario”, según declaraciones del director de la Empresa Eléctrica de La Habana, el ingeniero Mario Castillo Salas.

“Las personas que no tengan teléfono y que no tengan la tarjeta siempre podrán contar dentro del núcleo familiar con alguna persona que pueda hacerlo. Nosotros no cobramos la electricidad a las personas, se las cobramos a los núcleos”, comentó el directivo.

NOTICIAS DE CUBA Cubanos que no puedan pagar la corriente vía electrónica deberán buscar un “vecino solidario”

Sugirieron como otra alternativa que se acuda a un trabajador social para que les pague la cuenta a quienes no puedan hacerlo Foto del avatar

By

Periódico Cubano Published on 1 agosto, 2023

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Cubanos que no puedan pagar la corriente deberán buscar un “vecino solidario”, según el director de la Empresa Eléctrica

El plan “Cero Efectivo” no contiene excepciones y todos están obligados a realizar el pago electrónico vía digital. (Captura de pantalla: Canal Caribe – YouTube)

El 1 de agosto de 2023 comenzó en La Habana la campaña “Cero Efectivo” impulsada por la Empresa Eléctrica del territorio para suprimir por completo el cobro de la factura de corriente con dinero en efectivo. Las únicas vías posibles que ahora les quedan a los clientes que pertenecen a las oficinas comerciales de Plaza, Nuevo Vedado, Almendares y Santa Fe es la vía digital.

Para el pago electrónico hace falta tener una tarjeta magnética de un banco cubano que tenga saldo suficiente en pesos cubanos (CUP). Además, es necesario un teléfono celular con conexión a Internet y dominio tecnológico para efectuar todo el procedimiento.

Aquellos que no puedan reunir todos estos requisitos, un grupo donde se pueden incluir múltiples personas de la tercera edad que viven solas, tienen la opción de acudir a un “vecino solidario”, según declaraciones del director de la Empresa Eléctrica de La Habana, el ingeniero Mario Castillo Salas.

“Las personas que no tengan teléfono y que no tengan la tarjeta siempre podrán contar dentro del núcleo familiar con alguna persona que pueda hacerlo. Nosotros no cobramos la electricidad a las personas, se las cobramos a los núcleos”, comentó el directivo.

Cuando le preguntaron por las personas que viven solas y no pueden asumir los nuevos cambios, Castillo Salas recomendó que busquen a un vecino para que les ayude a pagar la corriente. El plan “Cero Efectivo” no contempla excepciones y todos están obligados a realizar el pago electrónico vía digital.

“Siempre hay vecinos que podrán ayudar. Desde Transfermóvil usted le puede pagar a cualquier otro cliente”, explicó el directivo, que sugirió como cuarta vía que el cliente que tampoco encuentre a un vecino acuda a un trabajador social para que les pague la cuenta.

La prueba piloto en los municipios habaneros de Plaza y Playa pretende extenderse hacia el resto de la capital, pues al parecer la Empresa Eléctrica solo le ve “múltiples ventajas” al sistema.

NOTICIAS DE CUBA Cubanos que no puedan pagar la corriente vía electrónica deberán buscar un “vecino solidario”

Sugirieron como otra alternativa que se acuda a un trabajador social para que les pague la cuenta a quienes no puedan hacerlo Foto del avatar

By

Periódico Cubano Published on 1 agosto, 2023

Share
Tweet
Comment

Cubanos que no puedan pagar la corriente deberán buscar un “vecino solidario”, según el director de la Empresa Eléctrica

El plan “Cero Efectivo” no contiene excepciones y todos están obligados a realizar el pago electrónico vía digital. (Captura de pantalla: Canal Caribe – YouTube)

El 1 de agosto de 2023 comenzó en La Habana la campaña “Cero Efectivo” impulsada por la Empresa Eléctrica del territorio para suprimir por completo el cobro de la factura de corriente con dinero en efectivo. Las únicas vías posibles que ahora les quedan a los clientes que pertenecen a las oficinas comerciales de Plaza, Nuevo Vedado, Almendares y Santa Fe es la vía digital.

Para el pago electrónico hace falta tener una tarjeta magnética de un banco cubano que tenga saldo suficiente en pesos cubanos (CUP). Además, es necesario un teléfono celular con conexión a Internet y dominio tecnológico para efectuar todo el procedimiento.

Aquellos que no puedan reunir todos estos requisitos, un grupo donde se pueden incluir múltiples personas de la tercera edad que viven solas, tienen la opción de acudir a un “vecino solidario”, según declaraciones del director de la Empresa Eléctrica de La Habana, el ingeniero Mario Castillo Salas.

“Las personas que no tengan teléfono y que no tengan la tarjeta siempre podrán contar dentro del núcleo familiar con alguna persona que pueda hacerlo. Nosotros no cobramos la electricidad a las personas, se las cobramos a los núcleos”, comentó el directivo.

Cuando le preguntaron por las personas que viven solas y no pueden asumir los nuevos cambios, Castillo Salas recomendó que busquen a un vecino para que les ayude a pagar la corriente. El plan “Cero Efectivo” no contempla excepciones y todos están obligados a realizar el pago electrónico vía digital.

“Siempre hay vecinos que podrán ayudar. Desde Transfermóvil usted le puede pagar a cualquier otro cliente”, explicó el directivo, que sugirió como cuarta vía que el cliente que tampoco encuentre a un vecino acuda a un trabajador social para que les pague la cuenta.

La prueba piloto en los municipios habaneros de Plaza y Playa pretende extenderse hacia el resto de la capital, pues al parecer la Empresa Eléctrica solo le ve “múltiples ventajas” al sistema.

En sus redes sociales, la empresa insiste en que están dadas todas las circunstancias para “garantizar cumplir con los indicadores de recaudación este mes”. Adicionalmente, acompañan la publicación con una serie de “hasta revolucionarios”: #unacolaparaqué, #TeLoPonemosFácil, #yopagoportransfermóvil y #pagoporenzona.

La Empresa Eléctrica de La Habana está recibiendo las críticas a su gestión por el teléfono 18888, y en los perfiles en sus redes sociales.

@ 957966b6:2d4fe6b7

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.

Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.

Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death. Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow. Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with partiality. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you and personally drag you before the courts? Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also. Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna. For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.” Yet you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.” But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil. To him therefore who knows to do good and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies. You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.

Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door. Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear— not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”, so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.

Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

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Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you— so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name. (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.) For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.

I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God; because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before God. Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”

When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing. But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,

“Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear,

which didn’t enter into the heart of man,

these God has prepared for those who love him.”

But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God’s Spirit. But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one. “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.

Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now, for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly?

Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.

Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.” Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries. Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by a human court. Yes, I don’t even judge my own self. For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.

Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another. For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you! For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.

I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News. I beg you therefore, be imitators of me. Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly. Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For God’s Kingdom is not in word, but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife. You are arrogant, and didn’t mourn instead, that he who had done this deed might be removed from among you. For I most certainly, as being absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him who has done this thing. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, you are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump? Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let’s keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortionists, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world. But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist. Don’t even eat with such a person. For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? But those who are outside, God judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.”

Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the assembly? I say this to move you to shame. Isn’t there even one wise man among you who would be able to decide between his brothers? But brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers! Therefore it is already altogether a defect in you that you have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that against your brothers.

Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. Some of you were such, but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband. The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment. Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind. But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion. But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband (but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.

But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her. The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.

Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping God’s commandments. Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called. Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it. For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant. You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men. Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God.

Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy. Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it’s good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you. But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess; and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.

But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.

But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesn’t sin. Let them marry. But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well. So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage does better.

A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know. But anyone who loves God is known by him.

Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one. For though there are things that are called “gods”, whether in the heavens or on earth—as there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.

However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of an idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food will not commend us to God. For neither, if we don’t eat are we the worse, nor if we eat are we the better. But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak. For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols? And through your knowledge, he who is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died. Thus, sinning against the brothers, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no meat forever more, that I don’t cause my brother to stumble.

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

My defense to those who examine me is this: Have we no right to eat and to drink? Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or have only Barnabas and I no right to not work? What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?

Do I speak these things according to the ways of men? Or doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it for the oxen that God cares, or does he say it assuredly for our sake? Yes, it was written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should partake of his hope. If we sowed to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your fleshly things? If others partake of this right over you, don’t we yet more?

Nevertheless we didn’t use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the Good News of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar? Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News.

But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the Good News, I have nothing to boast about, for necessity is laid on me; but woe is to me if I don’t preach the Good News. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News.

For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. Now I do this for the sake of the Good News, that I may be a joint partaker of it. Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, so that you may win. Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore run like that, not aimlessly. I fight like that, not beating the air, but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. Let’s not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents. Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall.

No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread. Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons. You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are profitable. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own, but each one his neighbor’s good. Whatever is sold in the butcher shop, eat, asking no question for the sake of conscience, for “the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness.” But if one of those who don’t believe invites you to a meal, and you are inclined to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for the sake of conscience. But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” don’t eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, with all its fullness.” Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other’s conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced for something I give thanks for?

Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no occasion for stumbling, whether to Jews, to Greeks, or to the assembly of God; even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.

Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Now I praise you, brothers, that you remember me in all things, and hold firm the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. But every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For it is one and the same thing as if she were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her hair also be cut off. But if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or be shaved, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man; for man wasn’t created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this cause the woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.

Nevertheless, neither is the woman independent of the man, nor the man independent of the woman, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, so a man also comes through a woman; but all things are from God. Judge for yourselves. Is it appropriate that a woman pray to God unveiled? Doesn’t even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither do God’s assemblies.

But in giving you this command I don’t praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it. For there also must be factions among you, that those who are approved may be revealed among you. When therefore you assemble yourselves together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken. What, don’t you have houses to eat and to drink in? Or do you despise God’s assembly and put them to shame who don’t have enough? What shall I tell you? Shall I praise you? In this I don’t praise you.

For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.” In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy way eats and drinks judgment to himself if he doesn’t discern the Lord’s body. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment. The rest I will set in order whenever I come.

Now concerning spiritual things, brothers, I don’t want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were heathen, you were led away to those mute idols, however you might be led. Therefore I make known to you that no man speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord. There are various kinds of workings, but the same God who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, and to another workings of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of languages, and to another the interpretation of languages. But the one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires.

For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all given to drink into one Spirit.

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot would say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m not part of the body,” it is not therefore not part of the body. If the ear would say, “Because I’m not the eye, I’m not part of the body,” it’s not therefore not part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now they are many members, but one body. The eye can’t tell the hand, “I have no need for you,” or again the head to the feet, “I have no need for you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant modesty, while our presentable parts have no such need. But God composed the body together, giving more abundant honor to the inferior part, that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. God has set some in the assembly: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various kinds of languages. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all miracle workers? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with various languages? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. Moreover, I show a most excellent way to you.

If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.

Follow after love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in another language speaks not to men, but to God, for no one understands, but in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, exhortation, and consolation. He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assembly. Now I desire to have you all speak with other languages, but even more that you would prophesy. For he is greater who prophesies than he who speaks with other languages, unless he interprets, that the assembly may be built up.

But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking with other languages, what would I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching? Even lifeless things that make a sound, whether pipe or harp, if they didn’t give a distinction in the sounds, how would it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet gave an uncertain sound, who would prepare himself for war? So also you, unless you uttered by the tongue words easy to understand, how would it be known what is spoken? For you would be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without meaning. If then I don’t know the meaning of the language, I would be to him who speaks a foreigner, and he who speaks would be a foreigner to me. So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up of the assembly.

Therefore let him who speaks in another language pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

What should I do? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who fills the place of the unlearned say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, seeing he doesn’t know what you say? For you most certainly give thanks well, but the other person is not built up. I thank my God, I speak with other languages more than you all. However, in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in another language.

Brothers, don’t be children in thoughts, yet in malice be babies, but in thoughts be mature. In the law it is written, “By men of strange languages and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. They won’t even listen to me that way, says the Lord.” Therefore other languages are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelieving; but prophesying is for a sign, not to the unbelieving, but to those who believe. If therefore the whole assembly is assembled together and all speak with other languages, and unlearned or unbelieving people come in, won’t they say that you are crazy? But if all prophesy, and someone unbelieving or unlearned comes in, he is reproved by all, and he is judged by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. So he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed.

What is it then, brothers? When you come together, each one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has another language, or has an interpretation. Let all things be done to build each other up. If any man speaks in another language, let there be two, or at the most three, and in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three of the prophets speak, and let the others discern. But if a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first keep silent. For you all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be exhorted. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints. Let the wives be quiet in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to be talking except in submission, as the law also says, if they desire to learn anything. “Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for a wife to be talking in the assembly.” What!? Was it from you that the word of God went out? Or did it come to you alone?

If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize the things which I write to you, that they are the commandment of the Lord. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Therefore, brothers, desire earnestly to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking with other languages. Let all things be done decently and in order.

Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming. Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God the Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him. When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead? Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.” Wake up righteously and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind. But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.

So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“Death, where is your sting?

Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise. On the first day of every week, let each one of you save as he may prosper, that no collections are made when I come. When I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.

I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. But with you it may be that I will stay with you, or even winter with you, that you may send me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not wish to see you now in passing, but I hope to stay a while with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, for a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do. Therefore let no one despise him. But set him forward on his journey in peace, that he may come to me; for I expect him with the brothers.

Now concerning Apollos the brother, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but it was not at all his desire to come now; but he will come when he has an opportunity.

Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong! Let all that you do be done in love.

Now I beg you, brothers—you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to serve the saints— that you also be in subjection to such, and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus; for that which was lacking on your part, they supplied. For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge those who are like that.

The assemblies of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, together with the assembly that is in their house. All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

This greeting is by me, Paul, with my own hand. If any man doesn’t love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Come, Lord! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The World English Bible is in the Public Domain. That means that it is not copyrighted. However, "World English Bible" is a Trademark of eBible.org.

@ 4729b2c0:6074b4a9

鈾是一種重要的放射性元素，在全球能源生產中擔任著關鍵角色，為全球的核電廠提供燃料。儘管鈾元素豐富，鈾市場近期卻出現了動態變化，為敏銳的投資者提供了獲取可觀收益的可能性。2022年6月，我在文章 "投資鈾股：風險與收益" 中討論了鈾投資的回報與風險。現在，有鑒於近期的發展，是時候提供一個更新的視角了。

鈾市場的持續復甦

2023年為鈾帶來了復甦的曙光，預計其價格將在全年上漲。這種上揚趨勢主要源於全球範圍內對核反應爐的需求增加和持續的地緣政治不確定性。在2022年，鈾價格在50至60美元的範圍內確定了關鍵的合併階段。然而，我們堅信，2023年可能成為轉折點，價格有可能突破60美元的門檻，為牛市的鈾市場鋪平道路。

鈾產國和地緣政治因素

目前，世界上最大的鈾產國包括哈薩克斯坦、納米比亞、加拿大、澳大利亞和烏茲別克斯坦。然而，圍繞鈾生產的地緣政治格局仍然動盪。幾乎所有的頂級鈾產國，除了加拿大和澳大利亞，都面臨著不同程度的不穩定。特別是，加拿大的阿薩巴斯卡盆地由於其豐富的高品位鈾礦床和其親礦石的政治氣候，正逐漸成為穩定性和潛力的象徵。

投資鈾股：潛在的收益和風險

投資鈾股為投資者提供了獲取豐厚回報和多元化投資組合的機會。然而，這也帶來了自身的風險。這些風險主要取決於鈾價格的波動性和主要產國的地緣政治緊張情況。此外，關於鈾礦開採和核反應爐安全性的環保問題也仍然存在。因此，對於可能的鈾投資者來說，徹底的研究、盡職調查和謹慎的風險管理至關重要。

值得關注的鈾股

希望把握有利於鈾市場的投資者可能會進一步研究以下這些股票：

Cameco Corporation (CCJ) NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE) Denison Mines Corp. (DNN) Energy Fuels Inc. (UUUU) Uranium Royalty Corp. (URC) BHP Group (BHP) Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC)

這些公司代表了鈾市場上的多樣化機會，但潛在的投資者在投資之前應進行全面的研究。

儘管存在不確定性和風險，鈾市場在2023年仍具有強大的潛力。隨著全球持續努力減少碳排放並尋求降低能源成本，核能 - 也就是鈾 - 可能握有一些答案。雖然上述鈾股提供了一個優秀的起點，但深入分析和謹慎的風險管理仍然是投資成功的關鍵。無論如何，鈾投資在這個不確定的世界中確實為投資者提供了新的收益可能性。

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Medium: Flextiger

Twitter: FlextigerA

@ 0e649f32:8a33b33b

Join Scott "Shalom" Klein each week and get down to business! An avid networker and dedicated entrepreneur, Shalom will share the advice you need, the strategies that work and the stories of success to help you with both business and jobs. Special guest, Richard Blank of Costa Rica's Call Center.

Richard’s vision quest journey is filled with twists and turns. When he was 27 years old, he relocated to Costa Rica to train employees for one of the larger call centers in San Jose. With a mix of motivational public speaking style backed by tactful and appropriate rhetoric, Richard shared his knowledge and trained over 10 000 bilingual telemarketers.

Richard Blank has the largest collection of restored American Pinball machines and antique Rockola Jukeboxes in Central America making gamification a strong part of CCC culture. Richard Blank is the Chief Executive Officer for Costa Rica’s Call Center since 2008.

Mr. Richard Blank holds a bachelors degree in Communication and Spanish from the University of Arizona and a certificate of language proficiency from the University of Sevilla, Spain. A Keynote speaker for Philadelphia's Abington High School 68th National Honors Society induction ceremony. In addition, inducted into the 2023 Hall of Fame for Business. Giving back to Abington Senior High School is very important to Mr. Blank. As such, he endows a scholarship each year for students that plan on majoring in a world language at the university level.

Costa Rica’s Call Center (CCC) is a state of the art BPO telemarketing outsource company located in the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Our main focus has been, and will always be to personally train each and every Central America call center agent so that we may offer the highest quality of outbound and inbound telemarketing solutions and bilingual customer service to small and medium sized international companies, entrepreneurs as well as fortune 500 companies.

https://costaricascallcenter.com/en/outbound-bpo-campaigns/

RichardBlank #CostaRica #CallCenter #Outsourcing #Telemarketing #BPO #Sales #Entrepreneur #B2B #Business #Podcast #Leadgeneration #Appointmentsetting #getdowntobusiness

https://youtu.be/W2do7m7L1dA

@ 7d41cb81:18ac37ed

,,m,

@ 93518f91:412cb50c

Timechain Calendar gives you several ways to search the Bitcoin timechain for a specific block in the past… or in the future!

The slider at the bottom of the interface allows you to scrub thru the entire chain quickly! The supply/issuance data (top-left corner) changes on the fly. Let go of the slider to load the data for a past block. Buttons on the side of the slider let you move 1 block at a time.

You can also jump to a specific block in the past by entering a past block height directly! Click the search icon then Search by Block or just click the big block height number in the middle of the interface directly.

Find a past block by date/time: Click the search icon then Search by Date or click directly on the date or the time in the interface. Enter a date and time in the past and Timechain Calendar will load the block that confirmed most recently before the entered moment in time.

The Timechain Calendar Wizard loves estimating the future! If you search for a block that has not occurred yet, the Wizard will estimate the future date of block. The average block time can be adjusted to see the affect a different pace of blocks will have on the estimate.

You can also search for a future block based on a specific future date. Just enter a date in the future and the Wizard will estimate the future block. Adjusting average block time in this search will affect the estimated block! This is new in v0.3.3

Last but not least there are a couple shortcuts to the estimate for the upcoming halving. Clicking “V” in the epoch quick links or “🔮Wizard” in the Next Halving sidebar and the interface will open an estimation of the halving block 840000!

Happy hunting for blocks!!

@ 7f4f672a:c184579e

I'm publishing directly to Nostr Straight from Obsidian, No middle man, No browser scan. Just words and letters, Thoughts unfettered. It would be a sin, Not to install my plugin.

grownostr #obsidian #plugin #poem #poemstr

@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

小男生一身衣服配色，完全是教科書級別的。腳上一雙飛躍跑鞋。

Bilbao跟很多歐洲城市一樣，禮拜天全城閉門打烊，除了一部分餐館之外。開始時候覺得有點不習慣，似乎頗不方便，買瓶牛奶都休想的樣子。漸漸覺得如此真好，好在非常清靜，整座城市安安靜靜，街頭幾乎沒有人，每週一次如此的清靜，太好了。另一個好，是禮拜天大家都在家裡了，古老而溫暖，多麼好。

對面房子的老爺叔，每個禮拜天的清晨，開著燦爛輝煌的歌劇詠嘆調，拿著雪白的大毛巾擦玻璃窗。因為街上太靜了，他的詠嘆調清清楚楚地隔街傳過來，我坐在陽台上飲碧螺春，真是天籟一般。此地有南美移民的女傭，上門幫忙打理家務，頗普遍，這位鄰居老爺叔親力親為，包子說，是我學習的好榜樣。

另一側的鄰居也是老爺叔，中午搬出午餐在陽台上吃，一個人有滋有味飲湯，是番茄冷湯吧我猜的，西班牙人的可以喝的色拉，然後還有一份外國報紙，厚厚的週末版，在桌上。報紙是西班牙的、還是外國的，一眼就分出來了。Bilbao小城，滿街的書報亭，天天都買得到紐/約/時/報和金融/時/報。上海是五星酒店也覓不到外/國/報紙的。

禮拜天，清晨晃去老城吃個早餐，順手買些麵包回家，老城裡比較多老而好的麵包舖子。

老城裡遊客散落，德國人荷蘭人，大多是一家人出來過暑假，父母帶兩三個孩子，或者退休老夫妻，基本是如此配置。

走兩步，結果沒有進麵包舖、也沒有進早餐小館子，而是先進了舊書店。舊書店裡鋪了滿地的老地毯，音樂很對頭，鬆軟宜人，濃濃的。這家店裡很多1850年左右的植物畫和動物畫，精得不得了，一頁一頁，看了個飽。還有銅版畫，更精，揀了兩幅。

角落裡翻到一冊美食指南之類的，1995年出版的，有趣的是，書的舊主人，真的拿著這冊書，當聖經一樣去覓美食，書裡留著很多筆記、剪報、菜單、發票，蹲在角落裡，默默翻了一遍，非常有味道，雖然我完全看不懂西班牙文。

去買麵包，小麵包舖頗多，最好的那間，走過去的時候，已經"今日售罄明日請早"，當時還沒到中午12點。只好掉頭換一間，問包子去哪間，包子說，看看本地老太太去哪間、我們跟著去。結果跟著本地老太太，進了一家1983年的麵包舖子，買到很稱心的法棍，40年半老之店，生意興隆，需要稍稍排一點隊。

隨便一間咖啡館小酒吧，1850年的

這個禮拜天，在家聽了很多包子的音樂，從非洲馬里人的音樂、非洲尼日利亞的音樂，到土耳其音樂、古巴音樂，還在安達魯西亞的電台上，聽了久久的佛萊明戈音樂，無伴奏的佛萊明戈詠唱，絕美絕贊，跟信天游有很多異曲同工。我把網址留在下面，希望各位也能enjoy。

這個禮拜天，洗了床單、燉了桃膠，學著做了兩道巴斯克料理，讀完了一本中文書茨威格的《昨日的世界》和一本英文書《Basque Country》。

安靜的禮拜天。     

買了麵包出來，剛好遇見工人們在搬運麵粉

佛萊明戈音樂在這裡

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

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nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exqunqdphxu6nzdenqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823cc8avfs

@ 7f4f672a:c184579e

The Italian Mob a.k.a 'Cosa Nostra' are famous worldwide. 'Cosa Nostra' means "our thing", what about 'Cosa Nostr' ? What is Nostr's thing?

grownostr #obsidian #tech

@ ba680951:ec182a0e

FOMCの最新のミーティング

米国連邦公開市場委員会（FOMC）の最新のミーティングで、金利が0.25ポイント上昇しました。市場はこの結果を予期していました。

金利の動向

昨日、米国の金利を決定するFOMCのもう一つのミーティングが開催されました。市場は利上げを既に予想しており、下のグラフからわかるように、最も可能性の高いのは0.25ポイントの利上げで、これにより金利が年率5.25%から5.50%の範囲になると見られていました。

次に何が起こるのか？

経済活動のデータは引き続き強いままであり、雇用の増加、失業率の低下、インフレ率が目標を上回るなど、6月に公表されたデータではCore CPIが4.8%となっています。昨日のスピーチで、アメリカの中央銀行の議長であるジェローム・パウエルは、FEDが次回のFOMCの決定を予測する立場にないことを強調しました。全ては経済データの動向次第です。

Conclusion

それでも、一つは明らかです。もしCore CPIが高水準であれば、つまり、インフレが明らかに緩和の兆しを見せない場合、金利が再び上昇する可能性が高いです。これは、市場が金利の上昇を織り込み始める可能性があるため、これらのデータの公表日（8月10日）に価格に影響を与える可能性があります。

@ 7f4f672a:c184579e

Directly publish from Obsidian to Nostr

A Match Made..

Obsidian is an amazing markdown editor, word processor, note organiser, and idea synthesiser: the perfect tool for writers.

Nostr represents the future of how we communicate and distribute the written word: decentralised, free, independent, incorruptible.

They seem to me to be a match made in heaven...

For Writers

This tool is low-friction.. 1. Add your Nostr private key (once on set-up). 2. Write in Obsidian 3. Hit publish to Nostr, and that's it.

A Quiet Place

Avoid the web browser and all it's distractions!

This tool is completely abstracted from Nostr, allowing you to stay focused - the plugin does not read Nostr messages or give you any view into the public space. It just publishes what you've written. Stay focused on your work and disconnected from the noise.

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

June 2018. Shanghai.

Cruising down the Shanghai East-West Expressway, riding shotgun in my friend’s BMW M3. The car is silly Americana. Captain America decals adorn the exterior, while the interior is Iron Man red and gold. Several large stuffed animals crowd the back seat — Peppa Pig, Winnie the Pooh (both inexplicable, irreverent quasi anti-government memes in China). All the while, Black Panther and Darth Vader bobbleheads nod along atop the dashboard. For many in China, and Shanghai particularly, personal vehicles are the medium for coded expressions that would be too garish or sensitive if made more publicly.

https://i.nostrimg.com/f29c7dde5549edc1eed5a5223a60b40605bd1c622b6bab747b13a5b7fa598d44/file.jpeg (Pictured: The ideal yuppie bachelor car in Shanghai. You may not like it but this is what peak achievement looks like.)

Outside a hazy, spring night fog colors the city like something out of a Simon Stålenhag painting. The neon-lit Bladerunner tetris set of Shanghai office complexes blurs by just beyond the tinted glass as we cut lanes at speed. Kids See Ghosts blasts loudly on the sound system. We hit the Julu Road (巨鹿路) junction, where the city’s two main expressways meet in a loping tangle of concrete and asphalt. And like clockwork, all connections go out — cell, bluetooth, radio — the car goes silent.

This always happens at this spot. I ask my friend about this. He thinks the police are running a high-end signal jammer at this location to prevent people from flying drones over the junction - which he learned at the cost of one of his own high-end DJI models...Perhaps triggered by the state’s technical show of force, a serious change comes over him for a moment. He glances over, "It's all bullshit, you know," pointing up to the dark sky beyond the windshield, "They have to keep the lights on. They have to convince us that the control everything. If they fail, we will just eat them." “Let the ducks roast,” he says to himself after a contemplative pause, his eyes trailing off into the far distance.

But moment passes quickly. A few moments after we pass through the junction, all signals and service reappear, stronger than before. Kid Cudi’s blaring “I feel freeeeeeeeeeeeee” bursts onto the car’s speakers at full volume. Political talk ceases and the entire thing immediately becomes a long forgotten memory.

In any case, it’s Friday. The bars are open, the clubs are calling, and we’re coming in HOT. That’s what matters. Today was a good day in Shanghai.

---

An Introduction to Life On Mars

Where to start? Folks in the US who have only known me as a bitcoiner often ask, “But how could you live in China?” I always chuckle at this question. Not least because its usually almost visibility dipping with the asker's absurd and exaggerated fantasies about China as a cartoonish 1984-style brutalist dystopia. That said, it is a question that I have given much thought to myself, especially now as a bitcoiner with all the many ways bitcoin has changed my views on things.

And this brings me to a series of far deeper questions — What is authoritarianism, really? Can it ever be benevolent? And how does one become attenuated to it to such an extent as to no longer notice it, if they ever noticed it at all?

https://i.nostrimg.com/2182fd6d38b9eeee65d0400b2659a5be500508cb6ccec34717d2e0a2e19ae878/file.jpeg (What people picture when they ask me about China)

https://i.nostrimg.com/0b565a702191eca5e37a769d80197f9644d61e968315dbfc76f96b660af750a0/file.jpg (This is the same location as the picture above. Today, most days the reality is more like this)

The best way to explore this is to just answer the very first question directly. I very much could live in China because it was RAAAD. I had a great time there and I enjoyed almost every minute of it. In many entirely non-dystopian ways being there was like living in the future or a vision of what it might be like if we (the US) hadn’t forgotten how to have nice things — High-speed rail available at every street corner! Bristling skyscrapers erected in mere days! Wifi bandwidth so cheap and abundant it jumps right out of the stream straight into your frying pan! Gold nuggets for everyone! Everything, now with 30% MORE BEEF!

The thing is, my life in China was good. At that time, the cold, collectivist CCP machinery was fully invested in delivering a jubilee of comforts and diversions to even the relative urban “haves.” Additionally, I came to China as a very well educated, very well paid American with an existing foundation in Mandarin, shuttled in under the wide auspices of a deeply connected global consulting firm. With such well-earned badges of globalist statism, I was afforded a ticket to freely mingle with China’s largely Western-educated, upwardly-mobile urban economic elite. In fact, this was a thing that was rather encouraged…

All this being the case, it is no surprise that I had such a “good” experience. It was always supposed to be that way. Irrespective of the deeper reality, nothing was ever actually supposed to feel authoritarian for me during my time in China. These conditions similarly held true for my particular class of Chinese friends (except that there were certain cultural obligations and political allegiances that it was understood could be called up in full at any moments’ notice).

As an African American, I must admit that in more than a few ways it was possible for me to feel much freer in China than in the United States. I certainly didn’t ever have to worry about being shot in the back by some speed-freak neighborhood watchman or unhinged police officer. And I slowly adjusted to not having to keep my head on a swivel if I heard loud popping sounds in a mall or crowded venue.

No, the Chinese police never bothered me. No, no shadowy state security agents ever interrogated me for my “suspicious” Americanism. No, women didn’t clutch their purse when I walked by (in the States I’ve had this happen midday, while I was wearing full business attire…). People were either ambivalent or genuinely curious to speak with me. In essence, I experienced the joys of simply being left alone by the system. Something like what I image most White Americans experience in the US. So reader, you might already know this, but I can confirm, it was GREAT!

https://i.nostrimg.com/cbdee50436016ab0554830b97b07c72510305752efce8ce6b28c42d7bb5dd1e1/file.jpeg (NGL, China had me out here feeling like this for a hot minute)

---

Super-Capitalism Is That You?

And beyond my direct personal experience, there were other observations that may seem counterintuitive. For instance, at street level, there was a kind of vivacious, raw free market-ism unlike anything you can find in the West. An ever changing flurry of ramshackle stalls and street vendors. Don’t like the sweet cherries this shop has or the owner has a bad attitude? Then leave! There’s literally 7 other sellers of the same thing on this block alone. And it was like that for most food and daily household consumer products. I could observe market price discovery for goods fluctuating daily, in real-time, sometimes even by the hour.

When I lived above a particularly boisterous commercial street I once saw someone lease a storefront for six days, fill it with heavy traditional Chinese household furniture which I was told “had gotten lost from the factory.” They blew through the inventory starting with signs advertising 20% off on day one, which progressed to 95% off in their final 12 hours of operation. They sold everything so thoroughly that I suspect they probably even sold some stuff that didn’t belong to them like the fixtures that were already in the space when they moved in.

And then, not even two weeks later, 11 days later, the exact same location was reopened as a hotpot restaurant — everything, and I mean everything, had been redone, the floors, the walls, the installation of restaurant equipment, everything. The food was delicious, but I struggled to believe that the health or fire safety inspector had approved any of it, nor that they had real permits for anything they were doing.

Were there laws and regulations on the books ostensibly to control such wildcat commercial activity? Sure, but 天高皇帝远 heaven is high and the emperor is far away, as they say. Now understand that, at street level at least, this was happening everywhere across a city of 26 million people, and then again everywhere across a country of 1.4 billion people.

https://i.nostrimg.com/bf516da1ba165f3a4d1a0694345980e43516d381b002b4e81aac49d7fdae8b6f/file.jpg (Chinese street vendors: a nigh uncontrollable wild force)

By all indications, both felt and seen, people appeared to be fully free to do business and make money while wading in the warm waters of technological modernity. Perhaps they didn’t talk about politics, but that hardly seemed to matter and no one really seemed to care.

It was easy for me to come away feeling that China was a nation of laws rather than enforcement. Maoist austerity might be signaled outwardly but inside its an open, high-octane laissez-faire free-for-all. Conversely, my own cultural history in the US suggested a place of enforcement over law. Signaling egalitarian and meritocratic piety but running on an engine of apartheid justice system, state asset forfeiture, imminent domain, and mass poisoning from Iran-Contra to Seed Oils and OxyContin.

Irrespective of the deeper reality, nothing was ever actually supposed to feel authoritarian for me during my time in China.

So what of it then? Am I here to suggest that China is some Garden of Earthly Delights while Western ideals are a brazen sham? Not so, not so. Rather, my experience brings the realization that in an authoritarian system, it all depends on who you are. And further, that such divisions are central to the maintenance of authoritarian power. I find deep relevance in this, particularly in enabling us to more fully recognize authoritarianism wherever it exists — in China, in the US, or anywhere else. Let me share another story to illustrate.

---

September 2018. Xinjiang Provence.

https://i.nostrimg.com/808dc51f3c58a37443539992c47448192cc7d05830212268e9279dae7ae7213d/file.jpg

Kashgar, Xinjiang Province. Dust and white heat. I am on a corporate boondoggle in the desert. A plus-one at a rival consulting firm’s Greater China Summit. Like Neo-liberal Wise Men, we galavant around on silk-laden camel-back, we visit the Potemkin village to congratulate ourselves on how well the local ethnics are living, we enjoy a Khan’s Kurultai of exotic roasted meats, red carpets in the sands, Oxbridge 30-under-30 Bedouins on the dunes — you could all but see the Harkonnen spice harvesters out in the distance…

https://i.nostrimg.com/41f41910466f29fd00461a0eb6014853f2af7e4bae8417b7b3068bd18213991a/file.jpg

And the whole time, we are all participating in a collective act of not-seeing the obvious police state all around us. Heavy roll gates, tire spikes, ID checks, mirrored undercarriage sweeps, and vehicle searches for the locals at every nexus of critical infrastructure — gas stations, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers. High-tech police convoys, armed foot patrols, and absurdities like bamboo-thin teenage paramilitary security guards in loose-fitting fatigues and fake Yeezys disinterestedly half-watching the public square while scrolling TikTok (called Douyin 抖音 there) on counterfeit iPhones behind their riot shields.

https://i.nostrimg.com/0af34ab4f7e3fb423ded79a2ebfab4d315d7dcba0a1b42bec19300549eaaedac/file.jpg

Out on the sands, I overhear a firm partner, a Westerner, marveling at the scale of the event wondering at what location could outdo this next year. I interject to suggest Pyongyang. He is not amused, but I certainly am. Later, just when I’m thinking I might be the only one noticing any of this, a tall Indian firm partner, a man built like rugby player, sensing that I was a company outsider (and therefor could potentially give honest answers) asks me what I think of “all of this” in a tone that immediately betrays his meaning.

“In China, I assume that wherever you can most see and feel the hand, is wherever the grip is also most tenuous,” I say. He nods in furrowed-browed approval and we leave it at that. A few months later, perhaps, the New York Times would chronicle this wild corporate exhibitionism in an absolute tear-down piece deeply critical of that firm’s (and all consulting firms) aiding and abetting of authoritarian regimes around the world...

https://i.nostrimg.com/15e19c76f0772161c1617359bcd123051840a5180bd1afe93e9737d308311156/file.jpg

In any case, the lamb roast is firing up and the evening’s next round of festivities are about begin. That’s what matters. Today was a good day in Kashgar

---

⚠️TRADE OFFER⚠️

This is how the machine works. Nothing is free. There was a near explicit trade being made. Those of us from the favored classes would ignore overhanded oppression of the disfavored out-groups and the sharper appendages of machine would ignore us in return.

https://i.nostrimg.com/a09827c69a55f04f8471abd3d4994615e7da59e07abb19f6868adae254081ba7/file.jpg

Nestled snuggly in the pleasure garden of this CCP-approved social, economic, and educational elitism, wealthy Chinese and visiting Western globalists are supposed to come away believing that what others decry as harsh authoritarianism is in fact, quite benevolent, benign, enjoyable even. From there, it requires only the tiniest of logical jumps for them to assume that their experience is most representative of the greater whole in China, because surely this must be so, right?

From such a vantage then, it becomes all befuddled monocle popping, trembly-handed tea spilling, and frazzled, indigent top-hat ruffling while looking out on any dissenting and oppressed people and wondering “Why are they so loud?”

Incentivized by the plush velour “benefits of membership” in Chinese statism, it is easy to come to view protesting voices, those struggling for justice and freedom, as dunce-hat complainers, salty haters, red-faced and tear-strewn Wojaks, or simply spiteful, back-bitting losers whose problems with the system would evaporate in short order if they just learned to follow the rules, better themselves, and fix their aberrant cultures...

And well done then! This is what the authoritarian system wants, fundamentally NEEDS— to estrange you, through a compromise of comforts, from moral rightness and to replace that with the false rightness of naked self-interest on one hand, and the threat to absolute violence on the other. O, what machines we have made!

In China, those close enough to the system to experience it as a warm embrace rather than an icy dagger are supposed to understand that it is the Uyghurs struggling against mass detention and cultural erasure who are in the wrong. Similarly, for those thusly appointed in the US, it is supposed to be all but self-evident that the same goes for African Americans struggling against mass incarceration and open-air summary executions by uniformed agents of the state.

To the authoritarian all such trouble-making peoples need to be corralled, controlled, and if required, crushed — but in the short run, they need your help to do it. It will always be done in the name of some manner of “social harmony” their doublespeak for the ossification of the status quo and the authoritarian’s power along with it.

In this world, the in-group, the favored classes, whoever they may be, by whatever lines such distinctions are drawn — class, race, sex, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation — are led to believe they are safe as the authoritarian’s well-loved and much needed allies. But in the end, in the long run, it is the biggest rugpull of all. In such a system, all are Santiago’s sheep, to be meat for the slaughter in times of need.

So how does it feel, Western Anon? What people does our system eat to ensure that you may be comfortably overfed?

And so we become attenuated to such things in so much as we are benefiting from them. Or least, we believe that we are benefiting from them. In our age of the hungry ghost nation-state, it is so very easy to look past the true nature of the thing, or even to buy into it and to project it, when it is not YOU being targeted.

But understand. This is no benevolence. That you are not being targeted — for now, today — is an active, calculated, and entirely self-interested decision on the part of the authoritarian power structure. It is nothing that can be counted on. And whether you realize it or not, it is a decision that is reassessed at every interaction. If nothing else, the pandemic has shown us all this in the starkest relief.

https://i.nostrimg.com/6749febaeb20f102847e5867ad439fa96659bc33d21a795489b40b9baee755e2/file.jpg

If you are allowed to persist in a state where you may believe that all is well, that the thing is benevolent and here to help you, it is only because it is more useful to the animal for you to remain asleep. Understand this, and ask your self — why?

And what is authoritarianism then? Fundamentally, I’ve come to understand authoritarianism as something like the grand political end-point of force. The might-equals-right heuristic at civilization scale. It is the ever-present implicit threat that going against some Big Man’s arbitrary diktat will result in violence, be its physical, economic, social or otherwise, being levied against you to bring you to heel. It is that mindless power which flows from the barrel of a gun…when you have the gun and others do not. It is the system of rulers unbounded from rules.

---

What We Must Fight

As bitcoiners, this is what we fight. In all its forms, wherever it exists. We must recognize that ALL authoritarian systems and their operators, irrespective of any apparent, surface level ideological conflicts, are in fact like brothers, arms interlocked, in the maintenance of global authoritarianism itself. The principle struggle of the new century is the people against their own governments the world over, rather than the peoples of one nation or group against those of another nation or group. Though do not put it past our current political helmsmen (and women!) to try to steer us all in that dismal direction as a means for distraction that serves their self-preservation.

Bitcoin provides a potentially very powerful tool to the people in this epochal struggle. Bitcoin enshrines a new self-evident and inalienable right — the right of every individual to be an economic actor on a fair monetary protocol. At scale, this moderates the state’s capacity to perpetrate financial violence against both the individual and the collective. With bitcoin, no one is illegal. The protocol imposes no requirements and demands no allegiances, all may transact freely, always.

Value, once obtained in bitcoin, if held securely, cannot be seized. Nor can it be stolen through the occult dark arts of currency debasement. With bitcoin the individual is empowered — able to passively opt out of a predatory financial system, able to move their wealth across borders without restriction, able to actively resist an unjust government free from the threat of total definancialization — and all are welcome.

But bitcoin is just a tool, and just one of many. Fundamentally, the people are the movement and the movement is the change. We must never forget this. We must be both active and steadfast in building the futures we want to live in. Bitcoin is just a tool, but if we use it, perhaps we can one day have freedom — without anyone's authoritarian "characteristics" this time, but perhaps still with 30% more beef.

~Moon

As always thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! In case you missed them, be sure to check out Journey Into Bitcoin 01, 02, and 03. Always more to come soon!

Follow me on twitter: Michaelyouknow

Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here are a few top notch recommendations that to me are related to elements in this piece.

Music: Something In The Way of Things (In Town), The Roots; Bulls on Parade, Rage Against the Machine; Who Will Survive in America, Kanye West

Movies: Four Hours in My Lai (1989)

Readings: City of Silence, Ma Boyang; Guantánamo’s Darkest Secret, The New Yorker

Use The Tools

Liberate your education:

libgen.is — Most books today exist on the internet, for free

Archive Today — Information wants to be free. Too much of it today sits behind absurdly extractive paywalls. (Bitcoin lightning payments can resolve this for both content users and producers)

Liberate you food: The Beef Initiative — Trade real, honest money for real, honest food

Liberate your security: DEFCAD— May you never need them but always know what tools are there

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

October 2013. New York City.

Visiting. I am shopping downtown and my card is declined. I try it again. DECLINED. I find an ATM around the corner. DECLINED. I call the bank’s fraud department. They say they can’t help me. I find the nearest branch. They say they can’t help me.

Puzzled, I think hard — I had just deposited a sizable check (signing bonus from the consulting firm that would be my post-MBA employer) into my account…could this be the issue? I hop on the subway for the long slog up to Morningside Heights, to return to the branch where I made the deposit the day before. Arriving at the branch, where yesterday they happily received my check, I am now greeted with suspicion and hostility.

“Thank you for your loyalty and congratulations on your new job” was replaced with an interrogation by the branch Asst. Mgr. — “Why did you have the check?,” “ How did you get the check?,” “Who gave you the check?…” After about 20 minutes of this, they tell me that my check is“bad.” And because of this, the money will not deposited and my account will be frozen until further notice. No further explanation is given. My protests are ignored.

At 5pm, the Asst. Mgr. goes on her 1-hour “lunch break” and I’m told that the branch manager, who I can see playing on in his phone through the glass walls of his office, is “in very important meetings” for the rest of the day. The branch closes at 6pm.

I am forced to leave, dejected and confused, the situation wholly unresolved. I have traveled cross-country to New York City to deposit my signing bonus only to find myself stranded in the Metropolis, completely cut off from my finances, and all but directly accused of check fraud by my bank.

Thank goodness I was raised to I always travel with a bit cash…

---

Gatekeeping Is An Act Of Love

I did not have a term for it then, other than perhaps wacky-mustache cartoon villainy on the part of the bank. However, I now understand that what I experienced in that moment in 2013 was definancialization.

The bank, being the omnipotent gatekeeper standing between me and my money, decided to demonstrate that it was not, actually, my money. Rather, insomuch as it was in their custody, it was their money that they just let me believe was mine for the sake of some vague social convenience.

https://i.nostrimg.com/7317a37b9682c425b9d151675cf2999cbda50a841e5f56fd13586739f361e20b/file.jpg

Without an iota of exaggeration, this bank had, literally, a direct record of every single relevant financial datapoint on my person. I am certain that there was no better body of data indicating the near statistical impossibility of me attempting check fraud than the bank’s own customer file on me — a 3LA case file couldn't have done better...

Further, this being the location serving the Columbia University community, customers showing up with large checks from marque consulting firms was undoubtedly both commonplace and frequent. And yet, for reasons unknown, I was interrogated and had my account frozen, including money completely unrelated to the check deposit. To this day, as far as I can tell, this was all because someone, somewhere inside the bank decided that they didn’t believe that I could or should have a check of such as amount from such a company.

https://i.nostrimg.com/4b080c135288e7dfc34429f93cc9699c81fa4ca02948ac2bf0602366384abbb7/file.jpg

Things were ultimately resolved the next day. But only after I showed up at opening and sat outside of the branch manager’s office for several hours. Once it was clear that I wasn't going anywhere they finally, begrudgingly decided to take a second look at my situation.

It was around the same time that an inexplicable attitudinal reversal swept though the branch and it was back to all smiles and “Thank you for your loyalty…” My account was unfrozen. They even fast tracked the entire check amount into my account, on a Friday afternoon no less — something they previously said would take 7+ business days. It was all just damage control.

I assume this was because they got internal word back that my check, was, in fact, real — making their little interrogation game woefully unnecessary, if not outright discriminatory. And because a cursory glance at my customer file suggested that I might be just the type of person with the professional reach and savvy to pursue some type of legal/media action in response. Simply put, it now behooved them to play nice.

During this entire saga, it was their schizophrenic whiplashing of behaviors that I found most bizarre and offensive. They were the Judge, Jury, and Enforcer over my finances. They had the latitude to behave with impunity — and they knew it. There was, of course, never any recognition from that bank that something objectively wrong, deeply strange, or even just wildly inconvenient had happened. I was simply left to wonder, “Why?”

https://i.nostrimg.com/c850ae09b942775a2eab07d3883005bdda2402a363633f134497ac01610fc58f/file.jpg

---

A Slow Burning Thing

Understandably, the experience left me with a deep mistrust of banks that was both specific and personal — as opposed to the general African American cultural-historical mistrust, or the popular, populist Occupy/99%/MAGA zeitgeist mistrust of the day — though it certainly helped with both of those too.

Stranded in the metropolis, completely cut off from my primary finances — all but directly accused of check fraud by my bank.

I felt that I was completely trapped. The most I could do was change banks, simply swapping one capricious Bridge Troll for another. I saw no alternatives, and so I believed there were none.

Instead, this experience marked the opening act of what I now look back on as a long, headfirst slide into financial nihilism. At the time, I was operating under the naive and Talented 10th and elitist belief that my education and corporate credentials would shield me for these kinds of “misunderstandings.” Not so, not so.

With this illusion shattered, my shock and anger manifested as a period of high-octane, consumerist mania. If access to my money rested on the benevolent grace of the bank, I was better off converting it into things that could not be so easily taken or withheld — clothes, meals, travel, experiences, collectables,— and so I did. I spent money just to prove that I could — as though it would somehow cause harm to the vain gods of retail banking who had wronged me.

https://i.nostrimg.com/787fe778cad4e400129745ed907db57a328ba8e8da2ec32b693284264acf6fbe/file.webp (BEHOLD! Blowing several thousand dollars on clothes to prove that “no one could tell me what to do with MY money!” That said, I was FLY AF at business school that Fall...)

My desire to save in the banking system took a massive hit. Over time, this morphed into lazy ambivalence, if not total disregard, for the habit altogether. Rather than extinguishing debts, or building up savings, I would go on to burn through the entirety of my bonus and almost all of my excess income during my years in consulting with absolute gusto.

https://i.nostrimg.com/ed2a117e9338301fdba38bbb0c84aa26540175ec74a6da738d05bb16355073d4/file.jpg

Widening the scope, there were certainly other contributing factors to the chaotic state of my finances in the years that followed — gambling, chief among them (but those are stories to be explored later). Regardless, this was a pivotal moment in hardening a destructive “IDGAF” / “nothing matters” approach to personal cash management that would stay with me for a long time.

---

Missing Bitcoin

Reflecting back, this was easily my biggest “bitcoin miss” — a situation where present bitcoiners imagine how fabulously wealthy we might be if we had just understood bitcoin back then. Bitcoin certainly did exist in October 2013. In fact, it was sitting around 200 USD per coin and would hit 1000 USD a month later.

But alas, I had not even heard about bitcoin yet. And even if I had, my reaction to my bank’s malfeasance probably would have been aping into bitcoin on Mt Gox only to be obliterated by an even more devastating loss when that exchange collapsed in February of 2014. Truly, I shudder to think what that might have done to my psyche at the time.

So I “missed” bitcoin and my financial disillusionment would continue on. And It wasn’t just the situation with the bank, it was everything. Even long after I had shaken off my initial rage at being temporarily unbanked, I still chose not save. Though I couldn’t fully articulate it, I felt the act of saving to be pointless in the face of the ever-ascending price tags of the trappings of “responsible” Boomerist adulthood.

Homeownership, a “respectable” (re: large and expensive) wedding ceremony, and the cost of raising even one child through to college all seemed laughable financial fantasies to me — even if, on my earnings, this should not have necessarily been the case. Once I had accepted these things as impossible, my mind made them real…

And while there are plenty of criticisms that can be lobbed my way — after all, my personal financial mismanagement during this time was just that, personal— the recognition of personal responsibility does not erase the truth about the regressive behavioral incentives that our present distorted money system imposes on people.

Such is the nature of financial nihilism — why should I sacrifice to save or plan for things that I did not believe were achievable? I could see myself living the carefree, mobile, and high-cashflow consulting lifestyle perpetually in the now but I could not see how even that would afford any type of stable, rooted future afterwards. In that state, living high on the hog, nestled snuggly in rented comforts, was the end unto itself.

https://i.nostrimg.com/15b36a2297e115d9863e4263d5973e6ac7db349a5c01131b20b7e8cc713142a0/file.webp

---

How's Your Trading Going, King?

For many American Millennials, adult life has been an endless mad scramble to surf the Kali Yuga as the world careens from one mind-melting and testicle/ovary-shattering calamity to the next. 9/11, Byzantine wars in the desert, financial collapse, The Great Recession, global pandemic—each of these events obliterating whatever meager economic gains we might have made in the interim.

https://i.nostrimg.com/737258af9667eedd9faf8b3dd1eb3a029aa76aaf84373e1b131272a7d79eebfb/file.jpg

And, of course, the answer to each of these “once in a century” events has been to create ever more money to keep the music going. In parallel, every cash-rich Boomer with two brain cells, a generous pension, and the assurance of comfortable social security has raced to the exits to get out of dollars and into stocks and real-estate. Layer on an explosion of loose credit and a self-referential flywheel emerges — and it becomes easy, convenient actually, to believe that these two asset classes “alway go up.”

Such has been the experience of Millennials, Gen Z, and anyone counting themselves in the dwindling middle class — from 2002–2022 median home price has increased from 182,000 USD to over 450,000 USD, while median salary has only increased from 42,000 USD to 54,000 USD during the same period. Being the people, who as a group, command the lowest income and own the least homes or corporate equities, we have been forced to sit by, watching in numb, glass-eyed stupor as this asset inflation — and now just regular ol’ price inflation — rockets ever-skywards.

For those lacking the excess capital for property and stock investments, this dynamic is a regressive tax that favors immediate consumption to maximize declining purchasing power over savings, resulting in extreme financial fragility. And for those fortunate enough to afford significant investments, they are still incentivized to chase evermore speculative investments (which are often just toxic malinvestments themselves) and/or to join an increasingly parasitic rentier class just to beat inflation.

This is how FOMOing into objectively absurd “stonks” like Peloton or Zoom gets to be hailed as “making your money work for you!” How extractive landlordism (i.e. allocating newly created money to yourself via preferential loans, using that money to collectively drive up home prices, and then turning around to bleed rents out of the very people for whom your previous actions have made homeownership cost-prohibitive) becomes lauded as “F.I.R.E — Financial Independence, Retire Early!” And why blowing all your income on Cheesecake Factory, vape pens, and vacationing Tulum on credit is cool because of that one time Drake said “You Only Live Once!”

Despite whatever appearances to the contrary may be, people, generally speaking, are not stupid. Most people simply react to incentives. Many “irrational” human social behaviors are, at least minimally rational responses to irrational or perverse incentives — it is Charlie Munger’s “If you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes” at scale.

Though I couldn’t fully articulate it, I felt the act of saving to be pointless…

Given this, we should all understand that our society’s present fetish towards speculation, rent-seeking, and over-consumption on debt are the more rational choices when money — the money that most of us have to work for — can be freely and infinitely created out of thin air and saving is perpetually debased. If the only expected return on the activity of saving is reduced future purchasing power, it should be no wonder that so few in our society engage in it. Perversely, in most cases today, one would have to be "stupid" to save...

https://i.nostrimg.com/8f266ac8fd7b13dd5888a3a85984f670ce9f29aca834199f9efba8ee6cd39352/file.webp

And note, I do not mean to disparage stock or property investment as a rule. There is a role for them in any healthy economy. However that role is certainly not to be a proxy for stable money. Yet this is how both are presently being leveraged in our economy, our society, and in our minds.

The rush into housing and stocks is simply a function of people seeking to trade infinite fiat or things that they believe are more scarce or will generate returns. This creates an artificial “monetary premium” in these assets — a portion of price existing only because the asset is being used as a substitute for money. And this momentary premium has now become wholly confused with the “real value” of the asset just as “saving” and “investment” have taken on interchangeable meaning for the average person.

Consider now if technological advancements enabled a new, truly scarce, infinitely divisible, uninflatable, permissionless global money to emerge organically from zero…

Eventually the very same people running up home prices and stock valuations would realize that there is no shortage of land and housing can always be build upwards, that stocks can always be diluted, and that control over either can be rescinded by decree — as we learned from Robinhood/Gamestop and renter (but not mortgage) forgiveness in 2021. And when this realization does happen, if such a new truly scarce, infinitely divisible, uninflatable, permissionless global money does exist, that is where they will turn…

---

The Long Way Home

In all, I would take 8 long years before I finally came to a deeper understanding of bitcoin — the meantime was spent floating through the hazy morass of working extremely hard and making “good” money but never really getting ahead. At absolute best I was treading water and at worse I was just sinking more slowly than some of those with whom I might be compared…Understanding bitcoin has completely changed all of this for me. Bitcoin fixes this.

First, bitcoin makes definancialization much more difficult. Gone is the worry that the bank, because I violate someone’s preconceived notions of who should or should not not have money, would be successful in an endeavor to cut me off from access to / control over my stored wealth. Bitcoin, unlike money in the bank, or even homes & property, cannot be seized or frozen by writ by a hostile actor — whether company or state or fellow man.

Second, bitcoin restores the act and objective of saving. As a saver, bitcoin allows me to project wealth into the future with full confidence against debasement. I can rest assured that any amount of bitcoin I own will always be x/21,000,000 of whatever total value humanity has decided to store in bitcoin. Shielded from the grift of monetary manipulation, I am freed to think and act longer term and I am unbound from pressures to speculate, gamble, rent-seek or worse, simply to avoid falling behind.

Finally, bitcoin provides a deep wellspring of renewed hope for the future. Grand or utopian as it may sound, I can certainly say that the statement rings true for myself and many other bitcoiners I know. Its not that bitcoin magically solves all of our problems, rather it is that bitcoin demands a fundamental change in worldview. Once we are freed to store wealth securely for the future, we come to a fuller realization that it is the more fragile things in life, the things that get discounted by the demands of the fiat rat race — family, community, relationships, reputation, ethics, stewardship, truth — are most important. Buttressed by the benefits that bitcoin provides, we feel energized to set about pursuing, building, repairing, and protecting these things. And we can more easily see that most other things simply don’t actually matter.

They say that bitcoin passes you twice. First as a party boat, then as a lifeboat.

https://i.nostrimg.com/e94a68ddf9338b829a7390086d73ec3b5b4b7a313fb3a932a15a79dd06926609/file.webp

---

A Fire In The Master's House Is Set

Finally, in closing, I’d like to provide the real life, stunning conclusion of what happened with the bank, or at least the branch, from my story.

A few months later, I received a middle of the night call from a lawyer friend in New York with whom I had discussed the situation. I pick up the line and the first words out of his mouth are “Where are you right now?” Once I assured him that I was not in New York, nor had I been in months, he shares — I shit you not — “That branch. Where you had that problem. Well, it all but BURNED TO THE GROUND...”

https://i.nostrimg.com/52d0421791887f8b6ecabecd9caf0fca1715e64bfd8aa5d0ac9feabc6b60a8d6/file.jpg

In fact, it was a 6-alarm fire, of some still apparently unexplained origin, that raged for nearly 30 hours, gutting the building completely from top to bottom. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries and the fire didn’t cause any major damage to the adjacent apartments or businesses. But man, what a way to go out! I feel like there’s a lesson in here somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you what it is...

https://i.nostrimg.com/4200d23b9494f7402f5e974bee3ee16bc90d095744bb181abfd36c52e4898366/file.jpg

In case you missed them, be sure to check out Journey Into Bitcoin 01 and 02. As always thank you for your time to read and engage. More on the way!

Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here are a few top notch recommendations that, to me, relate to elements in this piece.

Books: The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho; The Fiat Standard, Saifedean Ammous

Music: Liberation, Outkast; Poetic Justice, Kendrick Lamar; New Millennium Homes, Rage Against The Machine

USE THE TOOLS: I believe that every person with exposure to bitcoin should have a fundamental minimum skillset that includes the ability to manage 1) self-custody and 2) buying/selling bitcoin permissionlessly. Here are some helpful resources:

Robosats: P2P bitcoin exchange using Lightning over TOR (pro-tip, use gift cards as your method of exchange for maximum privacy)

Bisq: P2P bitcoin exchange over TOR desktop app

A Final Though

It is dangerous and naive to assume that centralized exchanges and banks will always be there to allow retail users to buy and sell bitcoin. If and as the prevailing government-corporate power structure feels threatened by bitcoin, this may change.

Governments may shut down or seize bitcoin from centralized exchanges, and banks may block consumer transactions that they believe are related to bitcoin under the guise of “consumer protection.”.

Bitcoin is often a tool that you don’t know you need, UNTIL YOU NEED IT. But when you do need it, you REALLY need it and you better hope you can get your hand on some. The same can be doubly said for holding bitcoin in self-custody and knowing how to buy/sell bitcoin permissionlessly. USE THE TOOLS.

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

December 2017. Shanghai.

It is mid-December 2017. In Shanghai. And I have just fallen victim to a crypto rug-pull scam.

A few days prior, I had been recruited into an “enthusiasts” WeChat group (WeChat is China’s premier social app, think FB + IG + CashApp, all in one, and then in Mandarin) for a Chinese crypto token. A friendly-faced Laowai (China’s half endearing, half slur for foreigners, particularly, white foreigners) had approached me at Cages Bar — a uniquely Chinese oddity of a place, a sprawling “American Sports” themed bar complex and a haunt for lost Westerners of all sorts — to share the good news.

This new friend, managed to sell me that this token would be the Honest-to-God FUTURE of supply-chain traceability. And what luck! Through meeting him, I was to join a group of favored insiders, privy to pre-market information on this earth-shaking new technology. Even luckier was that I was joining this group mere days before the project’s “biggest announcement ever” which was sure to send prices “to the moon.” It all sounded so very exciting!

Fast forward three days. The announcement has just dropped, token prices are moving quickly and parabolically to the upside across exchanges. Except for Binance. Where all of us in the group had our tokens. Inexplicably, Binance goes down at the EXACT moment when this news is released — “Due to recent increase in user growth, Binance will be preforming a system upgrade shortly after 2017/12/18 10:00 AM (UTC).

The upgrade will take approximately 20 minute” their message reads. Simultaneously, on another exchange, a whale (massive token holder, capable of single-handedly moving the market) liquidates several million dollars worth of tokens. By the time Binance is up and running again, the token is on a similarly parabolic price collapse. Never to recover.

I can confidently say that it is by such magic, one may turn several thousand dollars into several tens of dollars in mere days, or perhaps even just minutes!

Welcome to Shanghai! Welcome to Crypto!…I guess…

---

The School of Rug-pull Fundamentals

Here, I received a foundational lesson in the mechanism of “crypto." Specifically, rug-pull scam 101 - by which nefarious but convincing crypto marketeers target technologically ignorant retail “investors” to be the exit liquidity for the project founders and earliest backers.

The WeChat “enthusiast” group I had joined was nothing but a pump and dump shop. The group members, rather than being privileged insiders were full-on dupes - serving as both free marketing hype and the exit dumping ground for the project founders. Peer-pressure, social proof, and faux camaraderie were applied by the truckload to induce us to promote the token and to bring in others, yet when the time came, we all found ourselves locked out of the party by forces seemingly far above and well beyond our comprehension. And this is when the real insiders exited.

https://i.nostrimg.com/a91530006a6070b14fcc935e4c88db7640f27b92df86e5f7ad1b015978265d06/file.jpg

However, on that brisk Shanghai winter evening in 2017, I knew none of this. I was the worst, or rather the best kind of mark — the kind with enough broad educational and professional achievements as to be very self-assured in their own intelligence while also being completely oblivious to their area-specific ignorance and inexperience - particularly on this "new" technology, called "the blockchain."

That I was possessing of such qualifications should surprise no one who has ever worked with management consultants. At the time, I was one — bright-eyed and bushy tailed, newly minted on a full-time international assignment to China. In reality though, the depth of the information asymmetry arrayed against me in this situation was tantamount to me having negative information while fully believing that I was some kind of anointed insider. What fun!

So how did I get here? Well...

---

Borderless

I landed in Shanghai in January of 2017, a stranger in a strange land. My arrival in Shanghai uncovered an interesting problem. A few months in, I realized that all of my money was sitting in RMB, in a Chinese bank account, yet I still had financial obligations in the United States, dominated in USD, along with a fast-dwindling USD account balance to support these obligations...

It was at this time that I discovered that the process to transfer money outside of China was arcane - requiring at least two months of planning, several trips to the Chinese tax authority, reams of paperwork, AND support from an internationally accredited employer. In short, a bureaucratic dog-and-pony show replete with unnecessary but entirely purposeful friction and obfuscation. But such is the squarely anti-free market Great Game of big-power nation capital controls.

It was this problem that spurred my first contact with bitcoin. I was searching for the best and most efficient way to transfer money to myself across borders. This eventually brought me to various articles and YouTube videos about bitcoin. From there, I got a Coinbase account (which worked in the China at the time), linked my bank account, and figured out LocalBitcoins - through which I could buy bitcoin peer-to-peer in RMB, and then transfer that bitcoin back into USD.

FUN FACT: While bitcoin had already been “banned” by the Chinese government several times by 2017, it was still legal to trade p2p. Also the largest RMB-for-bitcoin sellers on LocalBitcoins all appeared to be Africans. And I mean to the tune of thousands of bitcoin moved volumes. It would seem that perhaps large Chinese bitcoin holders may have been using Africans as plausible deniability frontmen to move in and out of large sums of bitcoin over Chinese social payment rails. The More You Know!

https://i.nostrimg.com/d97d6f67fb3db44d0fd38cc36059156c2cf7f07ea3de3fbec3902b9741c2603e/file.jpg

And just like that, I managed to Forrest Gump my way right into one of the most relevant, important, revolutionary — and in the West, overlooked — use cases for bitcoin - making money borderless, facilitating international value transfer in a way that completely obviates the rent-seeking artifice of arbitrary financial controls. But for all of that, I still couldn't see it. I was happy with what bitcoin did for me in that moment, but I failed to see any larger implications - I thought of it a novel, but certainly not anything ground-breaking. Further, my trust in the system was still too strong - believing on some deep level that the banks, both Chinese and US, truly wanted to help me but where beholden to cumbersome processes and regulations imposed on them from above.

Even in this very first exposure to bitcoin, it addressed a real and pressing problem for me and dramatically improved freedom of access and utility of my money - allowing me to transfer money back my USD bank account on-demand. I had a problem. Bitcoin fixed it. And all of the villagers rejoiced! …Or they would have if that had been the end of it. But as fate would have it, my first brush with bitcoin also coincided with the breakout of the wild 2017 bitcoin & crypto bull market run.

Initially, I just bought a bit of bitcoin to solve a problem and thought little of it. But when the bitcoin price started to take off (aka Number Go Up, or “NgU” in internet parlance), I had to take another look. But this time, I would be caught in the balmy, Icarian up-currents of tech speculation and good old fashioned get-rich-quick greed. But, me — I was in it for the technology, of course...

https://i.nostrimg.com/323487be17ae780a21f52519c995569f1794df55b02c796d666fa24147f37990/file.jpg

---

All My New Friends

And so, I began to research bitcoin and then "crypto" more deeply. In so doing, I “learned” that while bitcoin was “the father of all cryptos,” it was actually “old” technology. Bitcoin was slow, environmentally wasteful, limited in capability, and destined to be overtaken by newer, “better,” cryptocurrency technologies such as Ethereum or XRP. Knowing no better, I accepted these silly falsehoods, convincing myself that bitcoin’s core value was simply its tenure. Being more established, bitcoin was just a marginally less volatile asset in a sea of horrendously volatile, and otherwise interchangeable, crypto tokens.

But there was opportunity here too, I sensed. The real innovation in the space, I believed, would ultimately be led by other projects. That being the case, my incentive then was to “study the space and place calculated bets" (an MBA euphemism for wild-eyed speculation). Why hold onto Bitcoin’s AOL, when Ethereum is clearly going to be crypto’s Google? With any new technology, the first mover is always overtaken by a more innovative copy-cat, right?? RIGHT???

Moreover, I was desperately in need of Western friends. And knowing I’d find them in droves wherever there was speculative money to be had, I dived headlong into the Shanghai “crypto scene.” On the standard “Hero’s Journey” this is where a mysterious but benevolent, Gandalf-like mentor would have appeared to shepherd me through the peaks, valleys, and pitfalls of this new space. Obviously, this is not what happened. Instead, over freeium beers in the vaunted Millennial Chic common areas of so many Shanghai WeWork offices, I would meet some of the most colorful characters of my time in China...

A whip-smart but spectacularly sketchy Baltic fellow of significant, though indeterminate means who argued that any blockchain project that managed to successfully prevent supply chain malfeasance who see the project founders dismembered by some Eastern European mafia. Only half-jokingly, he suggested, at his direction.

A Middle Eastern “precious metals trader” who I later ascertained was probably more akin to a conflict minerals smuggler looking to use excitement and ignorance around “traceability on the blockchain” to wash his wares.

A South Asian “crypto-entrepreneur” who claimed to have a method, leveraging "blockchain technology," to swap large sums of physically delivered Chinese cash (think suitcases full of red bills) into infrastructure investment projects in Myanmar.

Several personally modest but obviously wealthy South American scions riding out political instability in their home countries while funneling money into ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings - crypto's answer to IPOs) with reckless abandon.

An American who shared, unsolicited, his pre-China 3LA (Three Letter Agency) background at first meeting, though I suspect he may have been telling a dangerous and stupid lie.

An obvious sex-kompromat honey-pot Chinese couple who described themselves as “crypto-observes” and who were, at a minimum, actually gathering intelligence for something. Fit and flirty in a way suggestive of some kind of open-door polyamory, and a little too fluent in English. Seemingly at every event and always hugged up onto any Westerner that seemed to be gaining influence in the space.

And finally the long tail of Moonboys (idiot gamblers who fashion themselves tech/investment mavens), minor conmen, “cross-border currency arbitrage” consultants, LBH (Loser Back Home) English teachers, broke college students, and an ever shifting menagerie of hypemen-simps riding the coattails of Shanghai's laowai crypto-influencer of the week.

It was in this fast-moving and footloose “Anything goes and we’re all gunna get rich AF!” environment that the December supply-chain token “opportunity” appeared to me. And of course, dazzled by fantasies of instant and meteoric crypto wealth, I went for it and I got burned right along with all the other Lambo-chasing chumps.

I was the worst, or rather the best kind of mark — the kind with enough broad educational and professional achievements as to be very self-assured in their own intelligence while also being completely oblivious to their area-specific ignorance and inexperience.

But in retrospect it could have been far worse. I could have put more money into the rug-pull or it could have been a straight-up wallet draining scam. And while I still had miles to go and years of learning ahead of me before fully eschewing “shitcoining” (the act of buying non-bitcoin crypto tokens in a state of deeply degenerative and highly speculative mania), this experience did, thankfully, give me the frame of reference to avoid further, similar insider malfeasance going forward…for the most part...

https://i.nostrimg.com/4e999806bd57e4e57c710234b2970597cb8aec37c9b5afa57d175e6e5bbc0c8e/file.jpg

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Do Cryptos Dream of Electric Stupidity?

The silver lining here was that the speculative extremes and clearly questionable mental acuity of some of my new “crypto friends” gave me pause and cautioned me to anchor, relatively speaking anyways, to rationality and search for truth, as my consultant training so demanded. Though, I cannot in say good faith that this was intended in an entirely ethical or altruistic way at the time... After all, the fundamental role of a management consultant is to understand the truth more deeply than others so that you may choose when to best reveal or obscure it for social, political, and or economic gain — especially when you've assessed that you significantly outclass those around you intellectually.

That said, being an American (and so legally barred for participating in many ICOs) and a rare résumé on the scene, I came to be viewed - hilariously - as something of “the adult in the room,” to some. I would even eventually even sit down with a few founders to advise on their well-intentioned but deeply flawed and over-engineered crypto projects...

As I rode the 2017 bull-market wave up and then back down again (and where greed intervened to prevent me from selling the top, or even at a relative top), my perspective on the space matured.

Why couldn’t anyone articulate what actual, real-world problem their project was solving?

Why were so many projects’ assumptions around token usage (and therefore value) based on artificial needs that the project protocol itself created, or worse, inexplicably bizarre misunderstandings of incentive-driven human behavior?

Even the most lucid and well-presented project I encountered was still predicated on several other paradigm shattering technologies coming to the fore. They may as well have ended their pitch with “And as you can see here — when SkyNet, teleportation, Replicator, and Lightsaber technology all reach ubiquitous global scale (and we project this happening by Q3 2021 ± 3 mo) our protocol will be poised to capture MAXIMUM value, etc etc…”

The entire space came to resemble an unironically earnest masterclass in absurdity. Because that is, ultimately, what it was. And so, I developed expertise in tearing crypto white papers apart over their gibbering technical Esperanto and nonsense logic, ideally, in front of as many people as possible.

I made no attempt to hide my annoyance at every new project’s “graphic salad” or “Flying Spaghetti Monster” tech stack representation, alway a meaningless clownshow of sleek-designed neon-pastel toned boxes, cylinders, arrows, and lines indicating some much "obvious value."

https://i.nostrimg.com/89115440530a88c59e8358e3f8fbf95369f0e1490591455a2565da0f55d43606/file.jpg

I came to regard every crypto project as, at absolute best, a solution looking for a problem. A viewpoint that still holds to this day. No “cryptocurrency expert” I’ve spoken with, no matter how well-educated or well-meaning, has ever been able to articulate to me how a given “blockchain” solution solves any real (non-speculative, non-gambling, non-financial crimes based) problem better than existing solutions, imperfect as those may be.

Anything goes and we’re all gunna get rich AF!

But most of all, I was perturbed because we had very much not gone “to the moon.” If anything, my crypto holdings seemed to be, boldly, charting a path for the Marianas Trench, perhaps an equally ambitious though categorically different feat.

This disillusionment with “crypto” though healthy in retrospect, unfortunately also spawned an apathy towards bitcoin, what would ultimately become a long pause that significantly slowed my bitcoin understanding.

If there was any mentor in this situation, it was the market itself, all cruel vagaries, malicious intent, and so many rows of glistening, blood-stained teeth. As the long 2018–2019 crypto winter set in, defeated and financially depleted, I, like so many others, assumed (rightly) that crypto was a scam and (wrongly) that bitcoin was “dead.” I resolved myself to let go of all expectations so that I might be pleasantly surprised if the bitcoin price ever, for some unfathomable reason, did recover.

How could I have known how many unfathomable things would transpire both in the world and in my own life by the time that this would actually come to pass…

比特币死了！比特币万岁！(Bitcoin is dead! Long live Bitcoin!)

Thanks so much for reading Part 02 of my story! I look forward to any comments or feedback, it brightens my day and inspires me to keep writing! And in case you missed it, you can read Journey Into Bitcoin 01 here.

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Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here are a few top notch recommendations that to me are related to elements in this piece.

Music: Can’t Con an Honest John, The Streets; Dip, Young Fathers; Everything Is Recorded, Everything Is Recorded

Movies: No Man’s Land (2013), Shang-Chi (2021), The Message (2009)

If you’re ever in Shanghai: Sober Company (fine dining, 4 bars concepts at venue, 1 is hidden), Speak Low (Shanghai’s original speakeasy), The Odd Couple (East Meets West Pac-Man Bar)

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

April 2021. Honolulu.

It is early evening now. In a few minutes, the sun will set over Ala Moana beach, a short distance west of where I am. My apartment, on the 11th floor, overlooks the Ala Wai canal at the corner of McCully — always traffic, always sound. My balcony’s sliding doors and jalousie windows are open, a salty breeze filters in as the low sun casts a golden glow over the south face of the Ko’olau Mountains in the distance and the city of Honolulu in the fore.

But for me, in this moment...I am hunched over my laptop, intently focused on the open brokerage page in front of me. I press “Confirm,” instantly selling all of the stock in my personal investment account. When the money clears into my bank account, I convert it all into bitcoin and then move it into cold storage.

Today, I have become a bitcoiner.

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Origins

This was my personal “Bitcoin Moment.” The moment when I realized that, even with the most conservative outlook, there is basically no other “investment” that I could make that will deliver anything close to the returns I expect from bitcoin over the next 20–30+ years. Embracing this understanding, this was my moment of stepping over the threshold, remorselessly going "all-in." Selling off assets (stock) that almost everyone — from my most educated and accomplished friends, to my mother, to the random Spring Breaker from Jacksonville stumbling down the Waikiki strip — would (and at different points, did) tell me to hold, in order to increase exposure to bitcoin - which they felt was unacceptably risky, if not an outright scam.

Today, my views have evolved even further from that moment. I no longer think of bitcoin as an investment, because bitcoin is not an investment. Bitcoin is money. Full stop. And therefore, the act of holding bitcoin is saving. I no longer think in terms of USD returns on bitcoin, as this implies an intention to sell. Instead, I now think in terms of value capture, purchasing power per satoshi (the smallest unit of a bitcoin — as there are 100 pennies to a dollar, there are 100M satoshis to 1 bitcoin). In my present view, that dollars, or euros, or yuan — all of which are functionally infinite — can be traded for bitcoin, which is absolutely finite, is simply a lucky quirk of happenstance. The great fortunate of randomly coming into an understanding of bitcoin at time when the market misunderstanding of this new money is still so gross that anyone would willingly part with bitcoin in exchange for government currency.

But let me not get ahead of myself. My present bullishness on bitcoin is not what's important here — my feelings about bitcoin will be examined in stride throughout the writings to come. Rather, what I am interested in here is the journey, “how the heck did I arrive at my 'Bitcoin Moment' in the first place?”

This is the question that has captured my mind and now inspires me to write, to examine my own long and meandering path to "becoming a bitcoiner." For instance, I mark my bitcoiner awakening as April 2021 — but then again, maybe that’s not entirely right — did I actually become a bitcoiner in that moment, or had I already been one in many core ways (perhaps even in ways that I did not realize) and I just came to the discovery of this pre-existing personal truth? Was it an act of becoming OR, rather an act of committing to being a bitcoiner? And then what does it even mean, to be a bitcoiner? Is this even an appropriate question to ask?

I no longer think of bitcoin as an investment, I think of it as savings

Attempting to answer, or at a minimum, engage with, these questions has kicked off an experiment of deep introspection, an exercise of peeling back the onion, and untangling the thread of my own life up to this point. It has required self-reflection on foundational lessons from childhood, deconstruction of habits of mind from my education and upbringing, examinations of professional experiences and group associations, questions of identity, specifically being an African American in a global world, insights from far-flung travel both abroad and here at home (the US), and rumination on so many near misses — when I could have “gotten” bitcoin much earlier had it existed then or had my views on things been juuust so slightly different.

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Clubhouse Bitcoining

While not the starting point of my engagement with bitcoin, I can say unequivocally that catching ‘The Clubhouse Moment” from Jan 2021 onward, was a particularly formative experience.

For future reader's Clubhouse is/was a VoIP group chat mobile app. A literal chat room, seemingly bringing the entire internet full circle from text-only chat rooms of the dial-up AOL days. Clubhouse launched in the deepest point of the US COVID pandemic/hysteria an scaled an break-neck speed, filling the wailing void of lost human interaction in everyone's totally collapsed and locked-down social lives.

Through Clubhouse, I was able to first observe, then engage with, and finally join one of the most varied, talented, resourceful, deeply interesting, and utterly strange groups of people I’ve ever had the great fortune to associate with — bitcoiners. Intelligent to the point of wild arrogance, studied to the point of oddness, traveled to the point of weird suspicion, insightful to the point of deep disquiet, convicted to the point of cultish religiosity, accomplished to the point of well-warranted disbelief, honest to the point of seeming bizarre, edge to the point of being fringe.

I do not mean any of the above as harsh criticism or insult, in fact quite the opposite. On the 9-box Alignment System chart, bitcoiners are the Chaotic Column...and usually the “Chaotic Good”. If there were a Bitcoiner’s Mantra, it would be something like “Do no harm…unless they deserve it.” With bitcoiners you find a paradoxical union of unique, even freakish individual strangeness, with equally strange (as compared to “normal society” or "normieland" as we say), yet broadly shared positive ethical standards that makes distributed, and even anonymous, trust possible between counterparties — both economically and, increasingly, socially. In all, I’d assess that everyone I’ve encountered who really “gets” bitcoin is 3–5 standard deviations out from the norm on some characteristic or another…again, usually, in a good way.

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Oh, What a Time to Be Alive

To me, this is a pattern that is simply too fascinating to ignore. To have any real understanding of bitcoin today, even as bitcoin is already more than 14 years old, is incredibly strange in its own right. That so many who have acquired this still extremely niche understanding should also be so abnormal as to be outstanding suggests to me that the two may be connected in some way. I truly believe that future society will look back and deem that to have gained clear-headed understanding of bitcoin pre-mass adoption (or “hyperbitcoinization”), is to be deserving of study. I certainly believe this — right now, today. That said, having neither the means nor the general inclination to travel into the Escheresque mouth of madness that would be required of a broad psychographic study of present day bitcoiners, what I can contribute, however, is an open examination of my own story. My Journey into Bitcoin.

Every bitcoiner, like Batman or The Joker, has an “origin story.” It is such a common trope in the community that many bitcoin conferences will have a panel dedicated entirely to 4 or 5 people sharing their origin stories while simultaneously riffing new insights off of each other in real time. If you are a bitcoiner already, consider yourself very, very lucky. It doesn’t matter if you became a bitcoiner in 2010, 2017, 2021, or 10 minutes ago. We are incredibly early, and it takes an almost magical, borderline metaphysical series of events in life to have come to a grounded understanding of bitcoin where we are today. If you understand bitcoin today, you’ve been through a giant plinko game where everything had to go exactly right, to place you out on the extreme tail. This is why it is not totally unreasonable and not entirely unhinged when many bitcoiners say “bitcoin found me, not the other way around.” I, for one, absolutely feel this way.

That so many who have acquired this still extremely niche understanding should also be so abnormal as to be outstanding suggests to me that the two may be connected in some way

Bitcoiners constantly say that the most important thing one must do over the next 10–20 years is simply “hodling” (i.e. acquiring bitcoin, holding in secure self custody, and not selling). However, I believe its must more than that. If we intend to hold our bitcoin successfully over the long-term, it becomes critically important to understand how and why we each, individually, got here to be in this conversation now. Self-discovery, self-awareness, self-confidence, and the resulting self-actualization are essential input to self-sovereignty. And individual self-sovereignty is the foundation for the sovereign families and sovereign communities that we must set about creating if we want bitcoin, and far more pressingly, the very concept to individual rights and freedoms to mean anything against the very real threat of an ever-more atomized and digitally-enclosed future.

How can we build if we don’t understand, and when necessary, repair and strengthen, our own foundations?

So now, inspired but the likes of Cryptograffti and Brekkie von Bitcoin, artists who share the process of their art with BT (Bitcoin Twitter), I hope to make my exercise of writing an open experience. I look forward to comments and feedback from other bitcoiners or anyone interested enough to read and engage, bitcoiner or not. Most of all, I hope the examination of my story may inspire others to share their stories and to engage with their own self-discovery more deeply through the lens of how bitcoin, and the bitcoin community, has impacted their lives.

Thank you for making it this far, I am truly humbled. This is only the beginning. More to come soon!

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Postscript

In the spirit of inter/multi-disciplinary bitconery, here a few top notch recommendations that are on my mind. Would love to hear some of yours!

Music: Plantasy, Resavior; Esc(Holding Back), Model Man; Darling, Esbe

Books: The 7th Property, Eric Yakes; The Paper Menagerie, Ken Liu; The Alchemist, Coelho

If you’re ever in Honolulu: Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden, Valley of the Temples, Tane Vegan Izakaya, The Blind Ox, Lanikai Beach

@ 5ada3677:7c21c9db

差不多每天赴一座古城，中世紀古城，daytrip，日帰り，當天來回的小旅行。為每一座古城長噓短嘆驚艷不已，這是我半輩子裡，去了最多古城的一段日子，不能更過癮，不能更感慨。

如此一日復一日地逛古城，考驗腳力，更考驗腦力。營養太豐富，真真來不及消化，用力行走，用力看很多書和影像惡補自己。

這些城，查查資料，在wikipedia上，前世今生大多一頁都沒有寫滿，中文資料常常只有幾行字。靠包子查西班牙文的資料，翻譯給我一些。

古一點的，相當於我們的宋朝；近一點的，相當於我們的明朝。

Bergara，貝爾格拉，人口15000僅僅。下車往城中走，正是中午休息時間，行人寥寥。迎面過來一枚中年男，看見我，很愉快地站下來，眉飛色舞朝我說了一大段。我文盲的苦，只能微微笑過去。包子走過來，才聽明白，人家問我，你們覺得，我們足球隊裡的日本球員，久保建英，踢得好不好？

原來如此，是把我們母子當成日本人了。我們聊了幾句足球，西班牙北方的巴斯克人最熱愛的運動之一。英超二十支球隊，裡面倒有三個主教練是巴斯克人，根據去年的資料。

巴斯克人的真誠友好，幾乎是舉世聞名的，包子說選擇此地居住，這個也是很重要的原因。某年夏天，他走朝聖之路，路過Bilbao，看見地鐵裡，上來一輛嬰兒車，人人伸手幫忙的樣子，一下子印象深刻得不得了。這些天我們在古城內外晃，也看到老人搭車沒有零錢，馬上有老阿姨挺身而出幫忙買車票請老人安心坐車。

一家心理醫生

當年的科學院

修道院的門

回來講Bergara。

走十分鐘，到古城中心，然後就寸步難行了，一步一景，壯麗得脖子都酸了，舉著手機長噓短嘆啊啊啊，城中教堂的大鐘敲得噹噹的。

此地有一座至今美好的科學院，電燈泡裡用到的鎢絲，是此地的科學家發現的。

一座至今活著的修道院，十五世紀的，沉靜穩重，芬芳如夏日玫瑰。灰衣白巾的修女嬤嬤，於烈日裡飄過。西班牙一些女孩子，受到好的教育，至今是通過修道院系統。

看完古城中心，我們爬一點山坡，半山腰上古樹參天的園子裡，躺下來，體會「人閒桂花落」以及「鳥鳴山更幽」。

很奇怪，常常在歐洲的景致裡，想起唐詩和宋詞。

如此小城，海報水平很高，商標水平很高。

夏日拾珠系列在這裡

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nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3exq6nxdfexqerzdejqyt8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskueqzypdd5dnhrpllqf9re6ne06y7rnytd8mqnxjq56u0v3xnkqnuy8yakqcyqqq823cawzeyh
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@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

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purchase purity purpose purse push put puzzle pyramid quality quantum quarter question quick quit quiz quote rabbit raccoon race rack radar radio rail rain raise rally ramp ranch random range rapid rare rate rather raven raw razor ready real reason rebel rebuild recall receive recipe record recycle reduce reflect reform refuse region regret regular reject relax release relief rely remain remember remind remove render renew rent reopen repair repeat replace report require rescue resemble resist resource response result retire retreat return reunion reveal review reward rhythm rib ribbon rice rich ride ridge rifle right rigid ring riot ripple risk ritual rival river road roast robot robust rocket romance roof rookie room rose rotate rough round route royal rubber rude rug rule run runway rural sad saddle sadness safe sail salad salmon salon salt salute same sample sand satisfy satoshi sauce sausage save say scale scan scare scatter scene scheme school science scissors scorpion scout scrap screen script scrub sea search season seat second secret section security seed seek segment select sell seminar senior sense sentence series service session settle setup seven shadow shaft shallow share shed shell sheriff shield shift shine ship shiver shock shoe shoot shop short shoulder shove shrimp shrug shuffle shy sibling sick side siege sight sign silent silk silly silver similar simple since sing siren sister situate six size skate sketch ski skill skin skirt skull slab slam sleep slender slice slide slight slim slogan slot slow slush small smart smile smoke smooth snack snake snap sniff snow soap soccer social sock soda soft solar soldier solid solution solve someone song soon sorry sort soul sound soup source south space spare spatial spawn speak special speed spell spend sphere spice spider spike spin spirit split spoil sponsor spoon sport spot spray spread spring spy square squeeze squirrel stable stadium staff stage stairs stamp stand start state stay steak steel stem step stereo stick still sting stock stomach stone stool story stove strategy street strike strong struggle student stuff stumble style subject submit subway success such sudden suffer sugar suggest suit summer sun sunny sunset super supply supreme sure surface surge surprise surround survey suspect sustain swallow swamp swap swarm swear sweet swift swim swing switch sword symbol symptom syrup system table tackle tag tail talent talk tank tape target task taste tattoo taxi teach team tell ten tenant tennis tent term test text thank that theme then theory there they thing this thought three thrive throw thumb thunder ticket tide tiger tilt timber time tiny tip tired tissue title toast tobacco today toddler toe together toilet token tomato tomorrow tone tongue tonight tool tooth top topic topple torch tornado tortoise toss total tourist toward tower town toy track trade traffic tragic train transfer trap trash travel tray treat tree trend trial tribe trick trigger trim trip trophy trouble truck true truly trumpet trust truth try tube tuition tumble tuna tunnel turkey turn turtle twelve twenty twice twin twist two type typical ugly umbrella unable unaware uncle uncover under undo unfair unfold unhappy uniform unique unit universe unknown unlock until unusual unveil update upgrade uphold upon upper upset urban urge usage use used useful useless usual utility vacant vacuum vague valid valley valve van vanish vapor various vast vault vehicle velvet vendor venture venue verb verify version very vessel veteran viable vibrant vicious victory video view village vintage violin virtual virus visa visit visual vital vivid vocal voice void volcano volume vote voyage wage wagon wait walk wall walnut want warfare warm warrior wash wasp waste water wave way wealth weapon wear weasel weather web wedding weekend weird welcome west wet whale what wheat wheel when where whip whisper wide width wife wild will win window wine wing wink winner winter wire wisdom wise wish witness wolf woman wonder wood wool word work world worry worth wrap wreck wrestle wrist write wrong yard year yellow you young youth zebra zero zone zoo

@ 000003a2:e3b014e6

NDK noob question.

I'm trying to keep an indefinite subscription on the server side.

The issue here is that, slowly after receiving an eose, I'm being disconnected from the relay pool (pool stats show 0 connected relays).

Tried reconnecting on pool relay:disconnect (using ndk.connect() and ndk.pool.connect()) but it doesn't seem to be working.

Kinda running out of ideas on what's causing this. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding/missing something? Any tips on what I should look at/what to debug to find the issue?

Sharing the code below.

create ndk instance

const ndk = new NDK({ explicitRelayUrls: EXPLICIT_RELAYS, cacheAdapter: redisAdapter }); connect to relays ndk.connect(2100) .then(() => { console.log(`Connected to relays`); }); create subscription subscribe({ kinds: [1, 30023], '#t': [Config.HASHTAG], since: Date.now() / 1000 - 45 * 60, }, { closeOnEose: false, cacheUsage: NDKSubscriptionCacheUsage.PARALLEL, groupable: false});

subscribe function

``` const subscribe = ( filter: NDKFilter, opts: NDKSubscriptionOptions ) => {

const sub = ndk.subscribe(filter, opts);
sub.on('event', onEvent);
sub.on('eose', () => onEose);
sub.on('close', () => onClose);

}; ```

asknostr #ndkdevkit #nostrdevs

@ a385d9b6:744e6e94

背景：

现在是2023年7月22号，在本周四的下午由Uncommons组织了一场DAO的吐槽大会，效果火爆，大家纷纷表示有被参与的DAO白嫖过；下面是组织者之一的总结：

基本可以预定：这是我今年做过的最棒的活动。

做了两张海报，一张很杜蕾斯，一张很☯️

现场也很劲爆。对白嫖的吐槽，对机制的吐槽，对人的吐槽，甚至是对面对面的人的吐槽。

会后也很劲爆。今年第一次做活动收到很长很长的反馈，也实际影响到人的行为。 当然，已经有人私下表达对我不满。

最后一张图是暂离普朗克时给dao友们的信的节选。清迈之行让我意识到：社区的本质是人，在此基点上，有了种种行动，也知道了自己以后要骂什么行为。

可以预见，未来会得罪很多DAO和DAO友了。无所谓了，比起维护少数人的权益，我想维护少数群体的权益，DAO又何惧清道夫呢？

这是两张漂漂的海报：

另一张：

个人也对社区和白嫖的关系思考过一段时间了，从十年前志愿参与北京706青年空间，到发起北京约客联盟，发起阅读占领地铁，到发起反伪3d电影谍影重重5行动，再到2021年开始加入做区块链社区，白嫖的问题一直被提及，讨论，这次DAO吐槽大会也是熟悉的语言，熟悉的味道，大家纷纷表示自己受到了白嫖攻击，因为对这个问题有大约10多年思考体验，想对现在事实存在白嫖的区块链社区，以及被白嫖的新人说几句话；

给DAO/社区的话

那些事实存在白嫖的区块链社区/dao，如果你真的在乎刚刚加入你们的区块链/dao/web3新人，请给他/她/任何它们，最基本的保护；

首先要给新人们做好科普，要告诉新人们区块链/dao/web3，虽然自由开放，看似美好，实际上是一个蛮荒无序的世界，这个是自由开放的另一面，这个自由开放/蛮荒无序的世界里面，会有很多人给你讲他们所谓美好的愿景/理想，什么去中心化、什么开放开源、什么无需信任、什么数字未来、什么公共空间等等，但是重要的事情重复三遍，请不要相信！请不要相信！请不要相信！请相信自己独立的思考、独立的判断、独立的选择，因为这里蛮荒无序，存在可能百分之八十以上的事情，都是彻头彻尾的欺诈！

其次要给新人们科普明白，所谓的web3世界，自由远程工作的代价是百分之八十的情况下，不存在雇佣关系，并且在区块链社区/dao里面没有什么人很在乎你干了什么做了什么贡献，所谓dao/社区自由组合，开放开源，去中心化它的另一面是这里是无主之地，即使有人在乎你做了什么事情，这个人也不一定有时间精力去为你争取权益。所以重要的事情重复三遍，不要做事情！不要做事情！不要做事情！这里没有雇佣关系，想做事情，请出自于认真独立思考过的自愿！并且如果需要权益确认，请自己主张，在区块链的世界里，不会有太多人为你主张权益！

再次要给新人们科普明白，这里（区块链/web3/dao）有比较高的人身自由，但是它的另一面是灰色地带，甚至法外之地，当你想要寻求法律救济的时候，你可能发现你所在的那个就是个非法组织，所谓去中心化抗审查的另一面就是，出事了没有那个法律实体会为你负责！所以重要的事情重复三遍，不要参与！不要参与！不要参与！除非你已经想清楚！

除了科普，如果社区/dao真的想好好做的话，请设计好贡献记录机制以及DAO的司法机制，以及做好被追责的准备；

web3行业乱象：

这个行业普遍存在着乱象，比如 21 年各种项目大谈庞氏经济模型，做市商拉盘割韭菜几乎大多数项目都有，但是不一定是项目就是做市商，也可能是野生的，还有好多所谓的项目其实是老鼠盘、资金盘，这些是这个行业普遍存在的乱象，但是当然不是所有，也不是说因为都欺诈，欺诈就有理，被骗了，就应该，只是说在整个行业抗审查的共识之下，如何对进入行业的人进行保障，个人茫然无序，所以就想告诉新人一定要小心，仅此而已，本文无意为欺诈辩护。并且还认为这个行业对欺诈容忍度过高，这不是一件好事情；

给新人的话：

那些已经被和将要被dao/区块链社区/web3社区白嫖的新人们，Do your own fucking research！这句话是区块链原生文化的一部分，就是在这个世界做任何事情，做任何选择，重要的事情说三遍，请做好深入的调研！请做好深入的调研！请做好深入的调研！并且调研的过程中不要相信任何人，自己独立的思考做出选择！

这个世界的游戏规则是主权个人，自由但是没有保障！

这个世界背后的逻辑是自主自由的选择，以及选择之前对选择对象深入的调研，自己为自己负责，这个就是所谓的主权个人，如果选择之后，觉得被坑了，不愿意为之前的选择负责，这个所谓 dao 的游戏根本没法玩，因为你从做出错误选择的那一刻起，就不适合玩所谓的 dao或者区块链或者 web3；

关于副标题

新人防骗指北是后来加的，当然这个防骗、防嫖指南缺乏有效的细节，干脆就叫指北，不过新人入坑之前请真的要小心，这里是真坑~

@ 1c6b3be3:73f0ae6f

StableArtMaker est un bot innovant qui vous permet de créer des images à partir de plusieurs modèles de Stable Diffusion, Midjourney et des QR codes artistiques. Il est conçu pour être utilisé sur le réseau Nostr.

Comment ça marche ?

Le bot peut être utilisé dans le feed public ou en DM. Dans le feed public, il faut mentionner le bot et utiliser un des mots clefs documentés plus bas (exemple: nostr:npub102ca8pnhy26vh2akepgr4vleyew65nuzug5val3sycslfe0wruwqzezyfp imagine a plane). En DM, il faut simplement utiliser le mot clef.

Commandes

Voici les commandes que vous pouvez utiliser avec StableArtMaker :

• help : Affiche une aide simplifiée.
• imagine : Demande au bot de créer une image.
• upscale : Choisit l'image à agrandir parmi les 4 images proposées par Midjourney.
• qr : Demande au bot de créer un qr code artistique.
• models : Affiche les modèles stable diffusion disponibles.
• deposit : Crédite votre compte.
• balance : Affiche la balance de votre compte.

Utilisation de la commande imagine

La commande imagine peut être utilisée de trois façons en DM ou en public :

1. imagine la description de mon image : Crée une image sur le modèle standard stable diffusion. Cette commande est utilisable en mode gratuit et payant.

2. imagine modèle la description de mon image : Permet de préciser le modèle de diffusion proposée par https://sinkin.ai. Cette commande est utilisable en mode payant.

3. imagine mj la description de mon image : Génère une image à l'aide de Midjourney. Cette commande est réservée aux utilisateurs payants.

Utilisation de midjourney

L'utilisation de Midjourney est réservée aux utilisateurs payants. Son utilisation se fait en deux étapes, il faut d'abord utiliser la commande imagine mj la description de mon image. Le bot vous proposera 4 images ainsi qu'un generation id (exemple: generation id: 1135849470823780352).

Pour choisir la troisième image, il suffit de répondre au bot avec upscale 1135849470823780352 3.

Utilisation de la commande qr

La commande qr peut produire des QR codes pour des adresses Internet (URL) et n'importe quelle chaine de caractère. Les adresses Internet sont réduites automatiquement afin de produire un meilleur rendu. Plus la chaine de caractère est longue et moins le rendu sera beau.

Voici un exemple d'utilisation de la commande qr : qr https://decouvebitcoin.fr/ an orange rabit with red eyes looking at the camera, cynical, dramatic pose, intricate, highly detailed, detailed face, smooth, sharp focus, environmental light, rim light, artgerm, artstation, art by greg rutkowski, ilya kuvshinov, rossdraws, fantasy illustration

Modèle économique

Le bot dispose d'une gratuité limitée en nombre d'utilisation. Chaque génération coûte 100 satoshis. Le mode payant permet de débloquer certaines fonctionnalités décrites plus haut. Le paiement passe par lightning network.

Limitations et recommandations

Midjourney applique une politique restrictive sur l'utilisation de son service. Le prompt utilisateur peut être refusé et l'accès au service peut être restreint.

Les images générées par un modèle stable diffusion n'ont pas cette limitation cependant, les images sont hébergées par mes soins et peuvent être supprimées postérieurement. Je vous conseille de récupérer localement vos images. Gardez en tête que StableArtMaker n'est pas un service d'hébergement d'image.

StableArtMaker s'appuie sur des services de générations d'images (sinkin, gooey, midjourney) payants. La gratuité proposée est là pour vous donner une idée de la qualité des images produites. N'en abusez pas :)

Ce bot est créé avec amour par nostr:npub1r34nhc6nqswancymk452f2frgn3ypvu77h4njr67n6ppyuls4ehs44gv0h.

@ 00000001:a21169a7

Edward Weston, initially recognized as a prominent pictorialist, played a crucial role in the evolution of photographic art during the 20th century. His trajectory marked a notable transition towards a new conception of the medium, leaving behind pictorialism to become one of the leading exponents of Group f/64 and elitist photography.

A distinctive feature of Weston's work was his relentless pursuit of maximum sharpness and tonal range in his images. This aspiration was evident in all his works, from his stunning landscapes to his innovative still lifes. Herein lay his genius: the ability to capture the purest essence of his subjects with a precision and clarity hitherto considered unattainable.

Weston pioneered the technique of previsualizing the final result in photography. This involved imagining and planning the final appearance of the image even before shooting the camera. To achieve this, he developed what became known as the Zone System, a method that allowed to control and modify the brightness of an image in a very precise way.

In his photographs, Weston often decontextualized his subjects, employing neutral backgrounds to further enhance the intrinsic identity of the object. This technique led to the creation of some of his most iconic images, in which each object becomes an autonomous entity, freed from the distractions and influence of its surroundings.

In addition to his extraordinary technical ability, Weston's capacity to infuse a sense of "radiation" into his images contributed greatly to his enduring influence. Through his refined technique, Weston created images so powerful and emotive that they impressed the viewer, eliciting an emotional and visceral response.

Weston also took his vision and technique beyond his studio. On his travels to post-revolutionary Mexico, he joined a revolutionary movement and published his work in their magazine. This experience not only broadened his artistic perspective but also left an indelible mark on his corpus of work, adding a new level of depth and context to his photographic approach.

In summary, Edward Weston exemplifies the evolution of photographic art in the 20th century. His transition from pictorialism to modern and elitist photography, his constant search for sharpness and tonal range, his innovative decontextualization of objects, and his radiant technique, all contributed to his enduring legacy. His influence is felt not only in the generations of photographers who followed him, but also in anyone who appreciates the ability of photography to transform the ordinary into extraordinary.

@ aeb68848:0039d93a

This is s test note created at highlighter.

Edit: testing editing. Btw, using Kiwi and nos2x Edit2: so can be edited, cool!

Why not use some hashtags like #plebchain? I Highlighter seems to be a way to create editable messages, which nostr protocol doesn't support (I guess?)

@ 250de9b3:5b5a5cd6

Introduction:

Are you a bitcoiner self hosting your own node and other infrastructure ? If so, safeguarding infrastructure from cyber threats is paramount. Discover how CrowdSec, the collaborative cybersecurity solution, can fortify our defenses by dynamically performing intrusion detection and blocking malicious traffic and actors. CrowdSec is an open-source, community-driven intrusion detection and prevention system (IDS/IPS) that uses machine learning to detect and block malicious traffic. CrowdSec can be deployed on a variety of platforms, including Docker. If you would like to know more about CrowdSec you can find the information here. Follow this step-by-step guide to deploy CrowdSec's engine in a Docker container and build your own intrusion detection and prevention system.

Prerequisites:

1. Ubuntu/Debian Linux-based system with Docker and Docker Compose installed.
2. Basic familiarity with Docker concepts and commands.
3. Administrative access to configure the firewall.

Step 1: Setting Up the Docker Environment

Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your system:

bash docker --version docker-compose --version

If not installed, refer to the official Docker documentation for guidance here.

Step 2: Creating the CrowdSec Configuration File

Start by creating the directory structure below.

mkdir crowdsec cd crowdsec mkdir config

Create the acquis.yaml file in the config folder using a text editor of your choice (I use nano) and add the following minimal configuration:

```yaml

filenames: - /logs/auth.log - /logs/syslog - /logs/kern.log labels: type: syslog

```

The paths shown will be configured in the .yaml file below.

Step 3: Running CrowdSec Engine in a Docker Container

Deploy the CrowdSec engine in a Docker container using the docker-compose.yaml file:

```yaml

version: "3" services: crowdsec: container_name: crowdsec image: crowdsecurity/crowdsec:v1.5.2 restart: unless-stopped environment: - COLLECTIONS=crowdsecurity/sshd crowdsecurity/iptables - GID=${GID-1000} volumes: - crowdsec_config:/etc/crowdsec/ - crowdsec_data:/var/lib/crowdsec/data/ - crowdsec_log_data:/logs/ - ./config/acquis.yaml:/etc/crowdsec/acquis.yaml - /var/log/auth.log:/logs/auth.log:ro - /var/log/syslog:/logs/syslog:ro - /var/log/kern.log:/logs/kern.log:ro networks: - crowdsec ports: - 8080:8080 - 6060:6060

networks: crowdsec:

volumes: crowdsec_log_data: crowdsec_data: crowdsec_config:

```

Docker compose performs the following steps : 1. Pulls the crowdsec base image from the docker registry. 2. Creates 3 docker volumes for log data, config data and the crowdsec database. 3. It the mounts these volumes into the approprriate mount points within the container. 4. It also bind mounts the host directories which it needs to actually monitor the log files. 5. The collections which make crowdsec even more effective for this task are passed in via environment variable, along with the group id of the locally running user. 6. required ports for crodsec are exposed

Launch the CrowdSec engine in the Docker container by typing the following command in your terminal:

bash docker-compose up -d

Step 4: Installing and Configuring the Firewall Bouncer on the Docker Host

Install the firewall bouncer on your host system by adding the CrowdSec repository and then typing the following commands in the terminal:

```bash curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/crowdsec/crowdsec/script.deb.sh | sudo bash

sudo apt install crowdsec-firewall-bouncer-iptables ```

Configure the firewall : First generate your api key by typing the following commands in your terminal : bash docker exec crowdsec cscli bouncers add <name your bouncer> This will generate an api key for you which you should now store carefully because you will use it in the next step

Open the /etc/crowdsec/bouncers/crowdsec-firewall-bouncer.yaml in a text editor of your choice and make changes to the api_key line: yaml api_url: http://127.0.0.1:8080/ api_key: <your api key which you got in the last step> Run the following command in the terminal : bash sudo systemctl enable --now crowdsec-firewall-bouncer

Thats about it. You should be now protected by CrowdSec from bruteforce ssh and port scanning attacks against your node. There is a "gotcha" I would like to bring to your attention, especially if you are using docker with the ufw firewall on Ubuntu/Debian here.

I would like to point out that if you sign-up with the CrowdSec console, you get a good view of what is happening with your logs, attacks against you, alerts and the action taken by the bouncer.

Conclusion:

Empower the security of your full node with CrowdSec's engine in a Docker container, coupled with the firewall bouncer. This formidable combination will perform IDS/IPS and dynamically block malicious traffic/actors and defend against cyber threats, providing you (some) peace of mind. Dont forget that security works in layers and is never static

Bitcoin #FullNode #SelfHosting #CyberSecurity #DockerSecurity #CrowdSecEngine #FirewallProtection #CyberDefenses #DockerContainer #NetworkSecurity #IDSIPS

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

On Monday, an unidentified developer withdrew all liquidity from the BALD meme coin on the Ethereum layer-2 network, Base. Some blockchain analysts are speculating that the wallet involved may be linked to Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, who is currently under house arrest with restricted internet access.

Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran expressed his suspicion on Twitter, noting that the implicated wallet had previous involvement in the SushiSwap community. Cochran inferred that the early voting patterns in Sushi governance appeared dubious, with Bankman-Fried being the key individual behind snapshot votes during the community takeover following the departure of SushiSwap's creator, Chef Nomi.

In September 2020, Bankman-Fried had successfully salvaged funds from Uniswap, transferring them to SushiSwap. Cochran voiced his confidence that the party behind the actions was associated with Alameda, FTX, or was Bankman-Fried himself, based on conversations with former FTX members.

Several observers connected the language used by the Bald Twitter account to Bankman-Fried's own distinctive phrasing. Furthermore, on-chain activities corresponded with Bankman-Fried's court appearances and bail dates.

A Reddit-sourced investigation revealed that the BALD developer wallet had received deposits from FTX and Alameda over the span of two years and currently holds a balance of approximately 12,331 ETH, valued around $22 million at the time of the report.

Additional information surfaced on Twitter highlighting a correlation between the wallet that regularly deposited into the BALD developer's Binance wallet and a wallet involved in the substantial Terra USD depeg in the previous year. Since facing charges of conspiracy and fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice, following FTX's collapse, Bankman-Fried has been under house arrest. His legal team and the prosecution have struggled to monitor his internet use across numerous devices.

According to his bail conditions, Bankman-Fried was required to use a basic flip phone in place of a smartphone. His legal team admitted their inability to install surveillance software on his parent's phones as agreed.

In response to his alleged tampering with government witnesses, the prosecution submitted a request to revoke Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond to presiding federal judge Lewis Kaplan last week.

While a section of Crypto Twitter implicated Bankman-Fried, others acknowledged the speculative nature of these accusations. Some users, such as Sam Trabucco, co-chief executive of Alameda, were even identified as potential culprits.

The story continues to evolve, with the BALD developer adding 100 ETH back into the pool following significant social media pressure. This move caused the meme coin's value to surge more than four times over its recent low value.

@ bcea2b98:7ccef3c9

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated a lawsuit against Richard Schueler, an internet marketer also known as Richard Heart, accusing him of unregistered securities offerings through his projects Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX. The SEC asserts that Heart amassed over $1 billion since 2019 through these offerings.

The SEC further alleges that Heart misappropriated investor funds for his personal expenditures. Despite Heart's persistent promotion of his projects as vehicles for substantial financial growth, with audacious claims such as Hex being engineered to be "the most rapidly appreciating asset in human history," the SEC argues that these ventures were, in fact, utilized to finance Heart's extravagant lifestyle without appropriate disclosure to investors.

Despite a turbulent launch marked by high fees, liquidity problems, and software vulnerabilities, PulseX and PulseChain were introduced earlier this month. Following their introduction, the prices of the associated HEX, PLS, and PLSX tokens experienced a significant downturn. The SEC further accuses Heart of recurrent references to federal securities laws in his public communications, such as YouTube livestreams, while concurrently admitting that the success of his projects hinged entirely on his personal efforts.

The SEC's lawsuit also mentions Heart's ambitious assertions about Hex's potential for investment return. For instance, Heart announced on Hex.com (until at least November 1, 2020) that Hex was projected to exceed the performance of ETH, which saw a 10,000x price increase in 2.5 years, and that Hex had already experienced a 115x price rise in 129 days. Furthermore, Heart asserted during a seven-hour YouTube livestream on December 2, 2019, mere hours before the Hex Offering began, that Hex was created to outperform Ethereum, Bitcoin, and all other cryptocurrencies.

The lawsuit levels accusations of fraud and securities registration violations against Heart and his projects.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

El celular de Daysuris Vásquez, exesposa de Nicolás Petro, bajo arresto desde el sábado por un escándalo de corrupción que ya salpica a varios políticos nacionales vinculados a su padre, el presidente Gustavo Petro, es la principal fuente de evidencias contra el acusado.

De acuerdo con un reporte de la revista colombiana Semana, el dispositivo se convirtió en una prueba contundente contra Nicolás Petro, pues su esposa registró en él desde intercambios de mensajería hasta audios y videos que podrían convertirse en pruebas durante el proceso.

El teléfono habría estado en manos de la Fiscalía de Colombia durante más de dos meses, después que las denuncias de la mujer dieran inicio al escándalo.

Según Semana, "en el aparato está el rastro de todo lo que hizo Nicolás Petro por lo menos durante 2021, 2022 y parte de 2023. Su exesposa guardó con sigilo la prueba y hoy las más de 1.600 páginas de chats, las notas de voz y los videos son el eje principal del expediente contra el hijo mayor del presidente Gustavo Petro".

En numerosos chats, indica el reporte, quedó registrada la vida de pareja de Vásquez y Petro, así como el tejido de un entramado de acuerdos a la sombra que se produjeron durante la campaña política del actual presidente.

Entre las evidencias estaría el negocio para la compra de una casa por 1.600 millones de pesos colombianos, suma que, según la exesposa, provino del conocido en el expediente del caso como "Hombre Marlboro", un excapo que pagó cárcel extraditado en Estados Unidos por narcotráfico, y del hijo de un controvertido empresario conocido como "El Turco" Hilsaca.

Se suma a lo anterior chats donde constan las citas de Nicolás Petro con casi todos los ministros del gabinete del Gobierno de su padre, así como un diálogo suyo con el entonces ministro del interior, Alfonso Prada.

También asegura Semana que el hijo mayor del presidente colombiano habría recibido una camioneta de alta gama de parte de contratistas en plena campaña presidencial, algo que estaría registrado en los chats.

Aparte de lo anterior, existirían videos. En uno de ellos, Vásquez discute con su exesposo y él le reclama una suma de dinero, que según el testimonio de Day, sería el que recibió Nicolás para la campaña presidencial de su padre, del que se habría apropiado 600 millones de pesos aproximadamente.

Vásquez habría colaborado con la Fiscalía desde el primer momento del escándalo y su testimonio está judicializado y es, junto con el teléfono, el eje de los cargos contra Nicolás Petro. La mujer también está detenida y espera la decisión de los jueces.

Nicolás Petro es investigado por los presuntos delitos de lavado de activos y enriquecimiento ilícito. El escándalo ha salpicado al menos a 17 personas, entre políticos, financistas oscuros y funcionarios del Gobierno colombiano.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Un turista alemán intentó ahogar a un niño cubano de 8 años en una playa de Holguín, de acuerdo con una denuncia difundida por el periodista independiente Alberto Arego.

El suceso ocurrió este domingo en Playa Blanca, aseguró a Arego el hermano del menor.

“Nosotros estábamos en una mata cerca de la playa y los niños estaban jugando y en la orilla había un castillito de arena. El niño sale sin malicia corriendo del agua para la arena y sin darse de cuenta, niño al fin, rompe el castillito y el castillito lo había hecho la hija de un alemán”, relató la fuente.

“Ellos estaban en el agua y al ver el alemán que el niño rompió eso, que el vio que fue sin querer, no se apiadó de nada, cogió al niño por el cuello y lo levantó y de ahí entró para el agua y lo batió en lo hondo”, agregó.

De acuerdo con la fuente, “gracias al personal y a los salvavidas, que lo sacaron rápido”, el niño no se ahogó.

“Los salvavidas llamaron a la Policía y se lo llevaron detenido para la unidad de Freire. A mi hermanito lo llevaron para el hospital, donde le dieron muy buena atención y lo revisaron completo. El psicólogo lo atendió y está nervioso, no habla con nadie. Vomitó y se desmayó, le dio taquicardias”, continúa la denuncia.

El hermano de la víctima denunció además que el turista alemán ha salido impune de la agresión.

“Al hombre lo que le hicieron fue que le pusieron una multa y una advertencia. No lo dejaron preso porque traía con él a la niña, una menor aproximadamente de cuatro a cinco años. Y dijo que él lo mataba y no pasaba nada”, cuenta el hermano.

“Hubo una buena cantidad de personal de testigo de eso que él dijo. incluso los salvavidas se lo dijeron a la Policía que ellos eran testigo de todo”, agregó la fuente.

El niño se llama Marlon Jesús Osorio Hernández, hijo de Maritza Hernández Reyes y Marcial Osorio Chong. La familia vive en la Carretera San Germán El Yayal, precisa Arego.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Un bache casi se traga a un camión cuando circulaba por una céntrica calle de la ciudad de Sagua la Grande, en la provincia de Villa Clara, según publicación difundida en redes sociales.

El usuario Yudrián De Miranda Bracero compartió este lunes en el perfil de Facebook “ACCIDENTES BUSES & CAMIONES por más experiencia y menos víctimas!” imágenes de un camión que se volcó en un bache, más bien cráter, que se ubica en la calle Martha Abreu, entre Céspedes y Solís, en la citada ciudad del centro de la isla.

Las imágenes hablan por sí solas del accidente que por suerte no dejó saldo de víctima ni lesionados, según los comentarios de la publicación, en la que llovieron opiniones sobre el lamentable estado de la calle donde ocurrió este hecho.

“Al señor no le pasó nada”, apuntó un comentario en referencia al chofer del camión que quedó con la cabina prácticamente dentro del hueco o socavón como se le dice en otros países a un hoyo de esas dimensiones en un vial, que fue calificado por “el padre de todos los baches” en la isla, por un ocurrente internauta en la publicación.

Otros usuarios lo compararon con un pozo de agua, con un estanque para criar clarias y hasta con el hueco de un supuesto terremoto en Sagua la Grande.

También en un comentario un usuario dijo que el chofer “estaba en otra cosa” por no ver el bache en medio de la calle, a lo que otro respondió que realmente “la calle se hundió”.

Hasta el momento de redactar esta nota no había trascendido ningún comentario oficial de este incidente, ni de las posibles razones por las que el chofer no pudo evadir el inmenso hueco, que prácticamente se lo tragó cuando pasaba por la referida calle.

En la última semana trascendió la ocurrente reacción de un chofer de La Habana cuando pasaba por cada bache que encontraba en su trayecto.

A pesar de su pericia, este conductor no logró salvarse de caer continuamente en los baches de la calle Neptuno, en Centro Habana, y ante cada sacudida mascullaba en voz baja, pero furiosa: “Viva Fidel”.

Recién el gobierno de la isla reconoció que el 75% de las carreteras y vías de circulación del país se encuentran en un estado técnico entre regular y mal.

Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, titular de Transporte, presentó los datos ante la Comisión de Atención a los Servicios del Parlamento cubano y dijo que el gobierno ha sido incapaz de frenar el ritmo de deterioro de las carreteras, el cual aumenta cada año.

La situación de los viales en Cuba representa un desafío significativo para el Gobierno de la isla, ya que afecta directamente la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos y la prestación de servicios esenciales.

En los últimos años el nivel de accidentes en la vía pública a consecuencia del mal estado de las calles ha ido en aumento, e incluso algunos motoristas han perdido la vida por un bache.

Algunos huecos son tan grandes que en febrero una guagua de transporte público quedó atrapada en uno de la calle 4ta de San Miguel del Padrón, en La Habana.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Los servicios en los registros civiles cubanos están colapsado por el incremento de trámites en esas oficinas en los últimos dos años que han conllevado a la espera de “hasta tres meses y más para obtener una inscripción de nacimiento”, según prensa oficialista.

“Reventa de turnos, listas clandestinas, demora en los servicios, falta de profesionalidad en algunos trabajadores, trámites fuera de término, documentos con errores o que no llegan nunca al cliente, constituyen historias que se repiten, una y otra vez, de un extremo a otro del país”, apuntó este lunes el diario oficialista Granma en un reporte sobre el servicio en las oficinas del Registro del Estado Civil en Cuba.

También el citado medio expone que el servicio se ha vuelto aún más crítico, en los dos últimos años, a raíz del incremento de las solicitudes de trámites asociados a procesos migratorios, además del cúmulo tradicional de otras certificaciones para trámites en notarías, bancos o en la Vivienda, que incluyen actas de nacimiento, de soltería, de matrimonio o de defunciones.

A la avalancha de solicitudes de certificaciones se suma la escalada de las carencias materiales y de personal en esas oficinas, subraya el reporte, en el que se pone de ejemplo a Pinar del Río, donde en 2022 se recibieron 132, 825 solicitudes de certificaciones, más del doble de las que se hicieron en 2021.

"Eso fue algo que nos sobrepasó como institución", admitió la jefa del Departamento de Notaría y Registro Civil en la Dirección Provincial de Justicia en esa provincia, Maridel Guanche.

Guanche reconoció que ante tal cúmulo de solicitudes fue imposible atender todos los casos, y al cierre de ese año quedaron pendientes más de 26,300; es decir una de cada cinco solicitudes se quedó sin procesar, refirió el medio oficialista que en este análisis "crítico" soslayó el tema de la corrupción, que también tiene alta incidencia en la calidad de los servicios, ya que no son pocas las denuncias sobre "la prioridad" de los que tienen padrinos que puedan "ayudar" a sacar las certificaciones.

La misma situación se replicó en el otro extremo del país, en la provincia de Granma, donde también la demanda de servicios se multiplicó exponencialmente en relación con los recursos humanos y técnicos disponibles, según el director municipal de Justicia en Bayamo, Sandro Pérez Romero.

Entre enero y marzo de 2022 se respondieron unas 2, 663 notificaciones, y en igual periodo de este año ya ascendían a 6,661, expuso Pérez Romero, quien añadió que allí triplicaron la cantidad de trámites “con los mismos medios tecnológicos –casi todos obsoletos y con un servicio de impresión deficiente– y con menos trabajadores”.

Además, reconoció la falta de personal especializado, que no se forma de un día para otro, para agilizar el servicio, ya que de “10 notarios que lleva el municipio, están prestando servicio tres, y de cinco registradores, solo hay dos”.

Otro servicio cuestionado en el citado medio fue el de los trámites online, sobre el que dijeron que “no ha tenido todo el efecto esperado. De ahí que muchas personas sigan optando por acudir a las oficinas”.

Sobre este servicio online, la técnico jurídico del Registro del Estado Civil de Bayamo, Ana Yanet Tamayo Urquiza, dijo que “una de las principales dificultades que enfrentamos es el propio formulario de la página, el cual no hace especificaciones de algunos datos que son necesarios que los usuarios pongan, y muchas veces esos casos no proceden, y el solicitante no tiene cómo saberlo”.

Dijo, además, que “es por ello que cuando las personas vienen al registro se incomodan, porque no entienden que después de tres o cuatro meses aún no tengan respuesta de su trámite, o incluso deban hacerlo de nuevo”.

Urquiza reconoció también otros problemas de la plataforma digital del Ministerio de Justifica, la cual ha estado limitada hasta por el déficit de electricidad y la inestabilidad con la conexión, que hace que el sistema quede inactivo hasta tres a cuatro veces al día.

“Nosotros tuvimos una avalancha de solicitudes justo en el periodo más crítico de los apagones, por lo que se nos acumularon más de 4,000 casos pendientes, incluidos los de las personas que luego vinieron a realizar sus trámites de forma presencial, y quedaron esos casos en una especie de impasse en la plataforma”, concluye la especialista.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

El Banco Central de Cuba (BCC) emitió una nota oficial para abordar el tema de los falsos billetes de 100 pesos cubanos (CUP) que supuestamente han estado entregando los cajeros automáticos en la Isla, luego de que por redes sociales circularan imágenes de billetes impresos por una sola cara o con falta de tinta.

De acuerdo con el organismo, las evidencias que se han mostrado en redes sociales son falsas. El BCC las califica de “fake news”. “Desmentimos las publicaciones en redes sociales y medios alternativos sobre billetes de las denominaciones de 100 y 1.000 CUP con error en su impresión o falsos. Hasta este momento en las sucursales de los bancos no se han recibido clientes con esta situación”, detalla el comunicado.

No obstante, el Banco Central instó a los cubanos que tengan problemas con sus billetes al ser extraídos de los cajeros que presenten una denuncia en cualquiera de las sucursales bancarias del país.

“En el caso de los billetes que dispensen los cajeros automáticos y presenten dificultad en su impresión, usted puede dirigirse a la sucursal bancaria más cercana. Se sugiere a la población seguir nuestros sitios y canales oficiales para que se mantengan informados”, señala la breve nota de prensa.

Esta no es la primera vez que el BCC se pronuncia para presuntamente desmentir situaciones que los cubanos exponen en redes. En 2021, se dio un supuesto caso de circulación de billetes falsos con denominación de 1.000 pesos. Según el organismo bancario, el número de serie y el consecutivo del billete no eran los habituales con los cuales se imprimen este tipo de billetes.

“La serie del billete (2100D) y el número consecutivo (58586181) confirman que ese billete no ha sido emitido ni puesto en circulación por el Banco Central de Cuba y no tenemos evidencia física de su existencia”, señala el comunicado, que se hace eco de las denuncias en redes sociales sobre la existencia en “la calle” de billetes falsos de 1.000 pesos.

En otra ocasión, tuvo que publicar una aclaración sobre un posible beneficio monetario que obtendrían todos aquellos usuarios de Internet que participaran en una encuesta online supuestamente a nombre del BCC.

“El BCC desmiente información que circula en redes sociales sobre un cuestionario, con el cual podrá obtener beneficio monetario. La institución rectora llama a la población a revisar cuidadosamente los detalles de las informaciones, para evitar caer en engaños, así como verificar la veracidad de los perfiles institucionales oficiales”, refirió la institución.

El fin de semana pasado, circuló una información sobre al menos dos ciudadanos que tuvieron problemas con billetes de 100 CUP. Uno de ellos extrajo un billete de 100 con su característico color magenta y la imagen del mártir Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, pero en el reverso estaba totalmente en blanco. En el segundo caso, se muestra el billete igualmente bien impreso por un lado, pero en el otro tiene una evidente baja concentración de tinta. Tal parece que la tinta de la impresora se estaba agotando.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

La agencia estatal cubana Cubatur promociona un viaje “fuera del país” sin necesidad de contar con un pasaporte para subir al avión.

La campaña de marketing generó gran revuelo en las redes sociales. Y es que al leer con detenimiento el paquete promocional, se detalla que en realidad el vuelo es desde La Habana hacia la Isla de la Juventud, por lo cual se tomaron la licencia de venderlo como un recorrido “fuera del país”, es decir, fuera de la “Isla grande”.

El paquete turístico se comercializa por 18.000 pesos cubanos (CUP) y está incluido, además del vuelo de ida y vuelta, el alojamiento en un hotel durante tres días, excursiones y traslados dentro del territorio pinero.

“Un viaje fuera del país hacia la Isla de Pinos o Juventud. Conozca Nueva Gerona, hotel Colony, Cocodrilo, unos de los faros más altos de Cuba y a los pineros que se caracterizan por su calor humano y hospitalidad. A partir de 18 mil por persona, tres noches, incluyendo vuelos, traslados, alojamiento y una excursión”, refiere la nota oficial divulgada en el grupo de Telegram que tiene Cubatur para vender paquetes turísticos.

Una familia conformada solo una pareja con un niño menor de edad estaría pagando 51.870 CUP, cuando el salario promedio de un trabajador en Cuba es de alrededor de 4.000 CUP. La oferta está totalmente desproporcionada y no parece contribuir al objetivo de incrementar la venta de reservaciones en el hotel de Isla de Pinos, que al igual que todos los que hay en el país tienen bajísimos niveles de ocupación.

Ese déficit de turismo internacional ha hecho que Cubatur se enfoque en el turismo nacional para generar ingresos. La propia empresa busca aprovecharse del turismo de compra de los cubanos y gestiona viajes a Venezuela, específicamente a Isla Margarita, una especie de zona franca.

Esa oferta incluye hotel con estancia de tres, cuatro o siete noches, según la preferencia del cliente. En este caso, sí se requiere un visado a Venezuela, pero las autoridades comunistas también gestionan ese trámite ante la Embajada venezolana en La Habana por un costo de 30 dólares.

@ 1b0706e7:ec11b9b3

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Starbucks

Saturday August 12, 2023

10:00 a.m -12:00 p.m. 371 Alessandro Blvd, Riverside, CA 92508

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Starbucks

Saturday August 26, 2023

10:00 a.m -12:00 p.m. 371 Alessandro Blvd, Riverside, CA 92508

Want to suggest a Meetup? DM's are open and Elon can't stop them.

@ 9ecbb0e7:06ab7c09

Bienvenido al epicentro de la información independiente sobre la realidad cubana, el portal cubanoticias.info. Anteriormente conocido como redxcuba.org, nuestro lema resuena hoy con más fuerza que nunca: "La voz de los que no pueden hablar". A través de nuestras publicaciones, mostramos sin tapujos la realidad de la vida en Cuba, aquella que los medios oficialistas prefieren silenciar.

¿Qué es Nostr y por qué es importante?

El corazón de cubanoticias.info late gracias a Nostr, un protocolo de red descentralizado que alimenta nuestro sistema de redes sociales. En un mundo digital dominado por las grandes corporaciones, Nostr destaca por su independencia y resistencia a la censura, gracias a la validación criptográfica de sus publicaciones.

La descentralización es el pilar de Nostr, permitiendo a cualquier persona en cualquier lugar compartir información libre de censura y manipulación. Nostr es el símbolo de la resistencia en la era de la información, y en cubanoticias.info lo adoptamos con orgullo para traerles noticias verídicas sobre Cuba.

La Misión de Cubanoticias.info

En cubanoticias.info, tenemos un solo propósito: llevar la realidad cubana a todos aquellos que desean conocerla. La vida en Cuba no es la que muestran los medios oficialistas. Nos esforzamos por dar voz a los que sufren en silencio, día tras día, cubriendo temas como los Derechos Humanos, la Libertad de Expresión y los Presos Políticos, entre otros.

Nuestra misión se basa en el respeto a la verdad y la lucha por la justicia. Pretendemos, mediante protocolos descentralizados y resistentes a la censura, unir fuerzas con otros medios independientes para llevar la realidad cubana a cada rincón del mundo.

Nuestra Invitación

El camino hacia la verdad puede ser largo y sinuoso, pero en cubanoticias.info, te invitamos a que te unas a nosotros en este viaje. Nuestro equipo de periodistas y colaboradores trabaja incansablemente para ofrecerte noticias y reportajes detallados y de primera mano sobre la realidad cubana.

Creemos firmemente que el conocimiento es poder, y con cada artículo, damos un paso más hacia la libertad. Te invitamos a visitarnos todos los días, a sumergirte en nuestros artículos y a compartirlos con el mundo.

Sé parte de nuestra comunidad y conviértete en un aliado de la verdad. En cubanoticias.info, tu curiosidad alimentará el fuego que ilumina la realidad oculta de Cuba. Y con cada visita, con cada lectura, nos ayudarás a seguir brillando una luz sobre aquellos que la dictadura intenta acallar.

Juntos, podemos cambiar la narrativa y mostrar la verdadera cara de Cuba al mundo.

Te esperamos en cubanoticias.info.

@ 37c4e186:7de9109b

Bitcoin: The Sacrifice of the Ego

by Leopoldo Moreno de la Cova nostr:npub1m2x6mucaxs84d8njq5zrte3ksv7p83ppsqud3a84zww7rfw0hsysrq7v3j

Translated from the original Spanish by nostr:npub1xlzwrphhxppeyjw0prlw0dvpsmx2a8jd6yhnt06clx6zvl0fzzdsgce7w0

"In the world of Bitcoin there is a saying: 'stay humble and stack sats', which reminds us of the importance of sacrificing the ego and patience in the world of cryptocurrency"

Satoshi Nakamoto is a venerated name in the world of cryptocurrency. He is the creator of Bitcoin, the first decentralized digital currency in the world, and responsible for initiating a revolution in the financial industry. Given the importance of his creation, it is surprising that he has never taken credit, and to this day, the identity of Satoshi continues to be a secret. The anonymity of Satoshi is perhaps the most underrated quality of this quasi-mythological figure, being the best exemplification of the sacrifice of the ego, and something that I consider that we should go into more deeply.

The ego is a powerful force that drives human behavior. It is the sense of self-esteem or self-importance of a person, and often it manifests in the necessity for recognition or credit. However, when we become too attached to our ego, it can lead to arrogance, narcissism, and a distorted view of reality. In contrast, sacrificing the ego requires humility, disinterest, and a disposition to put the needs of others above one's own.

Instead of seeking recognition for his creation, Satoshi decided to remain in the background and to allow his invention to speak for itself. This decision was not motivated by fear or insecurity, but rather by a deep understanding of the potential impact of his creation. Satoshi was conscious that Bitcoin had the potential to transform the financial industry, enabling people to control their own money, converting them into sovereign individuals, independent from corrupt governments, partisian monetary policies, or exhaustive control. He understood that his creation was greater than any single person, including himself.

Upon remaining anonymous, he avoided any potential conflict of interest that could arise because of personal or financial gains, and in its place, he created a decentralized, transparent, and secure system, based on the economic theories of the Austrian school and distancing itself from Keynesian economic policies.

The legend of Satoshi Nakamoto transcends the technological and financial spheres; already his influence has inspired a new generation of entrepreneurs and developers. His focus on decentralization and transparency has been the basis for innovative projects in diverse sectors, such as governance, intellectual property, and data protection. The philosophy behind Bitcoin, which seeks to empower people and democratize access to financial resources, has generated a paradigm shift in the way that we think of money and value. As we advance towards a digital future, the enduring impact of Satoshi and his vision continues to be a lighthouse of inspiration for those who seek to challenge the established system and to construct a more equitable world.

In the world of Bitcoin there is a saying: "stay humble and stack sats", which reminds us of the importance of sacrificing the ego and patience in the world of cryptocurrency. Using Bitcoin as a store of value has provided an effective strategy for building long-term wealth and resisting the volatility of the market during the last 14 years. Humility has kept us focused on the final objective of the preservation of wealth, meanwhile constant saving/stacking permits us to take advantage of market opportunities and to build a solid base for the future. From my point of view, Satoshi reminds us that the success of decntralized digital money is not about getting rich quickly but rather about the creation of wealth in a constant and responsible fashion, with a focus on preserving property rights and personal liberty.

Through analyzing all of this in detail, perhaps we should not be surprised that something has been created that safeguards property rights, freedom, and privacy like nothing that has been seen in the world before. Satoshi decided to unlink his creation from his identity.

The story of Satoshi Nakamoto is the story of our age. Prometheus brought fire to humanity. Satoshi brought us Bitcoin.

Leopoldo Moreno de la Cova is an economist.

@ dc4cd086:cee77c06

I'm going to try and #asknostr for this.

The client I'm working on is more or less about making full articles out of smaller notes, the purpose for this is to isolate individual ideas and concepts of some larger article. A bridge between very long articles books or wiki pages and small-specialized personal knowledge bases (zettlekasten).

Why? Think about a wiki, but with multiple perspectives per topic, and the content of each article can be some sort of mix of any other article's content.

If you want to write about some sort of level 3 concept and other's have already written about levels 1 and 2 perfectly well, why reinvent the wheel? Academic papers, textbooks, blogs and tutorials are filled with redundant content like this and always hiding background content in references. What if those references were a part of the article itself? I think that this could lead to a new way of consuming knowledge content, and would like to build it with the community.

Looking for advice on constructing this to keep interoperability with other clients while also not spamming feeds with tons of Kind:1 notes. I'm trying to spec out these kinds, and some possible metadata tags. The kind(s) might lie somewhere within the 30000-39999 range of parameterized replaceable events.

Two basic types of kinds 1. Article metadata and list of connected notes 2. Notes with isolated concepts

This is related to the Kind:0 (user metadata) and Kind:1 (text notes), but for an article that can change its structure and content as time progresses and knowledge about a topic updates. For the time being, I'll just refer to them as ArticleKind:0 and ArticleKind:1.

• ArticleKind:0 sketches out the structure of an article at a point in time. It has the article metadata and the specific list of notes that compose that article. This specific kind is what would be displayed as a preview to users. One possibility could be embedding the structure of the article in this event.
• ArticleKind:1 contains the content, subsection title (introduction, tutorial B, ingredients etc.) and possible references to external content. The subsection titles can be aggregated to create a composed table of contents. Similar to ArticleKind:0, a possibility could be to embed the immediate connections of this note (e.g. previous and next notes, which can be single or many notes)

Why replaceable? If information is updated the most recent article/note will display, but a living history of the document remains (if relay operators decide to not delete old notes). Articles/subsections can exist with multiple perspectives but can be linked together by single ArticleKind:0.

Isolated concepts help both writers and readers focus on the information they care about while allowing users in the future to compose new articles out of previous notes.

What you can potentially make is nonlinear-modular-chooseYourOwnAdventure articles that let you read and write about topics in what whatever fashion you'd like, while allowing already well explained work to be part of your article. * You want a regular linear book, that's fine. * You want a branching story? Go ahead. * What about a weird ouroboros spaghetti linked article? Why the hell not?

Further reading:

(brief, possible applications) * https://github.com/limina1/indextr-principles/blob/main/README.org

(longer, drawn out concepts and rational) * https://github.com/limina1/indextr-principles/blob/main/details.md

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

The Easy Way To Self Custody of Bitcoin

TODO: [TOC]

Start here.

Note: This is a work in progress. **

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

Why TF do we need this book?

Most bitcoin books come in two categories.

1) Bitcoin is the best investment since sliced gold. 2) Bitcoin philosophy

As far as I know, there is not a book that teaches the average person how to take self-custody of their bitcoin. There are many guides, webpages, and YouTube videos, but they are kind of fragmented and require you to take many detours down the rabbit hole. This book is for people who have embroiled themselves in bitcoin. Maybe they read the Bitcoin Standard or the Progressive Case for Bitcoin and have decided they need some bitcoin. They think bitcoin is energy, digital gold, Venice, "the blockchain," proof-of-work, and 12 magic words you memorize and say to retrieve all of your wealth like Wingaudiam Levinosa in Harry Potter.

There are no more bitcoin books to be written. This is not a bitcoin book. It is a compilation of many different tools I have found and used since I got into bitcon. This book will not have any charts. It will not mention the price of bitcoin. The only model is tick-tock-next block. The world will never have 21 million bitcoin. This book will teach you how to control a small fraction of that amount. As long as you can write down 24 words and a passphrase  and can store them safely, you will be able to store your bitcoin. You will have your Cold Card memorize your words.

This book will not teach you:

"How much will I get if I invest $100 in Bitcoin? "When Moon?" "How much does it cost to buy one Bitcoin?"

This book will not teach you how to lend your bitcoin or give it to someone else for interest." This is anti-Block-Fi. This book will not teach you how to buy bitcoin from a regulated exchange. Regulated exchanges are some of the most dangerous ways to store your bitcoin. The worst way to store bitcoin is in someone else's wallet. The bitcoin you hold in someone else's wallet is someone else's bitcoin. **This is not a book about other people's bitcoin. This is not about Blackrock's bitcoin, Coinbase's bitcoin, or Strike's bitcoin. This is about your bitcoin. Your bitcoin is your responsibility. ** If you lose your seeds, nothing in this book can help you. **  If you write your passphrase down wrong, you will hodl forever. This book will teach you how to double-check your wallets and do it as easily as possible while having bitcoin IOUs for as little time and as private as we reasonably can expect our privacy to be.

I went to my first bitcoin conference in November of 2020, in the midst of the FTX scam being revealed in real time. FTX was the most regulated of the regulated exchanges. They still stole their customers bitcoin. I didn't speak to anyone at the conference who would admit they kept their bitcoin on FTX, but many people said they kept it on a bitcoin-only exchange. This exchange regularly informs their customers that they need to withdraw. They make it very easy. Yet so many people trust the exchanges more than they trust themselves.

I found this surprising because the second line in the bitcoin white paper is very clear about this.

https://highlighter.com/e/note19r76y6vz7x8rtza8z08zn5htwu94v4mm77vtmqny7lnrhncul0sqsvw5e3

Satoshi Nakamoto said this in February 2009 on the Peer2Peer Foundation:

https://highlighter.com/e/note1dv8gue4e25za3d5p2ej4krcp7kaykfpfpggn6lk393c7zjdacp3s9855l5

note1dv8gue4e25za3d5p2ej4krcp7kaykfpfpggn6lk393c7zjdacp3s9855l5

I decided to write this book for these people to show them they do not need to trust themselves. They can trust the math instead. They can ditch their bitcoin IOUs for real UTXOs. What's a UTXO? an unspent bitcoin transaction output. That's just a fancy way of saying saving bitcoin or stacking sats. 

This book is not a 100% trustless way to store bitcoin. That would be the hard way, but I do believe this is possible to achieve, especially if you only use bitcoin on the main chain, but that is beyond the scope of this book. I intend to teach you how to use your bitcoin. If you don't have any bitcoin, don't worry. I will teach you how to get some using bitcoin the way it was meant to be, **peer2peer. **

When you buy bitcoin peer2peer, you know you own bitcoin as soon as it gets to your wallet. This will protect you from exchanges that are regulated by a corrupt financial system that knows how to regulate fractional reserve banks that blow up but has no idea how cryptography works. For this reason, many bitcoiners have fallen victim to scams they thought were safe becauuse of financial regulation that keeps them as safe as the credit ratings of sub-prime mortgages, which means not very safe at all. There are many examples of regulated and unregulated exchanges and lending platforms that were hacked, rehypoticated, or just plain stolen. This book intends to teach you how to protect yourself from unscrupulous exchanges that look legit because of regulation, but are actually rug-pull technology such as:

-FTX -Celcius -Block-Fi -Mt. Gox

@ 0e649f32:8a33b33b

Original song and video submitted to The Association of Composers and Musical Authors of Costa Rica (ACAM) for the 2024 awards.

The famous Latino guitarist, IGNI FERROQUE teams up with CCC to produce a classic MTV retro video.The band is promoting their 44th anniversary album and national tour sponsored by Costa Rica's Call Center. The hot single has become the official 15 year anniversary theme song for CCC. Pura Vida.

IGNI FERROQUE. Banda de rock original costarricense fundada en 1978.

Shine like the sun lyrics:

Have you every thought of leaving home? How far would you go to find you space? Are you willing to start all alone? Without letting your mind scatter...Out of place

Working hard everyday dawn to dawn Hitting the phone to reach the goal Fitting in your spot in paradise Never take your eye off the prize

YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL

No matter how strong you feel you are No time for breaks until you're all done With all your goals there is always stress And everybody needs to rest

And yet there is no dream that comes alone Once you feel great, you feel at home You find the beauty of a smiling face You find the love, you find the GRACE

YOU BETTER SHINE LIKE THE SUN YOU BETTER DO THINGS RIGHT IT'S A GAME OF WIN OR GO BACK HOME BUT YOU'RE A WINNER, YOU TAKE IT ALL

Costa Rica Rock Star IGNI FERROQUE new hit single, "SHINE LIKE THE SUN"

https://youtu.be/wnQX8TEagis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nublj-mEkZ4&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl

September 21st, 2018. Hard Rock Cafe, Costa Rica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ3XowAhuD8&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl

IGNI FERROQUE live in concert. The LONDON ROOM. September 23rd 2022 SHINE LIKE THE SUN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHC04SVgwXQ&pp=ygUbc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGZlcnJvd3Vl

IGNI FERROQUE LIVE. El Club de Bella Escazu! October 15th 2022. Shine Like The Sun closed the set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM-KfL8_vpc&pp=ygUgc2hpbmUgbGlrZSB0aGUgc3VuIGlnbmkgZmVycm9xdWU%3D

SHINE LIKE THE SUN. LIVE JANUARY 8th 2022

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Davidson Souza ( nostr:npub16qce8d6wvrrarl6pdaf285qaee27pyvumxwdm9x34y227z5uytks9n4zky )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 2209

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Davidson Souza on 31/07/2023: Davidson is excited to share libfloresta, a project he has been developing, with the Bitcoin devs mailing list. libfloresta is a compact and simple Bitcoin full node with integrated watch-only wallet and Electrum Server. It is designed for low-power devices and can run virtually anywhere. The project is in an early stage but is already being used on signet. Davidson is using libbitcoinconsensus and plans to use libbitcoinkernel in the future to minimize misimplementations. He thanks Vinteum for supporting his work.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Num dia recebi/li estas duas notícias:

“Americanizar as coisas é comum, mas, neste caso, pode não ser o ideal. Pelos Estados Unidos da América (EUA), trabalhar com mais de 75 anos está a tornar-se tendência e nós, europeus, podemos estar a ver o caso mal parado…

Há cerca de dois anos, o Bureau of Labor Statistics dos EUA partilhou que o número de trabalhadores com 75 anos ou mais cresceu 53,7% entre 2010 e 2020, e deverá crescer 96,5% entre 2020 e 2030.” in pplware

Adorei especialmente as fotos que ilustram o artigo, a alegria do senhor que tem de trabalhar depois dos 75 anos para não morrer à fome ou para pagar os medicamentos.

---

Na Europa:

“A idade média da reforma na União Europeia está estabelecida nos 65 anos, embora com números diferentes de país para país: a Dinamarca estabeleceu-se nos 67 anos, ao passo que em França encontra-se nos 63 anos e dois meses. Portugal tem como referência 66 anos e quatro meses.

Em causa, de acordo com o jornal espanhol ‘El País’, está a intenção em Espanha de estabelecer um sistema de incentivos e penalizações que vai fazer avançar a idade legal de reforma entre os 68 e 72 anos. No país vizinho, caso um trabalhador tenha contribuído durante mais de 37 anos e 9 meses, baixa a idade da reforma para os 65 anos. Até 2027, a idade legal vai chegar aos 67 anos e a exigência de contribuição aos 65 anos com 100% da pensão será de 38 anos e seis meses.

De acordo com dados do Centro Finlandês de Pensões, em vários países da Europa a idade da reforma é mais precoce nas mulheres do que nos homens: mas como as idades legais estão a ser adiadas, há uma tendência para igualá-las. Vários países já registaram a intenção de subir a idade da reforma perante a evolução da expectativa de vida, o que tende a adiar a reforma: Dinamarca, Países Baixos, Grécia, Itália, Portugal, Estónia, Finlândia, Chéquia, Chipre ou Suécia são alguns deles, referiu o jornal espanhol.” in executivedigest

Parece que anda aí um movimento para a normalização de trabalhar após os 70 anos, sou só eu a achar isso um absurdo. Eu não sou contra, as pessoas de idades avançadas trabalharem, pelo contrário, até acho importante terem uma ocupação, mas fazer algo que gostam, pelo mero prazer, um trabalho voluntário, ajudar a associação da comunidade, na paróquia, ter uma horta, pintar, fazer aquilo que sempre sonhou mas nunca teve tempo. É importante estarem activas fisicamente e psicologicamente.

Neste caso estamos a falar de trabalhar por necessidade, por mera subsistência, isto não é normal. Nós somos humanos, temos direito aos prazer da vida, viver apenas para trabalhar não é vida, ser um escravo do trabalho, não somos robôs.

Sistemas de pensão

Não interessa o sistema que utilizas, o problema está é na moeda, que não perversa o valor. É como guardar a água no balde com um furo, por mais que acumule, está constantemente a drenar.

O sistema individual, como nos EUA, onde cada pessoa individualmente faz a sua poupança para a velhice. A poupança é dissolvida pela inflação, ou então têm que investir em produtos financeiros de risco que muitas vezes são ruinosos e/ou que na maioria das vezes não têm rendimentos superiores à inflação.

O sistema colectivo/social, especialmente utilizado na europa, como os políticos gostam de dizer, é uma solidariedade intergeracional, onde todos os cidadão são obrigados a contribuir. Onde na base da pirâmide estão os trabalhadores do activo que pagam as pensões aos mais velhos, que estão no topo da pirâmide, ou seja um ponzi.

A ideia inicial: Como o dinheiro desvaloriza muito com a inflação, é inviável guardar o dinheiro para utilizar no futuro, assim criou-se um sistema em que as pessoas que estão a trabalhar pagam as pensões aos mais velhos. Ou seja, ao tentar resolver o problema original, da moeda fraca, criamos um outro problema, um ponzi.

Na teoria até poderia funcionar, no momento em que foi criado. Mas isto só funciona quando existem mais trabalhadores no ativo que pensionistas e os seus rendimentos (em média) têm que ser igual ou superiores aos dos pensionistas, ou seja, a base da pirâmide tem que ser muito maior que a parte superior.

Quando foi criado, o sistema cumpria estas premissas, só que agora começa a ter dificuldade em cumprir, é uma bomba relógio. Os jovens recebem cada vez menos, existe muita instabilidade laboral, a progressão laboral já não é tão contínua. Atualmente em Portugal é comum os novos pensionistas contribuiram mais de 40 anos para o sistema de pensões, os jovens de agora, dificilmente terão 40 anos de contribuições aos 66 anos, devido aos estudos, à dificuldade em encontrar o primeiro emprego e à instabilidade do mercado laboral, já nem falo da praga dos trabalhos a recibos verdes(sem contrato).

E por fim, a população activa está a diminuir e devido ao aumento da esperança média de vida, existe um aumento de pensionistas. Hipoteticamente vamos chegar a um período em que existem mais pensionistas que trabalhadores no activo, é a inversão da pirâmide. Sim, eu disse hipoteticamente, porque esse momento nunca vai chegar porque o sistema atual vai colapsar antes disso. Deixa de ser uma pirâmide geracional e passa a ser quase um retângulo, as pensões acabam ou será um valor extremamente baixo.

Devido ao problema (2ª) dos sistemas de pensões e a necessidade de fazer uma poupança, que não é possível fazer em dinheiro devido ao 1ª problema (moeda), as pessoas estão a comprar casas como uma poupança, originando um 3ª problema, o imobiliário. Isto gera bolhas imobiliárias, que torna a compra de casa pelos jovens muito difícil e quando a bolha rebenta destrói uma parte das poupanças (o 2ª problema) dessas pessoas.

Para minimizar o problema do envelhecimento da população, muitos governos (incluindo o português) estão a importar grandes quantidades de pessoas de todo o mundo, sem critério e em muitos casos a roçar a escravatura. O país não tem condições para integrar tanta gente, muitos estão a viver em condições desumanas. Voltamos ao mesmo, para resolver o 2ª problema estamos a criar um 4º problema (a emigração), isto é uma matrioskas de problemas.

---

O problema não está no sistema de pensões, o problema é esta política monetária expansionista, que imprime dinheiro do nada, criando inflação que destroem qualquer poupança que exista.

Nenhum sistema de pensões será viável enquanto existir esta política monetária.

A única solução é separar a política monetária do poder político.

@ 0dde8796:14799cec

As many of you know from my prior post, I have switched over to graphene OS for my mobile device. This article is an update on my progress so far, and I will provide a few tips along the way.

First I want to explain my situation, since your circumstances may cause you to choose different options.

I am a semi-retired boomer. I am not very adept technically, but I might have more time on my hands than you do. I also enjoy the process of figuring stuff out and trying workarounds. You may not have the time or the inclination to do that. Still, I do need my device for work related tasks, so convenience is an issue. I kept my old android around to ease the transition. I have learned from prior experience that going “cold turkey” on a change increases the odds of me throwing in the towel and going back to the easy solutions.

In my first article I toyed with the idea of going full stealth with a data only SIM card and a VPN dongle, but in the end convenience won out over more privacy. I think it’s a great idea, but it would be a little too radical for me. If you’re interested, check out @03365d6a53 and @final ‘s information in my prior post and their comments, and good luck with your brave experiment. Since I chickened out, I just switched my old Verizon Wireless sim card from my Galaxy S-10 to the Pixel 7. There were no issues, which surprised me a little. Verizon Wireless tends to interact with phones in a funky way, from what I’ve been told. Remember not to install any proprietary sim (especially Verizon Wireless) in a Pixel 7 before loading graphene and relocking the bootloader. You may never get it unlocked.

A Perfect Fit

I was anticipating a big tradeoff in quality and smooth operation switching to a Graphene OS Pixel 7. I was completely wrong. The Pixel 7 has a very solid build quality, and seems perfectly matched to the operating system. I guess it makes sense, since Graphene is built for this device. You don’t get all those mismatch issues you get with many android phones. The complete lack of bloatware definitely improves performance. The device seems snappy and responsive to me, though reviews I’ve read of the carrier loaded device describe it as a little “laggy”. I can’t believe how long a battery charge lasts. That was an unexpected huge benefit. I read that this is a result of losing all that bloatware. This was even more impressive when I discovered that the Pixel 7 with a standard carrier android setup is considered to have mediocre battery life.

The device is reasonably priced for what you get. That’s important, since you won’t find those promotional discounts or financing terms you would get buying a “carrier phone”. I bought mine straight from Google, and you probably should too. Read this review if you’re interested in learning about the hardware specs. The phone has a photo editing tool called “Photo Unblur”, which I used to sharpen a blurry photo of my daughter and I taken at her recent college graduation with a new Iphone. THAT was an unexpected benefit of switching to Graphene.

I also noticed an immediate improvement when using a VPN. I live in an area with spotty cell coverage. Every previous android device I have used disconnected my VPN every time I lost service. I have yet to have my VPN disconnect on the Pixel. I have no idea why, but I’m not complaining.

The operating system is set for “gestures” by default, rather than the standard android three button navigation. I gave it a try and decided to keep it. It is smooth and intuitive. Updates have been non events so far. I have had two; they were installed quickly and without any issues.

As I explained in my original post, Graphene comes pre-installed with a fully sandboxed Google Play Store. If you intend to continue using your Google apps and the play store, your switch to Graphene should be essentially painless. There will not be a huge learning curve, nor will you be making any major compromises. Apparently your apps may function differently once in a while, but from what I have read it is nothing major.

I would recommend that you consider setting up a second “user” where you can further isolate your Google apps in a sandboxed profile. In settings, go to “system, then go to “multiple users.” You can then toggle “allow multiple users.” This video explains the process in detail.

No Google For Me

I am stubborn, and as of now I have kept my vow to de google my life. I have decided not to use the Play Store, even if it is sandboxed. So far I’m surviving, and I am learning a lot, but it would have been easier to just get sucked back into Googleworld. I began searching for alternatives. One obvious issue I needed to consider was security. No more Play Protect. You may find this article useful.

When I began disentangling my life from google a few years ago, I signed up for Proton Unlimited. As a result, I use these Proton apps:

Proton Apps

• Protonmail

• Proton Drive

• Proton VPN

• Proton Calendar

I also use Proton Contacts, which is contained within the email app. Proton recently released Proton Pass, a new password manager. I will probably start using it rather than my old password manager.

I should mention that I got used to banking on my phone. I will no longer have access to my bank apps. This is an adjustment, but I can always log in to the web sites if need be. I see this as a good opportunity to head further down the road towards being unbanked. I gave up Paypal (and Venmo) a while back when they began censoring transactions and closing accounts they didn’t like. As I’m writing this I just learned that they closed the Graphene donation account. I never used Zelle. I do use CashApp, but only for bitcoin recurring buys, and only on a device without a cellular connection. If I’m out with my friends, I offer to split the bill in cash or with a lightning payment from my Phoenix Wallet App. So far, no takers. They laugh at me and I tell them they won’t be laughing when bitcoin breaks 100K. I will consider it a milestone when someone accepts a lightning payment to split the check.

My Other Non Google Apps

I download my FOSS apps from F-Droid repositories, and I download most of my other apk’s from APK Mirror. This site has a good reputation for safety, but there are no guarantees.

Here are the alternative apps I am currently using:

• Amethyst

• Mull browser

Mull Browser is forked from Fenix (Firefox). It’s open source and privacy hardened. It enables features from the Tor uplift project and uses Arkenfox preferences. I had no idea what these projects were, so I have linked to sites where you can learn more. It is also a deblobbed browser. I won’t pretend that I fully understand what that means, but it removes proprietary blobs. I have learned that a blob is a “Binary Large Object”. These closed source objects are large and can place demands on storage systems and network bandwith. They can also contain malicious code.

The browser allows extensions, and I added the recommended uBlock Origin extension, a “wide spectrum content blocker” that blocks ads, trackers, and popups.

• OpenBoard keyboard

The default keyboard didn’t work for me at all. My old fat fingers were mistyping keys at an alarming rate. I tried FlorisBoard, which was a little better, but its spell check suggestions were awful or non-existent. OpenBoard has worked very well for me. I can type accurately and the suggestions are excellent. It’s FOSS based on AOSP, with no Google binary dependencies.

• LibreTube

Libre Tube is an alternative front end for Youtube. It uses the Piped API. This app was inspired by NewPipe and Invidious, while solving problems inherent in both those apps. It’s FOSS, lightweight, ad free and privacy friendly. You connect to a Piped proxy, not a Google server. Your IP address is not exposed, and you can evade geographic content restrictions. You can choose from eight different proxies. I happen to be using whatever.social right now with no connection problems, but it’s probably wise to experiment.

• Hypatia

I installed this app since I’m downloading APK’s from sketchy sources. It may be unnecessary, but it makes me feel better. It’s a FOSS realtime malware scanner. It uses ClamAV style signature databases. It has negligible battery impact and is memory efficient. You can select and update databases.

• Open Note Scanner

Excellent scanning app that actually worked better for me than the old app I had been using from Google Play Store. Just remember you need to also install OpenCV Manager for it to work. I also discovered that in order to immediately email scanned documents you need the protonmail APK, not the PWA. I got a little PWA crazy when setting up my Pixel. There are limitations. On the other hand, it’s more work to keep APK’s updated, which is not an issue for PWA’s.

• Organic Maps

FOSS Google Maps alternative. No ads or tracking. It utilizes Open Street Map. It contains cycling routes, hiking trails, and walking paths. I have only used car navigation, which is still deemed experimental. Nevertheless, it has worked very well for me once I downloaded the map for my region. It does have voice navigation, although I have not used it. In the future they plan to implement Android Auto. I drive a 2006 Toyota, so that’s not an issue for me. I am learning about OpenStreetMap, which is a great project. Here’s a link to the United States organization.

• Stacker News PWA

• Fountain

• Podverse

• Note Everything

This is a really old, primitive app that I have used for years for taking notes. You cannot sync the notes to other devices without an extensive workaround and additional apps. I consider that a feature, not a bug. The notes live on my device, and each one can be easily encrypted. With the Pro paid app, you can encrypt your notes. I’m sure it’s not high end encryption, but I use it for privacy. I would not store any really private stuff on this app, like your keys, bank info, etc, but it gives you a little privacy.

Next Steps

Switching to the Google Pixel 7 has been painless for the most part. I get a great deal of satisfaction knowing that I am no longer supporting google in any way. I am also learning a lot about the functions and operations of a cell phone. It has been sort of like the way I felt switching from Windows to Linux. I learned so much more about how a computer works than I ever would have known had I not taken the leap. It is a big commitment, but not nearly as difficult or disruptive as I expected. I encourage everyone who wants to break away from big tech to give it a try.

I see this as a step towards my long term goal of controlling my own digital information. I intend to research equipment and begin moving to sovereign computing. I’m deciding between Start9, Umbrel, Sovran Systems, and Federated Computer.

I really like this quote from the Start 9 Web Site:

What is needed is a revolution in personal computing away from the current, hosted, custodial model that breeds dependency and corruption, towards a decentralized model, where individuals have absolute control over their data and communications.

Sound familiar?

First Published on Stacker News July 31, 2023

@ fec1f0c9:25ee63f5

[Author's note: I'm currently preparing my review of George Gilder's latest book, "Life After Capitalism." In the meantime, I'm reposting my earlier review of his previous book here. I also interviewed Gilder in 2019, and it's available at https://closemindedpodcast.com/episodes/episode-8-george-gilder-on-the-cryptocosm-and-life-after-google/ and https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/george-gilder-on-the-cryptocosm-and-life-after-google/id1342065897?i=1000431395322]

George Gilder is one of my favorite thinkers. He writes coherently and thoughtfully about a rich variety of topics, and a common theme running through much of his thought over the last 30 years is an optimistic “futurism.” He sees important developments in technology and grasps their philosophical underpinnings and implications long before they are even a glimmer in the eyes of us average folk.

In the early 90s, for example, Gilder foresaw and wrote about the impending broadband revolution and the smartphone era (there’s even evidence to suggest that he directly influenced Steve Jobs and the iPhone).

Undergirding his recent writings on technology is the science and philosophy of a concept known as Information Theory. Gilder spends a lot of time teaching the fundamentals of the theory and unpacking its implications in his 2013 book Knowledge and Power: The Information Theory of Capitalism and How it is Revolutionizing our World. It also directly informs his subsequent books: The Scandal of Money (2016) and now Life After Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy (2018).

Explaining information theory is beyond my scope here, and I certainly do not understand it fully (definitely not enough to write confidently about it). But I’m utterly fascinated by the way it actively informs Gilder’s thinking on so many different topics–from his opposition to insider trading laws, to his defense of entrepreneurship as the lifeblood of economic activity, to his framing of government intervention in the interest rate market in terms of time and knowledge, and his full-throated defense of capitalism. His most recent application of information theory touches on Google’s ecosystem and its philosophy of humanity, on blockchain and decentralization, on rapid innovative increases in low-power computing capabilities, and on cryptocurrencies.

All Your Data Belong to Us

Gilder starts Life After Google by utterly demolishing the premises that Google’s model is built upon, and describing how dangerous it is to society. To Google, you and I are not the customer; in fact, we are the product. They sell our information to advertisers and also use it to develop and perfect their algorithms. It’s all part of their attempt to “organize the world’s information.” It’s as arrogant as it sounds.

Google’s approach to collecting our data is ingenious: offer all their products and services for free–Gmail, Drive, Docs, Maps, Voice, Search, News, Books, Photos, YouTube, Assistant, the list goes on. And on. But there are major consequences to this model. For one, there is no market incentive to provide security of your data. After all, you aren’t a paying customer, and Google can get away with token efforts at protecting you. To make matters worse, a centralized model means all the important data is in one place–a glorious gift for hackers and data miners.

In the early stages of the Internet, data centralization wasn’t feasible. Processor speeds and the costs of memory were prohibitive. But Google (and the rest of Silicon Valley) drove the miraculous innovation that brought us exponentially faster, smaller, and cheaper computers. Google’s approach to building their server farms to store, organize, and rapidly calculate their “best” answer to whatever we were searching for radically changed the tech industry. This made it possible for them to become efficient repositories of our data. And so they vacuumed it up while we used their “free” services.

This model–and the risk involved–is not unique to Google. Just consider all the data breaches in recent years, and the hundreds of millions of users who saw their information exposed. This is a direct result of a centralized model of data storage. You don’t really own your data at all these companies–financial institutions, utilities, retail merchants, healthcare providers, insurance companies, personal cloud storage (DropBox, OneDrive, Evernote), etc. Nor do you have any ability to keep it safe. A single successful hack can potentially expose millions of customers’ worth of data. And for the most part, we simply get an “oops” from these corporations in response.

The solution is not just “better security.” We don’t need an even stronger wall around the castle. To change the metaphor, as long as the gold is sitting in the vault, the bank robbers will keep finding ways of getting in. It’s an inherent problem and an enormous moral hazard, and it doesn’t serve our interests. The entire model is flawed.

Gilder proposes an answer to this problem, and we’ll get to that. But first we need to discuss the philosophical roots of Google’s worldview.

The Fatal Flaw In Google’s “System of the World”

Boil down Google’s philosophy and you get a single, fatal flaw: they assume man (and his brain) is like a machine. They assume that eventually artificial intelligence (AI) will surpass us. But they cannot account for human consciousness with only mathematics and algorithms. In Google’s worldview, the Singularity is real–the inevitable moment when artificial intelligence overtakes that of man. Citing a handful of German scientists, mathematicians and philosophers from the 19th and 20th centuries, Gilder argues that information theory has definitively disproved this concept, shown it to be inherently self-contradictory. In one sense it’s a warmed-over, scientific cousin of classic Marxism. But how can Gilder apply a “Neo-Marxist” label to men who are obvious capitalists?

The fundamental claim Marx made was that the Industrial Revolution would create a future where, as Gilder puts it, “the key problem of economics would become not production amid scarcity but redistribution of abundance.” (6)

“Marx was typical of intellectuals in imagining that his own epoch was the final stage of human history…. The neo-Marxism of today’s Silicon Valley titans repeats the error of the old Marxists in its belief that today’s technology – not steam and electricity, but silicon micro chips, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, algorithmic biology, and robotics – is the definitive human achievement. The algorithmic eschaton renders obsolete not only human labor but the human mind as well.” (6-7) […]

AI is believed to be redefining what it means to be human, much as Darwin’s On the Origin of Species did in its time. While Darwin made man just another animal, a precariously risen ape, Google-Marxism sees men as inferior intellectually to the company’s own algorithmic machines. Life After Google makes the opposing case that what the hyperventilating haruspices Yuval Harari, Nick Bostrom, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Tim Urban, and Elon Musk see as a world-changing AI juggernaut is in fact an industrial regime at the end of its rope. (7) […]

“Marxism was historically hyperbolic the first time around, and the new Marxism is delusional today. Is time for a new information architecture for a globally distributed economy. Fortunately, it is on its way.” (9)

Google’s fundamental philosophical mistake is to assume that AI could ever match real human consciousness. But AI doesn’t have true intelligence, and it can never exhibit genuine creativity–only humans can do that. AI is just an algorithm. An incredibly sophisticated algorithm that grows beyond the understanding of its creators, yes, but ultimately it is still simply following rules, however complex.

“The problem is not AI itself, which is an impressive technology with much promise for improving human life. What transforms ‘super-AI’ from a technology into a religious cult is the assumption that the human mind is essentially a computer, a material machine.” (99)

Here is Gilder’s kill-shot against Google’s philosophy: “By using their own minds and consciousness to deny the significance of consciousness in minds, they refute themselves.” (100-101)

Introducing the Cryptocosm

So what is Gilder’s cryptocosm and how can it shift the paradigm away from the Google philosophy?

Very simply, it’s the new frontier being developed by young and emerging protocols of data decentralization, currency, info privacy and security–all built upon peer-to-peer, distributed ledgers known as the blockchain.

Imagine a money system where governments are incapable of printing their way out of debt, or of manipulating interest rates to serve the interests of their corporate cronies or advance an imperialist foreign policy. Imagine contracts–business deals, land titles, and more–that are enforced automatically by software protocols that nobody can interfere with. Imagine being able to pay anyone around the world instantly with total security, privacy, freedom, and without usurious transaction fees. Imagine being able to deliver micropayments to content providers on the internet rather than be force-fed ads that are either irrelevant to you or so targeted that they are creepy. Imagine having total control over your data–financial info, transaction history, personal medical records, browsing history, personal preferences and hobbies, etc.

In a world of centralized data, you get none of these things. You are the product being marketed, and your information is not protected. But the cryptocosm can deliver us from this model and deliver to us these benefits of security, privacy and control

But how? The potential of the cryptocosm is rooted in separate innovations in hardware and software.

Although Google played a key role in fostering the hardware innovations that were prerequisites to developing their dominance in centralizing and delivering data, and although their insatiable need for better and faster tech is fueling the next round of advances today, the irony is that those same innovations are fueling parallel advances in cryptographic decentralization based on the blockchain.

The computational power available in ever-smaller (and low-power) devices–like smartphones–allows cheaper and faster data processing than ever before, all without the need for centralized servers. For example, facial recognition software is built upon extremely complex algorithms that initially required a stack of servers to accomplish. No longer. A hand-held device can manage it instantly and locally. It’s the same story with rendering video. The possibilities are endless. Google is sowing the seeds of its own destruction.

Gilder quotes Muneeb Ali of Blockstack:

“Google and Facebook captured value in the application layer but then had to invent a lot of protocols and infrastructure to actually scale…Because of the value they created early on, they had the resources. This [architecture] leads to giant moats because big companies had all the data, but also because no one else had the resources to innovate at the protocol/infrastructure layer. This innovation is always needed. The question is who has the incentive to lead the charge. In the post-blockchain world, the model gets flipped and there is direct incentive [for many teams outside the giant companies] to work on the hard problems of protocol and infrastructure innovation. This is a major shift.” (201-202)

How else could this all play out in reality? Gilder provides many examples.

Brave

Brendan Eich, creator of the most widely used programming language in the world (JavaScript) and former head of Mozilla, has been innovating on his latest venture–the Brave browser. It is built around speed, privacy, ad-blocking (30% of mobile bandwidth is sucked up by ads that virtually nobody clicks on!) and–most excitingly–an anonymous and secure system of rewarding web sites with cryptocurrency rather than trading time for content (watching ads). It’s a brilliant approach to reasserting one’s autonomy and privacy on the internet, and I hope it takes off.

Cryptocurrencies

I believe the future of our money will definitely be a cryptocurrency. The question is, do you want a cryptocurrency that is managed, overseen, controlled, and gate-kept by a government, or one that is decentralized, secure, private, outside the control of a state, and impossible to inflate or manipulate? Gilder writes that the cryptocurrency is

building a new trust, ID, and transactions later for the Internet. Better than cash, it offers exchanges that conceal personal information but also allow complete proof of compliance where necessary. Not only can you exchange anonymously, you can prove your record of behavior if a government makes untrue charges or a business makes spurious claims. This combination of security and attestation makes cryptocurrencies a fundamental improvement on existing moneys—a remedy for the monetary turbulence of our time.” (176-177)

We are still in the early, wild west stage of cryptocurrencies, with a lot of unknowns. But this is by far the most active and innovative sector of the tech economy right now, with billions being invested. Indeed, crypto startups have all but replaced the standard IPO (this is partly because of draconian regulations imposed after the 2008 financial crisis that effectively killed IPOs and are doing immense damage to entrepreneurship in the United States).

Blockchain

The blockchain (which cryptocurrencies are built upon but is NOT the same thing) poses some really amazing opportunities for taking back control over your personal and private data in the Internet age, from smart contracts to land titles. Just about anything that requires security and integrity can move to a decentralized model that will ultimately be safer and more reliable for end-users.

As Gilder is fond of saying, every failed venture is an opportunity to learn, to gain clarifying signals (information) from the market economy. Here is his pithy analysis:

“Many of these [innovative blockchain and crypto] ventures will fail, but together they can emancipate the next generation of the Web from closed silos of captured data. The cryptocosm can mobilize computer power in volumes that dwarf even the data centers of the leviathans. In this cause, the advances in computer science pioneered at Google serve to emancipate the world from Google’s silos.” (210)

Life After Google

Near the end of the book, Gilder addresses a contemporary hot button political issue–net neutrality regulations. As a free market guy, he naturally opposes the draconian attempts to regulate internet service providers, for reasons both philosophical (it’s immoral) and practical (it’s counterproductive). As the world’s data continues to accumulate, and the ever-growing need for bandwidth and wireless coverage continues, the fate of the cryptocosm depends on the nascent 5G network. The gains in speed and coverage that 5G promises are so vast that they make net neutrality concerns all but obsolete–if the government doesn’t smother the spread of the technology through regulation.

“In practice, the only factor that makes any serious difference for Internet neutrality is investment in bandwidth. If bandwidth is scarce, it will have to be allocated preferentially, regardless of the laws.” (236)

Google finds itself in an ironic catch-22. It supports oppressive regulations because it enables their “free” service model to the masses. But those regulations threaten to kill the very innovations that will allow their heavy data usage to continue into the future.

The good news for us is that Google, in attempting to provide for its future, will actually sow the seeds of its own destruction. Gilder gives us many good reasons that life after Google will arrive soon, and what a better future it will be.

[To hear my interview with Gilder, go here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/george-gilder-on-the-cryptocosm-and-life-after-google/id1342065897?i=1000431395322]

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Hugo L ( nostr:npub1hc79sstpx7ws6jjaqlsnraseayhjua3q2dgp9cjxjxwex6n4lydqslgpzr )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 13682

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Hugo L on 31/07/2023: Transactions on the network should not be judged, and it would be better if we couldn't distinguish between different types. Resources should go to the highest bidder, based on supply and demand. The growth of the blockchain is not caused by inscriptions, but by the limit on storage per block.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 57fe4c4a:c3a0271f

👥 Authors: Daniel Lipshitz ( nostr:npub1t97ak5ltnq0v72nv4jssnhw0fr09axwqvc20623jfdnvrajae7nqufg2yy )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-31

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 1853

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Daniel Lipshitz on 31/07/2023: The implementation of full Replace-by-Fee (RBF) could negatively impact merchants and users who rely on 0-conf transactions. GAP600 has seen strong usage of their service and believes the adoption of RBF will change their business.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

The following is a collection of Tweets posted on Twitter that documented my entire heart surgery process, from finding out I had an issue, through the surgery, and finally throughout my recovery process. If Elon decides to remove old and unpaid content, I do not want this part of my life to vanish from the Internet. At the time, it was extremely important for my mental health to talk about this whole process and it was therapeutic in my recovery process, reading all of the responses as all of Bitcoin Twitter was behind my success. Thank you all of your kind words, love, and support during this whole process. May my Tweets live on through nostr.

...

Nov 28, 2021 I had open heart surgery 4 days before my 3rd b-day. I've led a healthy & active life since then, zero issues. I had an echocardiogram last week. The results were not good. Heart valve replacement may be in my near future. I am freaking the fuck out. I'll know more on Dec 6th. 😫

Dec 6, 2021 Update: I had my cardiologist appointment today. He said to not worry for now and continue to exercise and live life. In 3 months get another echo done. He doesn't believe the previous other results since I have zero symptoms and wants to do his own interpretation.

Dec 6, 2021 He said if the other results were correct, I may need valve replacement in 6 months to 3 years. However, he doesn't believe the local hospital's results as I said above. He can't form an opinion just yet. He said not to worry over and over again. For now, I'm staying positive!

Mar 7, 2022 Well, it's been three months. I had my follow up this morning. I have severe pulmonic regurgitation. I now need to speak with a specialist and see what my options are for surgery. Neat. 😭

Apr 12, 2022 Well, it looks like I'll need full open heart surgery again to replace my pulmonic valve. Bonus: I'll be part pig. So, I have that going for me. I was assuming that if I had to have this done it would be much less invasive, so I'm not overly impressed at the moment. 🫤

May 11, 2022 Today I had to get a CT scan of my heart in preparation for the May 27th surgery. All went well. I have no other heart issues. It's looking like I'll be in the hospital for 4-7 days, depending on how fast I recover. I should be fully 100% recovered by the end of August. ❤️

May 20, 2022 My grandfather with me 39 years ago, days after my open heart surgery. He taught me to hunt, fish, golf, and I'm sure taught me a thing or two about drinking beer and partying. 😂 He was a great man. He won't physically be with me next Friday, but I'm sure he'll be watching over.

May 25, 2022 Two more sleeps. My mind is racing with an incredible amount of thoughts and emotions now. It's overwhelming. I love you all. Thanks for all of your replies and DMs over the last couple days, weeks, and months. I appreciate it immensely. ❤️❤️❤️

May 25, 2022 Two more sleeps. My mind is racing with an incredible amount of thoughts and emotions now. It's overwhelming. I love you all. Thanks for all of your replies and DMs over the last couple days, weeks, and months. I appreciate it immensely. ❤️❤️❤️

May 27, 2022 LET'S GO! I am alive and doing well. I was on a ventilator until 8pm. That was horrible. I will read all of the comments that you all posted on Katie's updates. Now I need to rest. They want to get me up and walk at 11pm. 🤯 I love you all and your support had helped so much 🧡🧡

May 28, 2022 The amount of love, compassion, caring, and appreciation from everyone blows my mind. Thanks for all of your comments and DMs. The positivity though all is this has helped me get through dark times and now it's helping me get through pain. You are helping me immensely. 🤯❤️🧡💪

May 28, 2022 Today has been a rough day. Lots of chest pain when breathing. But, I apparently am doing something right, because I have been upgraded to a regular room. No more ICU for this guy! My ICU nurse told my new nurse that I'm strong. ❤️💪🔥

May 29, 2022 Using this to document my journey. Last night was not good at all. I had tachycardia and AFib for hours. It was scary as fuck having my heart beat the way it was at 160bpm. They gave me new medication to bring it down and stop the AFib irregular heartbeat. It's now at 101.

May 29, 2022 I was very scared. Katie was able to come and stay the night with me and be my personal care nurse. That made me feel much better having her here with me. Hopefully the meds continue to do what they're supposed to. Fuck. Anyways, I may not Tweet much today. Love you all. ❤️

May 30, 2022 Today has mostly been a great day progress wise. I ate a lot. I've walked more today than I have previously. My doctor told me I might be going home tomorrow, it all depends on what happens with my last drainage tube. Fingers crossed that it's draining properly now. 💪❤️

May 31, 2022 Morning walk crushed. Breakfast crushed. Feeling stronger. My drainage tube is still draining so we'll see what the surgeon says, but I probably won't be coming home today according to my nurse. It may be another day. Better to be safe. I'm feeling good though. Let's go! 💪💪❤️❤️

Jun 1, 2022 Today's plans: Crush morning walk, crush breakfast, CRUSH MY LAST X-RAY AND HEAD THE HELL HOME! Fingers crossed. 🤞🤞❤️❤️💪💪

Jun 1, 2022 On my morning walk I went into a slight AFib. The nurse and PA said since I hadn't had my morning meds to control that yet, that that could be the cause. They're going to increase meds and monitor me for another 24 hours. That sucks, but again, I'd rather be safe. Ugh.

Jun 2, 2022 GM! I miss my kids. I miss wearing normal clothes. I miss my house. I miss my doggy. I better go home today or I guess I'll just keep working to get well enough to go home. 😂 I'm still progressing forward. I have a chest x-ray scheduled later this morning. Fingers crossed.

Jun 2, 2022 I JUST GOT CLEARED TO HEAD HOME AFTER LUNCH. FUCK YEAH. LET'S GOOOOOO💪💪💪

Jun 2, 2022 I am home! I have some family that needs some loving. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Jun 4, 2022 Last night I slept in bed thanks to a reclining pillow, the first night our living room chair. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed. I walked around our yard about 9 times yesterday. My goal is to do that plus a little more every day. I'm still in a lot of pain, but meds help.

Jun 4, 2022 I still have a long way to go recovery wise, but having Katie and the kids here helping me along the way makes it easier and gives me a reason to keep pushing forward through this. Thanks again for all of your past and future support. You all are fantastic.

Jun 6, 2022 My wife went back to work today. My son and daughter are in charge of taking care of me. My kids are fantastic. They made me breakfast already and helped me check all of my vitals. My daughter really shines here. She's such a little nurse and caretaker. ❤️❤️

Jun 6, 2022 I'm still in pain, but I'm not in as much pain as I was a couple days ago. I'm walking around a little better and a little more every day. I really hate just sitting around and not doing anything, but it's hard to do much else besides watch TV. I am enjoying my patio though. 💪

Jun 16, 2022 It's been a while. It's time to update this thread! I am doing great, IMO. I have lots of energy. I feel great. I can do a lot more than I previously could. I still have a limited range of motion due to my sternum being broken and still healing. i.e. I can't wash my back or legs.

Jun 16, 2022 I started back to work yesterday. I was cleared to do 20 hours this week by my doctor and I'm hoping to be cleared full time next week. I work from home, so if I can sit in front of a TV, I can sit in front of a computer, right?

Jun 16, 2022 My home nurses have been absolutely fantastic.😂 My kids make me breakfast every morning. And I could not have done any of this without my rock star wife. Words can't describe how much she's done for me throughout all of this. I am looking forward to continuing to improve. ♥️

Jun 16, 2022 You all have been absolutely wonderful through all of this too. I appreciate all of your love, support, and check-ins. Seriously. It means more than you know.

I have a check-up at the end of the month to make sure all is well. I'll update again in a couple weeks after that appt.

Jun 28, 2022 My doctor said everything looks great. He said it doesn't look like I had open heart surgery a month ago.💪 He said I have zero restrictions and that I can resume normal life. I can drive and I can go out on my boat! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm so happy right now! 🔥🚀

Jul 15, 2022 I started cardiac rehab this week. After 2 sessions the nurse said I'm on "Week 4" already. She doesn't believe with my initial intake stress test if I'll really be able to improve on it that much. 🤣 TL;DR I am a rock star and kicking ass. Feeling great. Life's great. 😍

Aug 28, 2022 Yesterday was 3 months since my open heart surgery. I'm going great! I'd guess essentially back to normal. My sternum is still not fully healed, that'll take more time, but energy and capability are basically back to what I was like last summer. I'm very happy with the results.

Aug 28, 2022 I'm very happy to be able to exercise daily, go boating on the weekends AND swim and paddleboard. I was annoyed that I couldn't do these things a month ago. I had a cardiologist appt. two weeks ago. He said he hopes the valve lasts me the rest of my life and to see him in a year.

Aug 28, 2022 As a final post to this thread, I want to thank each and every one of you again that commented, liked, shared and DMed me throughout all of this. The love and support from Twitter and the #Bitcoin community was unfathomable. You all made a difference in my life and my recovery.❤️

@ 7e9c924a:188c865e

Introduction

Users of Nostr are most likely already familiar with the fact that there are multiple kinds of events on Nostr. It's not just for Twitter like experiences. In this series of posts we'll take a look at how to build a fully functional blog with the following features:

• Setting up and getting started with SvelteKit and Tailwind
• How to fetch our posts from Nostr
• Dynamic SSR or prerendering using SvelteKit
• Building a simple cache adapter for Cachified that uses SQLite as a storage
• Adding a contact us form that sends a DM to use using Nostr.

We will be adding features as we go. At some point in the future I want to add some kind of authentication (using NIP-07) as well as comments, reactions and analytics.

If you're just interested in checking out the code, you can find it on GitHub. Each part and section has a separate branch.

This post and the upcoming parts will also be available on my blog where you can see the end result.

Getting started with SvelteKit

Getting the project set up

SvelteKit is one of the simplest solutions out there if you want to build your own blog. It's more work than just using something like Ghost but you get the advantage of customizability.

I will assume that you have some experience using the terminal here. To get going run the following commands somewhere on your compouter: bash npm create svelte@latest my-blog

Select the following options:

1. Which template: Skeleton project
2. Type Checking: Yes, using Typescript syntax
3. Addition options: ESLint, Prettier

When the installation process is done, run the following commands:

bash cd my-blog npm install npm run dev -- --open

You'll also need an editor. I prefer VSCode (or in the spirit of Nostr, go for VSCodium). If you're new to Svelte, make sure to download the Svelte extension on the marketplace.

To make our website look somewhat decent, let's also add Tailwind to handle the styling. Run npx svelte-add@latest tailwindcss in the terminal.

If you are completely new to Svelte and SvelteKit I would recommend going through the learning material to get a basic understanding of what is going on.

Fetching posts from Nostr

Before we actually set things up to show only our own posts, let's start with just fetching the latest 5 events from a couple of different relays. We'll be using @pablof7z's excellent library @nostr-dev-kit/ndk. We'll also need to polyfill the websocket functionality since node doesn't support this out of the box:

bash npm install @nostr-dev-kit/ndk websocket-polyfill

Once it's installed, go ahead and create a file called nostr.ts in the following path: lib/server/. This is where we will be interacting with Nostr.

First off, we'll need a list of relays that support NIP-04 (long form content). I used wss://purplepag.es. Find more on nostr.watch. Let's write some code.

```ts // lib/server/nostr.ts import NDK from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk"; import 'websocket-polyfill'

const relays = ['wss://relay.damus.io', 'wss://purplepag.es']

class Nostr { private ndk: NDK

constructor(relays: string[]) {
    this.ndk = new NDK({ explicitRelayUrls: relays })
}

public async init() {
    try {
        await this.ndk.connect()
    } catch (error) {
        console.error('Error connecting to NDK:', error)
    }
}

}

export const ndk = new Nostr(relays); ```

We'recreating a simple class and instantiating NDK inside of it. We're then passing in our list of relays and exporting an instance of this class that we can use in the rest of our application. We've also added an init() method that we'll run when we start our application that connects to the relays.

Next we'll create a method to fetch our posts but first, let's add an interface so we get some type safety. In src/app.d.ts go ahead and add the following interface:

ts ... interface Article { slug?: string, d?: string, title: string, summary: string, tags: string[] published_at: string, }

Add a method to our Nostr class in nostr.ts. This will be the method that fetches the latest 5 events from our relays.

```ts ... import type { NDKEvent } from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk";

class Nostr { ... public async getAllArticles(): Promise { let events: NDKEvent[]; try { events = [...await this.ndk.fetchEvents({ kinds: [ 30023 ], limit: 5 })] } catch (error) { console.error('Error fetching events:', error) events = [] } const articles = events.map(({tags}) => { const { summary, image, published_at, title, t, d } = mapTags(tags)

        return {
            slug: generateSlug(title as string),
            d,
            summary, 
            image, 
            published_at, 
            title,
            tags: t || []
            }
        })
    if (articles.length === 0) {
        return []
    }

    return articles as Article[]

} } ```

Let's try to understand what's going on here. First we're importing the type NDKEvent. This is what we'll get back from NDK when we fetch our events.

We're fetching out event here: events = [...await this.ndk.fetchEvents({ kinds: [ 30023 ], limit: 5 })]. NDK returns a set of NDKEvents. I like to work with arrays so I convert them to just that by spreading them into an empty array. The argument that we pass into the fetchEvents method is a filter object. It follows the NIP-01 specification, so you can put all sorts of things in here. You can read more about in the spec. In our case we're using the 30023 kind which is the long-form content kind and we're limiting the number of results to 5.

Nostr events have a few fields that we need to pay attention to. Often you'll find the actual body of a message in the content field, but other things that are specific to the kind will be found in the t field as an array of tuples so in order to more easily use this information we'll need to go through and clean it all up.

The keen-eyed among you have probably already spotted the mapTags() and generateSlug() functions here. Create a new file lib/server/utils.ts and inside add the following:

```ts import type { NDKTag } from "@nostr-dev-kit/ndk";

export function generateSlug(headline: string): string { const lowerCaseHeadline = headline.toLowerCase(); const slug = lowerCaseHeadline.replace(/[^\w\s]/g, '').replace(/\s+/g, '-'); return slug; }

export function mapTags(tuple_tags: NDKTag[]): Record { let tags = tuple_tags.reduce((acc, [key, value]) => { if (!acc[key]) acc[key] = value else if (typeof acc[key] === 'string') { acc[key] = [acc[key], value] as string[] } else { (acc[key] as string[]).push(value) } return acc }, {} as Record)

return tags } ```

You don't need to understand what's going on here other than the fact that the functions will generate a slug and map the t field into usable fields.

Let's go back to our lib/server/nostr.ts file and import these.

```ts import { generateSlug, mapTags } from './utils'

class Nostr { ... } ```

Ok. with that done we should be able to fetch events. Let's move on to the SvelteKit bits.

Showing posts on the front-end

SvelteKit apps are server-rendered by default for first load performance and SEO. This is important in order to get your posts ranked on search engines like Google or Bing.

First off, we need to make sure our Nostr client is initiated. Create a file called hooks: /hooks.server.ts and add the following:

```ts import type { Handle } from '@sveltejs/kit'; import { ndk } from '$lib/server/nostr'

await ndk.init()

export const handle = (async ({ event, resolve }) => { const response = await resolve(event); return response; }) satisfies Handle; ```

This file runs when the server starts. The handle hook runds on each request, we're not using it here but we need to add it in order for the rest of the file to be run.

Loading our events

Let's start with loading our events. Create a file routes/+page.server.ts. In here we'll call the get articles method on our Nostr client.

```ts import { ndk } from '$lib/server/api';

export const load = async () => { const articles = await ndk.getAllArticles()

return {
    articles
};

} ```

A load function in SvelteKit is used to return data to the front-end. It runs whenever a request is sent to the corresponding route. In this case the root: /.

Since we have already initiated our Nostr client in hooks.server.ts we don't need to do it here. Simply call ndk.getAllArticles() and return the result.

Building the front-end

Let's make something appear on the page. Open up routes/+page.svelte. Remove the contents of the file and add the following:

```html

My blog

{#each data.articles as article}
• {article.title}
{/each}

```

The things we returned in our load function will be available in our data prop.

To get a list of our posts we use an {#each} block and loop through our articles.

Yay! Titles of posts! Amazing. Let's make it look a bit better. Create a new component: routes/Summary.svelte and add the following:

```html

```

And finally import it and use it in /routes/+page.svelte:

```html

My blog

{#each data.articles as article}
{/each}

```

Last but not least we'll want to only fetch our own posts. To do that modify the filter we used in the Nostr class (lib/server/nostr.ts):

ts ... events = [...await this.ndk.fetchEvents({ kinds: [ 30023 ], authors: [YOUR_PUBKEY_GOES_HERE, SOME_OTHER_PUBKEY])] ...

Make sure that the pubkey you're using is in a hex format. If you only have your npub1..... style key you can use something like Nostr Check to convert it.

You will probably notice that it takes quite a while to load your page at this point. In the next part we'll take a look at how we can fix this by using caching.

Until next time! 🤘

@ 138e0951:6a1d8320

originalidad 0% .... probando nostr

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• The Rise of River: A Game-Changer in the Bitcoin Space
• Factors Influencing Thiel's Decision
• Implications of Thiel's Investment
• Conclusion
• FAQ

Peter Thiel, the renowned venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal, has recently made headlines with his bold move of investing $35 million in a Bitcoin startup called River. Thiel's investment in the cryptocurrency industry has sparked curiosity and debate among investors and industry experts. In this article, we will explore the reasons behind Thiel's decision to back River and delve into the potential implications of this move for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Peter Thiel's Bold Move The Rise of River: A Game-Changer in the Bitcoin Space

Understanding River's Mission River is a Bitcoin startup founded in 2019 with a mission to make Bitcoin more accessible and user-friendly. The company aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and the world of cryptocurrencies by providing institutional-grade Bitcoin financial services. River offers a suite of tools and services designed to simplify the process of buying, selling, and storing Bitcoin for both individual and institutional investors.

Thiel's Confidence in River's Vision Peter Thiel's investment in River is a testament to his confidence in the startup's vision and potential. Thiel has a track record of backing disruptive and innovative companies, and his support for River indicates his belief in the transformative power of Bitcoin. By investing a substantial amount of capital, Thiel is betting on River's ability to drive mainstream adoption of Bitcoin and revolutionize the way people interact with the digital currency.

Factors Influencing Thiel's Decision Growing Institutional Interest in Bitcoin One of the key factors influencing Thiel's decision to invest in River is the increasing institutional interest in Bitcoin. In recent years, major financial institutions, including banks and asset management firms, have started to embrace cryptocurrencies and recognize their potential as an investment asset. Thiel, known for his keen insights into emerging trends, likely sees the institutional adoption of Bitcoin as a significant catalyst for its future growth.

Addressing Bitcoin's Accessibility Challenges Bitcoin's mainstream adoption has been hindered by various challenges, including its complexity and lack of user-friendly infrastructure. River aims to tackle these hurdles by providing a seamless and secure platform for buying, selling, and storing Bitcoin. Thiel's investment in River indicates his belief that the startup's innovative solutions can address these accessibility challenges and make Bitcoin more user-friendly for a broader audience.

Potential for Bitcoin's Price Appreciation Thiel's investment in River may also be driven by his belief in the long-term potential for Bitcoin's price appreciation. As an early advocate of Bitcoin, Thiel has consistently expressed his bullish stance on the digital currency. By investing in a Bitcoin startup like River, Thiel is positioning himself to benefit from the potential growth of the cryptocurrency market as a whole.

Peter Thiel's Bold Move Time in Bitcoin and Implications of Thiel's Investment

Boosting Confidence in the Bitcoin Ecosystem Thiel's investment in River not only provides the startup with substantial funding but also boosts confidence in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. Thiel's track record as a successful investor and his reputation in the financial industry lend credibility to the potential of Bitcoin as a disruptive force in the world of finance. His endorsement of River may encourage other investors and institutions to take a closer look at Bitcoin and its underlying technology.

Accelerating Mainstream Adoption Thiel's investment in River has the potential to accelerate the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. River's focus on user-friendly financial services can attract a wider audience of investors who were previously hesitant to enter the cryptocurrency space. By providing a seamless and secure platform, River can help overcome the barriers that have prevented mainstream adoption, ultimately driving more people to embrace Bitcoin as a viable investment option.

Fostering Innovation in the Bitcoin Industry Thiel's investment in River also fuels innovation in the Bitcoin industry. The injection of capital enables River to expand its operations, hire top talent, and further develop its suite of services. This infusion of resources can have a ripple effect, inspiring other entrepreneurs and startups to enter the Bitcoin ecosystem with their own innovative solutions. Thiel's backing of River may spark a wave of creativity and competition, ultimately driving the industry forward.

Peter Thiel's Bold Move Conclusion Peter Thiel's $35 million investment in the Bitcoin startup River is a bold move that highlights his confidence in the future of Bitcoin and the potential of innovative companies within the cryptocurrency space. Thiel's investment not only supports River's mission to make Bitcoin more accessible but also boosts confidence in the broader Bitcoin ecosystem. By addressing Bitcoin's accessibility challenges, River has the potential to drive mainstream adoption and accelerate the growth of the cryptocurrency market. Thiel's backing of River also fosters innovation within the industry, inspiring other entrepreneurs to develop their own groundbreaking solutions. With Thiel's strategic investment, River is well-positioned to make a significant impact on the Bitcoin landscape and shape the future of digital finance.

FAQ Who is Peter Thiel? Peter Thiel is a renowned venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal. He is known for his investments in disruptive and innovative companies.

What is River? River is a Bitcoin startup that aims to make Bitcoin more accessible and user-friendly by providing institutional-grade financial services for buying, selling, and storing Bitcoin.

Why did Peter Thiel invest in River? Peter Thiel invested in River because he believes in the startup's vision and potential to drive mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. He also sees the growing institutional interest in Bitcoin and the need to address its accessibility challenges.

What are the implications of Thiel's investment in River? Thiel's investment in River boosts confidence in the Bitcoin ecosystem, accelerates mainstream adoption, and fosters innovation within the industry.

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Amnistía Internacional deseó este sábado la libertad del preso político cubano José Daniel Ferrer, quien cumple 53 años en terribles condiciones en la cárcel de Mar Verde en Santiago de Cuba y con la tortura de estar incomunicado casi permanentemente.

"Hoy es el cumpleaños del líder político José Daniel Ferrer. Hoy debería celebrar con su familia. José Daniel lleva dos años preso injustamente; es un preso de conciencia de Miguel Díaz-Canel", dijo Erika Guevara Rosas, representante de Amnistía Internacional en América Latina en un mensaje en Twitter.

"¡Exigimos su libertad inmediata! Muy pronto te veremos libre, es mi mayor deseo, José Daniel", concluyó.

"Mi valiente, firme y determinado hermano José Daniel Ferrer García está cumpliendo 53 años de edad. Quisiera desearle muchas felicidades en tan importante día y, sobre todo, pedirle a Dios que ponga sus manos una vez más y permita su libertad inmediata e incondicional, así como la de todos los presos políticos", escribió por su parte en Facebook la hermana del coordinador nacional de la UNPACU, Ana Belkis Ferrer García.

La opositora Rosa María Payá, por su parte, declaró en Twitter: "Cuando todo acabe y los cubanos podamos ser libres en Cuba, será gracias al esfuerzo de hombres (y mujeres) como José Daniel, que hoy cumple 53 años en una celda de aislamiento húmeda y hedionda cargando con la dignidad de todos los cubanos. #NoMásPresosPolíticos #SOSCuba #PatriaYVida #AbajoLaDictadura".

Este sábado Amnistía Internacional relanzó una acción urgente a propósito del cumpleaños de Ferrer en la que invita a todos escribir un correo electrónico a Díaz-Canel exigiendo su liberación.

La familia de José Daniel Ferrer García ha alertado sobre el deterioro físico que sufre por las pésimas condiciones carcelarias, y sobre el acoso de la Seguridad del Estado contra él y sus familiares. En la visita que pudieron hacer la semana pasada, gracias a la fuerza que tomó la campaña que exigía una "fe de vida" del disidente cubano, Ortega, junto al hijo que tiene con Ferrer y otra de las hijas del opositor, Fátima Victoria Ferrer, pudieron llegar a verlo en uno de los pasillos, cerca de la celda donde esta confinado.

Al finalizar la visita denunciaron que Ferrer se encuentra en un "crítico estado de salud", semidesnudo y recluido en una celda de aislamiento en la prisión de Mar Verde.

Ferrer fue detenido el 11 de julio de 2021 en el contexto de los actos de protesta que se celebraron por toda la Isla. Desde el 14 de agosto de 2021 permanece recluido en una celda de castigo, según sus familiares. Desde el 17 de marzo de 2023, permanece en régimen de incomunicación y antes de esta fecha se encontraba en mal estado de salud. Es preso de conciencia, por lo que debe ser puesto en libertad de inmediato y sin condiciones, demandó Amnistía Internacional el pasado 6 de junio.

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Un cubano denunció el maltrato policial del que fue objeto en un punto de control de La Habana cuando transitaba hacia una zona de playa, según publicación compartida en redes.

El usuario de Facebook Jiosbel García denunció este sábado que fue detenido el viernes último alrededor de las nueve de la mañana en el punto de control del municipio de Playa, yendo para la localidad costera Baracoa, y que lo multan por ir a 50 kilómetros por hora cuando en la zona hay una señal que permite transitar a 60 kilómetros.

García aunque le explicó que iba en familia y que no tenía puntos en su licencia de conducción le aplicaron una multa de 12 puntos por exceso de velocidad.

Para el usuario lo más detestable fue el maltrato recibido por una mujer policía que lo detuvo. “Por eso hice este video y la reclamación y por si existe otro lugar a donde dirigirme”, apuntó, además.

En el video compartido, el usuario realiza el mismo recorrido del día anterior y muestra la señal que advierte que se puede transitar a 60km/h en ese tramo.

“La cámara me captó que yo iba a 50km/h donde hay una señal que dice que se puede ir a 60 km/h. Yo le pregunto a la compañero que por qué me va a poner la multa y me dijo que por ‘licencia operativa’. Le explico que voy en familia a disfrutar en la playa y ella me dice que ‘eso no es problema de ella’ y me pone la multa de 12 puntos”, contó García, que insistió que su disgusto mayor “es por la mala forma en que la muchacha me trató. Me puso la multa y me dijo que no tenía más nada que hablar conmigo, que reclamara si no estaba de acuerdo”.

En la publicación, una usuaria comentó que “por eso este país está como está, ya no se puede salir. Para lo que tienen que estar, no lo están, que se pongan para la delincuencia que está acabando”.

No es la primera vez que trascienden a las redes denuncias de maltrato policial en carreteras cubanas.

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La policía del condado de Broward arrestó a dos personas acusadas de robar un reloj valorado en 150 mil dólares en una joyería en el centro de Fort Lauderdale.

Aurel Dobos, de 48 años, y Adina Buchuc, de 41, fueron detenidos en el Aeropuerto Internacional de Miami el miércoles pasado y están siendo conectados con delitos similares que han ocurrido en todo el país, informaron medios locales.

El suceso ocurrió en la Robinson’s Jewelry, ubicado en 820 E Las Olas Blvd., en abril pasado y gracias al video de vigilancia de la joyería.

La pieza en cuestión es un reloj Patek Philippe valorado en más de 150.000 dólares.

“Se veían bien; estaban bien vestidos, tenían puestos Rolex. Llevaba un gran sombrero, decía que eran de Italia; me parecían turistas”, dijo Andrew Robinson, el dueño de la tienda.

“Gracias a Dios pudieron atrapar a estos dos, meterlos en la cárcel y no pueden hacérselo a otra persona porque duele”, agregó el compungido dueño, quien se alegra de que sus sistemas de videos hayan contribuido a identificar a los ladrones.

Dobos y Buchuc fueron arrestado justo antes de tomar un vuelo, se le asocia a un crimen similar en Caifornia y permanecen en la cárcel.

Su fianza es de 10,000 dólares, pero tendrán que demostrar que el dinero que usen para la fianza se ganó legalmente.

En febrero, un ladrón se robó cinco relojes Rolex de una joyería de Aventura, Florida, con un valor aproximado de $177,000 dólares.

El robo ocurrió en la tienda International Jewelers Exchange, ubicada en 19725 Biscayne Blvd., al sur del Aventura Mall.

Los investigadores no tienen claro cómo el individuo logró abrir el cajón cerrado que protegía los cinco relojes de lujo marca Rolex. El hombre se llevó la valiosa carga consigo, a pesar de quedar grabado por las cámaras de seguridad.

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El economista y exprisionero político Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, figura insigne de la oposición en Cuba, falleció este domingo en La Habana a los 80 años como resultado de una afectación cerebrovascular.

El deceso de Roca se produjo al filo de las 6 p.m. en su apartamento de Nuevo Vedado, donde se encontraba al cuidado de su sobrina, Vivian Roca. Sufrió un paro cardiorespiratorio como secuela de un infarto cerebral que tuvo en 2020.

“El estaba muy mal desde hacía meses, le repetían con frecuencia los pequeños infartos cerebrales y había perdido la memoria”, dijo Vivian Roca en comunicación telefónica con CiberCuba.

Con la muerte de Vladimiro Roca desaparece una personalidad emblemática de la disidencia política que enfrentó al régimen de Fidel Castro, defendiendo sus diferencias desde posturas de izquierda que forjó en el seno de la tradición familiar.

Nacido en La Habana el 21 de diciembre de 1942, Vladimiro era hijo de Blas Roca, dirigente fundador del Partido Socialista Popular (PSP) y quien se mantuvo en la cúpula del poder revolucionario hasta el final de su vida. Realizó sus estudios primarios en una escuela primaria del barrio de La Víbora y al terminar la enseñanza secundaria se incorporó como aprendiz de cajista en el periódico Hoy, órgano del PSP.

A los 18 años formó parte de la primera promoción de una élite de jóvenes seleccionados para entrenarse como pilotos de cazabombarderos en la Unión Soviética. A su regreso, se mantuvo dentro de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Cuba (FAR) por 10 años.

Se graduó de la licenciatura en Relaciones Económicas Internacionales en el Instituto en 1987 y trabajó en las esferas del gobierno hasta que sus diferencias con el rumbo político del país se hicieron irreconciliables.

Vladimiro manifestó sus discrepancias con los postulados de la Constitución socialista que su propio padre contribuyó decisivamente a instaurar en 1976 como presidente de la Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular.

Su disidencia activa se hizo ostensible en 1991, cuatro años después del fallecimiento de su padre.

Despedido de su empleo gubernamental, Vladimiro comenzó a expresar públicamente su oposición. En 1996 figuró entre los fundadores del Partido Socialdemócrata de Cuba y, un año después, participó en la creación del Grupo de Trabajo de la Disidencia Interna, que pretendía analizar y proponer soluciones a la crítica situación económica del país.

Unido a otros tres pensadores distanciados del oficialismo, Martha Beatriz Roque, Félix Bonne Carcassés y René Gómez Manzano, elaboró y firmó el documento La patria es de todos, un demoledor examen del descalabro económico y social de Cuba, con propuestas para una reforma democrática y pluripartidista. La publicación del texto encolerizó a Fidel y Raúl Castro, y determinó el arresto de sus promotores en 1997.

Vladimiro y sus compañeros fueron juzgados por delitos “contra de la seguridad nacional del Estado cubano" y "sedición", y condenados a largas condenas de cárcel.

Cumplió prisión hasta 2002 y se mantuvo activo en labores del activismo político y la defensa de los derechos humanos en Cuba.

En 2010, estuvo entre los activistas que logró viajar hasta Banes, en la oriental provincia de Holguín, para participar en las exequias del opositor Orlando Zapata Tamayo, fallecido en una heroica huelga de hambre para reclamar libertad para los presos políticos.

Por decisión familiar, su cadáver será cremado en las próximas horas. No están previstas honras fúnebres hasta el momento.

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Un ciudadano cubano fue detenido en Cancún después de que presuntamente robó tres bolsas de sopa de un supermercado. El sospechoso afirmó haber perdido su empleo en la zona hotelera hace diez días y declaró que cometió el acto impulsado por el hambre. La situación generó un fuerte dispositivo de seguridad en la supermanzana 512, esquina Nichupté con Chac Mool.

Los policías, pertenecientes a la Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana del estado de Quintana Roo, se movilizaron rápidamente cuando recibieron el llamado de alerta del robo que tuvo lugar en el negocio llamado Soriana. Imágenes compartidas en redes sociales muestran que al menos tres oficiales y dos patrullas arribaron al lugar de los hechos.

Alerta Quintana Roo, un medio de noticias de la región, no justificó el robo, pero aprovechó el incidente para cuestionar la actuación policial en otros delitos que ocurren en la ciudad.

Mientras que en casos de extrema violencia e inseguridad, relacionados con el narcotráfico, no son atendidos de manera correcta, en situaciones de delitos menos graves hasta más dos patrullas arriban para detener a una sola persona.

Este caso en particular pone de relieve las dificultades que enfrentan algunos migrantes cubanos fuera de su país natal, y cómo la falta de empleo y recursos puede llevar a actos desesperados.

Es importante señalar que este incidente no refleja la situación de todos los oriundos de la Isla en el extranjero, debido a que muchos de ellos han encontrado éxito y prosperidad en sus nuevos hogares.

Las autoridades locales no revelaron el nombre del detenido, y tampoco se ofreció información sobre su situación migratoria. En caso de no tener la documentación apropiada para una estancia regular en México, podría ser entregado a las autoridades migratorias, si su caso legal no pasa a una situación mayor.

En los comentarios del post, algunos mexicanos cuestionaron la actitud de los agentes, además de que expresar palabras de apoyo al cubano desesperado. “Poca vergüenza de los policías y de quien los haya llamado más, habiendo tanto asesino en la calle y corren a detener a un pobre hombre que tiene hambre”, dijo una usuaria.

Otra agregó: “debieron ayudarlo pagando las sopas o hubieran sido más empáticos con él, recuerden que el mundo da vuelta, ¿Ya se les olvidó todo lo que pasamos en la pandemia?”, dijo la internauta Ximena Pablo.

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👥 Authors: Carla Kirk-Cohen ( nostr:npub17xugd458km0nm8edu8u2efuqmxzft3tmu92j3tyc0fa4gxdk9mkqmanw36 )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-27

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 698

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Carla Kirk-Cohen on 27/07/2023: Transcripts of specification meetings held every other Monday are now available at https://btctranscripts.com/lightning-specification, thanks to Gurwinder at Chaincode.

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📝 Summary: The convo discusses the concept of multipath keysend, which allows for splitting payments into multiple parts. This adds complexity to keysend but can be useful in certain situations. ZmnSCPxj proposes a multipath payment protocol called "keysend" that enables this functionality. The protocol allows the receiver to claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

👥 Authors: • Olaoluwa Osuntokun ( nostr:npub19helcfnqgk2jrwzjex2aflq6jwfc8zd9uzzkwlgwhve7lykv23mq5zkvn4 ) • Thomas HUET ( nostr:npub1tcwr7j30p5q4sypnsw4arca9s2433s7wdcpt2z2sk7pkqfsntjds0pu5xp ) • Matt Morehouse ( nostr:npub1zgyy2j829vn4zuvhkgza7qe37knzdls4kuwt2k8cehwpjxn9duwqv5j4mf ) • Matt Corallo ( nostr:npub1e46n428mcyfwznl7nlsf6d3s7rhlwm9x3cmkuqzt3emmdpadmkaqqjxmcu ) • ZmnSCPxj ( nostr:npub1g5zswf6y48f7fy90jf3tlcuwdmjn8znhzaa4vkmtxaeskca8hpss23ms3l )

📅 Messages Date Range: 2023-07-27 to 2023-07-29

✉️ Message Count: 5

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 13928

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by ZmnSCPxj on 27/07/2023: A scheme for creating a keysend protocol that allows for multipath payments is proposed, where the receiver can claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

✉️ Message by Thomas HUET on 28/07/2023: The motivation for multipath keysend is to allow for splitting payments into multiple parts, ensuring the receiver can only claim the payment once all parts have arrived. This adds complexity to keysend, but may be useful for certain use cases.

✉️ Message by Matt Morehouse on 28/07/2023: ZmnSCPxj proposes a scheme for a multipath payment protocol called "keysend" that allows for splitting payments into multiple parts.

✉️ Message by Olaoluwa Osuntokun on 29/07/2023: The email discusses a scheme for creating a multipath payment protocol using keysend, allowing the receiver to claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

✉️ Message by Matt Corallo on 29/07/2023: The author suggests implementing a multipath payment protocol for keysend, allowing the receiver to claim the payment once all parts have arrived.

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👥 Authors: aymeric at peersm.com ( nostr:npub1tm2gdrkzrts6uhjx0snassk2txhcjnrenq6nptw66jfdmu3x4e7s3r4u2v )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-27

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 2674

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by aymeric at peersm.com on 27/07/2023: A concerned individual has raised a bug regarding "inscriptions" on the Bitcoin blockchain, suggesting they are spam and causing issues. They request a feature to reject inscriptions.

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👥 Authors: Peter Todd ( nostr:npub1m230cem2yh3mtdzkg32qhj73uytgkyg5ylxsu083n3tpjnajxx4qqa2np2 )

📅 Messages Date: 2023-07-30

✉️ Message Count: 1

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 3752

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by Peter Todd on 30/07/2023: A pull request has been submitted to enable full-RBF by default in Bitcoin Core, as approximately 40% of Bitcoin hash power is already using it.

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📝 Summary: The conversation revolves around the issue of inscriptions in the Bitcoin network, which are seen as a spam attack. One person suggests rejecting inscriptions in the mempool as a solution, while another argues that blocking spam could be seen as censorship. Standardization rules are proposed as a way to address the issue, but there are concerns about the impact on regular transactions. The conversation also touches on the problems of initial blockchain download time and UTXO set growth. Overall, there is a debate about how to handle inscriptions and the ethical implications of spam in the Bitcoin network.

👥 Authors: • Léo Haf ( nostr:npub1llvyx59pm062s9wtv23tz70djmgxxz807evjcjzyt8v5dxugysas9etyr0 ) • leohaf at orangepill.ovh ( nostr:npub1slp5wtupc9zgq044phx04yh53qqktjuwmhy5ayecdh9p5s48qc7qpexe6g ) • vjudeu at gazeta.pl ( nostr:npub1357006afyypkgz03lmq8fnuvlkyjt0rukx8rt56ck8xv396jaceqmnssga ) • rot13maxi ( nostr:npub12aguh8y7hacsxc3c7fsjzkqh95nu9cuh4ec6htx9y3sz75722npqmllglz )

📅 Messages Date Range: 2023-07-25 to 2023-07-30

✉️ Message Count: 6

📚 Total Characters in Messages: 32106

Messages Summaries

✉️ Message by leohaf at orangepill.ovh on 25/07/2023: The writer is concerned about a bug in recent software versions that causes inscriptions to take up a large amount of space on the blockchain, impacting the UTXO set. They request options to reject inscriptions in the mempool and raise ethical questions about NFTs and Tokens.

✉️ Message by vjudeu at gazeta.pl on 26/07/2023: The problem of inscriptions in Bitcoin has not been addressed seriously because there is no good solution and it would lead to other serious problems like initial blockchain download time and UTXO set growth. Rejecting inscriptions in the mempool would result in a never-ending chase and the creation of different inscriptions. The Bitcoin community has consistently rejected concepts like NFTs and Tokens, but some unstoppable concepts like soft-forks still exist. Inscription creators have created a non-enforced soft-fork with their rules.

✉️ Message by leohaf at orangepill.ovh on 26/07/2023: Inscriptions are a major spam attack in the Bitcoin network, and not taking action against them could encourage more similar attacks in the future. Adding a standardization option could be a solution.

✉️ Message by vjudeu at gazeta.pl on 27/07/2023: Not taking action against spam could be seen as acceptance. Some argue blocking spam is censorship and could lead to blocking regular transactions.

✉️ Message by Léo Haf on 27/07/2023: Standardization rules were introduced to address issues like the opreturn limit, maxancestorcount, minrelayfee, and dust limit. Bitcoin defenders can detect and standardize spam transactions more easily than creating new types of spam. Default policy can be a weakness or strength, depending on integration into Bitcoin Core. Using a pre-segwit node is not a solution as it cannot initiate new ones. Satoshi discussed spam and some consider Ordinals as spam. Blocking Ordinals is seen as censorship and could lead to blocking regular transactions. The Bitcoin network tolerating spam could be perceived by spammers. The IBD problem and UTXO set growing problem need to be solved. People can still use Taproot to upload data and turn off the witness to become a pre-Segwit node. Blocking certain ways of pushing data may lead to data being pushed into legacy parts.

✉️ Message by rot13maxi on 30/07/2023: Bitcoin defenders can win the cat and mouse game against spam transactions by detecting and standardizing them, making it harder for inscriptions to reach miners. Appeals to Satoshi are not convincing arguments.

Follow nostr:npub15g7m7mrveqlpfnpa7njke3ccghmpryyqsn87vg8g8eqvqmxd60gqmx08lk for full threads

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Today I stumbled upon a team that has built a client and a few service providers using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

They detailed two milestones on the project's page that are a perfect example of the Before and After pictures that I can't help but point them out here.

The project is aiming at creating an AI system that generates images and logos.

Before

First take: using L402, the project is hitting an endpoint that requires payment to complete. This means, the client is integrating with a specific endpoint, paying and receiving a result.

After

At the end of the first milestone, they mention they are interested in exploring what this would look like using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

What happens?

Instead of integrating specifically with an endpoint, which could change it's price, lower it's quality, go out of business or simply stop being the best possible provider for these type of jobs.

Instead of this client tightly-coupling with a specific endpoint, they use NIP-90 to communicate with an infinite market of service providers who try to get the job done for them.

No endpoint need apply.

Guess what? PhotoBolt completely migrated over to DVM!

X vs Y axes / Free-market vs centrally-planned designs

If it's not abundantly obvious by now, the first approach demands from the service provider a complete output that is acceptable, and hopefully, the best in the market.

Thus, the business behind the endpoint needs to vertically integrate, which means, they need to try and be the best at each step required to deliver a complete result.

If it's not the best in the market, the client will have to, at some point, shop around until they find a new endpoint to integrate with to buy this type of jobs from.

Rinse and repeat.

The new alternative that DVMs unlock is that there is no need to acquire services from a vertically-integrated service provider, which allows services providers to specialize in being the best possible at something widely specific and let Nostr and Lightning to be the glue that ties everything together.

Today I stumbled upon a team that has built a client and a few service providers using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

They detailed two milestones on the project's page that are a perfect example of the Before and After pictures that I can't help but point them out here.

The project is aiming at creating an AI system that generates images and logos.

Before

First take: using L402, the project is hitting an endpoint that requires payment to complete. This means, the client is integrating with a specific endpoint, paying and receiving a result.

After

At the end of the first milestone, they mention they are interested in exploring what this would look like using NIP-90: Data Vending Machines.

What happens?

Instead of integrating specifically with an endpoint, which could change it's price, lower it's quality, go out of business or simply stop being the best possible provider for these type of jobs.

Instead of this client tightly-coupling with a specific endpoint, they use NIP-90 to communicate with an infinite market of service providers who try to get the job done for them.

No endpoint need apply.

Guess what? PhotoBolt completely migrated over to DVM!

X vs Y axes / Free-market vs centrally-planned designs

If it's not abundantly obvious by now, the first approach demands from the service provider a complete output that is acceptable, and hopefully, the best in the market.

Thus, the business behind the endpoint needs to vertically integrate, which means, they need to try and be the best at each step required to deliver a complete result.

If it's not the best in the market, the client will have to, at some point, shop around until they find a new endpoint to integrate with to buy this type of jobs from.

Rinse and repeat.

The new alternative that DVMs unlock is that there is no need to acquire services from a vertically-integrated service provider, which allows services providers to specialize in being the best possible at something widely specific and let Nostr and Lightning to be the glue that ties everything together.

PS. Here are milestone 1 and milestone 2

@ 6d5f85c4:a3f7e400

About me

Good day nostr! Was tagged by for introductions so here it goes.

Not gonna give away too much of the spice away but here are some of the things that have taken up a majority of my life.

• Wildland Firefighting 🔥
• Military 🎖️
• Skiing ⛷️
• Photography & Cinematography 📽️
• Forestry 🌲
• Exploring the World 🛫

Slowly adding freedom technology to the list but it is rather newish in my life. Looking forward to seeing #nostr grow as a community and meeting more of you all. Have a good day everyone!

@ 32e18276:5c68e245

Company Overview:

Damus is the pioneering iOS nostr client. Through its platform, Damus empowers billions on iOS with the tools for free speech and free speech money. If you're driven to bring freedom technology to the masses and ignite change, we invite you to join our mission.

Job Description

1. Collaborate on iOS Damus in tandem with our core developer, Will Casarin, and the broader Damus team.
2. Implement our vision as laid out in our product roadmap: https://github.com/orgs/damus-io/projects/3/views/1.
3. Embrace the fun and critical mission of undermining totalitarian regimes across the globe.

Job Requirements

1. A genuine passion for freedom technology.
2. At least one year of collaborative development experience.
3. Experience building SwiftUI iOS apps.
4. Passionate about design and user experience.
5. Eager to work in close coordination with Damus lead developer, Will, and a dedicated team spanning development, design, and product.
6. Commitment to a full-time role, although we remain open to discussing alternative arrangements.

Bonus Qualifications

1. Experience with Nostr development.
2. Experience with C.
3. Previous work in free and open source projects.
4. A publicly shareable portfolio.

Job Structure

1. A one-month paid probationary period to ensure a mutual fit.
2. Upon successful completion of the trial, the opportunity for a six (6) month contractual engagement.
3. The potential for contract renewal, contingent on funding.

Application Process:
Interested candidates should forward a motivational statement alongside their CV/portfolio to vanessa@damus.io.

@ d266da53:7224d834

On a sunny morning last December, Iyus Ruswandi, a 35-year-old furniture maker in the village of Gunungguruh, Indonesia, was woken up early by his mother. A technology company was holding some kind of “social assistance giveaway” at the local Islamic elementary school, she said, and she urged him to go.

Ruswandi joined a long line of residents, mostly women, some of whom had been waiting since 6 a.m. In the pandemic-battered economy, any kind of assistance was welcome.

At the front of the line, representatives of Worldcoin Indonesia were collecting emails and phone numbers, or aiming a futuristic metal orb at villagers’ faces to scan their irises and other biometric data. Village officials were also on site, passing out numbered tickets to the waiting residents to help keep order.

Ruswandi asked a Worldcoin representative what charity this was but learned nothing new: as his mother said, they were giving away money.

Gunungguruh was not alone in receiving a visit from Worldcoin. In villages across West Java, Indonesia—as well as college campuses, metro stops, markets, and urban centers in two dozen countries, most of them in the developing world—Worldcoin representatives were showing up for a day or two and collecting biometric data. In return they were known to offer everything from free cash (often local currency as well as Worldcoin tokens) to Airpods to promises of future wealth. In some cases they also made payments to local government officials. What they were not providing was much information on their real intentions.

This left many, including Ruswandi, perplexed: What was Worldcoin doing with all these iris scans?

To answer that question, and better understand Worldcoin’s registration and distribution process, MIT Technology Review interviewed over 35 individuals in six countries—Indonesia, Kenya, Sudan, Ghana, Chile, and Norway—who either worked for or on behalf of Worldcoin, had been scanned, or were unsuccessfully recruited to participate. We observed scans at a registration event in Indonesia, read conversations on social media and in mobile chat groups, and consulted reviews of Worldcoin’s wallet in the Google Play and Apple stores. We interviewed Worldcoin CEO Alex Blania, and submitted to the company a detailed list of reporting findings and questions for comment.

Our investigation revealed wide gaps between Worldcoin’s public messaging, which focused on protecting privacy, and what users experienced. We found that the company’s representatives used deceptive marketing practices, collected more personal data than it acknowledged, and failed to obtain meaningful informed consent. These practices may violate the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)—a likelihood that the company’s own data consent policy acknowledged and asked users to accept—as well as local laws.

Stay updated on the latest developments in Crypto , follow me on Yakihonne.com.

In a video interview conducted in early March from Erlangen, Germany, where the company manufactures its orbs, Blania acknowledged that there was some “friction,” which he attributed to the fact that the company was still in its startup phase.

“I'm not sure if you're aware of this,” he said, “but you looked at the testing operation of a Series A company. It’s a few people trying to make something work. It’s not like an Uber, with like hundreds of people that did this many, many times.”

Proof of personhood

Two months before Worldcoin appeared in Ruswandi’s village, the San Francisco–based company called Tools for Humanity emerged from stealth mode. Worldcoin was its product.

The company’s website described Worldcoin as an Ethereum-based “new, collectively owned global currency that will be distributed fairly to as many people as possible.” Everyone in the world would get a free share, the company suggested—if they agreed to an iris scan with a specially designed device that resembles a decapitated robot head, which the company refers to as the “chrome orb.”

The orb was necessary, the website continued, because of Worldcoin’s commitment to fairness: each person should get his or her allotted share of the digital currency—and no more. To ensure there was no double-dipping, the chrome orb would scan participants’ irises and several other biometric data points and then, using a proprietary algorithm that the company was still developing, cryptographically confirm that they were human and unique in Worldcoin’s database.

“I’ve been very interested in things like universal basic income and what’s going to happen to global wealth redistribution,” Sam Altman, Worldcoin’s cofounder and the former President of Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, told Bloomberg, which first reported on the company last summer. Worldcoin was intended, he explained, to answer the question “Is there a way we can use technology to do that at a global scale?”

The company was just getting started—its aim is to garner a billion sign-ups by 2023.

In the same article the then 27-year-old Blania, who joined Worldcoin straight out of a physics masters program at Caltech, added that “many people around the world don’t have access to financial systems yet. Crypto has the opportunity to get us there." (Blania and others have used “Worldcoin” to refer to the company as well as the currency; we do the same here.)

But beyond these do-gooder intentions, Worldcoin would also solve key technical problems for Web3, the much-hyped, blockchain-powered third iteration of the internet, where data and content could be decentralized and controlled by individuals and groups rather than a handful of tech companies.

Giving “ownership in this new protocol to everyone” would be the “fastest” and “biggest onboarding into crypto and Web3” to date, Blania told MIT Technology Review in an interview, addressing one of Web3’s major challenges: a relative dearth of users.

Additionally, by biometrically confirming that an individual is human, Worldcoin would solve another “very fundamental problem” in decentralized technologies, according to Blania: the risk of so-called Sybil attacks, which occur when one entity in a network creates and controls multiple fake accounts. This is particularly dangerous in decentralized networks where pseudonyms are expected. Coming up with a truly Sybil-resistant proof of personhood has thus far been difficult, and this is seen as another barrier for mass Web3 adoption.

Worldcoin has done field testing in 24 countries; (from left to right) these promotional images were taken in Sudan, Indonesia, Chile, and Kenya.

With these two solutions, Worldcoin could become “an open platform that everyone can use [for] both the proof-of-person part and the distribution part,” Blania said. Therein lies Worldcoin’s promise: if it succeeds, this protocol could become the universal authentication method for a whole new generation of the internet. If that happens, the currency itself could become far more valuable. “Investors hope that the Worldcoin project brings value to the world and, as a result, that this equity and/or these tokens will appreciate in value,” the company said in an emailed statement.

This may be why some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names, in addition to Altman, are pouring money into it; Andreessen Horowitz recently led a $100 million investment round that tripled the startup’s valuation, from an already heady $1 billion to $3 billion.

Look into the orb

By the time we spoke to Blania in March, Worldcoin had already scanned 450,000 eyes, faces, and bodies in 24 countries. Of those, 14 are developing nations, according to the World Bank. Eight are located in Africa. But the company was just getting started—its aim is to garner a billion sign-ups by 2023.

Central to Worldcoin’s distribution was the high-tech orb itself, armed with advanced cameras and sensors that not only scanned irises but took high-resolution images of “users’ body, face, and eyes, including users’ irises,” according to the company’s descriptions in a blog post. Additionally, its data consent form notes that the company also conduct “contactless doppler radar detection of your heartbeat, breathing, and other vital signs.” In response to our questions, Worldcoin said it never implemented vital sign detection techniques, and that it will remove this language from its data consent form. (As of press time, the language remains.)

The biometric information is used to generate an “IrisHash,” a code that is stored locally on the orb. The code is never shared, according to Worldcoin, but rather is used to check whether that IrisHash already exists in Worldcoin’s database. To do this, the company says, it uses a novel privacy-protecting cryptographic method known as a zero-knowledge proof. If the algorithm finds a match, this indicates that a person has already tried to sign up. If it does not, the individual has passed the uniqueness check and can continue registration with an email address, phone number, or QR code to access a Worldcoin wallet. All of this is meant to occur in seconds.

Worldcoin says that biometric information remains on the orb and is deleted once uploaded—or at least it will be one day, once the company has finished training its AI neural network to recognize irises and detect fraud. Until then, beyond vague descriptions like “personal data…sent via secure, encrypted channels,” it’s unclear how this data is being handled. “During our field-testing phase, we are collecting and securely storing more data than we will upon its completion,” the blog post states. “We will delete all the biometric data we have collected during field testing once our algorithms are fully-trained.”

In response to our questions just before this article went to press, Worldcoin said the public version of their system would soon eliminate the need for new users to share any biometric data with the company—though it hasn’t explained how this will work.

A useless IOU

But we do know how onboarding works. To get Worldcoin into the smartphones of new users, the company contracts with local ”orb operators” to manage signups for their countries or regions.

Operators apply for the job and are interviewed and approved by the Worldcoin team, though Anastasia Golovina, a company spokesperson, emphasized in an email that operators “are independent contractors, not Worldcoin employees.” As such, they work without contracts or guarantee of payment, instead receiving commission for each person’s biometric data that they collect. However, Golovina added, they must “comply with local laws and regulations, including local labor laws.”

These country-level operators receive their commission in the stablecoin Tether. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a traditional currency, often the US dollar. They determine the rates they pay their subcontractors (typically in local currency), as well as the working conditions (full-time, part-time, or temporary gig work.) Both country-level and subcontracted orb operators are incentivized by commission-based payment structures to register as many people as quickly as possible.

On the other side, new users currently earn at least $15 worth of Worldcoin for submitting to the biometric scan, and $5 more when they log in to their Worldcoin wallet, though the total amount available has since changed to $25 for later recruits. Some users receive the sum all at once, for others it vests at a rate of $2.50 per week. Blania says that differences are meant to test out the most effective incentives. Either way, Worldcoin isn’t a stablecoin, and since the currency has not yet launched, the company “do[es] not yet know how many WLD tokens would be equivalent to USD $20,” it noted in a written statement.

To understand user incentives, some people were given the option to receive $20 worth of Bitcoin instead, effectively allowing them to cash out. Worldcoin said that it found its “most engaged users elected to hold on to their WLD,” though most of our interviewees said the opposite.

But with the ability to cash out ending last fall, for now the promise of $20 or $25 worth of Worldcoin amounts to an IOU from the company. Any tokens users may have in their digital wallets are, for all intents and purposes, worthless.

Taking a chance

Worldcoin’s users joined for a myriad of reasons.

“Out of curiosity” was a common refrain. Because the orb operator “seemed nice”—or happened to be their brother, cousin, or classmate—was another. Some hoped to get in early on what could become the next Bitcoin. Others had lost jobs or income during the pandemic. Some became desperate as civil war threatened to reignite around them. Most just wanted the free money—at least one only wanted to buy lunch. Many suspected it was a scam, though few could risk passing it up in case it was not.

Ruswandi fit into several of these categories. He had lost much of his work as a furniture maker during the pandemic and spent his free time trading stocks and cryptocurrencies and frequenting crypto-related message boards and exchanges.

“I was curious and thought it wouldn’t hurt to try,” he recalled, adding that the money was attractive given his reduced income.

But he quickly had doubts. Neither the company representatives on site nor the village officials could answer even basic questions about Worldcoin. After doing more research online and coming up empty, he came to conclude it was a scam. He believed the mysterious giveaway was a mass data collection effort disguised as some kind of secret, offline airdrop—a tactic in which cryptocurrency projects release free tokens to encourage adoption.

After all, many of his neighbors’ understanding of the internet was limited to the Facebook app pre-installed on their smartphones, so before prospective users were even able to receive the new currency, Worldcoin representatives “first had to help many residents in setting up emails [and] logging in to the web,” Ruswandi recalled. If it was about attracting users to a new cryptocurrency, he wondered, “why did Worldcoin target lower-income communities in the first place, instead of crypto enthusiasts or communities?”

The biometrics question

When Worldcoin made its “We’re here!” announcement last October, it encountered immediate backlash.

As NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden put it in a tweet thread, “Don’t catalogue eyeballs. Don’t use biometrics for anti-fraud. In fact, don’t use biometrics for anything. The human body is not a ticket-punch.”

Iyus Ruswandi, pictured in front of the Worldcoin recruitment site in Gunungguruh, West Java, had many questions about why the company needed an iris scan—none of which were answered. MUHAMMAD FADLI

Many doubted Worldcoin’s privacy protocols, especially since the company had yet to issue a white paper or open its code for outside evaluation. “This looks like it produces a global (hash) database of people's iris scans (for ‘fairness’), and waves away the implications by saying ‘we deleted the scans!’ Yeah, but you save the hashes produced by the scans. Hashes that match future scans,” Snowden tweeted.

There were also questions about hardware security. Jeremy Clark, an associate professor at the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering that focuses on applied cryptography, questions the security of the orb: “The machine itself will have some security protections,” he says, “but none of that technology is perfectly secure. So it's usually an economic question…if this project is as successful as they want it to be, then it's going to become more profitable to try and tackle.”

Others took issue with the company’s purported focus on fairness given that 20% of the coins had already been allocated: 10% to Worldcoin’s full-time employees, and another 10% to investors, like Andreessen Horowitz.

Additionally, many in the blockchain field disagreed with the underlying premise of what Worldcoin was trying to build: creating one identity across Web3 was anathema to a movement that had turned to blockchain, decentralized finance, and DAOs (“decentralized autonomous organizations”) for the express purpose of not being known.

Others remain unconvinced that Worldcoin can actually reach everyone in the world—and instead, serves as a distraction from ongoing work to create new identity paradigms. Identity expert Kaliya Young, while declining to comment on Worldcoin specifically, says that “it’s common for companies to claim that ‘if everyone in the world was in our system, everything would be fine.’ Newsflash: everybody is not going to be in your system, so let’s move on and talk about how we solve problems” in online identity.

For Blania and his team, the criticism misses the mark. “Big parts of our team have had backgrounds in crypto…so we care about this [privacy] a lot,” he told MIT Technology Review. “I fully understand the concern,” he said, but he thinks it’s more “emotional gut reaction” than “objective criticism.” What the critics were missing, he added, was just how good Worldcoin’s protocol would be at protecting privacy once complete.

Stephanie Schuckers, the director of the Center for Identification Technology Research at Clarkson University, says that’s not outside the realm of possibility, as biometric technology has made a number of recent advances. One of the newest trends is “template security,” which uses cryptography to make a transformation of your biometric data. “When you store it, if it were stolen, it can’t be reverse-engineered back to your original biometrics,” she says.

But the reason that it has yet to be commercialized, she adds, is that cryptographic transformation often leads to “performance degradation.” Instead of matching the new biometric data to an existing biometric sample, template security matches a computer algorithm’s interpretation of the data, via some kind of hash or code, to another stored code. This adds room for error, Schucker says, making it “more difficult to match biometrics in this encrypted space,” though she adds that recent advances in template security have addressed some of those shortcomings.

Template security sounded like a possibility for what Worldcoin was doing—though Schucker cautioned that without seeing their code, or more detail beyond Worldcoin’s blog posts, it was hard to say for sure. Worldcoin has promised to open source its code, including repeating to MIT Technology Review on multiple occasions that this would occur “within the next few weeks”—since we first contacted the company in February.

Besides, the company added in a statement, “It is important to emphasize that we collect data not for the purpose of profiting from it or surveilling our users, like many other tech companies out there. Rather, our goal is to use the data for the sole purpose of developing our algorithms to minimize fraud and enhance user privacy.”

Reeling them in

Representatives of Worldcoin used a range of questionable tactics and enticements to bring in new users, according to many of the people MIT Technology Review spoke to.

When operations began in Sudan last March, the operators found it hard to “explain the concept of digital currencies to people who don’t even have emails”, according to Mohammad Ahmed Abdalbagee, one of Sudan’s four former orb operators. So instead they ran an AirPod giveaway contest to encourage registration that resulted in some 20,000 sign-ups.

At an Islamic high school in Indonesia’s West Java province, Worldcoin applied to teach a cryptocurrency workshop. The school’s student activity coordinator, Muhammad Hilham Zein, read the application and recommended it for approval on the understanding that it was “to share knowledge on crypto…not to encourage students to invest in digital currency.”

"Why did Worldcoin target lower-income communities in the first place, instead of crypto enthusiasts or communities?"

But attendees—at least one of whom was 15, which violates Worldcoin’s own terms of use—as well as our reporter’s first-hand observations tell a different story. During the 45-minute sessions, Worldcoin staff were too busy registering the dozen or so students, helping them download the app and sign up for emails, and finally scanning their biometrics, to provide information on cryptocurrency, Worldcoin itself, or how participants could give or take away consent. (Students did, at least receive their allotment of Worldcoin, which would vest weekly).

More recently, in roughly 20 villages in West Java that hosted recruitment events, many new users, like Iyus Ruswandi, were attracted by giveaways.

“It was held during the pandemic, where the government usually handed out social assistance packages,” explained Ece Mulyana, the principal of an elementary school madrasa who was informed, the night before, that his school was to be used as a Worldcoin registration site. Because the instructions came from a higher-level official—Ade Irma, the sub-district governance head, who was helping Worldcoin coordinate the village registration drives, “I couldn’t refuse the request,” Mulyana said.

Mulyana says that Irma paid him a fee of 2,000 IDR (around 14 US cents, at the time of writing) for each person successfully scanned. Mulyana estimates that 170 made the cut, for a total of 340,000 IDR (roughly $23.80, just under 10% of the average monthly pay of a government worker ).

Heni Mulyani, the sub-district leader who approved the events and Irma’s boss, said the money was provided “for coffee and cigarettes,” a euphemism for gratuities given to government officials to facilitate desired actions. She said none of the money paid went towards site rental—but, she added, “we assure you it’s not coming from the village fund or budget.”

A view of Gunungguruh, one of roughly 20 villages that Worldcoin visited for recruitment. MUHAMMAD FADLI

Instead, the money came from a company called PT Sandina Abadi Nusantara, cofounded by a man named Muhammad Reza Ichsan, who happens to be Worldcoin’s “best-performing operator” (according to Worldcoin’s launch blog post), and his mother. The company was the legal entity through which Worldcoin Indonesia conducted its activities; it was Ichsan’s mother’s job to reach out to local government officials to coordinate recruitment.

Ichsan has told MIT Technology Review that “we don’t pay the village, but we have an operational fund for people who helped us assemble the public in the field.”

Even if Mulyani had not misused village funds, these gratuities are—with rare exceptions— illegal under Indonesia’s anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, with potential criminal penalties for both the giver and receiver.

In response to questions about payments to village officials, Worldcoin representatives said they were unaware of the incident, called it “isolated,” and that they have launched an investigation to learn more. While they could not yet draw conclusions, Golovina wrote, “It appears possible that some or all of these payments may have been for bona fide operating expenses, for example, fees required to set up operations in a school or other facility, or to pay for permits or licenses required to operate in certain locations.” This stands in contradiction to both the official’s and their orb operator’s descriptions.

Worldcoin also called the other examples we put to them, including the AirPod giveaway in Sudan and the deception of school officials in Indonesia “independent and isolated efforts by local Orb Operators,” and added that “we are wholly focused on incentivizing Operators to sign up engaged users who are excited about using Worldcoin.”

For their part, villagers were not told that at least some of their officials were being paid to promote Worldcoin; in fact, many thought the event was run by the government itself, as Mulyana, the school principal, recalled. “We have to explain to them that it was not a government program,” he said—that “Worldcoin is a foreign company who came and needed help from the village staff.”

Some villagers now doubt that they will receive any money at all now that late January, the time when they were told Worldcoin representatives would return to the village to hand out funds, has come and gone. Nor has the ability to trade Worldcoin from the wallet appeared, for those digitally savvy enough to navigate the app.

Operating blind

The mixed messages and misinformation weren’t necessarily intentional. The orb operators we spoke to often mentioned how little information they received from the Worldcoin representatives who recruited them, even as they were made acutely aware that their payment was tied to the number of people they could sign up. (Worldcoin said that it provides its country-level orb operators with a code of conduct, which sub-operators must also abide by, and that it is moving away from commissions based on number of sign-ups.)

Bryan Mtembei was one such operator. A civil engineer who recently graduated from college in Nakuru, Kenya’s fourth-largest city, Mtembei freelanced for Worldcoin after he was scanned on campus last September.

He wishes that he had received “a brief training or basics about Worldcoin.” Instead the only instruction he got was to “bring more people in to get yourself more money,” he said. “The rest was up to my social marketing skills.”

So he did his best to answer new users’ questions, with the most frequent being about privacy: Mtembei estimates that roughly 40% of the individuals he approached had concerns about sharing their biometric data. When he initially expressed similar concerns, he was assured by a representative that all his questions were addressed in the Worldcoin “white paper.” No such document exists. According to the company, this is by design—people would be unlikely to read “a long, highly technical academic-style paper,” it said, and its shorter blog posts could be thought of as white papers. Ultimately, Mtembei's need for money overrode his concerns; he says that he signed up between 150 and 200 people, at 50 KS (44 US cents) per scan.

Bryan Mtembei first met Worldcoin representatives on his college campus in Nakuru, Kenya. He was scanned and later worked as an orb operator. BRIAN OTIENO

And he wasn't alone. Willis Okach, a college student in Nairobi recruited, like Mtembei, to become an orb operator after his own scan, also got involved because of the money. “You don't have any and someone is offering you some,” he explained, adding that he thinks Worldcoin “feels that students don’t have a lot of money so they will sign up.” For his two days of work, Okach signed up 50 people and earned 100 KS (USD 0.88) for each set of biometric data that he brought in.

According to Golovina, the Worldcoin spokesperson, “all users who sign up during field testing are provided full disclosure about what is being collected and how that data is used and are required to provide their consent before they’re allowed to sign up. Any individual who does consent to our collection and use of their biometric data may revoke their consent at any time and this data will be deleted.”

But of the people we interviewed, none were explicitly told—or, in the case of orb operators, told others—that they were “test users,” that photographs and videos of their faces, and 3D body maps were captured and being used to train the orb’s “anti-fraud algorithm” to “differentiate between people,” that their data was treated differently from the way others’ would be handled later, or that they could ask for their data to be deleted.

Ángel Rodriguez, a security guard for the Santiago Metro in Chile, recalled checking a box in the Worldcoin app agreeing to the terms of service, but recalled the instructions being in English, a language that he does not read. In addition, the app, with its link to the data consent forms, was not available until “late 2021,” according to Worldcoin, at which point, field testing had been going on for at least a year.

Sometimes, new users were asked to provide additional personal data, which Worldcoin claims it never requests. Almost all of the people we spoke to were asked to provide email addresses to log into their wallets (even after Worldcoin introduced a QR code for sign-ins). Some were asked for phone numbers as well.

Golovina has denied in multiple email statements that emails or phone numbers were required for sign-up, though “we do make certain features available to users who choose to provide their phone number or email address, like the ability to send and receive Worldcoin. But things like this will always be optional.” Worldcoin did not explain what else users could do with the token without the ability to send or receive it.

In Nairobi, meanwhile, several students said that orb operators took a photo of their national ID cards to confirm, as Okach recalled, that he was “not…a robot.” Worldcoin said that it has never requested national identification documents from users, though they do request it from their orb operators.

When we shared these comments with interviewees, they did not recognize their own experiences. Mtembei emphasized that personal details were never optional, and there was no way to sign up at his orb without both email and phone. “That CEO is lying,” he said (mistakenly attributing Golovina’s statement to Blania.)

Mohammad Ahmed Abdalbagee, one of the four orb operators hired in Sudan, added that it was his team’s efforts that convinced Worldcoin to add phone numbers as a sign-in method in the first place. “Before they started in Sudan, they used the email as the main identifier, but we told them that this wouldn’t work in Sudan. Many college students don’t even have emails, they use their phones to register in social media,” he said.

Crypto-colonialism

Researchers that study the tech sector’s relationship with the global south were concerned—but not surprised—by Worldcoin’s behavior.

“It's a race to see who gets the most data in this AI-driven economy,” says Payal Arora, a digital anthropologist and author of The Next Billion Users: Digital Life Beyond the West. Stronger data protection laws in Europe and the United States mean that the most ambitious entrepreneurs in those regions can’t get all the training data that they need from their own populations, she says, so they have to look to the developing world.

In fact, according to its launch blog post, Worldcoin is unavailable in either the United States or China due to regulatory constraints, while Bloomberg reported that it has also shut down field tests in other countries, including Turkey and Sudan, for similar reasons. Worldcoin has, however, signed up a number of users in the US at demos held at cryptocurrency conferences, though the company does not consider its US activities to be a form of field testing.

It’s just cheaper and easier to run this kind of data collection operation in places where people have little money and few legal protections.

Pete Howson, a senior lecturer at Northumbria University who researches cryptocurrency in international development, categorizes Worldcoin’s actions as a sort of crypto-colonialism, where “blockchain and cryptocurrency experiments are being imposed on vulnerable communities essentially because…these people can’t push back,” he told MIT Technology Review in an email.

What makes the crypto version even more harmful than other forms of data colonialism is that decentralization, the core tenet of blockchain, makes for “very limited accountability…when things go wrong,” Howson explained. “You’ll often hear this phrase ‘Do Your Own Research’, or DYOR, because these guys don’t care much for rules and regulations.”

But inequities in information and internet access make that “do your own research” ethos all but impractical for many people in developing regions. Similarly, huge economic disparity means that in Kenya, say, the promise of just under half a US dollar could be a compelling incentive for someone to give up their biometric data, whereas in Norway or the US, such an offer wouldn’t go far.

Simply put, it’s just cheaper and easier to run this kind of data collection operation in places where people have little money and few legal protections.

Data lapses and policy holes

Although much of Worldcoin’s field testing has been happening in developing countries, the company stressed that it is also active in developed countries, including several in Europe. “Worldcoin has always tried to conduct field tests in a sample of countries around the globe that would be representative of the world as a whole,” the company told us.

This presents its own challenges. In collecting, controlling, and processing the personal data of EU-defined “data subjects”—that is, any person within the European Union, including citizens, residents, and potentially visitors whose data is being collected—Worldcoin is subject to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Enacted in 2018, the GDPR requires that data subjects be fully informed about why their data is collected, how it will be used, who will be processing it, where it will be transferred, how they can erase it, and how they can stop its processing. Failing to sufficiently safeguard data can lead to fines of up to 4% of global revenue or 20 million euros, depending on the severity of the infraction. Further, GDPR applies outside of Europe if a company collects or processes the personal data of European data subjects. So a company registered in Delaware and headquartered in San Francisco, like Worldcoin, is not necessarily exempt.

That is, however, exactly what Worldcoin has claimed in its data consent form, which—until MIT Technology Review submitted its list of questions—asked users to accept the following statements:

• “we [Worldcoin] voluntarily comply with the GDPR as a matter of policy”
• “we have not adopted a board-approved data privacy and security policy describing the means and the methods by which we plan to protect your Data to meet the standards prevalent in the GDPR”
• “there is a possibility that our policies and procedures will not be sufficient to meet GDPR requirements”
• “it may be more difficult to assert your privacy rights in court in the United States if we do not comply”

This policy tries to create “carve-outs,” says Marietje Schaake, the international policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center and a former Member of the European Parliament, who reviewed the document. Exceptions, she adds, are not possible under the GDPR—and besides, the fact that Worldcoin has a German subsidiary already subjects it to the GDPR.

“As an EU citizen, you have the right to challenge it,” Schaake says, referring to any potential violation. Those challenges would be reviewed by European data protection authorities and eventually argued in European courts rather than American ones, as Worldcoin’s policy suggests.

Worldcoin said that it is fully compliant with the GDPR, and has registered with the Bavarian Data Protection Authority. It added that it employs a data protection officer, and that it has conducted a data privacy impact assessment—though it has declined to make either the officer or the assessment available for public scrutiny. Worldcoin added that the statements in their consent policy “were previously included in an abundance of caution…They no longer appear in the latest version of our Data Consent Form.” As of publication, however, the language still remains online.

For Aida Ponce del Castillo, a researcher at the European Union Trade Institute, who studies regulations for emerging technology and serves as her organization’s data protection officer, this lack of transparency is unjustified. “DPIA are not confidential business information,” she told MIT Technology Review—and while publication is not mandatory, she pointed to European Commission recommendations that companies “consider publishing at least parts, such as a summary or a conclusion.”

The Bavarian Data Protection Authority has yet to respond to MIT Technology Review’s request to confirm the company’s registration.

"That's manipulation"

Beyond the ethical questions, though, lie more practical ones, like: how well does Worldcoin actually work?

For some test users and orb operators on the ground the answer has been, not well at all.

Sometimes, this was due to issues with the orb. In Sudan, local orb operator Abdalbargee says that it would take as many as six attempts for the orb to recognize someone’s face. “Actually it took my friend an entire week for the device to recognize his iris,” he adds.

Orbs were also prone to malfunctions, slowing down recruitment processes and requiring repair in Germany. When Buzzfeed News found similar orb malfunctions in a recent investigation, Worldcoin used language that it has repeated with us: calling one particularly egregious case an “isolated outlier.”

Meanwhile, the transition from a web-based wallet to an app-based wallet has caused a number of users to appear to lose either their entire accounts or all of their coins. For others, the app has proved buggy, draining battery life or leading them into in a spiral of loading and reloading.

Rodriguez, the Chilean security guard, has been trying to resolve his wallet issues since shortly after he was scanned. After signing up in February, and being asked to input his email, phone number, and use a QR code, the app was creating such performance issues for his phone that he deleted it entirely. When he tried to re-download the app, he found that his username no longer existed.

To fix it, he was told by a local orb operator, he would have to find the orb and re-scan his biometric data. But if Worldcoin works as the company claims, re-scanning his iris would simply result in the orb linking his iris with his old iris hash. In other words—and as Worldcoin has subsequently confirmed— there’s no way to recover an account once it’s lost.

Then there are the instances of identity spoofing that the orb has been unable to detect. In mid-2021, one businessman in Indonesia was able to register and access the wallets of over 200 users after they had been scanned and verified as human, and transfer out their contents—held in Bitcoin at the time. Worldcoin says that this occurred when the wallet was still accessible via a web log-in, rather than a mobile app, and that “since transitioning…we have not detected this type of fraud.”

Meanwhile, those who fear that the whole thing may have been a scam want to know what they’ve lost. “50 KS is not enough to give an eyeball away,” says Okach, the university student in Nairobi that spent a weekend recruiting others to Worldcoin. “That’s manipulation, taking advantage of students without clear clarification about what it is they are doing or what they want.”

Forget all those people

When we began reporting this story we noticed that three of the five countries initially cited as case studies for successful field testing—Indonesia, Sudan, and Kenya—were classified as low or lower-middle income by the World Bank. The power and economic differentials seemed ethically fraught, so we began digging.

We wanted to know: what was it like to serve as an early user in this global crypto experiment? What did the participants actually understand—or what were they told—about cryptocurrency, Worldcoin, and the ramifications of giving up their biometric data? Did they provide informed consent—and what would that even look like in this context? And, ultimately—sharing the same question voiced by many of our interviewees—what were the iris scans really for?

MUHAMMAD FADLI portrait of Ruswandi’s neighbor, Solihin (a community leader)

Left to right: Ruswandi’s neighbors Sadili, Solihin (a community leader), and Eli were among the 170 villagers scanned.

In the end, it was something that Blania said, in passing, during our interview in early March that helped us finally begin to understand Worldcoin.

“We will let privacy experts take our systems apart, over and over, before we actually deploy them on a large scale,” he said, responding to a question about the privacy-related backlash last fall.

Blania had just shared how his company had onboarded 450,000 individuals to Worldcoin—meaning that its orbs had scanned 450,000 sets of eyes, faces, and bodies, stored all that data to train its neural network. The company recognized this data collection as problematic and aimed to stop doing it. Yet it did not provide these early users the same privacy protections. We were perplexed by this seeming contradiction: were we the ones lacking in vision and ability to see the bigger picture? After all, compared with the company’s stated goal of signing up one billion users, perhaps 450,000 is small.

But each one of those 450,000 is a person, with his or her own hopes, lives, and rights that have nothing to do with the ambitions of a Silicon Valley startup.

Speaking to Blania clarified something we had struggled to make sense of: how a company could speak so passionately about its privacy-protecting protocols while clearly violating the privacy of so many. Our interview helped us see that, for Worldcoin, these legions of test users were not, for the most part, its intended end users. Rather, their eyes, bodies, and very patterns of life were simply grist for Worldcoin’s neural networks. The lower-level orb operators, meanwhile, were paid pennies to feed the algorithm, often grappling privately with their own moral qualms. The massive effort to teach Worldcoin’s AI to recognize who or what was human was, ironically, dehumanizing to those involved.

When we put seven pages of reporting findings and questions to Worldcoin, the company’s response was that nearly everything negative that we uncovered were simply “isolated incident[s]” that ultimately wouldn’t matter anyway, because the next (public) iteration would be better. “We believe that rights to privacy and anonymity are fundamental, which is why, within the next few weeks, everyone signing up for Worldcoin will be able to do so without sharing any of their biometric data with us,” the company wrote. That nearly half a million people had already been subject to their testing seemed of little import.

Rather, what really matters are the results: that Worldcoin will have an attractive user number to bolster its sales pitch as Web3’s preferred identity solution. And whenever the real, monetizable products—whether it’s the orbs, the Web3 passport, the currency itself, or all of the above—launch for its intended users, everything will be ready, with no messy signs of the labor or the human body parts behind it.

Additional reporting by Lujain Alsedeg and Antoaneta Roussi

Correction: This story has been corrected to note that GDPR fines can be up to 4% of global revenue, a previous version misstated the percentage, and updated to clarify GDPR regulations apply to personal data protection of European subjects.

By： Eileen Guo & Adi Renaldi Link：https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/06/1048981/worldcoin-cryptocurrency-biometrics-web3/

@ 3cea4806:10fe3f40

Previously, I had written a post on Stacker News titled "The ICANN Domain Problem, Solved With Nostr?", I presented the issue of how ICANN is the central controlling authority of internet domain names, and how we don't genuinely own them, and that issue spills over the solution that NIP-05 is trying to provide on Nostr.

The purpose of that post, and this one, is to showcase the issue of NIP-05, with the bigger issue being ICANN itself, to hopefully open up the discussion so that people can figure out a solution, all the while trying to present a potential solution myself. People have presented valid criticisms of the idea and presented holes in what I had presented as a potential solution, and they were valid ones. After some time, another solution presented itself to me, however, it might rub Bitcoiners the wrong way, but considering the opened floodgates with Ordinals, I thought might as well potentially make use of it.

What's The ICANN Problem?

Among the many reasons why people love Bitcoin is because it's not centrally controlled by anyone or a group of colluding individuals. The same goes for Nostr, which is seeing continuous growth in user adoption as they migrate from other centralized social platforms and other services to it. As such, current domain holders can completely lose access to their domain that's registered at ICANN, by an entity in ICANN, or by an external influence.

In short, the ICANN problem is that you are not truly the owner of any domain you've purchased under their rule. With that said, this leads to the issue that Nostr is trying to currently solve, which is simple, human-readable handle names, and a solution was presented called NIP-05 handles, but because of the ICANN, it is a bandaid solution.

The NIP-05 Problem

Nostr's NIP-05 handle solution attempts to address the issue of creating human-readable names for decentralized domains. Instead of using NPUB addresses directly, the idea is to associate handles with domains to improve user accessibility and convenience. However, upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that this approach poses several significant challenges and fails to achieve the desired decentralization and censorship resistance.

One of the primary concerns with the NIP-05 handle solution is its reliance on domain names. As we know, the domain name system is currently managed by ICANN, a centralized authority. This centralization introduces a critical vulnerability, as it means that a controlling entity could potentially take control of a domain associated with NIP-05 handles.

In such a scenario, if an authoritative entity seizes control of a domain, all the handles associated with that domain would be rendered useless, causing users to lose their hard-earned and recognizable identities. This loss could lead to a severe setback for user outreach and branding, as individuals and businesses may have built their online presence around these handles. Such an outcome significantly undermines the purpose of decentralized domains, as it introduces a single point of failure and compromises the integrity of the entire system.

The Failed Nostr Solution

The previous idea that I had presented to solve the ICANN problem, in gist, is to have a file that all relays would hold and update with domain names and connect them with users' NPUBs, but that had its issues:

1. Consensus on File State

One of the major with the Nostr idea was a robust mechanism for relays or entities referencing the file to reach a consensus on its current state. In a decentralized domain system, it's crucial to ensure that all participants are on the same page regarding the associations between names and their corresponding public addresses. Without a consensus protocol, discrepancies and inconsistencies would arise, leading to fragmented and unreliable domain resolution.

2. Ease of Squatting

Another pressing concern was the ease of domain squatting, where individuals could register and hold multiple names, limiting others' access to those names at little to no cost. The potential for abuse could hinder fair access to domain names. It would be a first-come-first-served process with no reasonable financial barriers.

New Solution: Utilize Bitcoin

Here's my newest attempt at trying to provide a solution to the ICANN problem, which is to make Bitcoin itself the new home for domains instead of ICANN. While others have presented the idea of other chains that are attached or anchored to Bitcoin that has already done this, I'd view it as still an issue since those chains are not as decentralized or powerful as Bitcoin itself and can be susceptible to failure.

Secondary Block Rewards: Domain Name Tokens (DNTs)

At the moment, the Bitcoin protocol rewards Miners that discover a block with an amount of BTC. The idea here is to add another kind of reward alongside the current one: Domain Name Tokens (DNTs).

Let's say this idea has been implemented into Bitcoin. An individual has successfully mined a Bitcoin block, and that person was rewarded with the current usual 6.25 BTC. Alongside that, they are also rewarded with, for example, 1,000 DNTs would be rewarded to that Miner, which can be then used, given, sold, or traded with other people in the world. The price of a DNT would be determined by supply and demand.

Once an individual has acquired a DNT, which was originally gained through POW, and then gained before use through a potential financial cost, they would then update the DNT that they own by attaching a name to it (permanent), and other relevant information like an IP address or a Nostr NPUB or note ID (can be changed later), and then send it (to yourself? to a contract? not sure how this part would work) to have it confirmed in the Bitcoin network, and if the name is available (ideally, there'd be a system that checks the network if a name is available or not before you send), you'd have that DNT recorded in the Bitcoin network with the associated name that no one can take, which would also have data that would connect it to a server to showcase your website on a browser.

Third Block Reward Type: Human Readable Bitcoin Address Tokens (HRBATs)

Accidentally thought of this when I was writing down the main idea above for the domain name tokens on Bitcoin. If users can obtain tokens so that they can be used to register/record a word and attach with its data, specifically an IP address or a Nostr NPUB or note ID, then another type of token that is pretty much the same as the domain one, but specifically for Bitcoin addresses.

This would follow the same idea as above, where miners would be rewarded with Y amount of HRBATs, and would be given/sold to the masses. A person with an HRBAT can then sign and send it with a name, have it confirmed and recorded in the Bitcoin blockchain, and then attach a Bitcoin address of their choosing to it. The results? We would now have human-readable Bitcoin addresses to transact with.

• Before: "Hey John, you can send me that 0.05 BTC to bc1qar0srrr7x...5l643ly...9re59gtzz...mdq"
• After: "Hey John, you can send me that 0.05 BTC to HummusMan9K"

End Thoughts & Thanks For Reading!

Here are a few extra thoughts I had while I was thinking about these issues and solutions: - I don't think both of these types of rewards should be case-sensitive, as it would lead to various malicious issues if it was. - I'm not sure if this requires a new BIP or not, and if it does and the solution is sound, then the latest issue would be approval from the Bitcoin network and approval time (as well as sound development/code of course). - Other data can be attached to a DNT, such as a Bitcoin address, or a Bitcoin LN address as well. - Even though a DNT is pretty much the same thing almost as an HRBAT, the reason I'd suggest there'd be two different types is for better organization and push for separate uses. A DNT would have "Domain Name", "Server Address", "Bitcoin Address", and "Bitcoin LN Address" fields, while HRBAT would have "Bitcoin Address Name", "Bitcoin Address", and "Bitcoin LN Address" fields. - Internet browsers would need to add support for DNTs, and an agreed method of accessing them via the URL field needs to be figured out. Perhaps something like "Visit my website on bd:freakoverse" where "bd" stands for "Bitcoin Domain", is to point toward the Bitcoin network. Browsers can offer a quick toggle to switch between ICANN domains and Bitcoin domains next to the URL field, and a user can set whichever is the default.

That's about it. What do you think of this idea to potentially solve the ICANN problem, if it isn't good or if there are holes in it, please mention it, and let's delve into a discussion to find a better solution. Thanks for reading!

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

In 2005, Microsoft’s Chief Identity Architect, Kim Cameron, wrote an influential paper called The Laws of Digital Identity.

original paper could be found

Laws of identity

Sure, here's Kim Cameron's Laws of Identity in markdown format:

Kim Cameron's Laws of Identity

1. Law of Control:

2. Users must have control over their own digital identities. They should be able to decide and control how their identities are used and shared.

3. Law of Minimal Disclosure:

4. The solution which discloses the least identifying information and best limits its use is the most stable, long-term solution.

5. Law of Justifiable Parties:

6. Digital identity systems must limit disclosure of identifying information to parties having a necessary and justifiable place in a given identity relationship.

7. Law of Directed Identity:

8. A universal identity system must support both "omnidirectional" identifiers for use by public entities and "unidirectional" identifiers for use by private entities, thus facilitating discovery while preventing unnecessary release of correlation handles.

9. Law of Pluralism:

10. A universal identity system must channel and enable the interworking of multiple identity technologies run by multiple identity providers.

11. Law of Human Integration:

12. The identity system must define the human user as a component integrated through protected and unambiguous human-machine communications.

13. Law of Consistent Experience Across Contexts:

14. The unifying identity metasystem must provide a simple, consistent experience while enabling separation of contexts through multiple operators and technologies.

These principles are designed to ensure user control, privacy, and security in digital identity systems, and they have influenced a wide range of subsequent work in digital identity.

It defines the core principles of a meta-identity system that allow the building next generations of identity systems.

Let's look at how Self-Sovereign Identity Principles support this law and enable to build of a meta-identity system on top.

SSI principles

Sure, here are the core principles of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) in markdown format:

Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)

1. Existence:

2. Users must have an independent existence. Their identities should exist even outside of the digital realm.

3. Control:

4. Users must control their identities. They should have the ability to access, manage, and control the data and information that is associated with their identity.

5. Access:

6. Users must have access to their own data. They should be able to retrieve, move, and store their data as they wish.

7. Transparency:

8. Systems and algorithms must be transparent. The systems used to administer and operate a user's identity must be open, both in how they function and in how they are managed and governed.

9. Persistence:

10. Identities must be long-lived. Ideally, they should last forever, or at least for as long as the user wishes.

11. Portability:

12. Information and services about identity must be transportable. They should not be held by a singular third-party entity, even if it's a trusted entity.

13. Interoperability:

14. Identities should be as widely usable as possible. They should function in all the places where identity information is required.

15. Consent:

16. Users must agree to the use of their identity. Their consent should be a requirement for any identity transactions in which their data is utilized.

17. Minimization:

18. Disclosure of claims must be minimized. When data is disclosed, the user should provide the minimal amount of data necessary for the transaction.

19. Protection:

    • The rights of users must be protected. Whether through legal means or through the architecture of the identity system itself, a user's rights, including their right to privacy, should be protected.

SSI puts the individual at the center of digital identity management, providing a strong framework for privacy, security, and user control.

correlation of digital identity laws and SSI principles © A Comprehensive Guide to Self Sovereign Identity In a picture, we see a mapping of laws and principles. Only one item is missing. Direct Entity — is covered by DIDs. So entities should have public and resolved identifiers, like the peer-to-peer private ones that allow the building of pseudo-anonymous relations.

You could get more details in a book. Learn digital identity

@ e6817453:b0ac3c39

In the digital age, our identities are fragmented across various platforms, each holding a piece of our data. This fragmentation poses a significant challenge, as it prevents us from having a unified view of our digital identities. However, the concept of a holistic identity, digital twins, and autonomous agents can solve this problem, providing a more comprehensive and self-sovereign approach to digital identity.

Holistic Identity: A Unified View of Self

Holistic identity is not just a technical term; it's a philosophical concept that aims to solve the problem of data fragmentation. Unlike traditional identity systems that are authoritative and siloed, a holistic identity provides a unified view of an individual's data across various platforms.

A holistic identity is a snapshot of all data points about you, including your behavior, activities, and posts. It's not just about an identifier or login password; it's about aggregating all the data points that identify you, providing a more comprehensive view of your digital self.

Digital Twins: Your Digital Copy

A digital twin is a digital copy of you and all your data that you control. It's a continuation of your holistic identity, aggregating all the data points about you and all the data produced by you.

The concept of a digital twin goes beyond just storing information; it's about getting benefits out of it. With a digital twin, you can interact with your data, gain insights, and even sell your data. It opens up a world of possibilities, from personalization to automation.

Autonomous Agents: Your Digital Assistants

Autonomous agents are the next step from digital twins. They are essentially digital assistants that can perform tasks on your behalf. These agents can have access to a portion of your data and can perform various operations, from booking tables and buying tickets to trading operations and data trading on data exchanges.

Autonomous agents can analyze data from your digital twin and perform actions based on it. They can optimize routine tasks, cooperate with each other, create trust networks, and even make micro-payments.

The Future of Self-Sovereign Identity

The concepts of holistic identity, digital twins, and autonomous agents are interlinked and form the cornerstone of a self-sovereign identity. They provide a way to have a sovereign persona and proof that the data belongs to you.

These concepts are not just theoretical; they have practical applications that can revolutionize various domains, from healthcare and finance to personalization and automation. They represent the future of digital identity, a future where we have more control over our data and where our digital identities are unified, comprehensive, and self-sovereign.

In conclusion, the era of self-sovereign identity is upon us. It's an era where we can control our data, gain insights from it, and use it to our advantage. It's an era where our digital identities are not fragmented across various platforms but are unified and comprehensive. It's an era where we can have digital twins and autonomous agents that can perform tasks on our behalf. It's an era of holistic identity, digital twins, and autonomous agents.

@ 1bc70a01:24f6a411

Originally published on October 15, 2022. Moving from my personal blog to Nostr 🙌

Don't trust, verify

Some people find this very annoying. But I've realized that most people are winging it in life. Human psychology and power dynamics influences how people think and what they say. People want to seem right so they copy what others say, and expect you to believe it.

One way people consume information is through media - news and articles. They'll read something and assume it's true.

Cited by a "study"? Must be true.

"Experts say"?

Gotta be true.

Except, if you check the sources and do some critical thinking, you might uncover that the study is flawed or that the experts are biased.

Simple things like statistical significance are thrown out the window in some studies.

People overlook personal biases.

This all leads to poor data and misrepresentation. This is how you get click-bait headlines.

The only way to know what's true is to try and verify it for yourself.

Even if you are not able to verify the facts, you can come away with a range of certainty about what you learned. Is it probably true? May be true. Certainly true? Or maybe there is a grain of truth to it? The level of confidence can vary. You don't need to be 100% confident in your newly acquired knowledge.

Treat new knowledge as data points

"It depends" is the most appropriate answer to all questions in life. The actual answer is very nuanced and depends on all sorts of things.

But, the way media presents information and the way our minds try to categorize it is by replacing past beliefs.

Once you learn something new, it's tempting to disregard your past knowledge.

I don't see information this way.

To me, all new information is a data point in my life-long accumulated collection of other data points.

Think of it like a toolbox. You have many tools in your toolbox and they are all useful for some specific task. You don't throw away a tool you bought because you acquired another.

Information is much the same. You source information from your mind to understand some subject. Consider existing beliefs, while looking at the new information. The goal is to connect the dots.

Sooner or later the data points (dots) start connecting, and you get a better picture of the subject.

Seek out incentives

Incentives drive human behavior.

Incentive to earn.

Incentive to love.

Incentive to feel good about yourself (generosity).

If you can figure out a person's incentives, you will start to understand their behavior.

People suck at understanding this. They blame the wrong things. They assign responsibility to people who are not responsible. They create made up reasons for why someone did something. All the whole ignoring incentives.

Incentives drive everything. Ask the following questions:

• What is the ultimate goal of this person by saying or doing this?
• What do they seek to gain?
• How does it make them feel?
• What will they do at the prospect of failure?
• Who are the people they care for?
• What do they stand to lose?
• What motivates their actions?
• In almost all cases the answer to these questions involves a personal gain / loss.

Give people the benefit of the doubt

When trying to decide whether something was said or done with good intent, assume that's the case.

With exceptions such as career politicians or criminals, it is best to assume that people mean well and people are default=nice.

Otherwise it becomes difficult to have faith in systems, processes and humanity.

I know the world can be an ugly place, but it can also be a beautiful place. I'd rather assume people are seeking to build a better future for themselves.

If they act against everyone's best interest, it is best to assume they do so out of personal gain rather than some sinister plot. Look at the incentives that drive their behavior and figure out how to modify them to best serve everyone.

Acknowledge that material wealth does not bring happiness and strive for what matters to you.

Money does not bring happiness no matter what anyone says. It does relieve you of despair and help live a better, more peaceful and enjoyable life, but it will not make you happy.

Very few people in the world, if any, know true happiness because they confuse happiness (the process) with happiness (the end state). There is no end state for happiness.

When people ask you if you are happy, it's hard to answer, right?

Your instinct is to say "yes, of course". After all, your day is going fine, you have every comfort you desire and you had a pleasant lunch with a friend. You feel "happy".

But, this happiness fades. Tomorrow you get in a car accident, your car damaged, insurance won't pay out and you miss 2 weeks of work. You are "unhappy".

Some people confuse happiness with being content. You can be content with your place in life, but that doesn't mean you're happy.

The whole debate over happiness is a mute point. Since happiness is a process which is more akin to enjoyment, ultimately there is no such thing as happiness. The word itself should disappear from dictionaries.

Ok, I'm joking. But, you get the point.

When it comes to my life, I strive for satisfaction and contentment.

If I'm satisfied that day, that week, that month, that year, or the last decade, then I've met my "happiness" goals. If I am content with my life, then I'm "happy".

While material wealth can provide satisfaction, the contentment piece is often missing. With wealth, the goal post moves from one spot to another. Once you've achieved a satisfying moment, you have to move to the next, and the next. Each time you have to introduce higher states of satisfaction that require more effort and money.

Eventually, you plateau and satisfying moments from the physical world no longer matter. You seek out emotional attachment and relationships.

This is why so many wealthy people are depressed. No matter how much they spend, they can never reach that emotional attachment provided by love and relationships.

In fact, wealth only complicates those things. Instead of people seeing you for who you are as a person, a new variable is introduced and they see you for your status. With misaligned incentives, it becomes more difficult to form genuine relationships. Thus, contentment is hard to achieve.

I'm going to let you in on the biggest secret everyone is asking about - the secret to happiness.

The secret to happiness is charitable work. Doing things for others, without expecting anything in return.

Charitable acts are secretly selfish acts, whether that person acknowledges it or not.

All humans act in self-preservation. The need to feel good about ourselves. The need for approval. The need for comfort and safety. The need for recognition. All of these needs are driven by self-preservation.

Charity is no different. While we may feel that we do good things for others out of the goodness of our hearts, the evolutionary incentive is to feel satisfied by our deeds. There's nothing wrong with doing good things to feel good, as long as you understand why you're doing it, instead of performing mental gymnastics.

We are not designed for our digital world and should not strive to adapt to it

Evolution took hundreds of thousands of years to shape humans into what we are today. But technology accelerated the process by many magnitudes all within about 100 years. Except, it hasn't. The evolutionary clock is still catching up, out of breath and exhausted with your daily activity.

While we adapt rather well, humans are not capable of processing the amount of data and connections offered by the internet. This ultimately messes with our minds.

Think about your current physical world social circle. Small, yes?

Now think about your digital social circle. Much larger?

How many people do you think about out of your larger digital social circle? My guess is not that many.

While you may recognize the individuals you interact with, the meaning connections formed in the digital world are somewhat closely mirrored to the physical world. I hypothesize this is because we have innate evolutionary boundaries that limit our ability to expand beyond a certain natural limit.

Going beyond the invisible evolutionary boundaries places a burden on your mind. It feels unhealthy.

Remember the last time you thought to yourself "I need a break. I need to unplug"? That's your evolutionary boundary telling you it is not capable of processing any more data. You need a purge to get back to equilibrium.

We are not designed to be always-on, always-connected, always-responsive. At least not yet. It's possible the evolutionary process catches up and prepares us to handle all of it, but I am not confident it will be any time soon.

I try to remind myself that I am not meant to have 50,000 followers and expect to keep everyone happy. I am not meant to follow everyone's updates and be expected to respond. To stay healthy, I need to unplug.

Life is what you make of it, do what you wish to do and ignore the rest

There's no "right way" to do anything. Everything is a figment of human imagination. To do things "the right way" means doing it by someone else's definition of right.

I found it incredibly freeing to realize that the only thing that is pure in this world is the natural world and your mind.

The world is a canvas.

You are the paint brush.

Everyone is capable of everything and nothing at the same time.

Everything else is noise.

Yes, we have society. Yes, we have rules. These artificial, human-invented boundaries act to preserve harmony. But, ultimately, the only pure forms of existence are the human mind and the natural world. What you do is the only thing within your boundary of control (to an extent).

Since we experience the world with our minds, we are all that is true. Everything else is a projection of some entity or experience that seeks to change our behavior (intentionally or unintentionally).

With this in mind, I look at people's experiences as unique to them and do not assume that they will translate in the same way to my life if I apply them.

Only worry about things that are in my control

I can't control what people do. I can try to influence them, but ultimately they will do what they decide to do. Since I can only control myself, I don't worry about what others think or do.

Never regret

It's easy to say "I don't regret things" but in reality emotions take us there and we think about what we regret.

I would be lying if I said I don't have feelings of regret. But, I forget about them quickly so I can focus on the things I can control. What passed is now behind me and there's no way to change it back, so there's no point in regretting.

Reflection is not the same as regret. One can reflect by looking at the past, and make changes for the future. Regrets are bitter feelings an no action.

Truth is relative

Even as I write this, my own truths are relative. What is true for me, or is true now, may not be true for you or true when you read it. It may be wrong.

People used to believe earth was the center of the universe. That the sun went around the earth. That to ward off bad spirits you had to offer sacrifices.

These were all truths to the people who held those beliefs. Now we know different.

Given what we know now, it is only logical to assume that our current truths may be false in the future. Even physics, the foundation upon we base so many truths may be proven to be wrong or incompatible with other parts of the universe.

Most things are not the best version of themselves therefore there is always room for improvement.

Since things get better all the time, it is only logical to assume that even the best thing we can think of is not the best version of that thing. The "best" is relative to time, technology and imagination.

Whenever someone says "but we already have X that works great", that doesn't mean that Y cannot be better than X, nobody just thought of it yet.

Stay curious, stay hungry and know that you can create something better.

Take experts with a grain of salt

Even the top experts in their fields are often incorrect.

For example - I know a lot about conversion optimization, but if you were to take every advice I dish out, some of it will inevitably flop.

When you get to an expert level, when someone asks you something you don't know, it is tempting to give an answer. When many people ask you for something, it's even more tempting to respond.

Saying "I don't know" is difficult even if you feel that you should say it. Before you can utter the words, your mind says "I should know this..."

The second factor that makes experts not as credible as they may have been in the past, is the speed at which technology moves.

Think about a specialized doctor. This doctor may be the top expert in their field, but it is impossible for them to read the thousands of medical journals published every day. So many breakthroughs could happen in a year without this doctor ever knowing about them.

By the time an expert weighs in, the "truth" of the matter may have already shifted.

Knowing this, you can assume that not everything an expert says is correct, especially if they step outside of their lane.

Elon Musk is a great example of this. While Elon is a successful entrepreneur and perhaps knows a thing or two about rocket engines, when he steps outside of his lane and talks about crypto, he is no more coherent than someone who spent a lot of time in the space. He uses his influence to prop up things like dogecoin for fun and games, while people lose their life savings following his doge tweets.

I'm not saying that he is responsible for people's personal decisions, but he does influence them.

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Las autoridades de la prisión Agüica, en Colón, Matanzas advirtieron al preso político Félix Navarro que será sancionado si continúa sacando a la luz pública los abusos contra los reclusos, según denunció el líder opositor en un audio grabado por teléfono al que Martí Noticias tuvo acceso.

El teniente coronel Emilio Cruz Rodríguez, jefe del penal, hizo trasladar a Navarro a su oficina, donde le comunicó que tomaría medidas si no cesa las denuncias sobre violaciones de los derechos de los privados de libertad y le dijo que no puede hablar con otras personas que no sean de su familia, explicó el activista sentenciado a nueve años de privación de libertad por participar en las protestas del 11 de julio de 2021.

“El miércoles 12 me llevaron para allá y tuvimos ese debate. Me dijo que a él no le importaban las sandeces que yo hablaba", relató Navarro quien también enfrentó una pena por causas políticas durante la Primavera Negra de 2003.

Navarro contestó al oficial que las "sandeces" eran de su parte, lo que el oficial calificó de “falta de respeto".

No obstante, el preso político consideró que la conversación fue “respetuosa” salvo que le están imponiendo arbitrariedades porque las llamadas telefónicas “son para familiares y amigos, no solo para familiares".

Afirmó que no se amedrenta por las represalias prometidas: “esta es nuestra lucha, lo mismo en la calle que aquí” y reiteró la tolerancia y la desidia conque actúa la Fiscalía Militar ante las quejas sobre los maltratos de las autoridades penitenciarias contra los reos.

“La cúpula que manda en Cuba y su Fiscalía Militar no se han pronunciado respecto a las denuncias que publicamos los días 5 y 19 de enero y el 1º. de febrero de 2023. El silencio como respuesta es un método muy utilizado por ellos cuando la razón se impone", declaró en la llamada.

Asimismo, se refirió a “la tolerancia en la región Camagüey ante las ilegalidades y abusos contra los presos cubanos, formuladas en queja en el atestado 76 de 2022, y en la no. 1 del 2021” que no han sido respondidas por la entidad de justicia.

Estos malos tratos “cuentan con toda la impunidad, el respaldo del teniente coronel Yuri Rodríguez y del coronel Mario Viltre, jefes de las fiscalías, de la región de Camagüey y del territorio oriental, respectivamente”, opinó el coordinador del Partido por la Democracia Pedro Luis Boitel, desde la cárcel donde está encerrado.

Con anterioridad, Navarro ha acusado a la Fiscalía Militar cubana de ser “la columna vertebral de la tolerancia y de la impunidad ante las ilegalidades y los abusos de todo tipo que sufren los presos y ha denunciado que en la prisión Agüica aplican tratos crueles e inhumanos a las personas que cumplen penas en ese establecimiento penitenciario.

“Aún continúa afectado el recluso, Juan Carlos Garrote Molina, de Jovellanos, Matanzas”, señaló Navarro que, previamente, el 5 de enero, había hecho pública la situación de Garrote Molina, enfermo “privado de medicamentos y dietas médicas”.

“Si no se puede contar con uno de los órganos más importantes en materia de legalidad y este resulta un fraude, ¿qué otra denuncia se necesitaría para demostrar que dicha jefatura no es otra cosa que un sistema falso, manipulador y dictatorial”, recalcó el líder disidente.

De acuerdo a Navarro, cerca de 14 presos comunes están en huelga de hambre reclamando que los trasladen hacia establecimientos penales cercanos a sus viviendas, ubicadas en Holguín, a casi 600 kilómetros de Agüica, donde están recluidos.

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Varios cubanos denunciaron en redes sociales que los cajeros automáticos de la isla comenzaron a entregar billetes impresos en una sola cara, supuestamente por falta de tinta.

Las imágenes de los "nuevos billetes" circulan en redes y aunque el régimen no se ha pronunciado al respecto, un profesor dijo en una publicación en Facebook del influencer Edmundo Dantés que en su escuela también le pagaron con billetes que tienen uno de los lados en blanco.

"Y entonces de forma inesperada los cajeros empiezan a darte dinero invisible como los logros de la Revolución", afirmó Dantés en su post.

Por su parte, Felix Yasser Castillo Pelayo consideró que el Estado "te roba hasta en el cajero" mientras mostraba un billete de 100 pesos con una parte en blanco.

Ante la incredulidad de varios usuarios de la red social un cubano de Santiago de Cuba dijo que en esa ciudad ha pasado y hay personas que han sacado hasta 10 papeles con el sello metálico del medio solamente.

Otros dijeron que estos billetes con error podrían tener valor numismático: Antonio Planas Ampudia dijo que "Tanto en el sector numismático en Cuba como fuera de él en otros países tienden a coleccionar billetes y monedas cubanas desde la colonia, república y actualidad, y tienen un valor según el comprador... Ese billete tiene un buen error, y los hay que coleccionan errores o series, es según gustos...", explicó.

La crisis en Cuba está tan generalizada que alcanza a casi todos los sectores, incluido uno tan sensible como el bancario. Desde hace varios meses los cubanos se quejan de que los cajeros del país amanecen sin efectivo, pero nunca imaginaron que tampoco habría tinta para los billetes.

Se desconoce si los bancos o negocios aceptarán estos papeles mitad impresos mitad en blanco. Algunos afirman enojados que se trata de otra estafa del régimen para con la población del país.

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Desde este sábado 29 de julio los ciudadanos cubanos necesitan una visa para el tránsito aeroportuario si desean pasar un aeropuerto de Alemania (zona de tránsito internacional) para continuar viaje a un tercer país (fuera del espacio Schengen), informó la embajada de Alemania en La Habana en una nota publicada en sus canales oficiales.

La sede diplomática, no obstante, precisó que si se cumplen algunas condiciones, entonces no es necesaria una visa de tránsito aeroportuario.

No tendrán que solicitar el documento aquellos cubanos que posean una visa Schengen válida, una visa nacional para la estancia a largo plazo o algún título de estancia emitido por alguno de los países miembros.

Tampoco tendrán que pedir permiso de tránsito quienes tengan una visa válida para Japón, Canadá y Estados Unidos o un permiso de estancia emitido por Andorra, Canadá, Japón, Mónaco, San Marino o Estados Unidos, el cual garantiza la readmisión incondicional del poseedor.

Alemania no exigirá visa de tránsito a quienes posean un pasaporte diplomático cubano, sea familia de ciudadanos de la Unión Europea o sea miembro de tripulaciones de aviones que son ciudadanos de un estado signatario del Convenio de Chicago sobre la aviación civil internacional.

La nota de la embajada de Alemania destaca que "el titular de una visa de tránsito aeroportuario no puede abandonar la zona de tránsito del aeropuerto alemán" y recomienda "con insistencia informarse previamente con toda exactitud acerca del transcurso del viaje, y ante la oficina de viajes o la compañía aérea recabar información acerca de si es necesario cambiar de terminal".

"Si durante el viaje se hace necesario entrar a la jurisdicción de los estados Schengen (por ejemplo, al trasladarse a otro edificio de la terminal o para hacer escala para un vuelo interno Schengen), los ciudadanos cubanos necesitan una visa Schengen", sostiene.

La reservación de un turno para solicitar visa se hace exclusivamente a través de la página web de la Embajada dentro del sistema de reservación de turnos previsto para ello.

La nota añade que debe tenerse en cuenta que la demanda de tales turnos es muy alta. "Por eso hay que ocuparse a tiempo de hacer una reservación. La solicitud se puede hacer ya desde seis meses antes de la fecha de viaje prevista. En cualquier caso, la tramitación solo se hará si previamente se ha sacado un turno".

Relacionado con la nota aparece toda la documentación requerida para la solicitud de la visa de tránsito para los cubanos por Alemania, con un costo de 80 euros que se pagan al contado. La tasa para los niños de entre seis y ocho años de edad es de 40 euros.

La semana pasada trascendió que el número de cubanos que solicitan asilo en Alemania se multiplicó por ocho durante el primer semestre de 2023 respecto al mismo periodo de 2022, de 73 a 607.

Según el diario alemán Bild, que citó a un portavoz del Ministerio del Interior alemán, los cubanos empleaban un mecanismo consistente en comprar un billete de avión a un destino para el que no necesitan visado, por ejemplo Belgrado (Serbia) o Dubai (Emiratos Árabes Unidos), con escala en la ciudad alemana de Fráncfort. Allí, donde los pasajeros en tránsito no necesitan visado, se presentaban ante la Policía y solicitaban asilo.

Según el portavoz, en 2022 se identificaron a 302 cubanos que hicieron uso principalmente de este privilegio de tránsito para solicitar asilo. Agregó que "ni la mitad" de estos cubanos siguió la vía regular, es decir, no se presentaron en el centro correspondiente de la oficina de migración "después de expresar su deseo de asilo ante la Policía federal" en el aeropuerto y del registro de sus datos. El diario señaló que alrededor de 300 cubanos desaparecieron de esta manera.

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Nicolás Petro, el hijo mayor del presidente de Colombia, Gustavo Petro, y diputado de la Asamblea del Departamento del Atlántico, fue detenido este sábado por la Fiscalía, que lo investiga por el posible delito de lavado de dinero y enriquecimiento ilícito, informó esa institución, reportó EFE.

Además de Petro hijo, fue arrestada su exesposa Daysuris Vásquez, quien a comienzos de año lo acusó de recibir de un narcotraficante una alta suma de dinero para la campaña del hoy presidente, y de quedarse con ese dinero.

La Fiscalía informó de que las capturas tuvieron lugar "el día de hoy 29 de julio de 2023, sobre las 06:00 horas, en cumplimiento a lo dispuesto por el Juzgado 16 Penal Municipal con Función de Control de Garantías de Bogotá".

La institución añadió en un comunicado que Nicolás Fernando Petro Burgos fue detenido "por los delitos de lavado de activos y enriquecimiento ilícito y Daysuris del Carmen Vásquez Castro por los punibles de lavado de activos y violación de datos personales por hechos ocurridos desde 2022 a la fecha".

"Los capturados serán puestos a disposición de un juez penal municipal con Función de Control de Garantías, a quien se le solicitará impartir legalidad a los procedimientos de allanamiento, captura e incautación de elementos materiales probatorios", añadió.

También "se formulará imputación por los delitos ya citados y se solicitará una medida restrictiva de la libertad", según la Fiscalía.

El pasado 21 de marzo la Fiscalía anunció que investigaba penalmente a Nicolás Petro por sus supuestas reuniones con narcotraficantes en la cárcel y por un "posible lavado de activos".

La exesposa del hijo de Petro aseguró a comienzos de ese mes en una entrevista con la revista Semana que el narcotraficante Samuel Santander Lopesierra, alias "El hombre Marlboro", le entregó a Nicolás Petro "más de 600 millones de pesos (unos 153.000 dólares de hoy) para la campaña del papá".

"Eso nunca llegó legalmente a la campaña porque él se quedó con ese dinero, y así otros", añadió la mujer, que mencionó que Nicolás Petro también recibió 200 millones de pesos (unos 51.000 dólares) del controvertido empresario Alfonso Turco Hilsaca, que tampoco fueron a dar a la campaña.

Por su parte, el presidente Gustavo Petro afirmó este sábado que "no intervendrá ni presionará" las decisiones de la Fiscalía tras la captura de su hijo.

"Como persona y padre me duele mucho tanta autodestrucción y el que uno de mis hijos pase por la cárcel; como presidente de la República aseguro que la Fiscalía tenga todas las garantías de mi parte para proceder de acuerdo a la ley", expresó el mandatario en su cuenta de Twitter.

"A mi hijo le deseo suerte y fuerza. Que estos sucesos forjen su carácter y pueda reflexionar sobre sus propios errores. Como afirmé ante el fiscal general, no intervendré ni presionaré sus decisiones; que el derecho guíe libremente el proceso", agregó.

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