@ 63854c8d:4e09cc16

Opinion about Flipper Zero Flip BIP App (hardware)

Tjdfhu

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ 0adcc7ec:826a5a21

Opinion about Blink (Bitcoin Wallet) (android)

Blink is an intuitive CUSTODIAL application that allows you to send and receive sats via lightning network with a very low fee (0, in case the sending is between users of the app). An option within the app allows you to earn satoshis as you learn about Bitcoin, the origin of money, etc. Other interesting tools that can be accessed from settings > ways to get paid

• A LUD16 lightning address of the type tincho@blink.sv, which makes it easier to receive satoshis via LN.
• A Cash registerlink like https://pay.blink.sv/tincho to receive satoshis in a friendly way, without having to open the wallet
• A paycode (QR lnurl-pay address) to receive payments

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ c48e29f0:26e14c11

A Harvard economist published 100+ pages of survey analysis to confirm what anyone outside of the fiat academic bubble already knows: people don't like it when the stored value of their time+energy is inflated into oblivion.

You can access the full report here for anyone interested: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32300/w32300.pdf

One quote from the Abstract really jumped out at me: "The predominant reason for people’s aversion to inflation is the widespread belief that it diminishes their buying power."

Well, yeah, no shit... But this isn't a "belief"... this is a fact.

Here's the thing: the average person understands the problem, because they feel the effects of the problem every single day...

They may not understand the root cause of the problem (creating money out of thin air)--instead blaming "greedy corporations" or "Joe Biden" or "Putin's Price Hike" or whatever the propaganda du jour happens to be--but they know inflation feels wrong. It feels like someone is stealing from them (which is true).

They know their purchasing power has decreased, because when they spend a dollar today it buys less than it did five years ago, and much less than it did 20 years ago.

It doesn't matter if fiat academics tell them "everything is fine! stop complaining! inflation is ackshually a good thing!"

People can feel that something is broken.

Most people still think there is a partisan/political solution to the problems they feel.

They think "if only OUR guy was in charge, things would be better" or "if only we taxed the greedy corporations and the rich more, then things would be better."

But political solutions will always be bandaids meant to superficially treat the symptoms of the disease so the Political Team proposing the "solution" can score short-term perceived wins ahead of the next election. "Look, we did something! Now stop complaining and vote for us because the other guy is literally the devil."

A few people already realize that the money itself is broken.

They understand that when the money breaks, society breaks with it.

Money created out of thin air disproportionally enriches those closest to the creation of the new money.

Money created out of thin air is used to fund Forever Wars we never agreed to enter.

Money created out of thin air is used to subsidize companies/industries that the free market does not value, distorting price signals.

Money created out of thin air bails out banks.

Money created out of thin air perpetuates never-ending boom and bust cycles.

Money created out of thin air reduces the purchasing power of the money in your pocket.

Money created out of thin air steals the value of your time and energy, of your life itself.

The people who realize the money is broken now save the value of their time and energy in Bitcoin; a money separate from the State with a fixed supply of 21M which cannot be arbitrarily inflated.

Bitcoiners know we need to cure the base layer disease, not just treat the symptoms while politicians kick a can full of worthless money down the road until it lands at the feet of our children.

Bitcoiners refuse to abdicate responsibility. Bitcoiners refuse to pass this disease on to our children. Fiat is the disease, and we know we must cure it.

It will not be easy, but it must be done.

We need to fix the money.

Study Bitcoin. https://bitcoinpodcast.net https://primal.net/walker

@ df14b357:689b5da0

In the current social media landscape, where freedom of expression and online privacy become increasingly evident concerns, the emergence of Nostr (Notes and Other Staff Transmitted by Relays) represents an innovative response to these challenges.

This decentralized protocol not only provides a platform for global communication but also reimagines the concepts of digital freedom and security.

Nostr transcends the limitations of traditional social networks by allowing users to build a network without the need for central servers or company control. Its dynamic format, inspired by the style of Twitter, offers space for a wide range of content, from short texts to videos and financial transactions, all without the risk of censorship.

Furthermore, Nostr introduces a unique element of rewarding users for their engagement on the platform. Through zaps (third-party donations), users have the opportunity to receive Satoshis, fractions of bitcoin, as recognition for their contributions to the community.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the fundamentals of Nostr and how it's redefining the social media experience by prioritizing user freedom, privacy, and appreciation.

🧵 What is Nostr?

Nostr (Notes and Other Staff Transmitted by Relays) is a decentralized protocol focused on privacy and freedom of expression. It allows the creation of a global network of messages and content without depending on central servers or companies.

🔍 What is Nostr for?

Nostr is used to create social networking applications. It is popular in a “twitter” format allowing posts, long content, videos, payments, etc.

🛠 How to use Nostr?

To use Nostr, you will need a Nostr client, which is an application that connects to the network. You can access the website: https://snort.social?ref=5oK9ZMypCwb or download the Damus (iOS) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/damus/id1628663131 or Amethyst (Android) app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vitorpamplona.amethyst&hl=en&gl=US&pli=1.

🔑 How to create an account on Nostr?

To create an account on Nostr:

1. Open the installed Nostr client or via browser;

2. Generate a new public and private key (this is done automatically in most clients);

3. Your public key will be your identification on the network. This is what you will share with others to follow you — it is not an @ or username like on conventional networks;

4. Edit your profile, upload your avatar and banner, and create a description for your profile;

5. Start following other users, making posts and earning Satoshis for your posts on Nostr!

The cool thing about Nostr is that, in addition to being a social network that fights censorship, you can also earn Satoshis (fractions of Bitcoin), through zaps (third-party donations).

@ b944c8ad:a89f6421

Expectations

Those of us born between 1981 and 1996 are considered Millennials. Over the decades, many of us witnessed the evolution from cassette tapes to CDs, from VHS tapes to DVDs, from MS-DOS to Windows, from floppy disks to 3M diskettes, from making calls on memorized landline numbers to sending SMS messages, from playing soccer in the streets to playing FIFA online, and from using Walkmans to listening to digital music on iPods. We've been acutely aware of how technology has sculpted our lives. We were arguably the most promising generation to date, quick to adapt to technological changes, eager to innovate, and ready to improve whatever we set our minds to. With the right tools within our reach, we felt capable of overcoming any challenge, poised to boost our productivity exponentially and introduce a new vision for the future that could redefine the world as we knew it. However, this generation, almost imperceptibly and in just a moment, plummeted into despair.

Reality

Now, the vast majority of us millennials find ourselves in a new phase of life, arguably the most burdensome yet: juggling work, family, schools, extracurricular activities, bills upon bills, mortgages, loans, credit card payments, interests, investments, and retirement plans. The hope of transforming the world as we once envisioned has dimmed; the once bright future now seems grim, devoid of prosperity, leaving us fearful for what lies ahead for our children. What's more, many of us have chosen not to bring more children into this already troubled world, a decision that's as terrifying as it is telling. This raises the question: were we ever truly prepared to face the realities ahead, or did we overestimate our abilities to such an extent that we overlooked the wisdom of previous generations who, unwittingly, have cornered us? In essence, the generation poised to revolutionize the world has been swallowed by unforeseen forces.

https://image.nostr.build/f9d4f01ca2d4ce55c09a3b7138837f4738e22afa586fd26769f894ba20877df9.png

How Did We Get Here?

Consider this: How many people do you know who are genuinely happy in their jobs? How many have complained about unbearable bosses, contemplated quitting, or actively sought new employment, yet feel trapped by the necessity of their paycheck to cover mortgages and bills? This situation is emblematic of a larger issue. Life isn't merely black and white; it's filled with nuances. Yet, by examining the reasons behind our generation's precipitous fall, we uncover critical insights:

Financial illiteracy is rampant; the intricate world of finance, with its convoluted jargon, remains a mystery to most. A select few have cracked the code, reaping the rewards, while the majority have been left floundering, chasing dreams of innovation without a clear understanding of the financial game.

The productivity boon promised by our technological proficiency has evaporated. Tasks that once took 8 hours are now completed in 15 minutes, without any corresponding decrease in work hours or a sevenfold increase in pay. Instead of experiencing a reduction in costs, we've been schooled in the belief that "prices always rise," a simplistic and ultimately misleading justification for our economic woes.

Social media has taken control of our collective consciousness, fostering an environment where critical thinking is drowned out by an incessant stream of content. This has led to a pervasive culture of comparison, where desires are shaped by the curated lifestyles of influencers, further distancing us from reality.

The convergence of these factors has fostered a short-term, profit-driven mentality, where the relentless pursuit of money, often through questionable means, overshadows the genuine value of work and community. Trapped in a cycle of consumption and competition, we've lost sight of what truly matters, relegating ourselves to roles that neither fulfill us personally nor contribute meaningfully to society.

The Trap

https://image.nostr.build/03498543629caf8976628ccfa97ad6758d8e52ccdee2e90f45f9f3a7f331b329.png

The plight of many millennials — unable to start families, overburdened by work, priced out of homeownership, and suffocated by inflation — paints a bleak picture of the future. Contrary to the belief that hard work and dedication would guarantee a better life, we've stumbled into a trap. This misconception, inherited from our parents, fails to account for the systemic issues at play. Central banks and governments, through ingenious financial manipulation, have orchestrated a legal form of theft: inflation. Contrary to popular belief, inflation isn't a natural byproduct of scarcity or human activity; it's the result of deliberate currency issuance, enriching a select few at the expense of the many.

As a result, our once-promising generation has fallen victim to a grand deception, trapped in a system that prizes short-term gains over sustainable progress, leaving us striving for an ever-elusive sense of abundance. This paradox, as highlighted by Jeff Booth in "The Price of Tomorrow," suggests we've unknowingly consented to a society built on the principles of theft, disguised as inflation, systematically draining our resources and aspirations without our realization. To truly understand the magnitude of this predicament, we must turn to the some numbers, confronting the harsh realities of our current economic landscape.

The Numbers

https://image.nostr.build/b0e13c07b5d5fb5cb76f618cee7abb841c6907432396c094c756496d360464b4.png

Delving into the numbers, it's essential to grasp that people value money for what it can buy, not for itself. This understanding is key when considering productivity's role in our economy. Guy Swann explained this in very simple example on one of his 'Guy's take' videos. Imagine society becomes on average 5% more productive annually. If one family expenses were $100,000 last year, a 5% boost in productivity would mean they only need $95,000 for the same goods and services this year.

Yet, central bank policies, like the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target, distort this picture. Instead of spending less thanks to increased productivity, the same items now cost $102,000. This not only reflects a mismatch between societal progress and financial policies but also represents a form of "theft." Instead of seeing a drop in prices and a boost in living standards, inflationary policies negate our productivity gains by 7% in this scenario.

This system taxes our productivity's fruits, benefiting those close to the levers of monetary control at the expense of the wider population. This diminishes our purchasing power and disrupts the incentive for innovation, creating a gap between effort and reward. This situation highlights the critical need to reassess our financial systems to ensure a fair distribution of productivity gains, aligning economic policies with fairness and efficiency to genuinely advance societal progress.

The Millennials response

https://image.nostr.build/f0fb3fbb414d62684cb561febaa7ed19097104a4fe473e112c4269f8414773db.png

I have no idea what year Satoshi Nakamoto was born, but he - or she or they - gave Millennials the tool we needed exactly for this. And what do Millennials do with it? We adapt. The tool is Bitcoin and it is touted as a solution to the financial system's flaws, contrasting sharply with traditional currencies controlled by central banks. Its finite supply positions it as a deflationary asset, which could realign productivity gains with individual purchasing power, as opposed to the inflationary nature of fiat currencies. Let’s take a look closer to some of its characteristics:

Aligned with Deflationary Forces of Technology

Bitcoin is often celebrated for its deflationary nature, primarily because there is a finite supply of 21 million coins. This scarcity is in direct contrast to fiat currencies, which can be printed in unlimited quantities by central banks, leading to inflation. Bitcoin's design inherently appreciates in value over time, assuming increasing adoption and constant or growing use, mirroring the deflationary impact of technological advancements on production costs. As technology drives efficiency and reduces costs, a currency that mirrors this deflationary trend could ensure that the gains from increased productivity are more directly reflected in individuals' purchasing power.

Eliminates the Necessity of Being a Financial Investor

One of the more compelling aspects of Bitcoin is its potential to simplify personal finance. In an inflationary economy, individuals often feel compelled to become de facto investors, seeking assets that will outpace inflation to protect their purchasing power. We all want to feel like Wall Street geniuses. This necessity can detract from one's primary profession or passions, forcing individuals to allocate significant time and resources to navigating the financial landscape. Bitcoin, by being a deflationary asset, could theoretically mitigate this pressure, allowing individuals to preserve value over time without the need for constant investment and reallocation of resources, thereby enabling them to focus more on their primary work and interests.

Incentivizes Productivity, Collaboration, and Innovation

Bitcoin's decentralized nature fosters a different kind of economic environment—one that rewards productivity, collaboration, and innovation. Without a central authority controlling supply, the value of Bitcoin is determined by the collective belief in its utility - the real free market - and the security of its decentralized network. This setup incentivizes individuals and businesses to adopt and innovate on the Bitcoin platform through different layers, contributing to its utility and, by extension, its value. The transparency and immutability of Bitcoin's blockchain technology also promote trust and collaboration among parties that might not have any direct relationship, paving the way for new forms of economic and social interactions.

Exposes Non-productive Entities

By adhering to a monetary system governed by fixed rules rather than discretionary policy, Bitcoin can shine a light on inefficiencies and parasitic behaviors within the economy. In a Bitcoin-centric economy, the value is more intricately tied to genuine contribution and productivity. Entities that have thrived on inflationary policies to garner economic rent, without contributing actual value, would find their operations increasingly unsustainable. This level of transparency not only could prompt a realignment of economic activities towards more productive and socially beneficial endeavors but also drastically reduce malinvestment. Malinvestment, the investment in projects or endeavors that are not the most beneficial from an economic standpoint, is often exacerbated by distorted price signals under inflationary regimes. Bitcoin, by offering a clear, unmanipulated representation of value, discourages investments in unproductive or harmful projects, steering resources towards truly valuable and sustainable ventures.

Conclusion

In summary, millennials have navigated a world of rapid change and economic challenges like any other generation before. Amid these challenges, Bitcoin emerges as a potential solution, offering an alternative to the traditional financial system's flaws. Its limited supply contrasts with the endless printing of fiat currencies, promising a future where increases in productivity directly benefit individual purchasing power.

While embracing Bitcoin's potential, millennials face obstacles like volatility and regulatory challenges. Yet, the promise of Bitcoin aligns with their readiness to innovate and seek fairer economic systems. For millennials, Bitcoin represents not just an investment but a step towards a future where the economy rewards real value and contribution.

The future shines brighter today than it ever has before!

https://image.nostr.build/65bffaad58cfebe1af4fb9ec86b7c8665ae8533c064c585849c1c4208e0e569d.png

@ df14b357:689b5da0

AI to generate income/wealth Bitcoin to store wealth Privacy to defend your wealth

Artificial intelligence will take over the world. If you want to maintain your standard of living, you will have to find a way to integrate it into your scope of knowledge and operation. Job opportunities will not disappear, but they will require you to have new skills to get the job done, with AI as an extension of your workforce.

Bitcoin, the best hard money invented by humanity. There is simply no way to stop the adoption of BTC as a store of value. As States take more measures to restrict your freedoms and confiscate your economic energy, you will understand the usefulness of the protocol and why Bitcoin is worth (and will be worth) what it is worth. Better learn now for your own good and not later for your defense.

Privacy is the basis of freedom. Many radical ideologies, through indoctrination, will take power and will not want to let go, so if you do not belong or do not obey their postulates, you will be a target to be taken down. If radical vegans take power and decide how much meat you can eat per month? And so does any minority with extreme ideas.

Yes, it sounds exaggerated, but every day the possibility is greater. Your first line of defense is to share only the information you want to share and only to whom you authorize to do so. Using Privacy tools to defend your personal data and ideas at all costs will be essential to defend your freedoms.

Protect yourself!

Learn AI Hodl Bitcoin Defend your Privacy

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Como estamos a comemorar os 50 anos do fim da ditadura (1974) e início da democracia, PorData criou várias infográficas muito interessantes:

A infográfica faz a comparação dos números de habitações entre 1970 e 2021. A ideia inicial foi comparar como era Portugal na fase final da Ditadura, com Portugal na atualidade, mas nós podemos fazer uma interpretação diferente, comparar como era no Padrão ouro com o padrão FIAT, 1970 foi o último ano do padrão ouro.

A meu ver, destacam-se dois pontos, o número total de casas duplicou e houve um forte aumento da 2ª habitação.

No mesmo período de tempo, a população residente em Portugal aumentou 20%.

• 1970: 8.680.429 habitantes
• 2021: 10.470.707 habitantes

Apesar do número de casas de 1º habitação ter aumentado 84% mas a população apenas aumentou 20%, mesmo assim estamos a viver a maior crise de falta de habitação do último século. Uma das justificativas é que as famílias estão mais pequenas, o número de famílias monoparentais é muito superior, isso faz que sejam necessárias mais casas.

A imigração também foi um factor que ajudou no aumento na procura.

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Mas o que foi mais surpreendente, é o aumento de casas de 2ª habitação, aumentou 1300%, de 81 mil para 1 milhão de casas. As pessoas estão a utilizar as casas como uma reserva de valor.

Uma parte são os filhos que herdam as casas, em vez de venderem, preferem ficar com uma segunda habitação, porque preserva melhor o valor.  Pelo mesmo motivo, outra parte de proprietários, são pessoas que têm algum capital e preferem investir em casas do que ter o dinheiro parado nos bancos.

O fim do padrão ouro criou este sistema enviesado, porque as pessoas não querem ter dinheiro, preferem investir em algo que preserva melhor o valor, os portugueses preferem comprar casas.

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Este dados são de 2021, certamente já estão desatualizados, porque nos dois últimos anos a crise agravou muito mais.

@ 27ffbd3c:1e1605f2

Opinion about Wallet of Satoshi (android)

Opinion about "Wallet of Satoshi"

“Wallet of Satoshi” is a custodial bitcoin wallet, meaning you do not own your funds.

One of the advantages of Wallet of Satoshi is its simplicity. It is designed for momentary use for new users who can send and receive Bitcoin payments using a LIGHTNING ADDRESS.

Although, there is always a risk of trusting an external entity to store funds. It is best not to have funds that do not imply a significant loss.

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ df14b357:689b5da0

Protecting your privacy and security online is your responsibility. Adopt these measures and help create a safer and more private digital environment for you.

✅ 1. Use VPN and Tor: Browse anonymously and protect your privacy online.

✅ 2. Use strong and secure passwords: Create unique passwords for each account and use password managers to keep them secure.

✅ 3. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA): Strengthen the security of your accounts with an extra layer of protection.

✅ 4. Avoid sharing personal information on social media: Limit the amount of personal information you share publicly.

✅ 5. Use #Nostr as a decentralized social network: Protect your privacy and freedom of expression on a platform that values your data and does not commercialize it.

✅ 6. Protect your family's privacy: Educate them about the risks and importance of protecting their personal information.

✅ 7. Use end-to-end encryption: Protect your online communications with encryption tools.

✅ 8. Keep your devices up to date: Regularly install security updates to protect against vulnerabilities.

✅ 9. Avoid unsecured public Wi-Fi networks: Use secure Wi-Fi networks or VPNs when connecting in public places.

✅ 10. Learn about Bitcoin on @bitcoin.rocks, the best #Bitcoin reference guide on the internet.

✅ 11. Create your lightening wallet on @Alby 🐝.

✅ 12. Buy Bitcoin and maintain custody: Ensure your financial independence and protect your assets with Bitcoin.

✅ 13. Store your private keys securely: Store your private keys securely and offline to prevent unauthorized access.

✅ 14. Use GNU/Linux operating systems and free/free open source software for greater security against attacks and hacker invasion.

@ cce0989b:b497e608

You're happily talking with your partner, then notice out of the corner of your eye that they left their dirty socks on the floor — again. You feel a surge of anger, any good feelings immediately fading away. All you can see are the socks, and all you can now think about are all of the other times they let you down. You snap at them, "Why can't you ever do what you promise you'll do?!"

In this moment, your entire experience has been colored by the intense emotion that you're feeling. This is called the refractory state, a term coined by UC San Francisco psychologist Paul Ekman.

When you're in the refractory state, you are temporarily unable to look for or internalize any new information that doesn't 'fit' with the emotion you're feeling. All you can focus on is the source of your anger, or look for more reasons to be angry, or think about why your anger is justified.

The refractory state can last for a second or two, or last for many minutes. It all depends on our past history, our overall well-being, our choices in the moment, and how the other people involved behave.

Here's a tip that can change your life.

Make it a rule for yourself: I will never make a decision in the middle of an emotional wave. Instead, I will wait it out, take some space, and care for myself until it passes — then, and only then, I will choose how I want to respond.

Once the emotion has passed, you'll be far more able to tap into your wisdom and connect to your compassion.

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

Hey stackers, let’s lay down your unique and unusual offerings. Unveil the unexpected!

Need a hand? Check our guides… What hidden gems do y'all have up for sale? Let's rustle up some dusted serendipitous and it in the ~AGORA
marketplace.


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@ 619670bd:285f3b56

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@ 09a4f4ad:7b213e90

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@ e38645b0:897fe7b7

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@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Welcome back to our weekly JABBB, Just Another Bitcoin Bubble Boom, a comic and meme contest crafted for you, creative stackers! If you'd like to learn more, check our welcome post here.

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This week sticker

This week we start from the one of the latest releases, Bitcoin Acrobat: you can download the source file directly from the HereComesBitcoin website in SVG and PNG.

The task

Starting from this sticker, design a comic frame or a meme, add a message that perfectly captures the sentiment of the current most hilarious take on the Bitcoin space. You can contextualize it or not, it's up to you, you chose the message, the context and anything else that will help you submit your comic art masterpiece.

Are you a meme creator? There's space for you too: select the most similar shot from the gifts hosted on the Gif Station section and craft your best meme... Let's Jabbb!

---

If you enjoy designing and memeing, feel free to check our JABBB archive and create more to spread Bitcoin awareness to the moon.

Submit each proposal on the relative thread, bounties will be distributed next week together with the release of next JABBB contest.

₿ creative and have fun!

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@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Prompt: Redeem Bitcoin Coupon ===============

Imagine that it's time for someone to redeem a coupon and get some Bitcoin. It could be via an in person self-checkout screen or on a website like Azte.co. Think about the requirements of a coupon such as the discount percentage, the subtotal, total, and other unique features.

Always make it easy. The last thing people want to encounter is a complex interface that adds friction to the redemption process.

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Flex your design muscles and join in. Most of all, keep this exercise loose and keep it stress-free. The FUC is about growing our design skills, together, as a community. We can't wait to see what you create!

Happy designing, Stackers!

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Share Your Results When you finish the challenge, post your work on this thread! If you also share it on nostr, be sure to use the hashtag #FUCdesiger and tag Design_r@iris.to or @Design__r on X! We'll keep an eye out and repost good examples on a regular basis.

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Curious to know WTF is a FUC? Read the ⚡️Flash Ui Challenges welcoming post.

Looking for more FUCs? Check the archive here!

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

An opportunity to share some bits of a process you embrace to achieve anything you aim to. What steps do you follow from concept to design completion? What’s your tricks? Any useful guide or tutorial to share? Where are you now?

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• Content

• Conclusion

• FAQ

• You May Also Like

• External Links

The theft of cryptocurrency has always presented a unique set of risks and opportunities. Because it is digital currency, and because it is stored in multibillion-dollar quantities on networks that are vulnerable to hacking because of their connection to the internet, it is an attractive target. Once bitcoin has been stolen, however, every transaction can be tracked using blockchains, the underlying technology of almost every cryptocurrency. This makes it easy to frequently track down and punish the perpetrators. After yesterday's massive heist, in which nearly half a billion dollars were stolen from the already faltering FTX cryptocurrency exchange, crypto tracers around the world are now closely monitoring the whereabouts of that loot in an effort to identify whether the thief was an insider at FTX or merely a hacker looking to capitalize on the exchange's demise.

More than $663 million worth of bitcoin seems to have been taken on Friday, hours after the big cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of its catastrophic, 10-figure collapse. An FTX administrator posted, "FTX has been hacked," in the FTX Telegram group. Even though FTX hasn't publicly acknowledged any theft, the company has issued a statement saying, "FTX applications are malware." Delete them." It's unclear how FTX may have been penetrated or whether its apps are in fact compromised. While the corporation's US general counsel tweeted that "unauthorized access to some assets has happened," the company itself was not hacked.

The $663 million disappearance was first thought to be the result of a strange heist, but it was soon uncovered that FTX had moved funds into its own storage wallets. Although TRM Labs estimates that just $338 million was stolen, Elliptic estimates that $477 million was taken. Within twenty-four hours of the theft, the majority of the stolen funds had been transferred to a small number of cryptocurrency addresses, which are now being closely monitored by the entire crypto-tracing industry, a massive community of amateur crypto sleuths, and, no doubt, law enforcement agencies around the world.

Any crook attempting to convert their FTX assets or other stolen crypto to fiat currency faces an enormous obstacle due to this transparency. It could confirm that insiders were responsible for the theft, or it could show that external hackers took advantage of the chaos at FTX to pull off a burglary, which would be useful information in this case because regulators and an army of angry creditors are looking for any sign that FTX's staff or owners may themselves be the culprits.

Chris Janczewski, chief of investigations at TRM Labs and a former special agent in the IRS's criminal investigations section, adds, "We're obviously following the movements of this cash." The hypothetical crook has hundreds of millions of dollars, but it's like if they robbed a bank, stole as much money as they could carry, and then the dye packets went off, so now everyone knows that the money is tied to the heist. What use is it now?

Elliptic found that at least $220 million in stolen cryptocurrencies were immediately moved onto decentralized exchanges (websites where users can buy and sell digital assets without disclosing their identities) in order to purchase ether and dai. However, in order to convert those coins and the remainder of the stolen wealth into fiat currency, they will need to be traded on a centralized exchange, which often necessitates the disclosure of personal information. The criminals may attempt to utilize a "mixing" service, which is a kind of currency laundering in which the stolen coins are combined with those of other users. However, blockchain experts that specialize in crypto-tracing have shown they can frequently beat such mixers, especially when consumers pour in extremely significant quantities of money. In addition, many cryptocurrency exchanges are unable to process transactions involving bitcoin that have been mixed using certain mixers, such as the Tornado Cash service that was blacklisted by the US Treasury in August.

According to Michelle Lai, a cryptocurrency privacy advocate, investor, and consultant who claims to have been following the whereabouts of the stolen FTX funds with "morbid fascination," it will be difficult for the thieves to make off with their profits in a spendable form without being identified. However, the real question, Lai says, is whether identifying the thieves will offer any recourse. "The concern is not whether they will know who did it, but rather whether that knowledge will be actionable," adds Lai. And if they're on land, where are they?

FTX Scandal Meanwhile, Lai and other crypto observers have been focusing on a single Ethereum address that is reportedly storing around $192 million. A number of cryptocurrency exchanges, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, and a Ukrainian cryptocurrency fundraising account have all received tiny amounts of tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain from this account. In Lai's opinion, the purpose of these exchanges is more to confuse law enforcement and other observers than to really launder or withdraw the funds.

Tobias Silver, creator of crypto service Just.Money, made a key observation on Twitter: it seems that one of the criminals' transactions was paid for using transaction fees financed from an account on the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, which is likely obligated to hold identifying information for that account under "know-your-customer" legislation. Kraken's chief security officer, Nicholas Percoco, subsequently tweeted, "We know the name of the user." When WIRED reached out to Percoco for comment, a Kraken representative said, "We have closely observed recent events with the FTX estate, are in communication with law enforcement authorities, and have blocked Kraken account access to some monies we believe to be involved with "fraud, carelessness, or misconduct" related to FTX (as set out in our Terms of

Even if the full amount of $477 million is stolen, the looting of FTX is not unprecedented in the world of cryptocurrency crime. In late March, North Korean thieves stole $540 million from the Ronin Bridge, a gaming cryptocurrency exchange. Earlier this year, cryptocurrency tracing led to the bust of a New York couple accused of laundering $4.5 billion in crypto.

However, in the case of the high-profile FTX theft and the collapse of the exchange as a whole, tracking the missing funds could help put to rest—or confirm—swirling suspicions that someone within FTX was responsible for the theft. The company's Bahamas-based CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who resigned on Friday, lost nearly his entire $16 billion fortune in the collapse.

Despite these reservations, TRM Labs' Janczewski argues that the confusion surrounding FTX's meltdown may have provided hackers with an opportunity to exploit panicked employees by, for example, tricking them into clicking on a phishing email. Alternatively, as Michelle Lai points out, bankrupt insider employees may have collaborated with hackers in an effort to recover some of their own lost assets.

The theft of $500 million worth of bitcoins from Mt. Gox, the first cryptocurrency exchange, was discovered in 2014, and the case has begun to resemble that heist more than any other recent crypto heist. In that case, blockchain analysis performed by cryptocurrency tracing firm Chainalysis and law enforcement helped pin the theft on external hackers.

Conclusion

It is not at all apparent if history will repeat itself and cryptocurrency tracing will reveal the innocence of FTX's workers. However, as more eyes than ever before comb the blockchains of the cryptocurrency economy, it is a safer bet that the whodunit behind the theft of FTX will, sooner or later, yield an answer.

FAQ

How much money was lost at FTX? According to Reuters's sources, the exchange's founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, transferred $10 billion in customer funds to his trading company, Alameda Research, in a secret transaction. Since then, a lot of this money has gone missing. One source says that the amount that has gone missing is around $1.7 billion.

Where did FTX go wrong? Mr. Bankman-Fried, who was once likened to financial tycoons like John Pierpont Morgan and Warren Buffett, saw his empire crumble last week when his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, saw a run on deposits that left it short $8 billion and forced it to declare bankruptcy.

When does the FTX breakdown occur? The defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX generated actual money off of its own digital currency, dubbed FTT, which is basically worthless today, yet investors continue to trade it despite its low value.

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

@ 3acf7ffd:937abb7b

I originally published this article in my gopherhole on February 4, 2022 [0]. Aside from a handful of formatting fixes to make it look nice in Nostr, I have made no attempt to modify its content and it is exactly the same as when I first published it.

---

I have been thinking for quite some time now about creating an alternative way to communicate with these lightweight protocols. Now, it doesn't mean that I've thought of it that it is viable or that it would work. I've just thought of the possibility of it being possible, if that makes sense.

Either way, I've been thinking about the idea of creating a local mesh network based on packet radio. I was driving on my way home today when I remembered this one video published in the computerphile channel [1]. The presenter discussed the technology behind packet radio and showed that it is possible to send TCP/IP packets via VHF and UHF bands. I was already thinking of a way to create a "free" internet in our area, mostly because I wanted to see it work and partly because I wanted my friends to have a way to communicate with the each other even without internet.

However, there are a few issues that I have realized before I thought this thing could be a reality.

For starters, this method of transferring data is very slow. The protocol that manages this type of communication can only transmit around 1.2 kilobit per second which is absurd in today's ultra-high speed internet. That means that it would 133 minutes to load a 1 megabyte image from the internet, provided that you are only loading the image itself. This makes this method extremely impractical for the modern web.

But we are not in the modern web. It is definitely possible to use this method to browse gopherholes since you are only loading text. For example, with that kind of speed you can load my phlog about fixing my webserver in only 25 seconds [2]. Now, that is a considerable change from the milliseconds that we are used to when browsing gopher but 25 seconds is something bearable for a long phlog post. Shorter phlogs can even load quicker.

The protocol that manages this type of communication can only transmit around 1.2 kilobit per second which is absurd in today's ultra-high speed internet.

But this brings us to the second issue that I have with this idea. It is unreliable. I assume there is a way to make it reliable but from what I've read about it and what the presenter talked about in the video. This method of data transfer is very unreliable. He was demonstrating it where the two computers were in the same room and their radios are not that far from each other and even then there are issues with getting the radios to recognize each other.

Also, another issue that I have with this idea is the cost and equipment. Ideally, you only need three things to make this whole setup work: (1) A computer, (2) a radio and (3) a Terminal Node Controller. The first two are easy to acquire, but the last one is rare as balls in this country. I can't seem to find anyone producing these blackboxes nowadays. I was able to find some in ebay but most of them are in "unknown condition and sold as-is." That is not comforting knowing that I will be spending $45 on something that may or may not work. If there are any other means to acquire this hardware for cheap or maybe any pointers how to build one please hit me up with an e-mail. I've heard that you can use a standard modem for this? But I don't know how that would work.

Lastly, I'm not a HAM radio operator. So I don't know whether what I'm doing is allowed to do in citizen bands. I don't think there are that much people using radios in my part of the city but it would certainly be nice to have an idea about it.

When I was thinking about this idea, I thought that I would be able to create a setup where I can coax my friends and girlfriend to get a radio and a terminal node controller that they can hook up into their computers and turn on when they want access to a cheap but slow local internet. But the issue with reliability and cost really dampened that hopes for me.

Until then, I will still be looking for a cheap way to get a local mesh network going.

Footnotes:

[0] gopher://kalayaan.xyz/0/~rtr/guper/an-idea-of-mesh-networking.txt [1] https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=lx6cm1rNDLM [2] gopher://kalayaan.xyz/0/~rtr/phlog/01-fixing-my-webserver.txt

@ 3acf7ffd:937abb7b

One interesting bit about Nostr is with how the content is separate from its presentation. For example, in traditional HTTP, any document that you request will contain not only the content but also the instructions on how to present it.

Constraint Breeds Creativity

While this gave web publishers freedom over how they create their websites, it also made it so that there is no consistent view for any particular one. This can be a problem especially in making websites accessible for a wide range of people and devices.

However, this idea is nothing new. Gopher and Gemini are two thriving protocols that show how having a strict, rigid format allows for a consistent content presentation but still be an outlet for creative expression.

I think that one thing where Nostr shines is that it extends even past what Gopher and Gemini did. With it, content is stripped to its most basic form and it is the responsibility of the client how to present it. Where Gopher and Gemini has gophermaps and .gmi files, Nostr has database entries.

Client is King

Now, a user who publishes over Nostr has little to no control on how his content will look. This gives the client designers free reign on how their client can present the information that streams from a Nostr relay. I think that's a positive, since it's now possible to create "Nostr browsers" that will only display the type of content that you want to see.

Again, this is nothing new. Modern social media websites and platforms perfected the idea of "Client is King." The content of a post does not contain any instruction on how it will look. Maybe some of them will allow text formatting through Markdown, but a page's general layout will still obey how the designers of the website wanted it to look.

Convergence

At this point you might be asking yourself: "Well, what's the point then? If a modern social media website is the paragon of design consistency and 'content and design separation' then why are bothering with Gopher, Gemini and Nostr?"

Well, that's a tough question since it really does depend on what your goals are and your motivation for using these niche protocols. But I think one thing that they do great is that they allow you to take control of your information. Modern social media websites aren't really the best at keeping its users' interests at heart.

With Gopher and Gemini, what you get is a set of pragmatic rules that tell how content is separated from its design. Nostr extends this abstraction and provides rules where that content is nothing but a database entry and its presentation solely relies on the client that receives that data. I think that's a good thing since it provides design consistency present in modern social media websites without any "trust and safety teams" and "content algorithms" sitting in between me and my readers.

---

Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash.

@ 52b4a076:e7fad8bd

Why this is happening

This happens due to an invalid real IP header.

You are most likely using X-Forwarded-For as the real IP header. Strfry expects the real IP header to contain just an IP, but the X-Forwarded-For header is a list of IPs, with every proxy adding the IP of where it got the request from.

If a client specifies an X-Forwarded-For header, like X-Forwarded-For: 1.1.1.1, your proxy will add the remote IP, like this: X-Forwarded-For: 1.1.1.1, 127.0.0.1 When you use $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for in Nginx, this is what it is doing: appending the remote IP to the header.

Strfry tries parsing 1.1.1.1, 127.0.0.1 as an IP address, fails, and throws an exception.

How to fix it

If you are using Caddy, just switch to X-Real-IP.

If you are using Nginx, you can add a real IP header like so, and switch to using it: proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;

You can also disable the real IP header, but this will cause problems if you use a write filter script or look at the logs.

@ dadbe86a:9c493e92

Opinion about Stack Wallet (android)

Stack Wallet is an open-source, non-custodial and privacy-preserving cryptocurrency wallet.

Pros: - Support tesnet, passphrases, fee and coin control, custom node, tor - It is open source

Cons: - It is not bitcoin only - Missing support for advanced features like user added entropy, seedQR, taproot, multisig, miniscript - Missing hardware wallets support

Version reviewed: v1.10.2

thebitcoinhole.com

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ dadbe86a:9c493e92

Opinion about Jade (hardware)

Blockstream Jade is a hardware wallet developed by Blockstream, designed to offer users a secure and convenient solution for storing and managing their bitcoin.

Pros: - Very convenient price - A screen to verify transactions - An internal battery to use without wires - Ability to use it 100% airgapped with a QR scanner when signing transactions - Open source with reproducible builds - Support for advanced features like testnet, multisig, user added entropy, passphrase, bip-85, seedQR, fee and coin control, custom node, tor - Optional Stateless Use - Good integration with software wallets

Cons: - No secure element, it uses a virtual secure element that depends of Blockstream servers - You can't update it in airgapp mode, a usb cable or bluetooth is required - The camera could be improved, is difficult to scan QRs

thebitcoinhole.com

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ 46fcbe30:6bd8ce4d

Opinion about Nostr Implementation Possibility 'Git With Nostr' by nostr:npub...

asdf

NostrOpinion

@ 49edd28f:90fb6d51

For the Young Innovator: Your Web3 Journey Starts Here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzEKMQfD5G4

@ c4428155:a36de510

After CPAP Recall, Philips Must Institute New Safeguards in Agreement With U.S. Justice Department

by Michael Korsh and Evan Robinson-Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/)

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories (https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/the-big-story?source=54G&placement=top-note®ion=national) as soon as they’re published.

Philips Respironics must hire an independent safety monitor, undergo regular facility inspections for five years and pay part of its revenue to the federal government under the terms of an agreement with prosecutors filed in federal court in Pennsylvania, capping one of the most catastrophic medical device recalls in decades.

The company will also face a review of its testing on the millions of replacement machines that it sent to customers after the old ones were recalled in 2021.

The consent decree with the Justice Department (https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24534169/philips-doj-consent-decree.pdf), filed in federal court last week, comes nearly three years after Philips acknowledged that an industrial foam fitted inside its widely used sleep apnea machines and ventilators to reduce noise could degrade and release toxic particles and fumes into the masks worn by patients.

A ProPublica and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation (https://www.propublica.org/article/philips-recall-machines-chemicals-of-concern) last year found the medical device giant had withheld thousands of complaints about the foam for more than a decade before warning its customers — including medically vulnerable patients such as infants and the elderly — about the dangers.

The news organizations also revealed (https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/philips-respironics-cpap-defect-recall/troubled-recall.php) that a new, silicone-based foam that the company used in the replacement machines was also found to emit dangerous chemicals, including formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Though Philips maintained that the new foam was safe, scientists involved in the testing raised alarms, and the Food and Drug Administration said more tests were needed before determining if the devices pose risks to patients.

The consent decree requires Philips to carry out additional tests on the silicone foam if the independent safety monitor brought on by the company determines that prior testing was inadequate.

The agreement also prohibits Philips from selling all sleep apnea devices and other respiratory machines in the United States. In January, Philips disclosed that it would no longer distribute the machines in the country (https://www.propublica.org/article/philips-agrees-to-stop-selling-sleep-apnea-machines-in-us) as part of the negotiations with the Justice Department — a major shift for a company that long dominated the industry.

Philips, which manufactures the devices at two plants outside Pittsburgh, is still able to export devices to other countries under the terms of the agreement. The company can also sell a select group of machines deemed “medically necessary” by the FDA inside the United States, including some ventilators, but must turn over up to 25% of the revenue to the government.

The payments “are an equitable remedy and not punitive,” according to the agreement.

In the consent decree, the Justice Department argued that the company had violated federal law by selling “adulterated” machines that did not comply with manufacturing requirements. The agreement was signed by Roy Jakobs, chief executive officer of Philips’ parent company, Royal Philips, headquartered in Amsterdam. The company did not admit fault.

If Philips fails to abide by the agreement, the company could be forced to pay up to $20 million a year.

Philips did not respond to questions about the consent decree, which still has to be approved by a judge.

The company has previously said that tests on the original foam caused no “appreciable harm” to patients. And in an online video about the settlement, Chief Patient Safety and Quality Officer Steve C de Baca said the silicone-based foam in the replacement machines was also safe.

Philips has “not identified any safety issues” with the replacement machines, he said, and “their use is not impacted” by the consent decree.

On an informational page for customers (https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/patient-safety-and-quality/explained-philips-respironics-consent-decree?utm_id=71700000117317211&origin=7_700000002937774_71700000117317211_58700008660145292_43700079351326934&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkuqg0OaphQMVBU1HAR1VdAKVEAAYASAAEgIqSPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), Philips said the settlement with U.S. authorities will help it “restore the business.” The company also said it has launched multiple safety reforms.

The FDA said it would not comment until the settlement has been approved by the court. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

Patient safety advocates say it will take years to assess the impact of the devices on patient health. At the time of the recall, both Philips and the FDA described potential health risks including respiratory tract illnesses, headaches, nausea, and toxic and carcinogenic effects.

The FDA has said it received 561 reports of deaths (https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/recalled-philips-ventilators-bipap-machines-and-cpap-machines/problems-reported-recalled-philips-ventilators-bipap-machines-and-cpap-machines#medical) reportedly associated with the degrading foam since 2021. The Post-Gazette and ProPublica previously identified reports (https://www.propublica.org/article/how-we-investigated-philips-respironics-cpap-recall) that described nearly 2,000 cases of cancer, 600 liver and kidney illnesses, and 17,000 respiratory ailments.

Though the company says the foam in the recalled devices does not lead to long-term harm, the material has repeatedly tested positive for genotoxicity, the ability of a chemical to cause cells to mutate, a process that can lead to cancer.

Michael Twery, former director of sleep disorders research at the National Institutes of Health, said it could be difficult for Philips to earn back the trust of its customers.

“If a manufacturer misleads [the] FDA, how do they reestablish integrity?” he said.

Do You Work For the Federal Government? ProPublica Wants To Hear From You. (https://www.propublica.org/tips/federal-workers/)

https://www.propublica.org/article/after-recall-philips-must-launch-new-safeguards-in-doj-agreement

@ ddf03aca:5cb3bbbe

Last week I promised to keep all of you updated about my open source work on Cashu and npub.cash. So this is it, the very first weekly POW log. I hope you will enjoy it as many more will follow.

---

Cashu is going Realtime: WebSockets

One of the projects that excites me the most is the proposal for WebSocket enabled Cashu mints. Right now clients need to poll mints for updates, which can cause unnecessary traffic and make more complex use cases (like npub.cash) really complicated.

Right now npub.cash uses wrapper invoices created using the Blink API to keep track of invoices and payments. It would be much cooler to let payers interface directly with the mint, but that would mean the npubcash-server would have to constantly poll a mint for all inflight invoices. And those can stack up quickly...

So I started a NUT proposal to add WebSocket connections to mints. It is not a drop-in replacement for the REST API, but an add-on enabling live updates for state changes.

I reached out to nostr:npub12rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sf485vg (Cashu master-pioneer and maintainer of Nutshell) to reflect on my approach and we agreed that it makes sense to build some reference implementations in order to put the design to the test. He began working on the mint while I started on the client side with a PR for cashu-ts. As of right now we are still drafting and going back and forth, but I think it is reasonable to assume that we will be able to have some working tests soon(TM).

Links

• NUT proposal
• cashu-ts PR

---

npub.cash

Custom mints for npubcash-server

One of my favorite things about npub.cash is the idea to decouple a Lightning Address from your custodian. Because npub.cash "outsources" Lightning payments to the mint, users can choose their LN custodian themselves. Although I had this in mind when writing the first version, npubcash-server was still missing APIs to let a user actually change their mint.

To change this I started another PR, adding the missing APIs as well as some additional logic and validation. I am thoroughly testing this right now and will roll it out soon. Once this first version goes live I want to dive in deeper and explore multi-mint setup, which will users essentially eliminate single points of failure

Animated QR codes for npubcash-website

Another thing that should have been there from the start is QR codes on the npub.cash website. However, Cashu tokens as QR codes can be challenging, because they need to encode A LOT of data. Especially on older phones or dim displays, this becomes a problem quickly, as such QR codes are really large and dots are tiny. Animated QR codes to the rescue! What some might already know from PSBT are animated QR codes that encode data in fragments and then stream it.

The Cashu dev community has been discussing this for a while now and most agreed that the Blockchain Commons MUR QR Codes are best suited for the task. The encoding is based on Google Fountain Codes and can already be found in some Bitcoin apps

While I have created my own WASM port of one of the blockchain commons libraries a while ago, I went with another BC Commons fork created by nostr:npub1cj6ndx5akfazux7f0vjl4fyx9k0ulf682p437fe03a9ndwqjm0tqj886t6.

Decoupling npubcash-alias

The last project of this week is the decoupling of npubcash-server and npubcash-alias. I realized that while the ability to create a human-readable alias for npub.cash is great, it adds a huge amount of overhead to the service. I decided that aliases should rather be an implementation detail up to the service provider, so I began to remove them. In the end, not everyone might want to sell aliases or use other gateways to create them...

Don't worry! Aliases will not go away, but the purchases will instead be handled by a second service, running along npubcash-server. This service "npubcash-alias" also brings some improvements over the old one, but I'll go into more details next week. Of course, just like everything else, npubcash-alias is also open source.

Links

• user-selected mints PR
• animated qr codes PR
• npubcash-alias REPO

---

I hope you enjoyed this very first POW. Until next week :)

@ 0861144c:e68a1caf

Paraguay is a prosperous place to start mining. In the previous days, a bill has been presented that would read as follows: "TEMPORARILY PROHIBITING THE CREATION, CONSERVATION, STORAGE, AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF VIRTUAL ASSETS OR CRYPTOASSETS, CRYPTOCURRENCIES, AND THE INSTALLATION OF CRYPTOMINING FARMS ON PARAGUAYAN TERRITORY". The bill is a measure that legislators, as described in their motivations, found reasonable to combat the proliferation of illegal farms.

How do these illegal farms work?

Choose a plot of land, build a hosting where they generally store machines of dubious origin. Next, corrupt officials from the ANDE[^1] are requested, through bribery, to connect you to the Medium Voltage system and your mining is up and running. To avoid further inconveniences, a bribery scheme kicks in where everyone is involved: businessmen, drug traffickers, mobsters, authorities from the Prosecutor's Office, Judges, and of course, the same company that provides the electricity.

[^1]: The ANDE is the company that holds the total monopoly on the generation, distribution, maintenance, and commercialization of electric energy in Paraguay.

Context

Paraguay has experienced a heatwave, unlike anything seen in many decades, which has caused the demand for electricity to reach new historical peaks. According to the ANDE, one of the causes of the electrical failures would be the miners who connect to the electrical system. In the first 90 days of 2024, there were raids on these illegal mines where the equipment was "seized". The mentioned company directly blamed the mining sector for these mentioned failures.

The Law

Taking this context into account, the law has these characteristics:

• To prohibit, starting from the promulgation for 180 days, any activity related to cryptocurrencies, with an emphasis on mining farms.[^2]
• In the first three articles, they request the prohibition of the creation, conservation, storage, and commercialization of any cryptoasset or cryptocurrency.

[^2]: If you're living in Latin America, you know that those 180 days are not real. They'll ask for more time for any reason, similar to El Salvador's state of emergency that first was 90 dias but it's going more than 600 days

Is it stupid?

Yes. The law itself clashes directly against the National Constitution of the country since it states that you are guilty of carrying out a completely legal activity; this bill is a direct attack and has no relation whatsoever to the theft of energy or anything else.

Will the law work?

So...no. As stated, ANDE is working with those illegals, charging fees up to 3.000 USD per MW/h^3; the bribery is strong with this and the draft bill is not helping anyone in any way.

And how do you know that the company works with the mobsters?

In the year 2016, the task of laying fiber optic cables to all the power substations throughout the country began, or in other words, the company knows which parts have consumption peaks, how much they need, where, when... and here comes the really funny part, the same company that today mourns the losses, gave contracts to many mining companies. So, where do we stand?

What should I do?

Come to Paraguay, it's just political noise and talk to natives or don't. Either way, nothing has changed. And in second case, just buy bitcoins and do what's best for you.

@ ae1008d2:a166d760

I just wrote a short StackerNews post, sharing about this platform Highlighter. Maybe we'll get more users to check this out and start creating!

Feel free to take a glance 👉Highlighter.com, Nostr Creator Content Platform

@ cce0989b:b497e608

Despite everything we’ve been told, confidence is not something that comes when you achieve certain goals, look a certain way, or gain popularity and acclaim. It’s something that you build within you, and it happens one action at a time.

When you’re trying something new, it’s normal not to feel confident. Of course you feel this way: you’ve never done it before! Why would you expect yourself to feel like you have it mastered?

The first time you try, it might feel messy and uncomfortable. The second time you try it, though, you’ll start to get the hang out of it; the third time, you feel your confidence building; and a few times later, you will have forgotten what it was like to not know how to do it.

If you wait to feel confident, you might never act. Instead, take action, knowing that the reward for your courage is the confidence that you yearn for.

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

Is callin'! Wrangle up your latest tech discoveries, reviews, and recommendations.

Found any gadgets or gizmos that blew your mind? Don't be shy—share the pros and cons and help your fellow stackers in the ~AGORA stay ahead of the tech curve!

@ c4428155:a36de510

The Influential Conservative Group Making it Harder for Idaho Districts to Fix Their Schools

by Becca Savransky (https://www.idahostatesman.com/profile/250649624), Idaho Statesman (https://www.idahostatesman.com/)

This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with the Idaho Statesman (https://www.idahostatesman.com/). Sign up for Dispatches (https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/dispatches) to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.

The blue and orange leaflets that arrived in Idaho Falls mailboxes ahead of the school bond election in November 2022 looked like the usual fare that voters across the country get. Sent out by the school district, the mailers encouraged people in the eastern Idaho city to register to vote and listed bullet points highlighting what the bond would pay for.

But the mailers, along with other materials the district distributed, would lead the county prosecutor’s office to fine the superintendent and the district’s spokesperson, accusing them of violating election law by using taxpayer money to advocate for the bond measure. According to the prosecutor, it was illegal for district officials to describe the schools as “overcrowded” and “aged” or to say that students “need modern, safe, and secure schools.”

Such penalties were made possible by a 2018 state law (https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title74/t74ch6/) originally pushed by the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative lobbying group that has become a big player in Idaho Republican politics. The foundation has stoked hostility toward public education across the state, pushing book bans in school libraries and accusing districts of indoctrinating students with “woke” ideas like critical race theory.

But unlike groups in other states, the Freedom Foundation has extended its reach by targeting school bond and levy elections, which have traditionally been local issues and are the main ways districts build and repair schools.

The county prosecutor said these mailers that used the word “overcrowded” violated an election law that had been pushed by the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

(Obtained by ProPublica and Idaho Statesman)

Over the past year, the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica have reported on how many Idaho students learn in poor conditions, in part, because the state has one of the most restrictive policies in the nation: It is one of two states that require two-thirds of voters to approve a bond. Lawmakers recently passed legislation to invest $1.5 billion in new funding for school facilities (https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-legislature-approves-funding-for-school-repairs) and proposed a ballot initiative to lower the voting threshold during elections that typically have high turnout. But those measures wouldn’t change the 2018 election integrity law.

School bond supporters said they agree taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to campaign for ballot measures, but they said the interpretation of the law has restricted the ability of school district officials to explain to their communities why the measures are needed, making passing bonds more difficult. Since the law was passed, the Freedom Foundation and those with similar positions have publicly accused at least four school districts of improperly advocating for bonds and levies. In the other cases, prosecutors have not moved forward with fines.

Many states prohibit school districts from taking sides in bond elections to prevent public agencies from using taxpayer dollars to influence elections, and some laws include fines. A similar situation is playing out in Texas, where the attorney general sued several school districts (https://www.edweek.org/leadership/advocacy-or-electioneering-education-leaders-walk-fine-line-in-school-voucher-debate/2024/03) over concerns that administrations were electioneering for candidates, measures or political parties. Generally, however, the laws allow school districts to educate voters. Idaho’s, for example, specifically permits providing information about the cost, purpose and property conditions in a “factually neutral manner.” But there is a lot of gray area between educating and advocating.

Don Lifto, a former Minnesota superintendent who consults for school districts running tax elections, said it’s rare for school administrators to be fined. “I think this was a pretty strict and conservative interpretation of the statute,” he said. Under most state laws, he said, it would be hard to argue that saying students “need modern, safe, and secure schools” is a violation.

A former transportation office was converted into classrooms because of overcrowding at Idaho Falls High School.

(Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman)

A conservative anti-tax tilt has long defined Idaho, well before the Freedom Foundation launched in 2009. Since then, it has become the leading voice against public education in Idaho. Its lobbying arm, Idaho Freedom Action, was the top spender (https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article263071973.html) on Facebook ads before the last statewide primary election in 2022.

“They monitor every single vote, and then they really go after people that don’t vote in alignment with them. And I can tell you just from being around the Legislature that a lot of legislators are afraid of them,” said Rod Gramer, the president and CEO of Idaho Business for Education, a group of business leaders focused on improving public schools. “They’ve made it very clear that they want to defund education and privatize education.” (The Statesman is a member of Idaho Business for Education.)

Superintendents, school board trustees and community members in at least half a dozen school districts said in interviews that the Freedom Foundation’s arguments have spread across the state, with local advocates frequently parroting its talking points during board and bond elections.

At the Capitol, the Freedom Foundation’s legislative index has become the authority for some lawmakers when deciding how to vote on bills. Unlike typical lobbying report cards, the group’s elaborate ranking system assigns positive or negative points to each bill, serving as a regular reminder for lawmakers that any step outside the group’s platform could cost them.

“There’s some legislators who follow that religiously and just look at those notes and see how to vote,” said Sen. Rod Furniss, a Republican from Rigby in East Idaho.

Late last year, the local Republican committees in Idaho Falls cited the group’s scores when it decided to investigate six Republican lawmakers because of their votes on certain bills, including education spending bills. Some lawmakers were censured, although they defended their voting records.

Ron Nate, the president of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, declined to comment and did not answer written questions. The Freedom Foundation has called the index an “objective measure” of how legislators vote on the “principles of freedom and limited government.” “Score well, and your political profile is good; score low, and you have some explaining to do,” Nate wrote in 2023 (https://idahofreedom.org/the-power-of-the-idaho-freedom-index/). The Freedom Foundation also said that the Idaho Falls case deserved “significantly worse consequences” (https://idahofreedom.org/school-districts-like-idaho-falls-91-should-be-held-accountable-for-electioneering/) but that the election integrity bill had been watered down by education groups before passing.

They’ve made it very clear that they want to defund education and privatize education.

—Rod Gramer, president of Idaho Business for Education

The high bond threshold and low voter turnout can allow well-funded interest groups like the Freedom Foundation to have significant influence, said John Rumel, a University of Idaho law professor. “There’s a relatively small number of people that they need to convince to change the outcome in those elections,” he said.

Even with a high turnout in a general election year, the 2022 bond measure in Idaho Falls failed despite getting 58% of the vote.

The fallout for the district didn’t end with the election. A week before, a complaint was filed with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s office, and three days later, the Freedom Foundation called for the district (https://idahofreedom.org/school-districts-like-idaho-falls-91-should-be-held-accountable-for-electioneering/) to be “held accountable for electioneering.”

In the end, the district said, the case cost $54,000 in legal fees.

The Rise of the Freedom Foundation

The Freedom Foundation’s mission is to “defeat Marxism and socialism” with principles of “limited government, free markets and self-reliance,” according to its website.

As broad as that sounds, early on, the group set its sights on bond and levy elections, which intersected with two of the group’s focus areas, taxes and public schools. In 2010, its founder, Wayne Hoffman, wrote an editorial in the Statesman decrying the city of Boise for spending money to educate voters on a ballot measure and warned of what he thought could happen next.

“What happens if Idaho’s 115 school districts decide that it is their job to help ‘educate’ Idahoans on the two-thirds majority needed to pass a school bond?” Hoffman wrote. “If government agencies across Idaho start to follow Boise’s lead, taxpayers — and freedom — don’t stand a chance.”

In 2014, the Freedom Foundation argued on its website that school districts had too many chances to hold bond and levy elections (https://idahofreedom.org/idahos-consolidated-elections-arent-consolidated-enough/) and called for the Legislature to limit them to once every two years. Since then, the Legislature has eliminated two election dates school districts could use each year.

Hoffman declined to comment and referred the Statesman to Nate.

In 2017, the foundation pushed for a strict (https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2017/legislation/H0134/)election integrity law (https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2017/legislation/H0134/).

That version would have banned any mass communication or mailers leading up to the election, only allowing notices to be posted online or in the newspaper stating the election date, the bond’s impact on residents’ taxes and a “neutral and concise explanation” of what it would do. A public official who violated the law could be charged with a misdemeanor, fined up to $1,000 and sentenced to up to six months in jail. And the election result could be voided.

In part, the legislation grew out of a state Supreme Court case that barred public entities from promoting bonds but provided few guidelines.

Several key education groups sent a letter to Rep. Jason Monks, R-Meridian, who sponsored the legislation, with concerns that it would create a “heckler’s veto” to invalidate elections and have “a serious, chilling effect for anyone working in the public sphere to speak out on relative policy issues.”

A compromise bill in 2018 still banned advocating but specifically allowed districts and local governments to provide information in a “factually neutral manner.” It removed criminal charges, and the penalties were lowered to a $250 fine, though they rose if someone knowingly violated the law.

While some lawmakers raised concerns that the law’s language would inhibit school officials from knowing what they could say, education stakeholders thought the bill provided more clarity, and it passed in the Legislature overwhelmingly.

In the years since, as the education culture wars have heated up, the Freedom Foundation has again positioned itself at the center. The group started publishing a map (https://idahofreedom.org/lead-map/) that promises to reveal “if your school district is indoctrinating students with leftist nonsense,” like having gay-straight alliance clubs or asking students their pronouns. The map also includes diversity, equity and inclusion personnel; test scores; and superintendent salaries.

We were passive about the elections. And it came back to bite us.

—Candy Turner, one of the organizers of the recall effort

Last year, exhibiting the reach of the group’s influence, Branden Durst, a former Freedom Foundation analyst, was picked to be the superintendent of the West Bonner School District in North Idaho. Durst did not have the required experience in the classroom for the job, according to the State Board of Education. The trustees who hired him worried about a curriculum that included “social emotional learning.” The appointment and the board’s decision to toss the educational program led two trustees to be recalled. And after the public outcry, Durst submitted a letter that said he’d decided to step aside, and the board accepted it as his resignation. Durst declined to comment.

Organizers of the recall effort said that low voter turnout and a lack of involvement in recent years had fostered an environment that allowed the Freedom Foundation to take hold.

“We were passive about the elections,” said Candy Turner, one of the organizers. “And it came back to bite us.”

The Fallout in Idaho Falls

In May 2023, when Idaho Falls administrators learned the prosecutor was fining two district officials under the election law, the board felt the district had done nothing wrong. It had educated the public on the $250 million bond to build a new high school and two elementary schools, along with other repairs — and it had ultimately failed. Superintendent Karla LaOrange, who joined the district after the complaint was filed, said the district thought if it paid the fines, which came to $375 in total, it would signal to the community that it was admitting guilt. So the district, known as D91, spent the money to fight.

Lisa Keller of D91 Taxpayers, a group that opposed the bond effort, said the group was not responsible for filing the complaint, though she and its members had concerns about the materials. She said community members worried about losing their homes due to the increase in taxes from the bond, which was the largest the district had ever run. She described the district’s plan for a new school as wanting to construct a Taj Mahal.

First image: The door frame of a shed classroom has a gap that lets in cold air and moisture. Second image: Some students complain about gaps in bathroom stalls and a lack of privacy dividers between urinals at Idaho Falls High School.

(Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman)

The formal allegation, however, came from Larry Lyon, a local resident who helped fund the political action committee behind D91 Taxpayers, with the help of Brian Stutzman, another nearby resident who has been involved in tax issues statewide, according to campaign finance records and the complaint obtained through a public records request. The Freedom Foundation had alleged the district violated the law (https://idahofreedom.org/school-districts-like-idaho-falls-91-should-be-held-accountable-for-electioneering/) in a website post days before the election, and D91 Taxpayers shared the post (https://www.facebook.com/d91taxpayers/posts/pfbid033uWjnKTkwkzd9pmE4mFrmo43pN5QZvSg5hYjnJB6zg6Np2YFfFnTMrLb45aHAeP7l) on its Facebook page.

Lyon said in a message he filed the complaint because he was “sincerely concerned” the district “crossed the line from simply presenting facts to advocating for higher taxes with public funds.” He said he was confident the prosecutor’s office would “be fair to everyone involved.” Stutzman said he and others had raised their concerns with the district but felt like the superintendent wasn’t taking them seriously.

Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal said he had no choice but to move forward with the complaint because he thought it was a clear violation. In an interview, he went through the district’s mailers to explain the problematic language. Instead of saying “overcrowded,” the district could have said the school was built for a certain number of students and that it now served more. “What I can’t do is say, ‘We need to replace the school because it’s overcrowded.’ That’s advocating for the bond,” he said.

Neal said the district ignored its own legal advice, citing a memo from Idaho law firm Hawley Troxell that warned the “most questionable actions” happen when districts explain the “‘need’ for the new facilities” and said “crowding issues or age of facilities” may be better for others to talk about. Hawley Troxell and the school district didn’t respond to requests for comment about the memo.

Erin Bingham, one of the leading supporters of the bond effort, said she felt like Neal was associated with D91 Taxpayers and the Freedom Foundation. She called the complaint “frivolous” and a “waste of time and taxpayers’ money.”

“I feel like it creates a precedent that if they don’t fight it,” these groups will continue to file complaints against the school district during bond elections, she said.

Neal denied taking action for political reasons or being affiliated with any advocacy groups. “I have no dog in the fight,” he said. “I don’t have children. This isn’t the school district I live in. I don’t know any of these people.”

The district’s decision to fight the fines bred even more distrust with D91 Taxpayers, which said the district was wasting money on legal bills.

“What a breach of public trust, to fight the county prosecutor with my money, paying their lawyers with my money,” Keller told the Statesman and ProPublica. “This is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.”

The district eventually settled the complaint. The total fine was lowered to $250, and the case was dismissed.

What I can’t do is say, ‘We need to replace the school because it’s overcrowded.’ That’s advocating for the bond.

—Randy Neal, Bonneville County prosecutor

The prosecutor’s action, though, has had a chilling effect across the community and state, education stakeholders say.

“It’s panic I’ve heard for sure,” said Quinn Perry of the Idaho School Boards Association. ISBA, along with two other education groups, wrote an opinion piece (https://magicvalley.com/opinion/guest-opinion-to-preserve-education-we-must-address-school-district-needs/article_1ecdf95c-6dec-11ee-8cff-03e4e1835cd1.html) last year noting that the Legislature has been making it increasingly difficult for school districts and local governments to run measures that raise taxes. If simply communicating a need is interpreted as advocacy, “we are not sure that school districts can sustain their operations or ever build a new school,” the groups wrote. “Perhaps that is the point.”

Idaho Falls board chair Hillary Radcliffe said district officials may feel they can’t speak as “frankly” about what’s going on because it could be construed as advocacy. “They have to be very, very limited in what they’re saying,” she said. “It makes it hard sometimes for our community to fully grasp some of the issues we have going on in our schools.”

Republican Sen. Dave Lent, who represents Idaho Falls and chairs the Senate Education Committee, said Neal took the law too far. “It’s an aggressive interpretation by our prosecuting attorney,” said Lent, a former Idaho Falls school board member. “You have to educate people as to the why. And if you’re not allowed to tell them the why, your hands are tied.”

The district has been grappling with how to fix its schools, with narrowing options and intense opposition and distrust from community members and groups like the Freedom Foundation.

The hallways of Idaho Falls schools are still overcrowded, and administrators worry about projected growth. The bathrooms regularly have to be closed at the district’s Skyline High School because the plumbing is failing, administrators said. Students with disabilities are crammed into small classrooms with doorways that barely fit wheelchairs.

Idaho Falls High School was built for 900 students but now serves about 1,250, administrators said. Between periods, hundreds of students rush out of their classrooms, walk down narrow staircases and push to get to their classes on time. Students eat lunch on the floor because the cafeteria accommodates only about 200 students, fewer than even the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Classrooms flood, as does the athletic field.

After heavy rains last spring, Bingham said, “the kids were skipping rocks across it.”

The athletic field at Idaho Falls High School flooded after heavy rains in spring 2023.

(Courtesy of Brooke Bushman)

Update, April 9, 2024: This story has been updated to include a response from Brian Stutzman.

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-influential-group-disrupting-efforts-to-fix-idaho-schools

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Prompt: Currency Picker ===============

What is the user doing? Browsing an online account? Selecting an exchange rate?

Currencies are an important part of product design, and making it simple to select is crucial. Or it could be automated somehow?

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Flex your design muscles and join in. Most of all, keep this exercise loose and keep it stress-free. The FUC is about growing our design skills, together, as a community. We can't wait to see what you create!

Happy designing, Stackers!

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Share Your Results When you finish the challenge, post your work on this thread! If you also share it on nostr, be sure to use the hashtag #FUCdesiger and tag Design_r@iris.to or @Design__r on X! We'll keep an eye out and repost good examples on a regular basis.

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Curious to know WTF is a FUC? Read the ⚡️Flash Ui Challenges welcoming post.

Looking for more FUCs? Check the archive here!

@ 6ad3e2a3:c90b7740

A couple weeks ago I went to dinner with a friend who was concerned about the state of the world. In particular he wondered about the coming role of AI and how it might displace people from jobs. He even wondered whether it could do his job — though he had already put his two kids through college, presumably has plenty of savings and owns several rental properties. He wasn’t so much worried about himself, but what it would do the people he had employed over the years and millions like them.

I argued that in the early 20th century, people brought food into Manhattan presumably via horse and cart and were similarly displaced by truck drivers who could do the work of 10 carts. Technology improves over time, old ways of doing things are obsoleted and the demand for new work emerges in its place.

He was unpersuaded. Some of these people were in their 40s and 50s, and not exactly splitting the atom. Even if there were sufficient new jobs for them, how would they learn new skills? And AI wasn’t like the truck — an improvement in transport technology that might have displaced horse-and-cart drivers at a ratio of 10:1, but pervasive across all industry, all jobs. Instead of disrupting narrow industries, it could disrupt everything 100:1 or more. (He didn’t articulate it exactly this way, but I want to steel-man the argument.)

Let’s concede all this is true. That AI will displace many more jobs than it creates even though history’s many prior advances always led to demand for new and impossible-to-predict-because-they-didn’t-exist human-provided jobs and services. And let’s further stipulate that many people, as no doubt happened in history too, will be unable to adapt on the fly and fall on hard times.

In short, there will almost certainly be suffering, there is in fact already suffering, and there always has been suffering. Today’s many homeless people are, after all, just present versions of those you fear will be displaced by AI in the future. You don’t have to wait for AI — the consequences of people maladapted to society’s manifold rapid changes are already with us now.

The implicit question is what, if anything, we should do about it.

Rather than get into policy proposals — how much money should be diverted to what programs, what money should be taken from and given to whom and on whose authority — I want to examine the underlying and unstated premise: that there are people who, like children, cannot and will not be able to fend for themselves and must be protected and provided for by the everyone else. That accelerating technology will increasingly make these people obsolete, so to speak, as productive workers capable of adding value and contributing to society.

Because if these people were deemed capable of contributing and adding value rather than simply consuming, there would be no need to provide for them. Their contributions would be valued and compensated accordingly, and they would not need your help.

I want to emphasize what a significant assumption is being made about what is currently millions, and if my friend’s fears are valid, eventually billions of human beings that they are destined to become useless eaters, in the words of WEF spokesman, well-known author (and in my opinion sociopathic misanthrope) Yuval Harari.

In other words, this instinct to pity those who work for a living and deem them needing help from you hails from the same belief system as those who want to herd them into “video games and drugs” per Harari if and when their jobs go away. What to do about these recalcitrant children over whom we must watch, protect and ultimately divert into some activity/location where they can’t cause trouble for us?

Because once you buy into the “these people can’t contribute,” “have no economic value” and it’s only the collective pity of society that must keep them afloat, you are not far from a much darker solution that will grow in popularity and urgency if and when resources become more scarce.

So what’s the alternative to a dystopian society of “makers and takers” as private equity multimillionaire Mitt Romney once intoned on the campaign trail? How do we deal with all these “useless eaters” if not by providing for them?

For me the obvious first step is not to view your fellow human beings through that lens. To realize any adult human being is as much an authority and has as much agency as any other. You are not superior to a homeless person because they are presently in poor circumstances. You are not in charge of them, it is not up to you to dispense with them as you see fit — for the “greater good” or any other scheme or purpose you in your ignorance and human fallibility can conjure up.

Secondly, from time immemorial human beings have adapted to their environments in unimaginable ways. People who built the civilization we inherit, who settled rough and inhospitable lands, who of necessity invented and innovated everything from electricity to the Kantian Categorical Imperative: “Treat everyone as an end in himself.”

You simply have no idea of the extent to which other human beings are capable. A truck driver, with internet access, who cannot or will not figure out how to prompt AI in order to sit in a cubicle for some corporation might yet create something that changes humanity forever. If you don’t deem this plausible, consider a patent clerk with pen and paper came up with the Theory of Relativity.

Instead of trying to herd people into meaningless lives of dopamine generation (drugs and video games), an alternative is to see them as our ultimate resource, the only known repository of new ideas, creativity and genius on planet earth. To relegate your fellow man, created in God’s image, to some pathetic subsistence life to feel good about yourself is not just impractical — and as I said — leads down a dark path, but sinful, a wrong against nature or God, if you prefer.

Adaptation and suffering is how people become great. Not comfort, not pleasure, not pity, which is heads to judgment’s tails.

. . .

I’ll leave the policy proposals to the politicians. I suspect none of them will work, and you know this because none of them have ever worked. There are always homeless and destitute people, always those addicted to drugs, video games, junk food, the next dopamine hit, the next escape.

My view is once we view ourselves in the proper alignment, and “ourselves” includes our fellow man, we will create the necessary conditions for prosperity to the greatest extent practicable. We will build the structures and institutions that allow the creatures in God’s image to live up to it, and we will neither pity, nor judge, but empathize, and above all have the humility not to presume we know what’s best for them.

@ bd32f268:22b33966

O pensamento modernista/progressista que predomina na sociedade actual adere de forma comprometida a uma tese filosófica que pretende redefinir a realidade, o relativismo. Segundo esta tese a realidade é definida de forma subjectiva, ou seja, está pendente das circunstâncias, pessoas, momento. e motivação. Assim a percepção é nada mais nada menos que a co-construção da realidade colocando o ser humano como uma espécie de Deus (Demiurgo), isto é como entidade criadora da realidade. Além dos problemas morais que esta hipótese levanta, há ainda problemas da ordem da racionalidade e da lógica que são incompatíveis com esta ideia. Uma ideia central que invalida fundamentalmente esta tese é a de que desta forma deixa de existir uma realidade objetiva. Neste caso cada indivíduo poderia avançar com a “sua” interpretação do real, independentemente de esta ser falsa ou verdadeira. O dogma do relativismo é a de que todos as leituras são válidas, portanto deixa de existir uma matriz unificadora, isto é deixa de existir dogma e sem dogma não há uma verdade, há apenas interpretações da realidade que estão sujeitas aos vícios e fragilidades de cada intérprete.

Se em Portugal cada pessoa tivesse a sua própria língua, a que inventou, tornar-se-ia impossível comunicar pois não teríamos as mesmas referências fonéticas, semânticas. e sintáticas. Tal como na torre de Babel não teríamos a capacidade de nos compreendermos mutuamente. É pois isto que se passa no relativismo. Nesta ideologia perdemos a narrativa agregadora que clarifica as finalidades comuns da nossa vida em sociedade, sem estas teremos cada vez mais pessoas desenraizadas com uma identidade volátil e em estado de permanente isolamento.

Talvez vivamos neste momento uma época sem precedentes neste sentido tal é a confusão que existe na definição concreta dos entes. Não me refiro apenas aos conceitos morais mas até outros conceitos como a definição de Homem e Mulher, e futuramente o próprio conceito de espécie humana, dado que, avançamos a passos largos para uma fusão entre o ser Humano e máquina com o advento. da integração da inteligência artificial no nosso próprio corpo, vide neuralink. A este respeito adverte C.S Lewis na obra a abolição do Homem: “a conquista do Homem da sua natureza desafiando os seus limites, é simultaneamente a expressão do poder exercido por alguns Homens sobre outros Homens com a natureza como instrumento”. Quando dominamos a técnica implementamos transformações fundamentais, podendo perder a noção e o limite do que é ser humano.

Tudo isto advém de uma ausência de uma matriz que nos dê objetividade de valor e finalidade concreta para a existência. Como objeto da análise coloco as seguintes perguntas: se tudo evolui como podemos definir qualquer tipo de finalidade ? Isto significa, se o ser humano está em permanente transformação assim como as suas circunstâncias aquilo que hoje é verdade, amanhã pode não ser. Colocaria também uma outra pergunta, o que é mais importante guardar e fixar na eternidade para que não esteja sujeito a este relativismo ?

Parece evidente que o relativismo culmina na auto-destruição, por ser precisamente ilógico e irracional. Infelizmente, e muitas vezes de forma inconsciente, acabamos por dar alento a esta tese quando nos vemos incapazes de sustentar a nossa vida numa matriz que estabelece os princpíos lógicos e operativos para uma perceção da realidade mais clara, mais próxima da verdade. C.S Lewis diz-nos que o facto de determinadas pessoas não verem cores não invalida que estas existam, portanto compete-nos afinar o nosso aparelho percetivo para que sejamos capazes de ver cores e procurar a matriz através da qual podemos encontrar a verdade sobre a realidade.

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

/ ซีซาร์สลัด ในทุกวันนี้เป็นหนึ่งในสลัดสุดฮิต ไม่ว่าจะเป็นร้านอาหาร เดลิเวอรี่แพลตฟอร์ม หรือแม้แต่ทำกันเองที่บ้าน เพราะด้วยความที่มันง่าย สะดวก วัตถุดิบไม่มากอย่าง เมื่อเทียบกับสลัดทั่วไปที่ต้องเตรียมผักหลากหลายอย่าง ซึ่งถ้ากินแค่ 1-2 คนเท่ากับว่าต้องซื้อผักมากมาย

วันนี้เรามาดูเรื่องราวที่มาที่ไปของสลัดตัวนี้กันครับ

เป็นเรื่องธรรมดานะครับ ที่บางครั้งเราไม่สามารถหาความแน่นอนได้ในประวัติของอะไรสักอย่าง โดยเฉพาะอาหาร เพราะตอนทำมันไม่ได้กะว่าจะโด่งดังจนต้องบันทึกทุกการกระทำไว้เป็น vlog เหมือนสมัยนี้

สำหรับซีซาร์สลัด มีการกล่าวอ้างมากมายว่าใครเป็นผู้คิดค้นซีซาร์สลัด ข้อมูลที่คนยอมรับกันในปัจจุบันนี้คือ คุณ ซีซาร์ คาร์ดินี

แต่มันก็ขึ้นอยู่กับว่าคุณถามใครและคุณอยู่ที่ไหน จนถึงวาระเขากำลังจะตาย ซีซาร์กล่าวว่าเขาได้สร้างเมนูนี้ขึ้นที่Caesar’s Placeในเมืองติฮัวนา และวาระสุดท้ายของเขา อเล็กซ์ คาร์ดินี เขาก็กล่าวว่า เขาคิดค้นสลัดที่ร้านอาหารแห่งแรกของพวกเขาคือ Alex and Caesar’s มันเป็นความยาวนานโดยที่ชาวแคลิฟอร์เนียเข้าข้างซีซาร์ และ เท็กซัสเข้าข้างอเล็กซ์

คุณซีซาร์ เกิดใกล้ Lago Maggiore ประเทศอิตาลี เขาและอเล็กซ์น้องชายของเขาอพยพไปอยู่ที่สหรัฐอเมริกาหลังสงครามโลกครั้งที่ 1 ครอบครัวคาร์ดินีอาศัยอยู่ในซานดิเอโก แต่เปิดร้านอาหารในติฮัวนาเพื่อหลีกเลี่ยงข้อห้ามบางอย่าง

ตามที่โรซ่า คาร์ดินี ลูกสาวของซีซาร์ ได้ให้ข้อมูลไว้ ในวันที่ 4 กรกฎาคม 1924 วันนั้นเป็นช่วงสุดสัปดาห์ที่วุ่นวายมากที่ร้าน Caesar’s Restaurant ว่ากันว่าที่ร้านมีวัตถุดิบเตรียมไว้ไม่เพียงพอต่อการเฉลิมฉลองในวันนั้นและทางร้านาไม่อยากทำให้ลูกค้าผิดหวัง คุณซีซาร์จึงปรุงสลัดนี้โดยใช้ของที่มีอยู่ แล้วเพิ่มความเก๋ไก๋ เข้าไปด้วยการ ปรุงสดที่โต๊ะให้เห็นกันไปเลย โอเค สิ่งนี้เกิดขึ้นบ่อยครั้งในธุรกิจร้านอาหาร ในไม่ช้าสลัดเมนูนี้ก็ได้รับความนิยมและผู้คนก็มาที่ร้านอาหารเพื่อซื้อสลัดโดยเฉพาะ

อย่างที่บอกครับ มันไม่ได้บันทึกกันมาแต่แรก ดังนั้นจึงมีเพื่อนและครอบครัวของซีซาร์บางคนโต้แย้งการอ้างเป็นผู้คิดค้นของซีซาร์ คาร์ดินี ประมาณนี้ครับ

-พอล มักจิโอรา หุ้นส่วนของกลุ่มCardinis อ้างว่าได้ทำซีซาร์สลัดจานแรกในปี 1927 ให้กับนักบินชาวอเมริกันจากซานดิเอโก และเรียกมันว่า “Aviator’s Salad” -อเล็กซ์ น้องชายของซีซาร์อ้างว่าได้พัฒนาสลัดนี้ (เขาตั้งชื่อมันว่า “Aviator’s Salad” ด้วยซ้ำ) -ลิวิโอ ซานตินี อ้างว่าเขาทำสลัดจากสูตรของแม่องเขา จากในครัวของร้านอาหารของซีซาร์เมื่อตอนที่เขาอายุ 18 ปี ในปี 1925 และซีซาร์ก็เอาสูตรจากเขาไปทำขาย ชื่อเดิมของสลัดนี้คือ Aviator’s Salad

ร้านอาหาร Caesar’s ในติฮัวนาให้เครดิตทั้ง ซีซาร์ และ อเล็กซ์ และตอนนี้รวมเครดิต ลิวิโอ ซานตินี ด้วย

เล่ากันว่าคุณ อเล็กซ์ คาร์ดินี เคยเป็นนักบินของกองทัพอากาศอิตาลีในช่วงสงครามโลกครั้งที่ 1 ก่อนที่เขาจะย้ายไป ติฮัวนา เพื่อร่วมงานกับ ซีซาร์ คาร์ดินี ที่ Caesar’s Place เป็นบาร์และร้านอาหารที่ได้รับความนิยมมาก วันนึงหลังจากนักบินกองทัพอากาศ Rockwell Field กลุ่มหนึ่งดื่มสุรามาทั้งคืนจนเกินเคอร์ฟิว ตื่นขึ้นมาที่ร้าน อเล็กซ์จึงทำเป็นอาหารเช้าให้พวกเขาในเช้าวันนั้นคือสิ่งที่เรารู้จักในวันนี้ในชื่อซีซาร์สลัด วันนั้นเขาเรียกมันว่า Aviator’s Salad เพื่อเป็นเกียรติแก่เพื่อนฝูงบินของเขา แต่เมื่อสลัดได้รับความนิยมจากแขกจากแคลิฟอร์เนียตอนใต้ มันจึงพัฒนามาเป็น Caesar Salad ด้วยคำพูดชักชวนกันว่า“ไปที่ร้าน Caesar’s แล้วทานสลัดนั่นกันเถอะ …” จนเหลือสั้นๆว่า ซีซาร์สลัดในที่สุด ต่อมา เมื่อคุณ อเล็กซ์ คาร์ดินี ย้ายไปเม็กซิโกซิตี้ ซึ่งเขาเปิดร้านอาหาร 3 แห่ง สลัดนั้นก็ปรากฏอยู่ในเมนูของเขาว่า “The original Alex Cardini Caesar Salad”

1938 ซีซาร์ คาร์ดินี ย้ายไปลอสแองเจลิส ซึ่งเขาเปิดร้านขายอาหารรสเลิศเช่นเคย แล้วมีลูกค้ามาถึงที่ร้านพร้อมขวดไวน์เปล่าๆเพื่อให้เขาขายน้ำสลัด โดยการเติมน้ำสลัดใส่ในขวดไวน์นั้นให้หน่อย จนในปี 1948 ความต้องการน้ำสลัดอันโด่งดังของ ซีซาร์ คาร์ดินี ทำให้เขาตัดสินใจนำไอเดียของแขกคนนั้น มาทำการบรรจุน้ำสลัดใส่ขวดและก่อตั้ง Caesar Cardini Foods ร่วมกับ Rosa ลูกสาวของเขา

อีกที่มานึง แม้ว่าจะไม่มีเอกสารที่จะพิสูจน์เรื่องนี้ แต่เราก็ลองมาดูกันครับ

ในปี 1903 ในหนังสือ Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices เล่ม 2 ของ George Leonard Herter เขาพูดถึงคนที่เขาคิดว่าเป็นผู้คิดค้นซีซาร์สลัดไว้ว่า “ซีซาร์สลัดถูกทำขึ้นเมื่อประมาณปี ค.ศ. 1903 โดย Giacomo Junia กุ๊กชาวอิตาเลียนในเมืองชิคาโก รัฐอิลลินอยส์ Giacomo Junia เป็นกุ๊กในร้านอาหารเล็กๆ ชื่อ The New York Cafe เขาปรับรสชาติอาหารให้เข้ากับรสนิยมแบบอเมริกัน ไม่ว่าจะสปาเก็ตตี้ พิซซ่า ซึ่งในสมัยนั้นไม่ค่อยมีคนนิยมรับประทานมากนักแม้แต่คนอิตาลีด้วยกันเองก็ตาม

อีกข้อมูลนึง ที่มาจากคุณ Julia Child นักเขียนหนังสือและผู้จัดรายการทำอาหารชื่อดัง บอกว่าเคยรับประทานอาหารที่ Caesar’s Restaurant ตั้งแต่ยังเป็นเด็ก และได้ทานซีซาร์สลัดที่ทำโดยคุณซีซาร์เอง ต่อมาเธอจึงติดต่อคุณ โรซ่า ลูกสาวของคุณซีซาร์เพื่อขอสูตรดั้งเดิมจากหนังสือของเธอ

Julia Child รับประทานอาหารที่นั่นตั้งแต่ยังเป็นเด็ก และได้ทานซีซาร์สลัดที่ทำโดยซีซาร์เอง ต่อมาเธอติดต่อ Rosa Cardini ลูกสาวของเขาเพื่อขอสูตรดั้งเดิม

จากที่คุณจูเลีย เขียนในหนังสือของเธอบอกไว้ว่า ได้เคยกินเมื่อตอนอายุ 12 ขวบ ซึ่งก็คือปี 1925-26 ดังนั้น ข้อมูลที่บอกว่า ซีซาร์ สลัด คิดค้นเมื่อปี 1927 จึงถูกปัดตกไปในทันที ……”สลัดถูกปรุงสดที่โต๊ะ และตัวฉันในวัยเด็กที่ดูการทำอยู่อย่างใจจดใจจ่อ พ่อแม่ของฉันสั่งสลัดนั้นแน่นอน คุณซีซาร์เองก็กลิ้งชามสลัดใบใหญ่ขึ้นไปบนโต๊ะ โยนผักสลัด romaine ลงในชามไม้ใบใหญ่ และฉันอยากจะบอกว่าฉันอยากจำทุกการเคลื่อนไหวของเขาไว้ให้ได้ แต่ฉันทำไม่ได้ สิ่งเดียวที่ฉันจำได้ชัดเจนอีกคือเรื่องไข่ ฉันเห็นเขาตอกไข่ 2 ฟองบนผัก romaine นั้นแล้วม้วนเข้าไป ผักใบเขียวจะมีสีครีมทั้งหมดในขณะที่ไข่ไหเคลือบอยู่บนพวกมัน ไข่สองฟองในสลัด? ไข่ลวกหนึ่งนาทีสองฟองใช่ไหมนะ? ส่วนผัก romaine ไม่ได้สับเป็นชิ้นขนาดพอดีคำ แต่ใช้ทั้งใบ คุณซีซาร์รู้สึกว่ารูปร่างตามธรรมชาติของใบไม้นั้น สามารถเป็นช้อนที่มีด้ามจับที่สมบูรณ์แบบได้ สามารถเป็นอาหารที่รับประทานด้วยมือได้ ดังนั้นผักสลัดจึงถูกจัดวางบนจานโดยให้ปลายอยู่ตรงกลางและก้านยื่นออกไปด้านนอกจานเล็กน้อยเพื่อให้หยิบจับได้ง่าย“

สามปีก่อนการเสียชีวิตของ Cardini ในปี 1956 เหล่าเชฟระดับปรมาจารย์ของ ‘International Society of Epicures’ ในปารีสได้ประกาศให้ Caesar’s Salad เป็น “สูตรอาหารที่ยิ่งใหญ่ที่สุดที่มีต้นกำเนิดจากอเมริกาในรอบ 50 ปี”

สูตรซีซาร์สลัด หาได้เยอะแล้วเนอะ ลงไว้ให้ท้ายสุดแล้วกัน วันนี้ผมนำสูตร Aviator Salad ของคุณ อเล็กซ์ คาร์ดินี ซึ่งนำมาเผยแพร่โดยคุณ คาร์ลา คาร์ดินี หลานสาวครับ ไม่แปลนะครับ ขอแปะต้นฉบับเอาไว้เลย

++Aviator Salad (4 servings)++

• The nice leaves of 4 heads of Romaine, wash and crisp up in the fridge.
• Marinate 5 cloves of garlic in 1/2 cup of vegetable or light olive oil for 15-30 minutes or longer.
• Boil 4 eggs exactly one minute; run under cold water immediately
• Grate about 1 1/2 cups fresh parmesan cheese
• Cut 4 key limes in half (or 3 lemons) Alex Cardini said that limes were in the original recipe but were wrongly translated to a lemon.

++ To prepare croutons,++

Thin slice a baguette i and bake till golden brown. Soak very lightly the crouton and brush with the garlic oil .Put a dollop of f anchovy paste on top of each crouton. Set aside.

++The Mixing of the Salad++

1. Place romaine in a wooden or stainless steel bowl. Greens should be dry and crisp.

2. Sprinkle salt & pepper over greens

3. Pour a small amount of the olive oil mixture over the greens

4. Crack soft cooked eggs over the salad greens.

5. Add lime or lemon juice Now Roll the leaves instead of tossing them, this makes the dressing emulsify around the leaves.

6. Add 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce and toss lightly

7. Add cheese to greens – be sure to cover the leaves evenly.

8. Add croutons to tossed salad.

Place the greens on chilled plates with the stem end out The original salad was meant to be picked up and eaten by the hands.

Some tips by Carla Cardini

Caesar salad does not need to be made with extra-virgin olive oil According to Cardini, a neutral-flavored vegetable oil works just fine. That’s what her grandfather and great-uncle used.

The proper citrus juice for the Caesar salad is lime, not lemon juice. An error in translation from the Spanish is the reason we use lemon juice today.

Americans use way too much garlic in the salad. Do not rub the bowl with garlic. Rather, let a garlic clove infuse the vegetable oil for an hour or two before using, then discard the garlic.

Caesar salad is made with whole romaine leaves. They should not be torn.

Do not pour in the boxed croutons. Instead, brush a slice of baguette with oil and toast. Using anchovy paste, add a smear to the crouton. Allow one crouton per person and add them to the salad.

The salad should not be tossed. Rather, the leaves should be gently “rolled” to mix the dressing. Use your hands.

Also use your hands to eat the salad.

++The Original Recipe for Caesar’s Salad++

Here is the Caesar Cardini version of the recipe for Caesar’s salad, as published by his daughter Rosa Cardini in 1986. This differs from Alex Cardini’s, Julia Child’s and other later versions, as well as that of today’s Caesar’s Restaurant in Tijuana.

• 2 medium heads romaine lettuce (throw outer leaves away)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 coddled eggs (raw eggs, boiled one minute)
• 8-10 drops Worcestershire sauce
• Juice of 2 medium lemons
• 4 ounces garlic-flavored oil*
• 1/2 cup croutons

[*To make the garlic oil, marinate 4-5 large garlic cloves in 1 1/2 cups of good olive oil and 1/2 cup vegetable oil. Cover and let sit 4-5 days, then remove garlic.]

Break romaine lettuce (cold, dry and crisp) into 2″ lengths, or use whole inner leaves.

Then pour garlic flavored oil over the lettuce.

Sprinkle pepper and salt over the lettuce and gently toss two or three times.

Break 2 coddled eggs, add Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and toss two or three times. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over salad. Add half cup croutons, toss once again, arrange on chilled dinner plates and serve immediately.

ทดลองใช้ habla ครั้งแรกครับ นำเนื้อหาเก่ามาอัพเดทใหม่

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What's your favorite paraphernalia, and how has it improved your life? What it has helped you design or accomplish lately?

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Hello Dear Reader!

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Table Of Content

• Content

• Conclusion

• FAQ

• You May Also Like

• External Links

The second largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, FTX, is in the midst of a crisis, which has caused the market for digital assets to see yet another drop.

This article looks at what has transpired with FTX, why it has occurred, and what this means for the overall market.

What is FTX?

Although it has its registered headquarters in the Bahamas, FTX is controlled from the United States, with most of its operations being in Chicago and Miami.

A cryptocurrency exchange is a platform that facilitates the buying and selling of digital assets. All cryptocurrencies are based on the same fundamental structure as the cryptocurrency industry's flagship asset, bitcoin. This structure is known as a "blockchain," and it tracks ownership without the involvement of any centralised authority. Along with its chief competitor, Binance, FTX conducts the vast majority of cryptocurrency deals worldwide, which helps explain why it is so large and significant.

FTX and Binance qualify as "international" exchanges, the cryptocurrency world's analogue to an offshore gambling establishment. The majority of the money that passes through their books is, in effect, unrestricted by the imposed regulatory requirements. However, each of them also operates a US-regulated outlet that is independent of them, which strictly adheres to the minimal regulation imposed by the US government.

What happened to FTX this week?

On Wednesday of the previous week, an item that precipitated a crisis was published in CoinDesk, a news site that covers the cryptocurrency business. It was asserted that the balance sheet of Alameda, a cryptocurrency hedge fund owned by FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, held billions of dollars worth of FTX's cryptocurrency, FTT and that it had been utilising it as collateral in further debts. FTX's founder was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Given that the same person owns these two companies, a decline in the value of FTT might be detrimental to the success of both of them. However, FTT itself had no value beyond FTX's longstanding commitment to buying any tokens at the price of $22, which sparked worries that the entire institution was a sandcastle built on top of a house of cards.

The slow-burning crisis was kicked into high gear on Sunday when Binance's chief executive, Changpeng Zhao, tweeted that his company was selling its FTT holdings, which were worth approximately $500 million, as a result of "recent revelations that have come to light." The sale of these assets brought the total value of the downturn to about $500 million.

Things quickly got out of hand after that. The value of FTT plummeted, and consumers of FTX began pulling their money out of the exchange in a frenzy reminiscent of a bank run. This week, in a colleague message, Bankman-Fried stated the company suffered a "huge withdrawal spike" as users hurried to withdraw $6 billion (£5.1 billion) in crypto tokens from FTX over three days. Reuters reported that Bankman-Fried referenced the communication. According to what Bankman-Fried told his staff members, the daily withdrawals typically amounted to tens of millions of dollars.

After that, Zhao came to the rescue of FTX by first agreeing on Tuesday to purchase the company but then stating on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the transaction. FTX was saved because of Zhao's intervention. "The difficulties are beyond our control or ability to help," Binance added, noting discoveries made during due diligence and the beginning of regulatory investigations in the United States. "The issues are beyond our control or ability to help."

What next for FTX?

Either the business will have to come up with billions of dollars to fulfil the withdrawal requests of consumers, or it will have to figure out a means to reassure clients that their funds will be secure to stop the mass exodus. When there are a large number of clients leaving all at once, it is a challenging task. According to a story published by Bloomberg on Thursday, Bankman-Fried stated that the company required $4 billion to be sustainable, with a cash deficit of $8 billion.

There are also more in-depth questions regarding the discussion. Bankman-Fried tweeted that FTX was "good" and that it did not trade in any way with the assets of its customers just one day before the business reached an agreement to sell itself to Binance. But Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm that invested $150 million in FTX, sent an email to the investors warning them that the company was experiencing a liquidity crunch and solvency concerns. This means that the company owed more money than it had.

The next day, after the deal fell through, a person who identified themselves only as "SBF" returned and apologised for their past mistakes. "I fucked up twice," he decided to write, trying to kick off a series of tweets in which he apologised for poor communications and said he had mistakenly assumed the exchange could not face a liquidity crunch but argued that it was not insolvent. "I fucked up twice," he wrote, kicking off a series of tweets in which he apologised for poor communications and said he had mistakenly assumed the exchange could not face liquidity.

However, Bankman-apologies Fried only went so far, and users still had issues, particularly considering the other claims he was making simultaneously. Users had questions since Bankman-apology Fried's only went so far. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, FTX had given Alameda a loan of $10 billion of client cash so that they may gamble with the money. This is a sizeable chunk of the exchange's total assets of $16 billion.

Will this affect other cryptocurrencies?

Already, there is one. Since the beginning of the crisis at FTX, the price of bitcoin has dropped from $20,000 per coin to $16,000, its lowest value since 2020. According to CoinMarketCap, the entire sector has dropped roughly 5% in the last 24 hours, and large firms and protocols exposed to FTX are being forced to demonstrate their liquidity. The value of a popular token on the Solana protocol, for example, which enables users of that blockchain to trade bitcoin, is dependent on FTX. If FTX were to fail, it is unknown whether any of the bitcoin stored on the Solana protocol would be retrievable, resulting in the disappearance of millions of dollars in a single night.

The "stablecoin" that supports a significant portion of the cryptocurrency industry's economy is Tether, which has a market cap of approximately $70 billion. On Thursday morning, the token was trading at $0.98 to one dollar, significantly lower than its previous "peg." Paolo Ardoino, who serves as the chief technical officer (CTO) of the business that issues Tether, tweeted to reassure investors, stating that the company has processed approximately $700 million in withdrawals over the course of the previous twenty-four hours. "No issues," he said, "we keep going."

What about wider markets?

The robustness of the monetary system to tremors in the cryptocurrency market has already been tested over the preceding twelve months with the start of a new "crypto winter." The value of the whole cryptocurrency market reached its all-time high of $3 trillion in November of 2017, but it has since plummeted to its current level of approximately $800 billion due to a combination of crypto-specific events and broader macroeconomic difficulties. During that same period, the global financial markets have also experienced losses, but those losses are attributable to much more significant problems, such as the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and rising interest rates.

According to Carol Alexander, a professor of finance at the University of Sussex, the frost will last longer because the most recent wobble dealt additional damage to the industry’s reputation. Because of this, the crypto winter will last for a significantly longer period.

She said the possibility of a contagion from the cryptocurrency industry spreading to standard finance markets was still low. This was because institutional investors, who are always looking to achieve high returns on their investments, were discovering that it was easier to earn money from conventional assets in an environment with high-interest rates. "It's well-known that time-tested investments like bonds are enjoying increased popularity. This indicates that crypto is less of a threat to the system.

... if we make a modest request of you. Every day, the Guardian is the source of choice for millions of people looking for open, independent, and high-calibre journalism, and readers from more than 180 countries are helping us financially.

Everyone should have access to information founded on science and the truth and analysis founded on authority and honesty. Because of this, we went in a different direction and decided to make our reporting accessible to all readers, regardless of the region in which they reside or the amount of money they can afford to spend. This indicates that a greater number of people will be able to receive improved information, become more united, and be encouraged to take meaningful action.

In these troubled times, a worldwide news organisation that strives to uncover the truth, like the Guardian, is necessary. Because we do not have shareholders or a billionaire owner, this differentiates us from other media outlets because it ensures that commercial or political interests do not influence our coverage. At a time when it has never been more crucial, our independence enables us to examine, confront, and expose individuals in positions of authority without fear.

Conclusions

If FTX files for bankruptcy, user payments will remain in limbo. Given the number of well-known organisations that have invested money in the FTX platform, we do not know the exact proportion of user funds that FTX still has in its possession; however, a traditional bankruptcy could have a cataclysmic effect on the industry as a whole in terms of its financial standing.

FAQ

What exactly is going on with the FTX cryptocurrency? After suffering the cryptocurrency counterpart of a bank run, the cryptocurrency trading company FTX, which is currently in the process of collapsing, is now millions of dollars short. The exchange, which used to be one of the largest in the world, filed for bankruptcy protection the previous week, and its CEO and founder quit.

Why FTX failed? After an onslaught of consumer transactions earlier in the week, FTX, which is domiciled in the Bahamas, filed for bankruptcy on Friday. The most high-profile failure of a cryptocurrency exchange in recent memory was precipitated when a rescue plan with a competing exchange, Binance, was unsuccessful.

When exactly did FTX go bankrupt? The precipitous fall of the crypto empire built by 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried has spurred a spike in the amount of money leaving cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide. According to data provided by CryptoQuant, users withdrew a net amount equal to $3.7 billion worth of Bitcoin and $2.5 billion worth of Ether during the week beginning on Sunday, November 6 and ending on Sunday, November 13.

If you want more, be sure to follow us on :

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X: @croxroadnews

Instagram: @croxroadnews.co

Youtube: @croxroadnews

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

@ f549bfa7:387f5873

This is a test of Eggseed Press' NOSTR publishing pipeline, using the NOSTR Writer plug-in in Obsidian.

The future of publishing belongs to NOSTR, and we are delighted to be experimenting with publishing notes here! ![[eggseedlogo_with_words.png]]

@ 947c8c3e:22e2d6ea

Server Address: mine.ghostgrid.network Port: 30000

Introduction

Minetest is an open-source voxel game engine that allows players to create and play in infinite worlds. This guide will walk you through downloading and installing Minetest, creating an account, and joining the specified server.

Downloading and Installing Minetest

For Windows Users

1. Visit the Official Website: Navigate to Minetest's official download page.
2. Download the Installer: Click on the Windows option to download the installer.
3. Run the Installer: Open the downloaded file and follow the installation prompts.

For macOS Users

1. Visit the Official Website: Go to Minetest's download page.
2. Download for macOS: Click on the macOS option and download the file.
3. Install Minetest: Open the downloaded file. Drag and drop the Minetest icon into your Applications folder.

For Linux Users

1. Using a Package Manager: For most Linux distributions, Minetest can be installed directly from the package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use:

bash sudo apt-get install minetest

1. Compiling from Source: Alternatively, you can compile Minetest from source. Instructions can be found on the official website.

For Android Users

Downloading and Installing Minetest

1. Open Google Play Store: On your Android device, launch the Google Play Store app.
2. Search for Minetest: Tap on the search bar at the top of the screen and type in "Minetest". Press enter or the search icon.
3. Install the App: Find the official Minetest app from the search results and tap "Install" to begin the download and installation process.

Registering an Account and Joining the Server

On Android, the process for registering an account and joining a server is similar to that on other platforms, with some minor differences in the user interface.

1. Launch Minetest: Open the Minetest app once it's installed.
2. Access the Main Menu: Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner to access the main menu and select "Join Game".
3. Server Details: Tap on the "New" button to add a server. You'll be prompted to enter the server details. Use the following information:
   • Server Name: This can be anything you like; it's a label for your convenience.
   • Address: Enter mine.ghostgrid.network.
   • Port: Type in 30000.
4. Create Your Account: Enter a username and password in the provided fields. This will register your account for this server.
5. Join the Server: With the server details filled in and your account created, tap "Connect" to join the server.

Registering an Account

To join a server in Minetest, you'll need to create an in-game account. For most servers, this can be done directly when you join a new server. Keep in mind, the process might slightly vary based on the server settings.

1. Launch Minetest: Open the Minetest application.
2. Select 'Join Game': Find and click on the 'Join Game' tab at the top.

3. Enter Server Details: You'll see fields to enter a server's address and port. Use the following details:

   • Server Address: mine.ghostgrid.network
   • Port: 30000

4. Choose a Name and Password: You will be prompted to enter a username and a password. This is effectively your registration process for this server.

Joining the Server

After registering your account, you're all set to join the server.

1. Enter Your Credentials: Input the username and password you just created.
2. Join the Server: Click 'Connect' to join the server.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You're now ready to explore the vast world of Minetest on the server at mine.ghostgrid.network. Remember, each server in Minetest can have its unique set of rules and mods. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with them to enhance your playing experience.

Enjoy your time in our server, and don't hesitate to explore the endless possibilities within its worlds.

@ f1118731:7b8bd305

thus begins another wheelspin with minimal cognitive traction following a brain reset

....;.;...;....;.;.;.;.;;;.;;.;.;.;......;.;.;........

@ 1d22e00c:50e00d0e

Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.

The theme for the coming Sunday mornings is The Master’s Recipe for effective Praying.

Today we are talking about Our Father.

Matthew 6:9 NKJV

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

Scripture Reading

Matthew 6:1-15 NKJV

Do Good to Please God

1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

The Model Prayer

5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

If we are to come boldly to the throne of grace to receive help in our time of need, we must know who sits on the throne.

We must know who God is, and we must know what kind of person He is.

We can learn a lot by considering our Lord’s most basic instruction on prayer.

What we have commonly called the Lord’s Prayer contains some of the most profound thoughts on prayer found in all the Bible.

Every word of this model prayer is important.

The prayer was given again in Luke’s gospel in response to a specific request from the disciples concerning prayer.

They felt their in adequacy in prayer and wanted Jesus’s aid.

He responded by giving this beautiful pattern to follow.

How are we to understand prayer?

It was not given to just as a prayer to God, even though it is useful for this.

All of us have experienced some beautiful moments with God as we are out of these words to him.

This prayer is meant to be an outline for prayer.

It is to guide us in our prayers as an outline guides the speaker in his delivery. The prayer presents two major concerns that we must present to the Father.

The first three petitions are concerned with the glory of God, His name, His kingdom, and His will.

Blast for our concerned with our needs. This should always be the order of our concern when we come to present ourselves to the Father in prayer.

First, we will gather from the light it gives about the God to him we pray.

He is to be addressed, according to our Lord Jesus, as “Our Father which art in heaven.”

We must know that God is our Father.

There are a few scattered references to God as Father in the old Testament, but it was Jesus, our Lord, who really gave meaning to this address.

Jesus came from the bosom of the Father, speaking of God as Father in very personal terms.

What are we admitting or affirming when we address God in prayer as “our heavenly father?”

Firstly the resourcefulness of God.

This address is an acknowledgement of the resourcefulness of God.

The root of this word translated Father includes the idea of originator.

It points to a source, of course, a point of origin.

God is the source.

The God who is the source of our physical life is also the God of all mercy and grace.

As such, He is the source of our eternal life.

The relationship we have with Him is at His initiative.

He is the originator of the relationship.

Every address of God as Father by a person in worship should be acknowledgement of this.

It is an affirmation that the relationship that each of us has with Him is His work, His creation.

Secondly the responsibility of God.

This address also indicates that since God is our heavenly Father, He is the one who was responsible for us.

None of us would've dared to push off onto God this responsibility, but fortunately He Himself made it so.

Since God has revealed Himself as the one who accepts responsibility for us, it is not presumptuous for us to bring our joys and I needs to Him.

This is exactly what he expects and even encourages.

Thirdly the responsiveness of God.

A third thing suggested by this title of God is responsiveness.

To address God as Father is to affirm that He is the responsive God of love who we know him to be.

Do you remember that helpful word about the Father that Jesus gave?

He assured Thomas in John 14:9 that “He that has seen me has seen the Father.”

It is safe to assume that God is just as responsive to our needs as Jesus was to need wherever he met it.

If you read the Gospels with discernment, you'll be reassured that Jesus was always accessible and responsive.

1. We must know that God is our Father in heaven.

The phrase that our Lord added to “Our Father” is significant.

It reveals some things about the God to whom we pray, things that we need to know if we are going to pray confidently.

The first thing we need to know is His position.

First, Jesus’ saying that our Father in heaven is surely an affirmation that God is separate from earthly father's and personalities.

Some people mistakingly approach deceased human beings in prayer.

They select great saints of the past and address prayers to them.

This is absolutely a mistake.

There is no need to come to some mere mortal, a deceased one at that, when you can come before the living God Himself.

Furthermore, it separates Him from all living fathers.

He is the one in heaven in contrast to all of those on earth.

Prayer is not to be addressed to our physical or spiritual fathers.

Secondly, related to this is the information that God is sovereign.

The heavens were understood to be the very seat of God.

God is seen as the ruler over all things.

All things are under His control.

So, to approach God as the heavenly Father is to approach the One who has the right to do whatever pleases Him.

There is no other one in all the universe who has this kind of authority.

The third thing we need to understand is His power.

“Our Father which art in heaven” addresses God as the one who has the power to do whatever needs to be done.

“Father” would indicate that He would want to do it, but His position indicates that he has the power to do it.

Some of the titles with which people approach God today fail to acknowledge this.

Some refer to Him as the man upstairs.

This is not the same thing as saying, our Father which art in heaven.

The apostle Paul surely caught hold of this truth.

He affirmed in a prayer, “Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory, for ever and ever, amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

When you address God as “Our Father which art in heaven,” this is what you are acknowledging.

Conclusion.

Your prayer life will grow as your knowledge of God grows.

Prayer has no meaning apart from this personal knowledge of him.

The great essential in a growing knowledge of God is fellowship with Him.

One of the greatest means of fellowship with God is prayer if you want to hear his voice you need to talk to him.

Do you see where this leads?

If you want to become more effective, bolder, and more confident in your prayer life, then pray more.

The more you pray, the better you will know the God who answers prayer and the more your position in His family will mean to you.

The more He means to you, the more you will enjoy the experience of prayer.

This will be true for all of eternity.

So let's go and pray!

Until next time

Stay in the Blessings

I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.

When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer. Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!

You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at The Refinery.

When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.

So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us at www.refinerylife.org

2024 IS A YEAR OF DECISIONS AND OPEN DOORS

© www.refinerylife.org  2013-2024 All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this Article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission.

This episode is brought to you by Refinery Life Australia:

If you enjoy The Refinery Life Radio Podcast you can help support The Refinery by doing the following:

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@ 3cd2ea88:bafdaceb

ChatAi: la rivoluzione dell'interazione sociale basata sull'intelligenza artificiale è su Bitget! ChatAi (CHATAI) è una piattaforma Web3 innovativa che combina l'intelligenza artificiale con la socializzazione per creare esperienze coinvolgenti e personalizzate.

Cosa puoi fare con ChatAi:

Chatta con assistenti virtuali intelligenti: Interagisci in tempo reale su un'ampia gamma di argomenti e ricevi risposte pertinenti. Traduci lingue diverse: Comunica facilmente con persone di tutto il mondo grazie alla traduzione automatica integrata. Genera conversazioni: Crea chat su misura con te stesso o con altri, scegliendo argomenti e parole chiave. Approfondisci i dialoghi: Affronta conversazioni estese con gli assistenti virtuali, esplorando vari argomenti e ricevendo risposte personalizzate. Ottieni risposte alle tue domande: Poni domande e ricevi informazioni utili su qualsiasi argomento ti interessi. Crea storie avvincenti: Sfrutta il generatore di storie per creare narrazioni originali e immergiti in esperienze di scrittura creative. Come funziona ChatAi:

Registrati: Entra nella piattaforma ChatAi dal tuo smartphone e accedi a un mondo di interazione basata sull'intelligenza artificiale. Guadagna token CHATAI: Interagisci con l'IA, condividi contenuti e socializza sulla piattaforma per ottenere token CHATAI. Aumenta la tua potenza di calcolo: Fai crescere la tua potenza di calcolo e ottieni più token CHATAI condividendo e socializzando per l'apprendimento degli algoritmi di intelligenza artificiale. Monetizza i tuoi token: Vendi i tuoi CHATAI in contanti una volta attivata la funzione di transazione chat. Guadagna dividendi: Ottieni dividendi di profitto ChatAi per il tuo coinvolgimento e la tua partecipazione sulla piattaforma. Socializza e comunica: Condividi, premia e connettiti con altri utenti all'interno della community ChatAi. ChatAi su Bitget:

CHATAI è live su Bitget PoolX: Metti in staking BGB o USDT per guadagnare token CHATAI gratuitamente! Fai trading di CHATAI: Acquista, vendi e scambia CHATAI sulla piattaforma di trading spot di Bitget. Unisciti alla rivoluzione di ChatAi!

Registrati su Bitget: https://bonus.bitget.com/U1JNEK

@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

First Picks

The first round of the NBA Playoff Survivor Pool will actually be correctly selecting a team to win its final regular season game.

Teams play their final games this weekend. The playoff standings are still up in the air, which might make this selection difficult. I'll send out a reminder on Friday, but feel free to get your picks in now.

So, who do you like to win their final game of the season? (bearing in mind that you can only pick each team once)

Contest Details

Here's the first post with the contest rules: https://stacker.news/items/488380/r/Undisciplined. The contest is open to all, so spread the word if you think someone else might be interested.

One thing to add is that rather than being disqualified if you don't get a pick in, you'll be assigned whoever has the worst odds. You will however be disqualified from tie-breakers. Aren't I just extremely generous?

Victory Pot

Currently, the pot is at 2609 sats. Any sats zapped to this post or to my comments go into the pot.

Coming Up

Next week is going to have pretty quick turnarounds with the Play-in Tournaments.

cc: @BTC_Bellzer, @riberet19, @siggy47, @gnilma, @grayruby

@ fce4177b:f504cdc8

I'm not the creator of the phoenixd-lnurl project nor affliated with it, moreover I couldn't find the creator here on Stacker News. I know that the guy can be found on Nostr behind the npub npub1raftzmju5gq77twqxrumv5gnweew2t0p4v5upv8kku4vsz4j8jzq3tgns2 and here is his website. He has all the credits for this.

Background

A few days ago I was checking my nostr feed and somehow I run into the following project:

https://github.com/AngusP/phoenixd-lnurl

that is based on the new-born phoenixd server, the new ACINQ product that basically mimics what the android phoenix wallet does, but it is deployable on a web server and potentially runs 24/7.

The process

Since I have a VPS with some dummy services on it, I decided to try phoenixd and this wrapper, just to understand the potential of such a product.

For simplicity I'll call the phoenixd daemon "node" from now on.

The first thing to do is clearly to have some sort of server/VPS with a static IP and a domain. You'll need the domain to deploy the lnurl webpage that shows the lnurl and your lnaddress. Once you set up the VPS you can decide to follow two different paths:

1. Deploy the node using docker, which is pretty straightforward and all the information is on the README file of the project;
2. Deploy the node by installing by hand phoenixd server, the dependencies of phoenixd-lnurl and setting up manually everything.

I decided to go for the second methodology.

Phoenixd server

Installing phoenixd server is very easy, the get started section of the website explains step-by-step the deploy process so take a look at it. Once you're done with the installation of phoenixd server you'll have at hand two scripts, phoenixd and phoenix-cli and if you run phoenixd for the first time it'll generate your new phoenix server node, generating the 12 seed words and setting up everything that is needed. Just rememeber to backup the seed.dat file (containing your 12 words seed), you'll find it in the ~/.phoenix folder.

Last thing I suggest to do is to add to the path the folder containing phoenixd and phoenix-cli.

Phoenixd-lnurl wrapper

Once the server installation is completed and the scripts are on your path, its time to proceed with the installation of the wrapper that will enable you to have a static webpage and an lnaddress directly linked to your new created node.

Go to the project repository and clone the repository in your favourite folder, then cd into the newly created repository folder, At this point, you need to check one thing before going ahead: you need to verify that your system has an installed python version equal or newer than the python3.10. You can check that by writing python --version. This is needed because some commands included in the run.sh script for the wrapper need this specific (or newer) version of python, otherwise the run.sh script will fail every time with an TypeError.

If your python version respects the requirement explained above, then you can procede with the creation of a new virtual environment, recalling to use the python3.10 version, and install the requirements as explained in the README.

Config file

At this point you should have the phoenixd-lnurl folder and an activated python environment with all the requirements. In the same folder you should create an phoenixd-lnurl.env file and copy the content of the phoenixd-lnurl.env.example. This env file is very important because in it you'll define:

• the PHOENIXD_URL, that is an url containing your username, the http password (that you can find in ~/.phoenix/phoenix.conf), the localhost and the port that will be used to communicate with the node instance. The final form of this parameter is http://<username>:<http_password>@127.0.0.1:<port>. You can check the hostname and the port number by reading the content of the run.sh script in the same folder;
• your username (then used for the lnaddress);
• the hostname that will serve the invoices needed by the LNURL, which is also the domain that will serve the webpage showing your LNURL QRcode;
• some other settings about the min and max amounts that the LNURL can receive;
• your nostr pubkey, that will appear in the same webpage.

Nginx settings

As of now, the wrapper should be set up as intended and you can even start it by running ./run.sh in your terminal; if you run both the phoenixd daemon and the run.sh script your lnaddress will be able to receive sats. in order to run also the LNURL webpage you'll need to tickle a bit with nginx.

If you're running already a web server you should be already aware of how to tickle with nginx, anyway I recommend to take a look at this guide that will easily explain to you how to edit the nginx settings. Just remember that the server settings that the README file recommends to use must be inserted in the file corresponding to the domain you'll use that is contained in the /etc/nginx/sites-available/ folder. The suggested settings for nginx already include the new landing page for the LNURL QRcode, so you can simply copy-paste everything.

Systemd services

The final thing you need to do is to create two systemd services (if you're using systemd), one for the phoenixd server daemon and one for the run.sh script. The project comes with a suggested systemd service template that you can easily edit according to where these files are located in your filesystem.

Final remarks

Now by navigating to your https://domain.com/lnurl you should be able to see a freshy colorful page with your LNURL QRcode in the middle and the lightning address. And this is it!

The process is fairly simple and does not require a lot of work to set this up, nonetheless you should pay attention to a few elements:

1. Phoenixd server is still a trust-minimized node that relies on ACINQ node for liquidity management and its overall functioning. As for the mobile wallet, channels are opened with ACINQ as a peer but as an additive feature phoenixd comes with the possibility of receiving some sats even without having a channel opened. This can work only for very small amounts, since phoenixd server 'understands' that the sats are not enough to open a channel with a swap and thus trusts momentarily ACINQ for holding these sats on your behalf.
2. Phoenixd is a very new product and can have bugs that could lead to loss of funds. Moreover, phoenixd-lnurl is an alpha solution built on top of a beta product...you can easily understand that the level of insecurity of the overall structure requires to be very careful and not going mad by using substantial bitcoin amounts.
3. As for an LN full node, phoenixd server is an hot lightning wallet running on a web server, which can possibly have a very low level of security, depending on your ability to secure linux systems.

@ c43e382e:e4d1f295

The probability of AGI ending us is negative.

A common tactic among doomers is to state something along the lines of the following:

"If we create AGI, there is some non-zero chance every year, that the AGI will end humanity. Whatever that chance is compounds every year, and is thus unacceptable."

The question I would ask the doomer is "How do you know that the chance of AGI ending humanity isn't negative?"

What does it mean for AGI to have a negative chance of ending humanity?

Setting aside AGI for a moment, what is the chance every year that humanity ends from other events, such as nuclear war, solar flares, super-volcanoes, asteroid hits, societal collapse, etc?

How do you even answer this question in a reasonable manner? Well lets look at past data.

Of all species that have existed 99% have gone extinct.

Of our closest 7 relatives from the genus Homo, 100% have gone extinct.

On a higher level looking at civilizational collapse. According to Wikipedia, virtually all historical societies have collapsed.

Looking out into the universe, we see no signs of life elsewhere, so if there was life in the past we can assume that they have gone extinct.

It would therefore be reasonable to say that the chance of our extinction is very high even without AGI, well above 90%. Maybe 99%.

You could argue the numbers but at least with these numbers we are using some past data to extrapolate the future, where the doomers are using no data whatsoever to support their numbers.

We can also state, that of all the species and societies that have collapsed in the past, they have done so because they did not yet have the knowledge on how to survive. They didn't know how to create antibiotics, or generate enough energy, or defend themselves from the environment.

What is AGI? AGI is a way to create knowledge. Most all societies in the past have collapsed because they didn't have the knowledge on how to survive, and the doomer argument is that we should slow down our ability to create knowledge, when we know that this has been precisely the problem in the past.

It is a certainty we will all die without more knowledge then we have now. The future death of our sun ensures that.

We have to create the knowledge on how to survive, and that is what AGI does - it creates knowledge.

AGI most certainly has a negative probability of ending humanity.

@ 000002de:c05780a7

Last week some friends of mine were in town for work and called to see if I wanted to grab lunch. I've known these guys for a while. Back in 2021 both bought some bitcoin. One held and one sold. One I paid for services with bitcoin. The other lectured me on why he sold his bitcoin and why it was foolish to hold a 'stock' that was going down in value. Of course at the time, during the bear market I explained to him why I was stacking stats. Back to present time. At lunch one of my friends asked, so when is the halving supposed to be again? The other said, what? What is that? Of course I gave the TLDR answer and he continued with his lunch uninterested.

I'm sure many of you have similar stories. People who read headlines, watch a Tiktok on a topic and then act like they are "informed". Most people we encounter aren't just like this on bitcoin. They are like this on a wide array of topics. They are an inch deep and a mile wide. They know very little about a lot of things. They can hold a short conversation on many topics but have few topics they could debate. Why is this? I don't really know if it is a cultural thing here in the US. Not sure if it is global or even just a human trait.

This shallowness also applies to media. I include social media as well as corporate media. When I started my career in tech was when I first started to see it. There would be stories on "reputable" news outlets about some tech thing and they would get it dramatically wrong. Then I started paying more attention. I dug into specific topics and I discovered that "influencers" are at best limited in their knowledge and at worst paid shills prostituting themselves for money and access. At best they make honest mistakes. At worst they are deliberately manipulating the masses.

If you don't watch the news you're uninformed, if you watch the news you're misinformed

~ Denzel Washington

Many people think well, I don't fall for that stuff. I don't follow the "main stream media". I follow the alternative media. The problem with this is these new influencers are just that. Influecers. Everyone has an agenda. Everyone has something to sell. Unless you become skeptical of "experts" and require some sort of trust to develop based on experience you aren't much better off from those drones that watch the news. You just changed channels. It reminds me of the boomer-cons that think they are getting the real news from Fox because they don't have the "liberal bias". As if CNN and the other sources are just biased. Its not bias. Its an agenda paid for by their sponsors and those that hold the access to information. The state machine. I recall during the pandemic people I know started to become suspicious of the media and state shills. I thought, this is great! Maybe they are opening their eyes a bit. But no, they weren't. They were following influencers who were saying things they had zero evidence to substantiate. They people I knew were just trading one set of shills for another set.

So what is one to do? Stay skeptical. Don't go from one side to the other. They are both wrong and right on different things. Think.

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it." - Henry Ford

There is not easy solution. The fact is, I can't tell you go listen/watch this person or source. They get it right. Over the years I have observed that no one gets it right all the time. Truth is, most of the time what is being discussed doesn't matter that much so you can safely tune out. Don't worry. Your friends will let you know when something "big" happens. Over time you will see that rarely do these thigs even affect you though.

If you aren't wasting time following influencers, now you have time to dive deeper into a subject area. Bitcoin, economics, growing your own food. You know, things that matter.

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

Time to brush off the spurs and saddle up for a ride into the exciting ad-ventures ahead! What innovative goods or services are y'all bringin' on the wagon this week? Give us a sneak peek and let that entrepreneurial spirit get out.

---

Take some pics and start posting your items now!

[⚖️ SELL] - [🛒 BUY] - [🧑‍💻 HIRE] - [🖇 OFFER] - [🧑‍⚖️ AUCTION] - [🤝 SWAP] - [🆓 FREE] - [⭐ REVIEW]

---

Stay humble, stack sats!

@ cce0989b:b497e608

No matter what you have been told, I promise you: you are good, you are deserving of happiness and joy, and you have so much to share with the world.

It's time for you to see that, too.

Take a big breath in and out, and then say these words to yourself:

"I am worthy, exactly as I am, And nothing I do or don't do will ever change that. I have a great deal to offer others, I am a human being who deserves love and care, And I matter; the world is lucky to have me. Today, I will try to remember these things, And embody them in all that I do."

@ c4428155:a36de510

New Utah Law Prioritizes Child Safety in Custody Courts

by Michael Squires (https://www.propublica.org/people/michael-squires)

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches (https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/dispatches?source=54G&placement=top-note®ion=local), a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

During the 14 years Leah Moses fought her ex-husband for custody of their two children, she repeatedly warned the court that he was abusive. It was a tough sell: Moses, a midwife, sometimes acted as her own attorney; her ex-husband, Parth Gandhi, was a psychologist who hired experts to persuade the Utah court that Moses’ allegations were a ruse to estrange him from the children.

Getting nowhere, Moses turned to the Utah Legislature. She believed things might change if judges were required to consider evidence of family violence in their custody decisions, and if expert witnesses had actually dealt firsthand with abuse victims. The Legislature adjourned in 2023 without acting on a proposal to reform how the state handles custody cases.

Months later, Moses’ ex-husband shot and killed their 16-year-old son Om (https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/05/15/father-son-found-dead-salt-lake/) at Gandhi’s Salt Lake City clinic, then turned the weapon on himself. At the time, Gandhi had full custody of Om.

Rather than retreat into grief, Moses returned to the Capitol to again call for change.

This time, lawmakers passed legislation (https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/HB0272.html), signed into law last month by Gov. Spencer Cox, codifying parts of the federal Violence Against Women Act. It mandates, among other things, that judges deciding custody first consider risks to the child’s safety. (The law previously only said they could consider evidence of violence.)

“I wish it had been done for me, that these protections had been in place a year earlier,” Moses told ProPublica. “My personal hope is that no more children die as a result of being in custody cases — that decision makers recognize violence much sooner and give kids a chance.”

The legislation follows ProPublica’s reporting on Utah courts’ handling of custody cases involving allegations of violence (https://www.propublica.org/series/parental-alienation). That reporting showed judges had in two instances ordered children to participate in so-called reunification therapy with fathers who had been accused of abusing them. Both fathers have denied the abuse allegations and responded by accusing their ex-wives of parental alienation (https://www.propublica.org/article/parental-alienation-and-its-use-in-family-court), a disputed theory in which one parent is accused of brainwashing a child to turn them against the other parent.

In one case, a boy who accused his father of sexually abusing him barricaded himself, along with his sister, inside a bedroom in their mother’s home (https://www.propublica.org/article/parental-alienation-utah-livestream-siblings) to avoid going to a Texas reunification program with their dad. In another, two brothers were ordered to attend the same Texas program with their dad (https://www.propublica.org/article/family-reunification-camps-kids-allege-more-abuse), whom they said had abused them. When they refused to take part in the therapy, their bedding, food and clothing were confiscated, according to court testimony, and they were prohibited by court order from contacting their mother for months.

Under the new Utah law, courts can only require treatments that have been shown to be effective, and it prohibits therapies that separate children from a parent to whom they are bonded (provided the parent does not pose a threat to their safety).

“Any type of reunification therapy has to have proof of safety and effectiveness,” said state Rep. Paul A. Cutler (https://house.utleg.gov/rep/CUTLEP/), a Republican and co-sponsor of the legislation, known as HB 272 (https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/HB0272.html). “No more sending kids out of state to some unknown camp run by uncredentialed people — can’t do that anymore — only proven therapeutic treatments by professionals.”

State Sen. Michael K. McKell, the bill’s other co-sponsor (https://house.utleg.gov/rep/MCKELMK/) and a practicing attorney, said in his experience the same attorneys often work with the same experts to counter abuse allegations by citing parental alienation.

“I can predict who the custody evaluator will be based on who the attorney is, and I hope that stops,” McKell, a Republican, said. “Courts are going to have to be more careful about who they allow to opine on custody.”

Proponents of the bill said most resistance to it came from divorce attorneys.

The law requires expert witnesses to be qualified and credentialed and to have experience working with abuse victims. Utah courts will also be required to train judges and other court personnel to better recognize domestic violence and address child safety in custody cases.

“Courts are doing a poor job in these cases,” said Danielle Pollack, policy manager at the National Family Violence Law Center (https://www.law.gwu.edu/national-family-violence-law-center) at George Washington University’s law school. Pollack, who provided technical assistance to proponents of the Utah legislation, said the training will help judges recognize experts on family violence.

Utah is the second state, after Colorado (https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-limits-court-use-of-family-reunification-camps), to pass legislation that adopts nearly all provisions of the federal Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1620/text#toc-H6EDA4A7B37F649DDA76160A44E61B3BF), or Kayden’s Law, Pollack said. (Other states, including California, have enacted portions of the law.)

“What this does is it puts child safety as the first priority of custody,” Cutler said of Utah’s law. “It prioritizes the child’s safety over the parents’ rights to manipulate their children for their own use.”

Advocates said they were heartened that now a red state, Utah, and a blue state, Colorado, have embraced the reforms.

Pollack attributed the success in Utah to ProPublica and other news organizations drawing attention to the problem, and to parents like Moses who shared their personal struggles to draw attention to family violence and protect their children.

After the murder of her son, Moses said she felt a moral obligation to continue pushing for the law.

“In endless hearings in my case there was every indication of violence,” Moses said. “The most disappointing thing is that I could not get the system to pay attention to the violence against me and my family.”

Hannah Dreyfus contributed reporting.

https://www.propublica.org/article/new-utah-law-prioritizes-child-safety-in-custody-courts

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

**

ทดสอบการจัดฟอนต์

**

อะไรเอ่ย สี่ตืนเดินมา หลังคามุงเต่า

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

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ODC #000011 - Architecture > URBAN

Designing Urban Space to broadcast Bitcoin Awareness

If you miss it, please read our WTF is ODC (Open Design Challenge) intro post from more details.

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Scenario

Urban planning and design have the potential to dramatically transform collective surroundings, influencing and enabling the way we use public spaces. 

You are a national resident of a community that notice some unused or misused space in the area could be better serve the neighborhood to sense and taste what bitcoin is and can do.

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Task

This challenge is open to anyone willing to brainstorm, sketch, picture and redefine an urban space that could be dedicated to bitcoin. Could be anything, from street art, to a statues or public garden. Be creative!

Extra Credit: Find the best way to visualise the idea and share it with the community to get feedback.

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Inspiration

If you need help with this challenge, check out our hand-picked tutorial recommendations.

• Making the most of neglected urban spaces on beyond.ubc.ca

• What is Placemaking? on pps.org

• Bitcoin Street Art Barcelona on instagram.com

• Re-inventing Public Space through co-creation on undp.org

• Study Bitcoin + logo projected onto the ECB building in Frankfurt on twitter.com

• Creative Placemaking Projects on communityprogress.org

• Statue of Satoshi Nakamoto in Budapest on statueofsatoshi.com

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Share Your Results

When you finish the challenge, post your work including anonymized collected data and results on this thread! If you also share it on nostr, be sure to use the hashtag #opendesigner and tag Design_r@iris.to or @Design__r on X! We'll keep an eye out and repost good examples on a regular basis.

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Check our previous ODC and support this community for creative minds, where you'll be able to get open and constructive feedback on your PoW. Ask anything in the ~Design territory and get some ⚡sats for the value you provide!

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```

Bitcoin #Design #BitcoinDesign #NostrDesign #Nostr #OpenDesign #DesignChallenge #OpenDesignChallenge #BitcoinSpace #Community #UrbanBitcoin #BitcoinRevolution #StreetArt #Placemaking

```

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@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Prompt: Background Pattern ===============

Whether an e-commerce site, a blogs, or a landing page, backgrounds are often unnoticed. How can you design a useful and beautiful one?

Video background? Moving patterns or textures? You decide.

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Flex your design muscles and join in. Most of all, keep this exercise loose and keep it stress-free. The FUC is about growing our design skills, together, as a community. We can't wait to see what you create!

Happy designing, Stackers!

---

Share Your Results When you finish the challenge, post your work on this thread! If you also share it on nostr, be sure to use the hashtag #FUCdesiger and tag Design_r@iris.to or @Design__r on X! We'll keep an eye out and repost good examples on a regular basis.

---

Curious to know WTF is a FUC? Read the ⚡️Flash Ui Challenges welcoming post.

Looking for more FUCs? Check the archive here!

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Goood Monday, creative stackers!

It's a great day to share those beautiful ideas you have been dreaming about during the weekend.

Share any innovative thought as video, photo or whatever other functional thing you want to share, just need to prove it came out of your brain with a minimum of PoW. The top one, will receive the 2100 Bonus next Monday. Have fun!

Zap zap and get some sats!

@ ef144bfc:1d9712c4

Dare to ask questions. Feel the ragged edges of dissonance, the uncertainty of ambivalence. Know these states well, thrash restlessly, struggle to find a unifying key, a common denominator, a place to balance upon the tight wire of vicissitudes in wind.

Seek a node of stillness where the intensity of sensation resolves into a some kind of meaning.

In the storm of chaos, be like lightening. Gather random static, let the charge build until it must discharge, while you wait dancing along the bolt from here to somewhere there, bridging the gap, lighting a path to understanding and truth, loud and clear as a thunder clap.

Comfort can be found in these jolts of insight and crashes of recognition. Do not run from them. Walk into the storm, face upturned, let wind tear at your edges and the tears of the world flood freely over your face, soak your garments, wet your body, dissolve your painted public face.

Some will only watch, through a stormy window pain; some will open the window, smell the wet electricity, let a bit of rain in to their safe haven. Some will step longingly to the door, hesitate, choose comfort over clarity, though later, they may step bravely into the storm, toss off their warm coat, feel the surge freedom, know their wholeness, personal power, their own truths,

make enough sense of the unpredictable world to survive, even thrive on the nutritious truths of spaciousness, to be courageous, to keep going.

@ efa6abd0:a4970369

We all learn through observation, imitation, practice, mistakes, and more practice. We learn by comparing and contrasting what we see in the world, in order to imagine what we wish it could be. At core, we long for something that defines us and adds meaning to our daily lives.

Copycat imitation is not interesting. A custom creative journey is.

Some say, experience gives you a unique style, as you learn the tools. Experience, however, opens a myriad of possible roads to create art. You may relate to that as knowing how to shape and reshape a coding language for your various needs and purposes. The deeper you learn and test how programming languages work, the wider array of choices on what and how to create. While in code you may seek efficiency and simplicity, in art, people often seek a recognizable look.

If you see some of my latest artwork, you might say there is a look, but the reality is different if we look across time. Art can vary widely, even wildly, depending on both purpose and media.

If I do not hope for a recognizable look, what is it that I hope for?

Look beyond what's expected...

If we only look at the quality of the code or the style of the art, we are often holding a boxed-in perspective. Take nostr, for example, you could compare it with other social media and criticize it solely on how a single client looks and feels compared to what you have experienced elsewhere. Based on that sole known concept, some may see nostr as "not quite the same", as if something was missing: their people. But are people locked-in their previous apps forever?

That depends on how you see nostr, just like it depends on whether you understand the story behind the art. For me, switching to only nostr was simple, but I went down the rabbit hole. I feel more grateful everyday for all the qualities that make nostr different: Yes, it's also about the people.

The people on nostr are shaping what it becomes on every layer: Code, design, UX, content, and beyond. You do not get that anywhere else. It is not advertisements nor algorithms built for advertisers or data buyers that make the decisions. We make the decisions, as part of a larger community. Hence, we are free to contribute to building what fits us best.

Over time, I realized I do not want the engagement farming, the unethical data gathering, the possibility of having my account cancelled because I think different. I am only on nostr. The only other account I keep is Pinterest, but not on a social level. I hope one day, nostr will have as much content to discover. It depends on us to make it what we wish it to be.

What nostr solves for is not the same as other social media. You own your nostr on so many levels. Your keys give you access to any app on the nostrverse, along with all of your notes, follows and followers. It's a compact suitcase, but it fits so much. For content creators, it opens the door to micropayments through zaps. This value4value support is not based on advertisements, it is a direct link to your audience, and the specific content they appreciate. Signal over noise.

Easter eggs

I keep digging deeper into what is at the core of freedom tech and how it inspires us, as a community. Over the years, I have often added small details with personal meaning to art, a sort of Easter egg. Not the kind of Easter egg that would be noticed nor understood, looking from the outside in. Freedom tech, however, is an open community with various symbols adding meaning to our everyday lives. Naturally, the Easter eggs have continued, but in a way that you, the observer, can discover and understand.

When people dismiss technology like Nostr or Bitcoin, it’s often because they do not see what makes them special. I’d like art to reflect the idea that some people do not see, but for those who do, it is something meaningful and empowering. Perhaps, even when you do not know the meaning behind it, it will spark your curiosity to find out why it’s there.

Take the above Nostriga t-shirt design @ shop.nostr.build, for example. It carries keys. Five of them. You will spot four of them easily, but the fifth one… that may be a bit of a surprise. For those who understand the value of owning your keys, and hence your nostr, you will see more than five keys there. You will see why keys matter, and that, cannot be seen with the eyes.

It is not the style, but sharing with our people the meaning and principles behind it that makes all the other stuff special.

@ ee6ea13a:959b6e74

Chef's notes

You'll need a decent-sized wok or large skillet to cook this. All of the ingredients are cooked in one pan and served on top of Jasmine rice (but just about any type of white rice or blend will work).

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 15 minutes
• 🍳 Cook time: 20 minutes
• 🍽️ Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of toasted sesame oil
• 6 thin slices of peeled fresh ginger (don't use powdered)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 4 scallions, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (use both white and green parts)
• 2 sliced dried red chili peppers or 1/2 teaspoon of dried chili flakes
• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite-size chunks
• 1/3 cup of toasted cashews (these can be prepared in a toaster oven or on the stovetop in advance)
• 3 tablespoons of rice wine or dry sherry
• 2-3 teaspoons of soy sauce
• 4 dates, pitted and sliced thinly
• 1-2 cups of fresh basil leaves
• Juice of one lime

Directions

1. Slice and season the chicken with salt and pepper
2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet
3. When hot, add the ginger, garlic, scallions and chili and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes
4. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil along with the chicken and cashews
5. Cook for 5 minutes, turning the chicken over to cook throughout
6. Add rice wine, soy sauce, and dates
7. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer for another 5-6 minutes until the sauce is reduced
8. Stir in the basil so it begins to wilt
9. Add equal amounts of lime juice to both the chicken stir-fry and the rice
10. Plate the stir-fry over the rice

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Table Of Content

• Content

• Conclusion

• FAQ

• Meta Description

• External Links

More than 141,000 people have signed a petition on change.org asking Amazon to begin accepting Dogecoin. After four years of slow progress, the petition finally hit 100,000 signatures in February. The momentum has only increased since then.

The Dogecoin community has been building a lot of momentum recently, and now would be a great time for Amazon to join the ranks of prominent firms that accept Dogecoin as payment.

Even though it was created as a joke, Dogecoin is now the only top-10 cryptocurrency that is profitable. This toughness is encouraging news for DOGE. But does Amazon agree with this assessment?

Dogecoin Defies the Odds

Annual gains of over 8,000% are not to be taken lightly. Dogecoin's success in 2021 has shown that strong token economics and a focus on the basics are not important.

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World Weed Day is celebrated annually on April 20. To raise support for a DOGE price of $1, Dogecoin holders are seeking to "hijack" this day.

On Twitter, #DogeDay has become the second-most trending topic. Also, Reddit has been a major hub for the revolution. One user who was trying to stir up support said that getting to $1 was inevitable and that it was a modest aim.

Our Lord and Savior Doge should not be constrained by such petty objectives as reaching $1 or even the moon. The time to act is now. For crying out loud, we're capable of doing this!

There are more and more people interested in Dogecoin, so who is to say that it won't reach $1? It will, according to billionaire Mark Cuban. For added credibility, he's now selling Mavs tickets and merchandise for DOGE.

However, the seemingly endless supply of DOGE is a major issue, notwithstanding the excitement and optimism surrounding the currency. About 5 billion DOGE are added to the monetary supply per year as a result of inflation. It's not simple to square this with a token used in a nontraditional business, even if it's basically the same as fiat money.

What’s the Deal With Amazon and Crypto?

Unfortunately, neither Bitcoin nor Dogecoin are presently accepted by Amazon as a form of payment. The change.org petition may have many backers, but Amazon is under no obligation to respond to it.

Is there hope that this may alter in the near future? Whether or when Amazon really follows through with the creation of its own digital currency is unknown. The company is looking for qualified individuals to fill open positions in its Digital and Emerging Payments section, which has been advertised on its website lately.

Here, you may compare 50 different online crypto gambling sites. Figure out which gambling establishments provide the greatest degree of provably fair games, the most generous bonuses, the most helpful customer service reps, and the best overall user experience.

The job posting has already been removed, but not before astute readers realized it was intended for the Mexican market with potential international expansion.

What this endeavor may signify for the bitcoin market is unclear at this time. However, the company has a history of isolating its goods inside its own ecosystem, making them inaccessible outside of that setting.

Conclusion

Dogecoin's only real drawback is that, unlike Bitcoin's finite supply, there is no upper limit on the number of Dogecoins that may ever be created. One other perk is that it functions like a devalued version of Bitcoin. Since miners release 10,000 new Dogecoins per minute, there are now 130 billion in circulation. The price of Dogecoin is certain to skyrocket if a new product involving Elon or Dogecoin is released, thanks to the efforts of the Doge community.

FAQ

Is Amazon going to allow Dogecoin? Is it likely that Amazon might adopt Dogecoin? Representatives from the corporation have said that won't happen anytime soon. The corporation has hinted that they would introduce an NFT market in April 2022, so maybe Dogecoin adoption isn't as farfetched as it looks.

Is Dogecoin going to be accepted? Late last year, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that users would be able to use the meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin to purchase certain Tesla items, which caused a surge in the price of Dogecoin.

Will Amazon accept cryptocurrency? Is it possible to pay on Amazon using Bitcoin? Amazon does not yet take Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency directly. The BitPay Card and the purchase of Amazon gift cards with cryptocurrency are the two greatest options for using bitcoin on Amazon.

If you want more, be sure to follow us on :

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

@ dadbe86a:9c493e92

Opinion about Envoy (android)

Envoy is a wallet developed by Foundation Devices. You can use it to connect your passport wallet or as a hot wallet.

Pros: - Bitcoin only - Support for testnet, taproot, fee control, coin control, custom node, tor - Open source

Cons: - Missing some advanced features like, user added entropy, passphrase, seedQR, multisig - Can only be connected with Passport Batch 2 Hardware Wallet

Version reviewed: v1.6.0

thebitcoinhole.com

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ 3cd2ea88:bafdaceb

🔹 BGB, il token nativo di Bitget, ha recentemente raggiunto un nuovo massimo storico di $1,38, registrando un rialzo del 30% su base settimanale.

🔹 Tale performance si contrappone al recente sell-off del mercato crypto, consolidando BGB come una delle criptovalute più performanti del momento.

💎 Quali sono i fattori chiave che hanno determinato questa crescita esplosiva?

🔹 1. Forte crescita del business di Bitget:

🌟Aumento del volume di scambi spot, trainato dall'adozione di massa delle criptovalute. 🌟Sviluppo costante del mercato dei derivati, offrendo agli utenti nuove opportunità di investimento.

🔹 2. Espansione dell'utilità di BGB:

🌟Utilizzo di BGB per staking, Launchpool e commissioni di trading su Bitget. 🌟Lancio di PoolX, che offre agli utenti la possibilità di ottenere rendimenti annualizzati elevati. 🌟Aumento del numero di progetti che collaborano con Bitget, creando nuove opportunità per BGB.

🔹 3. Analisi di Ryan Lee, Capo Analista di Bitget Research:

🌟Il rialzo del prezzo di BGB è il risultato di una combinazione di fattori: Forte crescita del business di Bitget Espansione dell'utilità del token Condizioni di mercato favorevoli BGB ha il potenziale per diventare un "albero dei soldi" in questo mercato rialzista, offrendo agli utenti la possibilità di ottenere rendimenti elevati attraverso lo staking.

🔹 4. Per approfondire:

🌟Unisciti alla nostra community Telegram: https://t.me/Bitget_Italia 🌟Sito web di Bitget: https://bonus.bitget.com/U1JNEK

🔹 Conclusione:

🔹 La crescita di BGB è supportata da una serie di fattori solidi, tra cui la forte crescita del business di Bitget, l'espansione dell'utilità del token e le condizioni di mercato favorevoli.

🔹 BGB rappresenta un'opportunità di investimento interessante per gli investitori che cercano esposizione al settore delle criptovalute.

@ c73818cc:ccd5c890

🔹 BGB, il token nativo di Bitget, ha recentemente raggiunto un nuovo massimo storico di $1,38, registrando un rialzo del 30% su base settimanale.

🔹 Tale performance si contrappone al recente sell-off del mercato crypto, consolidando BGB come una delle criptovalute più performanti del momento.

💎 Quali sono i fattori chiave che hanno determinato questa crescita esplosiva?

🔹 1. Forte crescita del business di Bitget:

🌟Aumento del volume di scambi spot, trainato dall'adozione di massa delle criptovalute. 🌟Sviluppo costante del mercato dei derivati, offrendo agli utenti nuove opportunità di investimento.

🔹 2. Espansione dell'utilità di BGB:

🌟Utilizzo di BGB per staking, Launchpool e commissioni di trading su Bitget. 🌟Lancio di PoolX, che offre agli utenti la possibilità di ottenere rendimenti annualizzati elevati. 🌟Aumento del numero di progetti che collaborano con Bitget, creando nuove opportunità per BGB.

🔹 3. Analisi di Ryan Lee, Capo Analista di Bitget Research:

🌟Il rialzo del prezzo di BGB è il risultato di una combinazione di fattori: Forte crescita del business di Bitget Espansione dell'utilità del token Condizioni di mercato favorevoli BGB ha il potenziale per diventare un "albero dei soldi" in questo mercato rialzista, offrendo agli utenti la possibilità di ottenere rendimenti elevati attraverso lo staking.

🔹 4. Per approfondire:

🌟Unisciti alla nostra community Telegram: https://t.me/Bitget_Italia 🌟Sito web di Bitget: https://bonus.bitget.com/U1JNEK

🔹 Conclusione:

🔹 La crescita di BGB è supportata da una serie di fattori solidi, tra cui la forte crescita del business di Bitget, l'espansione dell'utilità del token e le condizioni di mercato favorevoli.

🔹 BGB rappresenta un'opportunità di investimento interessante per gli investitori che cercano esposizione al settore delle criptovalute.

BGB #Bitget #Crypto #Analisi #ATH #Staking #Launchpool #PoolX #Earn #Investimenti

@ c6e56195:5c69ab8d

Cats are the outcasts of most neighborhoods. Finding a home is part observation, part trust building, and, a good dose of serendipity. We are fast and agile, yet we were built for the night. We are not as skilled during the day. Although people may stare at their mobile screens late at night, humans are diurnal. In contrast, we need to stay awake during the day, looking for the patterns in people’s lives that may welcome us in.

Most humans would guess we just look for food and water, but that is often secondary, unless we are desperate and take more risks in order to survive. Even then, we tend to follow other cats to learn about the safest places.

To find sanctuary, we begin by paying careful attention to the surrounding environment and the habits of the humans nearby. We have a strong memory of what surrounds us, so if you notice something different in our habits, you may want to pay attention. Unlike many dogs that bark at most environmental factors near and far, even when those do not present clear nearby danger, we notice what is common in a neighborhood and only react to what is different and close. We must notice those subtle changes in order to survive. Maybe not every cat notices those details, but most do.

As feral cats, it rarely matters where we are born, each location has its dangers. We must be careful not to step into other cats’ territories. The alpha cats can come after you. But not just the alpha cats, dogs can chase us too. Nature is a provider but it also has bugs, spiders and other dangers that can hurt us. Humans, however, can be the scariest, yet, they can also protect us.

Telling a safe place from a dangerous one is a skill. Many cats will run away as soon as they spot a human, without even giving them a chance. Not because a human may not be a good person, but because some cats have experienced only negative situations throughout their lifetimes. They carry the emotional scars. Those cats have the hardest time finding a home, and it takes them many loops of don’t trust, verify, before they can let their guards down. To many feral cats, human activities are new. Although many cats are curious, they need to feel safe in order to learn.

The journey for me was to discover a human that could get along with a cat. Many humans are constantly on the run, as if an alpha human was chasing them. They walk fast, take harsh steps, making tiny earthquakes on the ground. They rush through their daily activities. They don’t take the time to smell the roses. Cats need a positive environment to feel at ease, people rushing or being angry is not so.

We all have limited time on earth. As cats, we have even less of it than humans. Yet, even as time keeps ticking, we look for people who do not feel rushed by life. Humans call it, low-time preference. Some of these people don’t walk fast, though they do walk steady, as if they enjoyed each and every step. They pay attention to the small details in life. They are not angry people. Their homes are often a small sanctuary, with nature, sun, shelter, and, they are likely to have a source of water for the birds, or the unexpected cat.

That was the case for me.

I was born in the desert near a house development. A vast open space surrounded by wild grassland sprinkled with desert-climate trees and cacti. I love the freedom it provides. Finding water in the desert is a priority. Cats love fresh water. A bowl that’s been sitting out for too long smells funny, tastes worse. We avoid that kind of water for as long as we can. Fresh running water is often the best, but water changed daily is good too.

I’d been scouting a part of the neighborhood, next to the vast wild. A particular backyard caught my attention. It felt friendly and peaceful enough to be a candidate for a home.

The negatives: there were no other cats there, and a pair of small of dogs would occasionally make it into the backyard. We get chased by dogs, but, as long as luck is on our side, we learn to outrun them and outsmart them. It isn’t always the case, though. We must always be careful.

However, this one afternoon I was exhausted. I drank from the ceramic bowl on that back patio. It seemed to have been placed there for cats. It had shade, height, and space to walk around it. Purrfect. Except, it was meant for birds. Oh, surprise. The birds had been avoiding it, sensing my presence.

Someone else had noticed my presence, as I fell asleep next to the water bowl, for what seemed like days. After I woke up, I started to explore the backyard from up close. We like heights, they protect us from most dangers. Coming down into someone’s home is always a risk. The person I’d been observing had noticed me there. She came out slowly to see me. I greeted her. I knew right there my instincts were right about her.

She may not have known about cats before that moment, but she moved carefully, avoiding scaring me away. As cats, we take time to develop trust. Of course, I’d been paying attention to her patterns. How she walked, what she cared for, and how she cared for things. When I drank from that bowl, I already knew I wanted this to be home. But it wasn’t a given. It is always a choice for both.

It takes time to earn trust. It always does.

I left to come back later on, as night was falling. She brought some food out, dog food, but I was hungry. I ate quickly, almost choking. She didn’t want more pets, but it felt like something changed her mind that night.

I was in serious need of a safe place, but not for me, for my two kittens. Would she take us all in?

@ 044b20cf:89e58620

One of these concept lunar vehicles could join NASA’s Artemis V astronauts on the moon

Three companies are vying for the opportunity to send their own lunar vehicle to the moon to support NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. The space agency announced (https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-companies-to-advance-moon-mobility-for-artemis-missions/) this week that it’s chosen Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab to develop their lunar terrain vehicles (LTV) in a feasibility study over the next year. After that, only one is expected to be selected for a demonstration mission, in which the vehicle will be completed and sent to the moon for performance and safety tests. NASA is planning to use the LTV starting with the Artemis V crew that’s projected to launch in early 2030.

The LTV that eventually heads to the moon’s south pole needs to function as both a crewed and uncrewed vehicle, serving sometimes as a mode of transportation for astronauts and other times as a remotely operated explorer. NASA says it’ll contract the chosen vehicle for lunar services through 2039, with all the task orders relating to the LTV amounting to a potential value of up to $4.6 billion. The selected company will also be able to use its LTV for commercial activities in its down time.

Lunar Outpost

Astrolab

Intuitive Machines, which will be developing an LTV called the Moon Racer, has already bagged multiple contracts with NASA as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, and in February launched its first lander (https://www.engadget.com/intuitive-machines-is-taking-its-shot-at-nailing-the-first-commercial-moon-landing-170024349.html), Odysseus, to the moon to achieve the first commercial moon landing (https://www.engadget.com/the-odysseus-spacecraft-has-become-the-first-us-spacecraft-to-land-on-the-moon-in-50-years-010041179.html). Venturi Astrolab will be developing a vehicle it’s dubbed Flex, while Lunar Outpost will be working on an LTV called Lunar Dawn. All must be able to support a crew of two astronauts and withstand the extreme conditions of the lunar south pole.

“We will use the LTV to travel to locations we might not otherwise be able to reach on foot, increasing our ability to explore and make new scientific discoveries,” said Jacob Bleacher, a chief exploration scientist at NASA.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/one-of-these-concept-lunar-vehicles-could-join-nasas-artemis-v-astronauts-on-the-moon-202448277.html?src=rss

https://www.engadget.com/one-of-these-concept-lunar-vehicles-could-join-nasas-artemis-v-astronauts-on-the-moon-202448277.html?src=rss

@ bac90f29:fcda0d2d

"Bitcoin is an amazing cryptographic achievement. The ability to create something that is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value." - Hal Finney

Bitcoin, the digital currency praised by Hal Finney as "an amazing cryptographic achievement," is revolutionizing the way we perceive value in the digital realm. The ability to create something that is not duplicable in the digital world is truly transformative.

Unlike traditional fiat currencies, which can be printed endlessly by central banks, Bitcoin has a finite supply. Only 21 million bitcoins will ever exist, making it a scarce digital asset. This scarcity, combined with its decentralized nature, gives Bitcoin tremendous value and potential for global adoption.

As the world becomes increasingly digitized, the need for a secure, transparent, and decentralized form of value exchange becomes paramount. Bitcoin's unique properties, such as its immutable transaction history and its resistance to censorship, make it an attractive alternative to traditional financial systems.

The article on Bithumb Korea's fiscal performance in 2023 highlights the challenges that even established cryptocurrency exchanges face in the ever-evolving digital asset landscape. Despite a rise in trading volume, Bithumb Korea experienced a significant decline in revenue, showcasing the importance of sustainable business models in the cryptocurrency industry.

In contrast, the inherent scarcity and decentralization of Bitcoin offer a more stable and resilient foundation for long-term growth. As more individuals and businesses embrace the power of Bitcoin, the potential for global adoption and financial inclusion becomes increasingly promising.

@ 1b0706e7:ec11b9b3

Please Do Not Zap This Yet. No One Has Been Onboarded Yet. This is In The Testing Phase

Mikey G's Barista Bitcoin Tip Jar

The Riverside Bitcoin Meetup Group is looking for a place to buy coffee with bitcoin. We heard this shop asked about bitcoin on Instagram and we want to invite you to nostr, a new Internet communications protocol.

Nostr allows us to do many interesting things, like create a social media such as posts or create videos on a computer network run by nerds, not corporations.

This letter is meant to be a tip jar that uses zap and prisms. Without getting too technical, this allows one bitcoin payment to get split and divide up amount of everyone who adds their npub with an attached lightning address to this post.

The goal is to onboard your baristas onto nostr using the primal app. They will also need a lightning address. You can use the one provided to you by primal if you do not mind sharing your information, or you can create a more private e cash wallet at https://www.minibits.cash/.

Baristas who wish to opt in can get their npub added to the

Todo: Add Wallet tutorial(minibits)

Todo: Add nostr tutorial(Primal)

Created by The Riverside Bitcoin Meetup Note. This is not financial advice. The Riverside Bitcoin Meetup does not receive any of the bitcoin zapped to this tip jar. All the bitcoin is held by a different, trusted third party until the bearer of the asset takes self custody.

Todo. Add prisms video. Todo: Get feedback to help make this clearer

@ 1b0706e7:ec11b9b3

Thanks for scanning the arcade nostr tip jar.

Bitcoin Tips

Nostr is a decentralized communications protocol. We can use it to do cool things like use it for a new type of social media that allows anyone on the network to collect zaps. Zaps are small bitcoin payments. This blogpost can get zapped and the bitcoin will be dispersed to the baristas who join the network.

Todo: Add Wallet tutorial(minibits)

Todo: Add nostr tutorial(Primal)

Created by The Riverside Bitcoin Meetup Note. This is not financial advice. The Riverside Bitcoin Meetup does not receive any of the bitcoin zapped to this tip jar.

Todo. Add prisms video.

@ 1b0706e7:ec11b9b3

Thanks for scanning the arcade nostr tip jar.


## Bitcoin Tips


Nostr is a decentralized communications protocol. We can use it to do cool things like use use it for a new type of social media that allows anyone on the network to collect zaps. Zaps are small bitcoin payments. This blogpost can get zapped and the bitcoin will be dispersed to the baristas who join the network.

Todo: Add Wallet tutorial(minibits)

Todo: Add nostr tutorial(Primal)

Todo. Add prisms video.

@ 75bf2353:e1bfa895

You can also read this on my blog published on TOR Audio Version Available Soon

Might as well face it, you will not orange pill Peter Schiff. You will not orange pill anyone on X(Twitter). They pay $11.00 worth of fiat to earn more fiat. They also give $11.00 worth of fiat value to people who have more than X amount of followers. Everyone else pays or gets shadow banned. It's cheap ransomware, not a serious attempt at free speech.

There's a better way to promote the use of bitcoin without playing stupid fiat games. It's time to offer the purple pill.

• The Purple Pill does not require a blue check.
• The Purple Pill allows anyone on the network to send bitcoin to anyone in the world.
• The Purple Pill is pretty perfect.

Well...It's not perfect, but it makes it easy for anyone to accept bitcoin payments.

Purple Pill Github

Karnage said he wished he could zap handbrake, free and open software used to rip DVD's. I use it to add my movies to Jellyfin. I've been thinking about asking non bitcoin projects like this to get on nostr so I can zap them because I don't want to sign up with buy me a cup of coffee.

So I added https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/issues/5915.
Karnage said he already did the same to another project. What if we all asked a free and open source project to get on nostr for zaps? Each zap could be distributed to many developers. Developers are technical. Getting on nostr should't be a problem for them.

Purple Pill Servers

Purple pill your servers. 250,000 blocks ago, I thought it would be cool to sell buttons with lightning payment QR codes. I envisioned flare for waitresses. Back in the day, waitresses at TGIF's wore buttons to advertise chile cheese fries and happy hours. I thought they should wear buttons that allowed customers to send them sats. I used a QR code from my tip me page, but it didn't work because the QR code could only be used once. What can I say? I didn't know what the hell I was doing back then.

Nostr fixes this. My idea couldn't work in 2019 an buttons are still a dumb-dumb idea, but we can still pay wait staff with no buttons required.

If a waitress had an npub, I could just search for her nym attached to an npub. She could use this npub for tips only. She would never need to read comments, but she could collect zaps. Some wallets, like Mutiny let you find nostr plebs in the wallet. You can send them sats. You'll soon be able to send ecash.

Purple Pill The People

Stop saying, "Buy Bitcoin." Say, "earn bitcoin". Don't sell bitcoin. I don't mean this as in, "hodl never sodl." I mean give a little bitcoin to people. You don't use Paypal. You don't use Venmo. You might use the Cash App, but don't ask for someone's Cash Tag. Give people the purple pill. Onboard them onto nostr. Send them zaps.

• Purple Pill your barber
• Purple Pill your barista
• Purple Pill your bud tender.
• Purple Pill the people.

Bitcoin crushed the all time high again, but nobody seems to care. They are watching the dollar crash . Interest rates are up. This doubled the price of a mortgage as compared to a few years ago. Interest rates went up to lower price of things which naturally deflate to the marginal cost of production. Fiat currency is dying*. People are not excited about the bitcoin price because $70,000 just isn't what it used to be. If you have your barbers npub, you can send him better, unbroken money. He can see the value of that money go up over time. Your tips become a DCA strategy for this hair-cutting scissor samourai.

No need to be pushy. Just teach him how to use nostr. Add him to your contacts. Have him add his profile to Mutiny Wallet. Send him cashu. Send him sats. Teach him there's a better way to save. Give him the purple pill.

*For more information, please read Jeff Booth's, The Price of Tomorrow. It's available on Amazon, but If you pirate it, send Jeff sats here.

₿logging ₿itcoin

838,156

debtclock

🧡 Support this blog by using the Value 4 Value model.

Follow Me on Nostr

⚡Zap Me

🍐Join my Keet Room

📻 Stream sats

❓Send a Boostagram

🛒Shop The Elliptic Curve Economy

@ 044b20cf:89e58620

Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro are back on sale for $190

Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro (https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=66ea567a-c987-4c2e-a2ff-02904efde6ea&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=Amazon&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5hbWF6b24uY29tL0FwcGxlLUdlbmVyYXRpb24tQ2FuY2VsbGluZy1UcmFuc3BhcmVuY3ktUGVyc29uYWxpemVkL2RwL0IwQ0hXUlhIOEIvP3RhZz1nZGd0MGMtcC12LWQ1LTIwIiwiY29udGVudFV1aWQiOiJkMmU3OTE3My0zMjY1LTQ4YjktOGViNy04NjJkNjU5NTUzZGQifQ&signature=AQAAAdTlAAy5xPhMIeOInH8dyYJTRY9Rb-7PETGcRtycsEDi&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FApple-Generation-Cancelling-Transparency-Personalized%2Fdp%2FB0CHWRXH8B%2F) have dipped to under $200 in a deal from Amazon. The AirPods Pro, which normally cost $250, are $60 off right now, bringing the price down to just $190. That’s the same price we saw during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. The AirPods Pro offer a number of premium features over the standard AirPods, including active noise cancellation for when you want to shut out the world, and an impressive transparency mode for when you want to hear your surroundings.

The second-generation AirPods Pro came out in 2022 and brought Apple’s H2 chip to the earbuds for a notable performance boost. It offers Adaptive Audio, which will automatically switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode based on what’s going on around you. With Conversation Awareness, they can lower the volume when you’re speaking and make it so other people's voices are easier to hear.

We gave this version of the AirPods Pro a review score of 88 (https://www.engadget.com/airpods-pro-review-second-generation-130048218-130048292.html), and it’s one of our picks for the best wireless earbuds (https://www.engadget.com/best-wireless-earbuds-120058222.html) on the market. The second-generation AirPods Pro are dust, sweat and water resistant, so they should hold up well for workouts, and they achieve better battery life than the previous generation. They can get about six hours of battery life with features like ANC enabled, and that goes up to as much as 30 hours with the charging case. Apple says popping the AirPods Pro in the case for 5 minutes will give you an hour of additional listening or talking time.

AirPods Pro also offer Personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking for more immersive listening while you’re watching TV or movies. The gesture controls that were introduced with this generation of the earbuds might take some getting used to, though. With AirPods Pro, you can adjust the volume by swiping the touch control.

Follow__@EngadgetDeals (https://twitter.com/EngadgetDeals) on Twitter and__subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter (https://subscription.yahoo.net/Newsletter/Preference/sub?b=engadgetdeals&src) for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-generation-airpods-pro-are-back-on-sale-for-190-142626914.html?src=rss

https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-generation-airpods-pro-are-back-on-sale-for-190-142626914.html?src=rss

@ 2363dd1c:5c34ebff

This post is the eighth in our Stoic Philosophy book club series on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Participants expressing interest are tagged at the end of the post, let us know if you're new and would like to join and be tagged!

Prior posts for context: * Book 8 * Book 7 * Book 6 * Book 5 * Book 4 * Book 3: In Carnuntum * Book 2: On the River Gran, Among the Quadi * Book 1: Debts and Lessons * Geneisis Post

Book 9

Summary and Highlights

I have appreciated Book 9 because it consists of some longer entries which lend to a feeling of more depth from Marcus, namely #1, #3, #9, #29, #30, #35 and #42. I figure I'll try something slightly different this week. Since #1 and #42 stuck out as favorites and they both open and close Book 9, I'll quote them here in their entirety and concentrate on them only with light commentary.

#1

    Injustice is a kind of blasphemy. Nature designed rational beings for each other's sake: to help -- not harm -- one another, as they deserve. To transgress its will, then, is to blaspheme against the oldest of the gods.     And to lie is to blaspheme against it too. Because "nature" means the nature of that which is. And that which is and that which is the case are closely linked, so that nature is synonymous with Truth -- the source of all true things. To lie deliberately is to blaspheme -- the liar commits deceit, and thus injustice. And likewise to lie without realizing it. Because the involuntary liar disrupts the harmony of nature -- it's order. He is in conflict with the way the world is structured. As anyone is who deviates toward what is opposed to the truth -- even against his will. Nature gave him the resources to distinguish between true an false. And he neglected them, and now can't tell the difference.     And to pursue pleasure as good, and flee from pain as evil -- that too is blasphemous. Someone who does that is bound to find himself constantly reproaching nature -- complaining that it doesn't treat the good and bad as they deserve, but often lets the bad enjoy pleasure and the things that produce it, and makes th good suffer pain, and the things that produce pain. And moreover, to fear pain is to fear something that's bound to happen, the world being what it is -- and that again is blasphemy. While if you pursue pleasure, you can hardly avoid wrongdoing -- which is manifestly blasphemous.     Some things nature is indifferent to; if it privileged one over the other it would hardly have created both. And if we want to follow nature, to be of one mind with it, we need to share its indifference. To privilege pleasure over pain -- life over death, fame over anonymity -- is clearly blasphemous. Nature certainly doesn't.     And when I say that nature is indifferent to them, I mean that they happen indifferently, at different times, to the things that exist and the things that come into being after them, through some ancient decree of Providence -- the decree by which from some initial starting point it embarked on the creation that we know, by laying down principles of what was to come and determining the generative forces: existence and change, and their successive stages.

Marcus' operative word here is "blasphemy" -- the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, the act of claiming the attributes of a deity, or irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable . My automatic connotation of this world is with the New Testament, when Jesus rails against the blasphemers, especially the Jewish Pharisees. This crowd of religious teachers seemed to be his most despicable target and he was provoked to anger in upsetting the Temple, throwing out the money changers and condemning the religious order for their false representation. I love that Marcus seems to echo the message of his late contemporary, but with slightly pagan phrasing replacing "God" for "Nature" and "the oldest of Gods". The syncretism has me appreciating how the seed of Truth found in both Christianity and Philosophy can bind seemingly competing approaches together.

The rant about lying in the second paragraph is inspiring because it lays out in rather simple terms a deep explanation and rationalization for the importance of telling the Truth. In particular, I love that Marcus emphasizes a difference between lying consciously / intentionally versus unconsciously / unintentionally and condemns both. Oftentimes we rationalize our mistakes or cutting corners on the Truth with "I didn't know". But failing to use our rational tools to "distinguish between true and false" is no excuse. In my own life, I've come to respect a difference between making an ignorant mistake and consciously doing something I know I shouldn't be doing. In the latter case, I often find that it comes back to bite me harder in the future. However, life never fails to bring me some pain along with a lesson for "innocent" mistakes in order to pull me further out of ignorance. It's important to take these experiences seriously and apply them "with reason" in the future.

With regard to pleasure and pain, so often we mistake what is Good for pleasure, and that itself is a kind of lie. And a convoluted relationship to these sensations gets us mixed up expectations. Marcus spells out the Middle Path of indifference, pure observation. I think it's easy for humans to over-anthropomorphize God and confuse God being "good" with bringing them pleasurable experiences they desire and protecting them from pain. But if we see God's Laws, or Nature as indifferent, we come to have altogether difference expectations from life. What are the implications of this? Does this make for a cold, uncompromising deity in place of the "loving father figure" the religious take solace in? Or no deity figure at all replaced by physics and metaphysics? Maybe a reasonable ruleset designed to teach us to evolve ourselves is indeed a strict, yet compassionate system designed by a loving Intelligence. Individual relationship to Deity is just that, individual. In my reading, Marcus is alluding to his interpretation in that enigmatic final paragraph.

#42

    When you run up against someone else's shamelessness, ask yourself this: Is a world without shamelessness possible?     No.     Then don't ask the impossible. There have to be shameless people in the world. This is one of them.     The same for someone vicious or untrustworthy, or with any other defect. Remembering that the whole class has to exist will make you more tolerant of its members.     Another useful point to bear in mind: What qualities has nature given us to counter that defect? As an antidote to unkindness it gave us kindness. And other qualities to balance other flaws.     And when others stray off course, you can always try to set them straight, because every wrongdoer is doing something wrong -- doing something the wrong way.     And how does it injure you anyway? You'll find that none of the people you're upset about has done anything that could do damage to your mind. But that's all that "harm" or "injury" could mean. Yes, boorish people do boorish things. What's strange or unheard-of about that? Isn't it yourself you should reproach -- for not anticipating that they'd act this way? The logos gave you the means to see it -- that a given person would act a given way -- but you paid no attention. And now you're astonished that he's gone and done it. So when you call someone "untrustworthy" or "ungrateful," turn the reproach on yourself. It was you who did wrong. By assuming that someone with those traits deserved your trust. Or by doing them a favor and expecting something in return, instead of looking to the action itself for your reward. What else did you expect from helping someone out? Isn't it enough that you've done what your nature demands? You want a salary for it too? As if your eyes expected a reward for seeing, or your feet for walking. That's what they were made for. By doing what they were designed to do, they're performing their function. Whereas humans were made to help others. And when we do help others -- or help them to do something --we're doing what were designed for. We perform our function.

Marcus' point at the end of the fourth paragraph stands out as almost intimidating. To imagine the whole field of human expression -- virtuous, evil, right, wrong, beneficent, malicious, clever, stupid, generous, miserly -- none of it means anything without its opposite. And if someone wasn't acting that out, it wouldn't be a part of humanity. The suggestion is that people acting in ways or doing things we judge as "wrong" are actually necessary in order to fill out the full definition of humanity. It's approaching that ever-elusive justification of evil in the world. And Marcus even suggests an alchemical directive by applying the "antidote" of opposite quality to the flaws we observe in the world around us. Being kind in the face of unkindness doesn't fix the whole world around us, but it takes action in the space that matters -- the space within us, that we can control.

As in #1, Marcus echoes and emphasizes that ignorance is no excuse. When we go about expecting people to behave a different way, we have failed to utilize our own reason, the gift of the logos, to see things and people as they are. I am, however, reminded of Marcus' entries early in Book 2 or 3, where he reminds himself not to go delving into the minds of others. Perhaps his thinking about accurately measuring people around him has shifted, or perhaps he draws a difference between participating in dramatic judgement of others versus rational perception.

Marcus constant admonition of human duty to help others is helpful for me to read over and over again. Currently in the process of determining my next career move, I am grateful for the reminder to exercise my talents to help other people whenever there is an opportunity, regardless of reward. Unfortunately, I'm finding that there is such a strong conditioning to protect my time and attention, that I miss many opportunities. Living this way, in service, is a practice, and I'm grateful for the frequent reminders in Meditations and will likely have to commit to cultivating this mindset as diligently as committing to an exercise routine or a daily yoga practice.

There are plenty of other great entries in Book 9, so don't skip out on reading!

Participants

Thank you everyone who has been reading Meditations, and participated in the discussions. Feel free let me know if you don't want to be on the tag list anymore :)

@siggy47 @cryotosensei @carlosfandango @Bitman @gd @sudocarlos @BitByBit21 @bc52210b20 @Atreus @byzantine @davidw @Roll @grayruby @Taft @Oialt

Please signal interest in the comments if you'd like to be tagged.

@ c11cf5f8:4928464d

Let's hear some of your latest Bitcoin purchases, feel free to include links to the shops or merchants you bought from too.

If you missed our last thread, here are some of the items stackers recently spent their sats on.

@ a012dc82:6458a70d

Discover how Hermann, founder of Bitcoin Ekasi, intertwines surfing, Bitcoin education, and healthy living to empower children in South Africa. In a captivating episode of the 'Croxraod' podcast, Hermann shares insights into his nonprofit organisation's journey, from its inception to its transformative impact on disadvantaged communities. Through innovative approaches like introducing Bitcoin payments for coaches' salaries, Bitcoin Ekasi fosters financial inclusion and literacy among youth while leveraging surfing as a tool for personal development. Join the conversation as Hermann discusses overcoming challenges, inspiring community participation, and envisioning a future of sustainable growth. Dive into this episode of 'Croxraod'—a platform dedicated to exploring impactful initiatives and inspiring stories—hosted by Fernando where Hermann's vision for a brighter, empowered South Africa comes to life.

Table of Contents

• Hermann's nonprofit organisation

• The genesis of Bitcoin Ekasi

• Bitcoin Beach project in El Salvador

• Surfing as a metaphor for resilience

• Testimonials and success stories

• Conclusion

• FAQs

Hermann's nonprofit organisation

Hermann's nonprofit organisation, Bitcoin Ekasi, stands as a beacon of hope and empowerment in South Africa's disadvantaged communities. Founded with a visionary blend of surfing, Bitcoin education, and community development, Bitcoin Ekasi embodies Hermann's commitment to fostering positive change. Through innovative programming, the organisation aims to provide children with opportunities for growth, education, and financial empowerment. Bitcoin Ekasi's mission extends beyond traditional charity models, focusing on sustainable initiatives that uplift individuals and communities over the long term. By introducing surfing as a tool for personal development and Bitcoin education as a pathway to financial literacy, Hermann's non profit organisation seeks to break cycles of poverty and empower the next generation of leaders. With a focus on inclusivity and collaboration, Bitcoin Ekasi engages community members, local businesses, and volunteers in its mission, creating a network of support and opportunity for all involved. As Hermann's passion project, Bitcoin Ekasi embodies the transformative potential of combining sports, education, and social entrepreneurship to create lasting change. Through the organisation's initiatives, children in South Africa are not only learning to surf and understanding the basics of Bitcoin but also gaining invaluable life skills, building confidence, and envisioning a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

The genesis of Bitcoin Ekasi

The genesis of Bitcoin Ekasi marks a pivotal moment in Hermann's journey towards creating positive change in South Africa's underserved communities. Inspired by the transformative potential of Bitcoin and fueled by a desire to empower individuals through financial inclusion, Hermann embarked on a mission to introduce Bitcoin education in a novel and impactful way. Recognizing the power of sports as a unifying force and a platform for personal growth, Hermann integrated surfing into the fabric of Bitcoin Ekasi's initiatives. This innovative approach not only provided children with access to a new recreational activity but also served as a vehicle for instilling essential life skills and values. As Hermann's vision took shape, Bitcoin Ekasi emerged as a multifaceted organisation dedicated to bridging the gap between financial literacy and community development. By leveraging the principles of Bitcoin's decentralised currency and the ethos of grassroots empowerment, Bitcoin Ekasi began laying the groundwork for a brighter future. Through strategic partnerships, grassroots advocacy, and community engagement, Hermann's initiative gained momentum, drawing support from local residents, businesses, and volunteers alike. The genesis of Bitcoin Ekasi symbolises a paradigm shift in philanthropy and social entrepreneurship, where innovation and inclusivity converge to create meaningful change. As the organisation continues to evolve and expand its reach, Hermann remains steadfast in his commitment to empowering individuals, transforming lives, and building a more equitable and resilient society, one wave at a time.

Bitcoin Beach project in El Salvador

The Bitcoin Beach project in El Salvador stands as a pioneering example of community-driven empowerment through cryptocurrency adoption. Inspired by the principles of financial inclusion and self-reliance, this groundbreaking initiative was spearheaded by Mike Peterson and gained widespread recognition for its innovative approach to fostering economic resilience in underserved communities. Located in the coastal town of El Zonte, Bitcoin Beach began as a grassroots effort to introduce Bitcoin as a viable alternative to traditional banking systems. Through strategic partnerships with local businesses and organisations, Bitcoin Beach created a vibrant ecosystem where residents could transact, save, and invest in Bitcoin with ease. The project's success in El Zonte quickly garnered international attention, sparking conversations about the transformative potential of cryptocurrency in addressing global economic challenges. By providing residents with access to digital wallets and educational resources, Bitcoin Beach empowered individuals to take control of their financial futures and participate in the global economy on their own terms. Beyond its economic impact, the project fostered a sense of community pride and resilience, uniting residents around a shared vision of prosperity and self-determination. As other communities around the world look to replicate Bitcoin Beach's model, its legacy serves as a testament to the power of innovation, collaboration, and grassroots activism in driving positive change. In a world where traditional banking systems often fail to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, the Bitcoin Beach project offers a glimpse of a more inclusive and equitable future, where access to financial services is not just a privilege but a fundamental human right.

Surfing as a metaphor for resilience

Surfing, with its dynamic and ever-changing nature, serves as a poignant metaphor for resilience in the face of life's challenges. Much like riding the waves, navigating through adversity requires balance, adaptability, and courage. Surfers understand that every wave presents a unique set of obstacles and opportunities, requiring them to remain focused, flexible, and persistent. In the same way, individuals facing adversity must learn to embrace uncertainty, confront obstacles head-on, and persist in their pursuit of success. Just as surfers paddle out again after each wipeout, resilient individuals muster the strength to rise above setbacks, learn from their experiences, and emerge stronger than before. Moreover, surfing teaches valuable lessons about patience, perseverance, and the importance of staying present in the moment. In the face of life's storms, resilient individuals draw upon these lessons, trusting in their ability to weather the challenges and find their way back to calmer waters. Furthermore, surfing fosters a deep connection with nature, reminding individuals of their inherent resilience and interconnectedness with the world around them. Through the ebb and flow of the waves, surfers cultivate a sense of mindfulness and gratitude, appreciating the beauty and power of the ocean while recognizing their own capacity for growth and transformation. Ultimately, surfing as a metaphor for resilience inspires individuals to embrace life's ups and downs with grace, courage, and determination, knowing that with each challenge overcome, they become stronger, wiser, and more resilient versions of themselves.

Testimonials and success stories

Testimonials and success stories from participants of Bitcoin Ekasi's programs provide compelling evidence of the organisation's impact on individuals and communities. From children experiencing newfound confidence and skills to adults achieving financial empowerment, these stories illuminate the transformative power of Hermann's initiative.

One testimonial comes from a young participant who discovered a passion for surfing through Bitcoin Ekasi's programs. They share how learning to ride the waves not only provided them with a sense of freedom and joy but also instilled valuable lessons about perseverance and resilience. Through surfing, they found a sense of belonging and community, forging friendships that would last a lifetime.

Another success story highlights the impact of Bitcoin education on a local entrepreneur. After learning about cryptocurrency through Bitcoin Ekasi's workshops, they were inspired to explore new opportunities for financial growth. By embracing Bitcoin as a means of payment for their business, they were able to expand their customer base and increase their revenue, paving the way for greater economic stability and prosperity.

Additionally, testimonials from parents and community members underscore the broader social benefits of Bitcoin Ekasi's initiatives. Many express gratitude for the organization's commitment to empowering youth and fostering a culture of innovation and self-reliance. They note how Hermann's vision has not only transformed individual lives but also revitalised the community as a whole, creating opportunities for growth, collaboration, and shared prosperity.

These testimonials and success stories serve as powerful reminders of the positive ripple effects generated by Bitcoin Ekasi's programs. They inspire hope, motivation, and a renewed sense of purpose, reaffirming Hermann's belief in the transformative potential of surfing, Bitcoin education, and healthy living as catalysts for change in South Africa and beyond.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bitcoin Ekasi's innovative fusion of surfing, Bitcoin education, and community development stands as a beacon of hope and empowerment in South Africa. Through Hermann's visionary leadership, the organisation has transformed lives, instilling values of resilience, financial literacy, and healthy living in individuals of all ages. From empowering youth through sports and education to fostering economic independence through cryptocurrency adoption, Bitcoin Ekasi exemplifies the transformative power of grassroots initiatives. As we look to the future, let us continue to support and emulate Hermann's inspiring vision, creating a world where every individual has the opportunity to thrive and realise their full potential.

FAQs

How does Bitcoin Ekasi incorporate surfing into its programs? Bitcoin Ekasi integrates surfing into its initiatives as a tool for personal development and community engagement. Through surfing lessons and activities, participants not only learn the fundamentals of the sport but also gain valuable life skills, build confidence, and foster a sense of belonging.

What role does Bitcoin play in Bitcoin Ekasi's programs? Bitcoin Ekasi introduces Bitcoin education and adoption as a means of promoting financial inclusion and literacy within underserved communities. By teaching participants about the basics of Bitcoin and facilitating its use in everyday transactions, the organisation empowers individuals to take control of their financial futures and participate in the global economy.

How can individuals support Bitcoin Ekasi's mission? Individuals can support Bitcoin Ekasi's mission by volunteering their time and expertise, making donations to the organisation, or spreading awareness about its initiatives within their communities. Additionally, businesses and organisations can collaborate with Bitcoin Ekasi to sponsor programs, provide resources, or host events that promote its goals of community empowerment and development.

What impact has Bitcoin Ekasi had on the communities it serves? Bitcoin Ekasi has had a significant impact on the communities it serves, empowering individuals of all ages to pursue their passions, gain valuable skills, and achieve economic independence. Through its programs, the organisation has fostered a culture of resilience, innovation, and collaboration, creating lasting positive change in South Africa and beyond.

That's all for today, see ya tomorrow

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@ f819937d:21052a45

HT to @Dale21M on X for the inspiration. I've taken his original post and added to it.

Why is everything so expensive? Why do the rich keep getting richer and the wealth divide keeps getting bigger? Why can't you just work and save money - why must you invest to get ahead?

It's because traditional fiat currencies like the £ and the $ are a scam. It's money backed by nothing other than decree and is intentionally designed to inflate away. It's costless to produce so there's no constraints to printing it. The more governments print, the less valuable your tradition currency and savings become.

The money is fundamentally broken. Money represents your stored time, energy and labour. Devaluation of our money represents a devaluation of our time. And time is the only thing on earth that is truly scarce.

Bitcoin fixes the broken money.

Bitcoin is a deflationary, fixed supply apolitical money that is permissionless with a predictable supply issuance. It's decentralised without a central issuer and allows you to send value to anyone on the planet without an intermediary. It's one of the reasons why the world's biggest asset managers just launched a BitcoinETF and why its value keeps going up, and why it will continue to do so forever.

Bitcoin is not just about the price. It's about so much more.

But price is the reason people start to adopt Bitcoin initially, primarily looking for gains over time.

Bitcoin is a savings technology and a very powerful store of value. It's the equivalent of digital gold but better than traditional gold in pretty much every aspect.

However, most people still have not taken the plunge and started accumulating bitcoin.

With the recent price action (which you may not even be aware of yet), many people are going to feel that they have missed the boat and it's too late to start accumulating.

In the last month or so, bitcoin has breached the previous all time high and briefly touched over £55,000 GBP per single Bitcoin.

The simple truths are these...

• You are not too late to accumulate Bitcoin. You will never be too late. Bitcoin will always go up in value over a medium to long term time period.
• You don't need to buy a full bitcoin. You can buy from as little as £1's worth per day.
• Due to its divisibility, Bitcoin is not expensive - price is what you pay, value is what you get.
• There is no other "#crypto" worth considering - there's no second best, the other cryptocurrencies are essentially companies with founders who printed a bunch of tokens for themselves - fiat currencies 2.0.
• The people who've done well in Bitcoin up to now aren't lucky - they were open minded enough to consider a different perspective and they did the work. Most of the people I've engaged with in the Bitcoin space are some of the brightest people I've ever come across.

Bitcoin is based on maths.

It's not speculation, it's not gambling. It's a new digital money backed by the most secure and powerful network in existence. It's decentralised and permissionless. Its monetary policy is not set by governments or corporations, it's set in code and governed by concensus. It's the best form of money we've ever had.

Yes, it is extremely volatile in the short term. How can it not be? How can something grow from £0 to £55,000 in 14 years without huge volatility?

The only way to assess bitcoin is with a long term view - 4 years minimum.

You can almost guarantee that if you buy any bitcoin at any time, it may well temporarily lose value in the short term, so just have to accept that. But you have to look to the future.

With a 4 year time horizon, Bitcoin has always increased in value.

Always.

Those people that bought at the previous all time high and held onto their Bitcoin did so just over two years ago and are all in profit. At this point, following the new breaching of the all time high, 100% of everyone who has ever bought and held onto bitcoin are in profit. Every single person.

However, this recent breach of the all time high is not like the previous all time highs.

The Bitcoin ecosystem is stronger than ever and a whole new dynamic is in place. The mainstream financial institutions have arrived and have embraced bitcoin in a big way.

In 2021, when the last all time high was achieved, this was mainly through retail purchases through exchanges. FOMO or "Fear Of Missing Out" was rampant. Bad actors were prevalent (FTX for example) distorting the supply. Buying bitcoin was difficult and not easy to understand.

In 2024, the dynamics are completely different and the bad actors have been swept away.

• The launch of the US bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in January have supercharged bitcoin adoption making it easy for US investors and institutions to buy exposure to bitcoin via their stock brokers with a push of a button.

• Capital inflows into bitcoin are unprecedented and bitcoin is being promoted by the top financial companies in the world.

• Changes to FASB rules now allow companies to buy bitcoin for their treasuries and have an easy way to correctly account for it.

• FOMO for retail investors for this cycle has not yet even started.

• For the first time, an all time high has been reached before the halving. This is due in April where the supply of newly minted bitcoin is programmatically halved, from 900 bitcoin per day to just 450 per day causing a pre determined supply shock

• Environmental concerns are proving to be unfounded with organisations like the WEF extolling how bitcoin mining is having a positive impact.

Here are just some examples of how the value of bitcoin has grown in the last few years.

• If you received a stimulus check in the US for $1200 USD and bought bitcoin (on April 15, 2020) and held on to it, it would be now be worth $12,346 - a return of 929%

• Back in October 22 I posted a tweet about buying £10 of bitcoin using my Revolut account in 2018, and how it was then worth £37.97. I just checked this morning in April 2024, and it's now worth £120.56!

• Back in August 23, I posted that you could purchase 2.2 million sats (sats being the smallest unit of Bitcoin) for just £500. If you had done, those same 2.2 million sats today would now be worth £1,208.44

I've done thousands of hours of work studying Bitcoin over the past 7 years, and there is legitimately no better way to take care of your future self by saving the best money humanity has known.

I'm happy to give any of my friends or family free advice on how to get some Bitcoin.

Do yourself a favour and read this. If you're keen, I'm always available to talk.

https://vijayboyapati.medium.com/the-bullish-case-for-bitcoin-6ecc8bdecc1

P.S- The lowest return over any 4 period is 100%, go test it.

@ 044b20cf:89e58620

Solar Eclipse 2024: How to watch and record the total eclipse on Monday

Weather Update, April 7, 4:00 AM ET: The weather forecast in the story below still largely holds, but things are more unsettled in the southern US, with forecasts now calling for thunderstorms from Dallas (https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/dallas/75202/weather-forecast/351194?city=dallas) up to Indianapolis (https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/indianapolis/46204/weather-forecast/348323?city=indianapolis). So, keep that potential danger in mind (and keep an eye on forecasts) when making eclipse plans.

Elsewhere, the best chance of good viewing along the path of totality is still in northeastern parts (https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2024/04/06/solar-eclipse-2024-heres-the-latest-forecast-for-stormy-skies/72868948007/) of the US (Buffalo, NY, Burlington, VT), along with southeast Canada (Niagara Falls and Montreal), according to Accuweather (https://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/montreal/h3a/weather-forecast/56186?city=montreal). In the Midwest (Cleveland), there's a higher chance of rain than before (58 percent), but no storms currently predicted.

Original story continues below

On April 8, a solar eclipse (https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/) will darken the skies. This is a rare astronomical event: The last North American total solar eclipse was on August 21, 2017, and there won't be another on visible on the continent until 2044. The path of totality — where the sun will be fully blocked by the moon — covers over 30 million people in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Those lucky folks may see the sun’s corona and a “diamond ring” — both dramatic sights. Other regions will experience partial eclipses, with the level depending on how close you are to totality. Watching the moon eat into the sun, even a bit, is still a spectacular sight.

So, which cities and regions will experience totality, and when? What’s the weather forecast in those areas? And if you do have a clear view, how can you safely watch and record the event?

Where in the US will you experience the solar eclipse totality, and when?

The good news is that many major centers are in the 100-mile-wide band of totality, so millions of people will be able to see a full solar eclipse. It follows a northeast path, so Mexico’s Pacific coast will get the first views in Mazatlan starting at around 10:57 AM PDT (total eclipse starting at 12:07 PDT), followed by the city of Torreón (all times local).

The total eclipse moves into the United states at 12:10 PM CDT (Eagle Pass, Texas), then hits Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas — three out of five of the most populous Texas cities. From there, it moves into Little Rock, Arkansas, followed by select parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (including Indianapolis).

NASA

Ohio cities Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland get the full show, followed by Erie, Pennsylvania, then Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse in New York along with Maine. Canada is in on the fun too, with parts of southern Ontario (Hamilton, Niagara Falls) and Quebec (Montreal) getting the totality, along with New Brunswick, PEI and finally, Bonavista, Labrador at 4:03 PM NDT (Newfoundland Time).

If you’re elsewhere on the continent and can’t travel, know that the closer you are to the band of totality, the more the sun will be obscured by the moon (this map (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53c358b6e4b01b8adb4d5870/467639a7-320a-49b9-945c-84c53225f13b/tse2024_print_map_11x17_social.jpg?format%3D2500w&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553980207&usg=AOvVaw03R4-aJ2UapTyji28qGvvv) shows how much of the eclipse you’ll get depending where you are on the continent).

An impressive list of major centers are within 200 miles of totality, so they’ll get a 90 percent or better eclipse (Houston, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, New York, Boston).

Anyone in the US south, midwest and northeast should get a decent spectacle, as will folks in Canada’s southeast and Atlantic coast. Even if you’re not in those regions, you might still see (and can capture) a mini eclipse.

How long with the 2024 solar eclipse last?

From the beginning when the moon first starts to cover the sun (partial eclipse) until the end when the two bodies part ways is a good long time – up to two hours and forty minutes in Dallas, and 2:18 in Caribou, Maine.

However, totality itself is brief, with the duration dependent on how close you are to the center of the totality band and the time of day. It’s at just under four minutes in Dallas, less than three minutes in Presque Island, Maine and a mere minute and 12 seconds in Montreal. As such, you’ll need to be ready and hope that the skies are clear during that brief window.

What’s the weather forecast in my area?

It’s still early for an accurate forecast, but a week is enough to get a general idea by region. Suffice to say, April isn’t the ideal month for clear skies. That said, an eclipse can still be visible through light cloud cover, and even if it’s thick, the sky will grow dramatically dark.

Unfortunately, the odds of precipitation are indeed above average (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2024/03/29/2024-solar-eclipse-updates-cloud-forecast-10-days/72866284007/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553981515&usg=AOvVaw0DjMy_f7xRaU5xaw5v_UmI) across most of the band of the eclipse. Forecasts predict that the chances for clear skies are better the farther northeast you live, the opposite of historical trends.

To wit, Dallas has showers forecast throughout the day (58 percent), which would mean continuous cloud cover and no clear view if that holds. That improves a bit when you get to Indianapolis (partly cloudy, 24 percent chance of rain), with things better still in Buffalo, New York (partly cloudy, 11 percent).

Things are looking good right now in Montreal, though, with mostly sunny skies and only a 9 percent chance of rain, and the same goes for Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Niagara Falls also figures to have decent weather during the eclipse (mostly sunny, 18 percent) and is in the path of totality, which has led to the city declaring a state of emergency (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globalnews.ca/news/10392024/solar-eclipse-state-of-emergency-niagara-region/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553982239&usg=AOvVaw1mCLah8RZxY0JcR0e4VWLr) out of caution. Officials estimate that a million people could pour into the area, creating potentially dangerous crowds.

How can I watch the solar eclipse at home?

Staring at the sun is obviously dangerous for your vision, and doing so during an eclipse can be just as harmful. Even though you may not feel discomfort immediately, you may damage your eyes via an affliction called solar retinopathy (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/solar-retinopathy&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553982721&usg=AOvVaw1yv3mUhJSkkX-mQciaJPDt). That can lead to serious consequences like eye pain, blind spots, blurred vision and more.

American Astronomical Society

To view it safely, you must purchase a pair of approved solar eclipse glasses based on an international safety standard called ISO 12312-2 (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/iso12312-2&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553983211&usg=AOvVaw0M_0AS9XmD1QXbWuv5PHCe) (regular sunglasses won’t do). That dictates the maximum luminous transmittance, along with the range of permissible wavelength transmittance (UVA, UVB and infrared).

There’s certainly still time to grab a pair if you don’t have them already. The American Astronomical Societ (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553983513&usg=AOvVaw1LGICsIYWWie0qFCxN57Wt)y (AAS) has many recommendations for manufacturers and vendors, both online and at retail chains.

Warby Parker, for one, is offering free glasses (limit two per person while supplies last). You can also find them at Staples, Lowes and Walmart, or online at B&H and multiple science and astronomy stores.

The AAS advises against searching for the lowest price on Amazon or eBay, however, in case you get a bad knock off. “Before you buy a solar viewer or filter online, we recommend that you make sure that (1) the seller is identified on the site and (2) the seller is listed on this page (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553983995&usg=AOvVaw30h96LGiUHxmFwE5qhJZAf),” it says on its Solar Eclipse Across America site.

How to watch the solar eclipse safely without glasses

Canadian Space Agency

It’s possible to view an eclipse without glasses via indirect means, as well. The simplest way is by punching a small round hole in a piece of thick paper or cardboard, then positioning it so the sun shines through the hole onto the ground or a flat surface (you can also attach a piece of foil with a hole, as NASA shows here (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/how-to-make-a-pinhole-camera/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553984572&usg=AOvVaw3ijP00Tf_XJ33VWzgrS7vY)). That will project an image of the Sun's disc, letting you see the eclipse in real time.

The same pinhole principle would let you use anything with perforated holes, like a colander, projecting dozens of tiny eclipses on a surface. Trees can do the same thing, casting weird leaf shadows with little solar eclipse chunks out of them.

Benjamin Seigh/Wikimedia

For a bit better experience, you can build a crude box projector. With that, the sun shines through a hole in tin foil onto a white card, and you can look through a larger hole at the card, with the sun behind you. The Canadian Space Agency explains exactly how to make that (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/youth-educators/activities/fun-experiments/eclipse-projector.asp&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553985163&usg=AOvVaw23krvSzhRW8mnVwAXClUpi).

Never, ever view an eclipse directly through a pair of binoculars or a telescope, as that’s a guaranteed way to damage your eyes. That said, you can use a pair of binoculars or a telescope to project the sun onto a piece of paper, as shown in this video (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DfCnZlH4-6Go&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553985578&usg=AOvVaw1mnuwAQgPwPe1GuZMtZEae).

How to take photos or video of the solar eclipse

Unfortunately, you can’t just point your smartphone or camera at the sun to record the eclipse, as the brightness will overwhelm the sensor and ruin the image (and possibly damage the sensor). Luckily, you can shield your camera just as you do your eyes.

The cheapest way to do that is to buy an extra set of eclipse glasses, then cut out an eyepiece from one and tape it over the smartphone (or other camera) lens. That will reduce the light levels enough to see detail in the sun throughout the partial eclipse and totality.

You can also purchase dedicated smartphone solar filters like the VisiSolar Photo Filter (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Smartphone-Solar-Imaging-Enhancing-Photo/dp/B0CFBX3KNN/ref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553986503&usg=AOvVaw1O82t5taMnjw7mJE3IvC0k), which are designed for cameras and not direct viewing. Another choice is the Solar Snap Eclipse App (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Snap-Eclipse-App-Photography/dp/B0CBQH1LDQ/ref%3Dsr_1_3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553986758&usg=AOvVaw035K_41ZDTAIdAuKXdQfph) Kit, which also offers an app that aids in photographing the eclipsed sun. It’s advisable to also wear solar glasses when setting up your smartphone or camera to protect your eyes.

If you’re shooting the eclipse with a dedicated mirrorless or DSLR camera, you’ll need (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/solar-photography-filters/ci/34576&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553987072&usg=AOvVaw336v06nMPKdXhw1o-Ul9bR) either a mylar, 16-stop ND (neutral density) or hydrogen alpha solar filter. Again, do not look directly into a DSLR’s optical viewfinder at the sun if the lens doesn’t have one of those filters attached (the electronic viewfinder on a mirrorless camera is safe).

To photograph the eclipse with a smartphone, turn the flash off and put the camera into ultrawide or wide mode so it stays in frame. Do NOT look directly at the sun to line up your camera if you’re not wearing solar eclipse glasses.

Don’t use the digital zoom to try to make the eclipse bigger, as you’ll lose resolution (you can zoom in later in your photo editing app). Once focus is set on the sun, use your smartphone’s focus lock feature so that it doesn’t “hunt” for focus and blur the eclipse.

During totality, the “diamond ring” effect only lasts a split second, so use the burst mode of your camera or you’ll likely miss the shot. And try to capture RAW (rather than JPEG) images to keep the maximum detail possible for later editing. Some iPhone and Android smartphones have RAW capability built-in, if not, you can use a third-party app.

If you decide to capture video, you’ll need a filter as well, of course. But you should also use a tripod, as shooting handheld will induce blur and result in a shaky video. Even a cheap tripod (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Lightweight-Camera-Mount-Tripod/dp/B00XI87KV8/ref%3Dsr_1_3?crid%3DB2EPHKSX6AZW%26dib%3DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.JJHQQ7uMdPhJvfWQbYJVuyuHeR34Ac1cnqT7YFddWYc3fznjh1SEmiymp4LLdqF4EGEGHNRJlVIVogOCCejapGPe7bFD4325Ezn3OMHMijHGndESNPH1Y55VIvAfSG_TYbe2QzV-L3sLXR6PBKnYBuFnnmbOFW3mRHPu3l42H2Q-bOREzFasrh7mA24dRG2ijSwGmZzoylCsmZkJAhLsJ6UOQGXlCw2Ud8J5C7rKQs4.TVxKJHVdFAO4SwOKjad-QeEiqimefTg0vBal2lxTPuM%26dib_tag%3Dse%26keywords%3Damazon%252Btripod%26qid%3D1711814607%26sprefix%3Damazon%252Btripod%252Caps%252C159%26sr%3D8-3%26th%3D1&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553987964&usg=AOvVaw0E3LtHX1DQqklUh4U3jtmZ) will do the trick, along with a simple smartphone holder (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/SharingMoment-Smartphone-Horizontal-Rotatable-Adjustable/dp/B07S8TTH34/ref%3Dsr_1_3?crid%3D22AIUKEIPI6JQ%26dib%3DeyJ2IjoiMSJ9.c1JZ1Df5HkgWOGy32ZEN4PG5jNGZlZp0pkVo7jeN2V_wK2Rs-eT_Q0NUxT6G80kHxs92USia2NyWH4pfInqfplRqN5mLPL9zhyEU9tP_X5EF_YjPpSN6o3DMv0vbxgIDJg4A3TpzBhjR4ZgsKTA3D07rZv50xWqwbm1aFzAiKkxEVaD1KCABTsaKZvGcV9CyB__zX2Q3v59YO645dFt9VfFSpnETNWHHcMqRmFDkrYc.w7hvwDxx6DIpf8kdh-STDCXt1nXO1VOGSGlgI1XhRPY%26dib_tag%3Dse%26keywords%3Dtripod%2Bsmartphone%2Bholder%26qid%3D1711814653%26sprefix%3Dtripod%2Bsmartphone%2Bholder%252Caps%252C166%26sr%3D8-3&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553988330&usg=AOvVaw0Tv10KB5Am9DQ3Pj3o6M45). Capture the highest resolution you can (4K or even 8K) at the highest quality possible. You’ll also capture any cheering, shouting, etc. — a precious souvenir you can look back on again and again.

More resources

There are plenty of government and private sites with more information about the eclipse, starting with the AAS’s eclipse site (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eclipse.aas.org/totality&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553988770&usg=AOvVaw3Ergz7XjLQ_uTKhTt9pR44), detailing things like eye safety, imaging, resources and even a totality app (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://eclipse.aas.org/totality&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553988914&usg=AOvVaw3Uj3xbEx8lrrXKi0qeIq1k) — an “interactive map that shows what you’ll see at any location in North America for the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024.”

NASA also offers a dedicated site for the North American Eclipse (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553989174&usg=AOvVaw2StoqS6swU21K7ms6HyKo-), as does the National Weather Service (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.weather.gov/pah/April8_2024SolarEclipseClimate%23&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553989334&usg=AOvVaw3-LK-wkUN8yhrDnA4RFiR3) and National Solar Observatory (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-resources/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553989485&usg=AOvVaw0VROc4L4ksCqoHFJrfiGme). A private site called Great American Eclipse (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/april-8-2024&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553989634&usg=AOvVaw0IIcwGxPNdUMt4WOdwhxQM) is largely commercial, but does have a very useful map showing the band of totality and how much of the eclipse you’ll see depending on location, along with a comprehensive list of eclipse times and durations by city (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53c358b6e4b01b8adb4d5870/ecb65550-5784-4edb-a5f3-6c1b4a9b75a7/FieldGuideToThe2023and2024SolarEclipses_withSpreads_Page_53.jpg?format%3D2500w&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1711987553989904&usg=AOvVaw0II1_5hQAV479Cyxop8Te4).

Update, April 5, 12:30PM ET: This story was updated after publishing to include more details about the total solar eclipse's path of totality.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/solar-eclipse-2024-how-to-watch-and-record-the-total-eclipse-on-monday-163035394.html?src=rss

https://www.engadget.com/solar-eclipse-2024-how-to-watch-and-record-the-total-eclipse-on-monday-163035394.html?src=rss

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Prompt: Shopping cart ===============

Some brands use a cart or bag during their checkout process. Consider the products, prices, and placement of any other required data. Do people need to create an account? Checkout as a guest? Is there shipping?

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Flex your design muscles and join in. Most of all, keep this exercise loose and keep it stress-free. The FUC is about growing our design skills, together, as a community. We can't wait to see what you create!

Happy designing, Stackers!

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Share Your Results When you finish the challenge, post your work on this thread! If you also share it on nostr, be sure to use the hashtag #FUCdesiger and tag Design_r@iris.to or @Design__r on X! We'll keep an eye out and repost good examples on a regular basis.

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Curious to know WTF is a FUC? Read the ⚡️Flash Ui Challenges welcoming post.

Looking for more FUCs? Check the archive here!

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Let’s reflect on this week's discussions

What did you learn from it? What did you think about it? Which valuable insights did you gain, and how can you apply them moving forward?

Share your Sunday sunshine and let's wrap up the week on a thoughtful note.

@ 1d22e00c:50e00d0e

welcome to Refinery Life Australia.

The theme for the coming Sunday mornings is The Master’s Recipe for effective Praying.

Today we are talking about, Hallowed Be Thy Name.

Text

Matthew 6:9 NKJV

9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.

Scripture Reading

Luke 11:1-13 NKJV

The Model Prayer

1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father]in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

4 And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.”

A Friend Comes at Midnight

5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;

6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?

8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking

9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?

12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Introduction.

The Lord's prayer is a useful guide for disciples to follow in their prayer life.

It gives us some priorities by which to establish our prayer life.

Most of us have quoted this presence childhood, but we may not have fully looked carefully at what it really says.

What should be the primary burden of your prayer when you approach the heavenly Father?

In this prayer, Jesus set forth seven petitions.

The first three are concerned with the things of God.

The last four concerned with the things of man.

This reflects God's priorities that should be observed in prayer.

The first petition is hallowed be thy name.

The biblical use of name is a little strange to modern minds.

In understanding the Bible, you cannot separate the name from the person.

Name is character so far is it revealed.

To hallow something means to count it as Holy.

Literally, it means “to make holy.”

Since it is related to God in this text, we know that it carries the force here of regarding or acknowledging something that is holy.

There is no way that the name of God can be made holy, for He is the eternal Holy One.

A petition for a revelation of God.

Spirit of the petition.

While this first petition is voiced as a specific, urgent appeal, it has beneath it a confession.

Only reason we would be moved to pray for God's name to be hallowed would be because it was not currently been done.

Humankind is guilty of not regarding God as holy and of treating His name as a common, ordinary thing.

We must confess that there are times when we show little regard the name of God and times when we represent His name is a very common thing.

What about the burden of the petition?

It is primarily through this petition the God will make Himself known, that God will confront people with the truth about Himself.

This is a petition that God will reveal Himself to people as He revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush and Isaiah in the temple.

The conviction behind this petition is that only such a knowledge of God can meet the deepest needs of humanity.

This first petition is not that people may have the strength to do what is right, but rather that they may know God.

The conviction is that if people can come to know God, all of these other needs will be cared for in their lives.

Humankind’s deepest problem is ignorance of God.

Though the evidence for God is all about them and God desires to make himself known, people still live in ignorance.

We see this priority in the prayers of Paul for himself and for others.

He was moved to pray that “I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.”

He longed for a deeper and full on knowledge of God in his life.

He prayed for other Christians they might be “filled with all the fullness of God.”

This should also be the priority in our prayers for others.

1. A petition for a recognition of God.

This petition goes deeper than that people may know God is holy.

They must not only know what Moses, Isaiah, and Peter knew, they must do what these men did.

When they knew God is holy, they responded to Him accordingly.

This is a missionary petition.

As we look upon the world in its sin electrons, no prayer is more appropriate than a petition the God may be known acknowledge by sinful human beings.

It should be the passion of every Christian heart to see God reverenced by the nations of the earth.

This is also a personal petition.

We must also pray, hallowed be your name in my life.

Will be powerless and seeing God's name hallowed in the earth until it is first Hallowed in us.

But what does this involve?

Our lips should speak the name of God with a sense of awe and reference.

If we really know who He is, we should speak of Him accordingly.

The old Testament people of God had such a respect for the name of God, such an awareness of His holiness, that they would not write His name and were even reluctant to speak it.

They often spoke of him simply as “the name.”

This stands in sharp contrast to the irreverence and familiarity that has crept into our lives.

Some speak of God flippantly and even use His name was blasphemously.

Some constantly use God’s name to call down curses on people and things when God does not act that way, and these are people who call themselves Christians.

Petition also include your personal thoughts.

Irreverent and speech begins with irreverent thoughts.

The mouth can only speak what has been conceived in the heart.

What are your thoughts of God?

This would include those secret thoughts you would not openly express.

Do you have a resentment towards God?

Do you resent his claims on your life?

Do you insist on having your own way rather than following his way?

This petition is the God maybe reverenced, acknowledged, and adored in your heart.

It is a prayer that in your heart there will be nothing except submission, adoration, and praise toward God.

The more, the petition hallowed be thy name includes our personal conduct.

The conduct of our daily lives can be a blasphemy of the Name just as a speech can.

Paul levelled such a charge against Israel of his day.

What is your conduct saying about God to those who watch you?

Is it speaking to them of a God of love, kindness, truth, and honesty?

Or is it suggesting that God means very little to you? Does your conduct say to the world that God is worth knowing?

Conclusion.

Jesus felt that the petition “hallowed be thy name” should always be the urgent appeal appeal to people.

He knows our needs better than we could ever know them, and he said that the greatest need is to know God and a walk day by day with river and awareness of him in everything we do.

This can be so in your life if you give this petition proper priority in your prayers.

Until next time

Stay in the Blessings

Until next time

Stay in the Blessings

I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.

When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer. Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!

You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at The Refinery.

When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.

So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us at www.refinerylife.org

2024 IS A YEAR OF DECISIONS AND OPEN DOORS

© www.refinerylife.org  2013-2024 All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this Article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission.

This episode is brought to you by Refinery Life Australia:

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@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

Like a Bitcoiner Litany Against Fear, “Bitcoin is trustless” is a mantra soulfully and sincerely recited by acolytes of the technology. And it is true – Bitcoin is trustless. No single entity can control or force changes onto the Bitcoin network. With enough intension, insomuch as you can access to the necessary tools, no intermediary can prevent you from buying, selling, spending, holding, or otherwise using bitcoin, even under the most repressive of circumstances.

Bitcoin is trustless, but bitcoining...bitcoining is all about trust! Across self, family, friends, and community, bitcoining forces trust dynamics to the surface and forms a lived experience of reimagined and rebuilt interpersonal and social trust structures that extend far beyond the timechain.

Developing Trust in Self

https://image.nostr.build/788e81071ac4b904d75b2f22e23f90e9fda61ab42482bcba4840baf04d3e7a34.jpg

Bitcoining is, first and foremost, a practice of radical self-trust. As a bearer money, any and all mistakes resulting in loss of bitcoin rest squarely at the feet of the individual holder and, after the fact, can only be worn like a heavy iron dunce cap by the same. As such, bitcoiners must first conquer their inner doubts and develop an unshakeable internal trust in self. This is the foundation of personal responsibility required to take full control of one’s financial life and to shoulder, without fear or doubt, the sobering awareness that the wealth (and perhaps freedom) of one’s self, family, and future progeny may well hinge entirely on the “rightness” of one’s decisions around bitcoin today.

Rebuilding Trust in Family

https://image.nostr.build/ab2d3d270c842d65d3f434382498d34baea1e30afe8f66e20e7dd682a7054633.jpg

A few months ago, I found myself explaining the nature of bitcoin self-custody for inheritance to a senior private wealth management executive. As the implications became clear to her, in a moment of unfiltered horror, she exclaimed “you mean as I get older, I would have to trust my children with this?” My response, of course, “Who else but your own children should you trust to secure your bitcoin wealth as you age?” Confronted with my rebuttal, she did not have an answer, but I could tell that it was being digested as food for thought.

The sad truth is that the fiat world orchestrates a pervasive and never-ending psyop to estrange us from family – and to thus divorce us from the powerful benefits of intergenerational family economics. Bitcoin fixes this. Bitcoining with a focus on long-term and generational wealth is a strong catalyst for us to reject the unbalanced, scorched-earth consumerist "individualism" that now increasingly pits young against old. With our new bearings as bitcoiners, we realize that it is time to heal generational rifts in our families and that many priceless things are regained from rebuilding lost bi-directional familial ties of economic support and care. Bitcoin wealth being “stacked” today will mean very little unless there are associated immediate and extended family units with strong bonds of shared trust and trust-distributed risk in place to shepherd keys far into the future.

Deepening Trust in Friends

https://image.nostr.build/ff8641bbc8a2b118fe772d8c6f0c25e41e04b17c68519371a1c4658c58d88b5b.jpg

While bitcoin’s monetary network might make us “free” (at least from time-theft), it is parallel human networks that must ultimately make us happy and give our lives meaning. It is best that we understand that happiness, more than anything else, is the opposite of loneliness – and that this is one of the few things that money truly cannot buy. The double-edge sword of bitcoining is that without strong supporting bitcoiner friendships, bitcoin’s promise of extreme future wealth threatens to bring an even more extreme isolation along with it for many. And humans die in insolation...It’s dangerous to go alone, as they say. Who will you be able to turn to when the world sees you as little more than a walking sat symbol?

The preemptive remedy here is seeking out and cultivating meaningful friendships with other bitcoiners and, like Noah before the flood, working to get your most important nocoiner friends on the boat before it’s too late. Bitcoiner friendships form the social layer of bitcoin wealth protection and can provide a broad range of “social insurance” against catastrophe – economic or otherwise. As such, bitcoiner friendships are integral to one’s wider “real-world” bitcoin security model and must not be overlooked. Ask yourself – what’s the point of having nice things if you have no one to share them with?

Leveraging Trust in Pseudonymous Community

https://image.nostr.build/4e44e8c7743e92fcff9696857ac467bf78fc11066a85143608c5c7525e0d4f8e.jpg

Scenario: You arrive in a foreign country. An anon that you “know from the internet" suggests you to reach out to another anon who supposedly lives in city you’re visiting. Upon making contact, you receive GPS coordinates – I repeat, coordinates, not an address – via an encrypted chat set to “burn after reading” mode as an invite to come hang out with a group of local bitcoiners.

Totally normal stuff, right? 😅 Well, this is essentially the situation I stumbled into not long ago whilst traveling in Asia. Ultimately, I felt comfortable joining this meetup because of the nature of the larger bitcoiner community. All of us in the room might have been nyms to each other but we shared mutual friends who could cross-verify us without divulging unnecessary private information, of course. In bitcoin, and a few other very strange communities that I count myself a member of, meetings like these serve a critical function for broader, distributed reputation and trust building within what is otherwise a semi-transient, geographically dispersed, pseudonymous community.

In such situations, good behavior confers all parties with important trust-based social capital. The mutual friend gains reputation as someone who “does not associate with or recommend shitcoiners / bad actors.” The meetup attendees, if they behave, are more likely to be recommended by both the mutual friend and by each other the next time around. Thus, a positive social feedback loop emerges, with bitcoiners going around saying nice things about each other and having those things largely proven to be true in subsequent real world interactions. The implications here are far-reaching – as these positive vibrations flow through bitcoin’s living human terrain, they amplify and accelerate the chance meetings and serendipitous exchange of ideas from which the future household names of bitcoin tools, enterprises, and communities will certainly be born.

Conclusion

For most, certainly myself included, engaging with bitcoin forces a dramatic and comprehensive reshaping of both one’s understanding of and relationship with trust. Ironically, bitcoining, which starts out as an individual endeavor to harness the transformative power of trustless money in one’s life, all but requires the establishment of both internal and social trust models that are more robust and more meaningful, than anything our fiat-minded precoiner selves could have ever imagined. Bitcoin is trustless. But bitcoining is nothing without trust.

@ 66df6056:f3203c64

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@ 8947a945:9bfcf626

ไม่นานมานี้เองครอบครัวของผมได้ให้การช่วยเหลือแก่ครอบครัวของคุณลุงผู้รับเหมาก่อสร้างที่มาต่อเติมบ้านผม สิ่งที่ผมและภรรยาทำให้แก่ครอบครัวคุณลุงท่านนี้ มันดูเป็นเรื่องเล็กน้อยในสายตาแพทย์และพยาบาล แต่มันเป็นสิ่งที่มีค่ามากและเป็นแสงสว่างช่วยครอบครัวของคุณลุงท่านนี้ มันเป็นยังไง ผมจะเล่าให้ฟังครับ

สำหรับเพื่อนๆพี่ๆชาวไทยทุ่งม่วง และทีมงาน Rightshift น่าจะทราบพื้นเพอาชีพของผมอยู่แล้ว แต่ผมขอแนะนำตัวเล็กน้อยเผื่อมีเพื่อนใหม่ชาวไทยบนทุ่งม่วงที่อาจจะยังไม่รู้จักผมนะครับ

ผมเป็นหมอเฉพาะทางเวชศาสตร์ฉุกเฉิน หรือ หมอเฉพาะทางห้องฉุกเฉินครับ

ส่วนภรรยาผมเป็นพยาบาลฉุกเฉิน แต่ปัจจุบันนี้เป็นผู้จัดการการเงินภายในครอบครัว นักลงทุน แม่บ้านและแม่ของลูกผมแบบเต็มเวลาครับ

ตั้งแต่เดือนกรกฏาคม 2566 บ้านหลังปัจจุบันที่ครอบครัวของผมอาศัยอยู่มาได้ 7 ปีก็เริ่มมีส่วนที่ต้องซ่อมแซมตามสภาพตัวบ้าน และมีการต่อเติมเพื่อรองรับผู้สูงอายุที่จะมาอาศัยอยู่ด้วยต่อไป

การได้ผู้รับเหมาที่ดีมีชัยไปกว่าครึ่ง

ตอนแรกผมเชื่อ แต่เชื่อไม่สุด จนเมื่อมาเจอด้วยตัวเองผมเชื่อเต็มร้อยเลยครับ ครอบครัวของผมโชคดีมากที่ได้รู้จักกับทีมผู้รับเหมาทีมปัจจุบัน ช่วงแรกๆอาจจะสะดุดกันบ้างเพราะยังไม่สนิทกัน แต่พอเวลาผ่านไปผลงานของพี่ช่างทีมนี้ได้พิสูจน์ตัวพี่ๆเขาได้เป็นอย่างดี จนรู้สไตล์กัน ทำงานเข้าขากันได้ดี งานออกมาเรียบร้อย ในช่วงที่เว้นว่างจากการต่อเติมพวกพี่ๆเขาก็ส่งสวัสดีวันจันทร์ สวัสดีวันอังคารมาให้ตลอด ทำให้เราไม่ขาดการติดต่อกัน

วันนี้ที่ผมกำลังเขียนบทความนี้คือวันที่ 6 เมษายน 2567 เป็นอีกครั้งหนึ่งที่บ้านผมทำการซ่อมแซมรื้อหลังคาโรงรถเก่าที่เสื่อมสภาพตามเวลา รวมถึงงานต่อเติมชานพักที่บ้าน

ครั้งนี้มีช่างคนหนึ่งมาใหม่ คือคุณลุงท่านที่ผมกล่าวถึงตอนต้นของบทความนี้แหละครับ สิ่งที่ผมสังเกตุก็คือลุงช่างฝีมือทำงานละเอียดมาก ฝีมือดี ภรรยาผมให้การยอมรับ … ต้องบอกก่อนว่าภรรยาผมเป็นคนที่ละเอียดมาก ไม่ยอมรับฝีมือใครง่ายๆ ถ้าใครทำงานร่วมกับภรรยาผมแล้วได้รับการยอมรับนี่ถือว่าไม่ธรรมดาเลยครับ

สองวันที่ผ่านมาคือวันที่ 4 เมษายน 2567 ช่วงที่ทีมผู้รับเหมากำลังต่อเติมบ้านผมอยู่ เมื่อถึงช่วงพักเที่ยง ก็เป็นธรรมดาที่มีการพูดคุยกันระหว่างกินข้าวกลางวัน

บังเอิญว่าคุณลุงช่างท่านนี้มีปัญหาครอบครัว ที่หนักมาก คุณลุงแบกครอบครัวของเขาไว้บนหลัง เป็นคนเดียวที่สามารถทำงานหาเงินเข้าบ้านได้ และตอนนี้กำลังเจอปัญหาลูกสาวคนโตที่กำลังป่วยด้วยอาการทางจิตที่ไปรักษาแล้วไม่ดีขึ้น

ลูกสาวของลุงช่าง (ซึ่งผมจะขอเรียกแทนว่าคนไข้ต่อจากนี้นะครับ)

เคยมีสามีเป็นชาวต่างขาติ มีลูกด้วยกันหนึ่งคน แต่เกิดปัญหาทำให้เลิกรากันไป ทำให้เกิดอาการเครียดจนเกิดอาการทางจิตเวชขึ้น ได้แก่

• เห็นหน้าลูกอายุ 5 ขวบของตัวเอง ที่หน้าตาคล้ายกับสามีเก่ามากๆ ทำให้หวนนึกถึงอดีตสามี แล้วมีอารมณ์เกรี้ยวกราดเกิดขึ้น ทำร้ายร่างกายลูกตัวเอง บีบคอบ้าง รัดตัวเด็กบ้าง เพื่อระบายความแค้น บางครั้งรุนแรงถึงขั้นจะฆ่าลูกตัวเอง แต่ญาติๆช่วยห้ามไว้ทัน “แค้นอดีตสามี ไปลงที่ลูก โดยมองลูกเป็นตัวแทนอดีตสามี”

• ทิ้งลูกกลางทางตอนเช้าคนไข้จะเกิดจูงมือพาลูกเดินไปส่งที่โรงเรียน แต่ช่วงหลังทิ้งลูกเอาไว้กลางทาง ให้ลูกเดินไปโรงเรียนเอาเอง แล้วตัวเองเกินกลับบ้าน ญาติคนอื่นๆที่ขับรถผ่านมาเห็นเด็กนั่งร้องไห้อยู่ระหว่างทาง เข้าไปดูแลเด็กแทน

• มีการใช้กัญชาและสารเสพติด

• เผาข้าวของในบ้านบางครั้งคนไข้นำสิ่งของอดีตสามีที่ยังเหลือค้างอยู่ในบ้านมาเผา พออาการรุนแรงเข้า ก็ลุกลามไปถึงการจุดไฟเผาบ้าน แต่ผู้พบเห็นเหตุการณ์ห้ามไว้ทัน
• หูแว่วประสาทหลอนนั่งพูดคนเดียว
• เดินเร่ร่อนออกจาก จำทางกลับบ้านไม่ได้ เจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจและพลเมืองดีพบเห็น ประสานเจ้าหน้าที่ภาครัฐช่วยนำตัวกลับบ้าน

คนไข้มีสิทธิ์รักษา 30 บาทอยู่ที่รพ.เอกชนแห่งหนึ่ง ลุงช่างได้นำตัวคนไข้เข้ารับการรักษาแล้ว แต่ด้วยข้อจำกัด … หรือจะเรียกว่าความล้มเหลวในมิตินึงของระบบ 30 บาทก็ไม่รู้ ทำให้การรักษาเป็นไปได้ไม่ดี

ความล้มเหลวของระบบประกันสุขภาพในมุมมองของหมอคนนึง

ออกตัวก่อนว่าผมไม่มีตัวเลขอ้างอิง และผมก็ไม่เคยเข้าไปดูไส้ในของระบบประกันสุขภาพ หรือที่เราเรียกกันว่า 30 บาทนะครับ แต่ผมเคยทำงานอยู่ในจุดที่ต้องให้การดูแลคนไข้ 30 บาทอยู่หลายปี ถ้าหากเป็นรพ.ขนาดใหญ่ หรือ โรงเรียนแพทย์เป็นรพ.ต้นสังกัดของคนไข้คนนั้น ต้องบอกเลยว่าโชคดีมากๆแล้วครับ เพราะมีแพทย์เฉพาะทางครบทุกสาขาและรักษาได้ฟรี ไม่เสียตังค์

แต่ก็ต้องแลกมากับการ “ตื่น 5.00 แล้วได้พบหมอ 14.00”

แต่ความซวยมันจะบังเกิดถ้าหากรพ. 30 บาทต้นสังกัดของคนไข้ เป็นรพ.ขนาดเล็ก แพทย์เฉพาะทางไม่ครบ ขาดเครื่องไม้เครื่องมือหรือบุคคลากรเฉพาะทางในการรักษาโรคซับซ้อน

ผมถือว่าคนไข้จิตเวช คือกลุ่มคนที่ต้องได้รับการดูแลรักษาโดยบุคคลากรและอุปกรณ์เฉพาะทางนะครับ ภาพที่น่าเศร้าอย่างนึงในประเทศไทยก็คือแพทย์และพยาบาลเฉพาะทางจิตเวชมีปริมาณที่น้อยมากๆ ในขณะที่สถานการณ์ในยุคปัจจุบัน จำนวนผู้คนที่มีปัญหาสุขภาพจิตกลับมีจำนวนเพิ่มขึ้นมากกว่าแต่ก่อน สัดส่วนบุคคลกรต่อผู้ป่วย มันยิ่งหนักกว่าเก่า

ผมขยายความให้เพิ่มเติมนะครับ อาการของผู้ป่วยทางจิตเวขจะแบ่งเป็น 2 กลุ่มหลักๆ

1. ผู้ป่วย Psychosis (ตามตำราจิตเวชดั้งเดิม ใช้ภาษาไทยว่าผู้ป่วยโรคจิต) ลักษณะชัดๆ คำเดียวเลยคือ “หลุดโลก” ไม่อยู่กับความเป็นจริง หูแว่ว ภาพหลอน หวาดระแวง
2. ผู้ป่วย Neurosis (ตามตำราจิตเวชดั้งเดิม ใช้ภาษาไทยว่าผู้ป่วยโรคประสาท) จะเป็นกลุ่มที่เราได้ยินกันบ่อยๆ เช่นโรคซึมเศร้า ไบโพล่า ย้ำคิดย้ำทำ วิตกกังวล แพนิค

ทั้งสองกลุ่มนี้การรักษาต้างกันสิ้นเชิง กลุ่มคนไข้ psychosis อัดยาอย่างเดียวจนควบคุมอาการได้ เป็นผู้ป่วยอันตรายที่มีโอกาสทำร้ายตัวเอง คนรอบข้าง ไม่เว้นแม้แต่หมอและพยาบาล ประสบการณ์ผม ผมเคยเห็นพยาบาลโดนคนไข้ psychosis ที่อาละวาดหนักๆ เตะแสกกลางหน้ามาแล้ว

ส่วนกลุ่มคนไข้ neurosis ในปัจจุบันการักษาผู้ป่วยจิตเวช จะแบ่งเป็น 2 สายหลักๆคือ จ่ายยา (medical treatment) และการทำจิตบำบัดหรือพฤติกรรมบำบัด (behavioural - psychological therapy)ซึ่งแตกแขนงหลายสาขามากๆ ผู้เชี่ยวชาญเฉพาะทางแต่ละสาขาก็ไปกระจุกอยู่ในโรงเรียนแพทย์ไม่กี่แห่ง

เท่านี้เพื่อนๆน่าจะเห็นปัญหาแล้วใช่มั้ยครับ กรณีรพ.30 บาทที่ไม่มีแพทย์เฉพาะทาง ภาพอันน่าเศร้าที่เห็นเลยก็คือผู้ป่วยจิตเวช มาพบหมอ อาจจะโชคดีได้เจอหมอเฉพาะทางจิตเวช แต่ด้วยข้อจำกัด ไม่ว่าจะเป็น

• จำนวนคนไข้ที่มากเหลือล้น
• ค่าตอบแทนเฉพาะทางที่ได้ไม่คุ้ม
• เวลาออกตรวจของแพทย์เหล่านี้อาจจะสั้นเกิน บางท่านมีเวลาออกตรวจ 3 ชม. แต่คนไข้มากกว่า 20 ราย หลายๆครั้งหมดเห็นว่าคนไข้คนนี้จำเป็นต้องบำบัดรักษาด้วยการคุยทำจิตบำบัด แต่ก็ถูกกดดันจากสถานที่อีก เช่น เดี๋ยวจะมีหมอคนท่านอื่นมาใช้ห้องตรวจต่อบ้าง หรือใกล้เวลาปิดแผนกแล้วบ้าง

ทำให้การรักษาส่วนใหญ่ไปจบที่การจ่ายยาแล้วนัดมาดูอาการ การจะทำจิตบำบัดเป็นเรื่องเป็นราว กลายเป็นเรื่องไกลตัวอย่างมากจนแทบเป็นไปไม่ได้ ต้องบอกว่าคนไข้จิตเวชคนไหนที่ถูกจับ admit นอนรพ.อาจจะโชคดีกว่าคนไข้ที่ได้รับการจ่ายยากลับบ้านเสียอีก

หอผู้ป่วยเฉพาะทางจิตเวช มันก็กระจุกตัวอยู่ในโรงเรียนแพทย์สังกัดมหาวิทยาลัยไม่กี่แห่ง

แถมเตียงก็จำกัด แต่ถ้าได้เตียงนั่นหมายถึงการได้พบหมอเฉพาะทางตรงสาขาจริงๆ ถึงแม้ว่าจะได้พบผู้เชี่ยวชาญ ได้ทำจิตบำบัดแล้วก็ตาม มันก็ไม่จบในการคุยครั้งหรือสองครั้ง มันใช้เวลา บางคนใช้เวลาครึ่งปีถึงจะเริ่มดีขึ้น ได้ชีวิตใหม่กลับไปใช้ชีวิตภายนอกได้ อันนี้คือ happy ending ที่อยากให้เกิดขึ้น แต่กลับมาสู่สภาพความเป็นจริงครับ มันไม่ใช่ ไม่ใช่เลย

กรณีของคนไข้ที่ด้อยโอกาสล่ะ??

ก็จะมีครอบครัวของคนไข้ที่ด้อยโอกาส พยายามดิ้นรนหาทางเพื่อเอาญาติของเขาไปรักษาให้ดีที่สุด แต่มันก็มีแนวต้านที่คอยเตะตัดขาอยู่เช่นกัน ผมเล่าให้ฟังต่อนะครับ

กรณีคุณลุงท่านนี้ และ คนไข้ของเรา เขามีสิทธิ์ 30 บาทอยู่ที่รพ.เอกชนแห่งหนึ่ง ซึ่งปกติ รพ.เอกชนทุกแห่ง จะไม่มีศักยภาพเพียงพอในการรับ admit ผู้ป่วยจิตเวชอยู่แล้ว กรณีที่คนไข้จำเป็นต้อง admit รพ.เฉพาะทางจริงๆ คุณหมอที่รพ.ต้นสังกัดจะต้องประเมินแล้วเห็นว่า เออคนไข้คนนี้มันเกินศักยภาพในการดูแลรักษาจริงๆนะ ถึงจะ “ได้รับการอนุมัติ” ให้เขียนเอกสารส่งตัว (ใบ refer) ไปยังรพ.ระดับสูงกว่า

มันฟังดูเป็นเรื่องง่ายๆใช้มั้ยครับแค่หมอเขียนใบ refer ให้คนไข้ไปมันก็จบแล้ว

แน่นอนคนไข้และญาติเขามองเห็นแค่นั้น แต่ด้านมืดบื้องหลังการถ่ายทำก็คือ รพ.เอกชนที่เป็นต้นสังกัด จะพยายาม “ยื้อ” ทุกทาง เพื่อไม่ให้คนไข้ออกไปจากรพ.ของตนเอง เพราะค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมดเกิดขึ้นที่รพ.ปลายทาง รพ.ตนเองจะต้องรับผิดชอบทั้งหมด ด้วยความว่าคนไข้อยู่ภายในบัตร 30 บาทที่ตนเองเป็นต้นสังกัด (แต่มันจะมีการ subsidy กันหลังฉากอย่างไร หรือเล่นแร่แปรธาตุอย่างไร ผมไม่ทราบ และก็ไม่อยากทราบด้วย)

ดังนั้นอีกภาพนึงที่น่าเศร้าที่เกิดขึ้นให้เห็นอยู่บ่อยๆก็คือรพ.ต้นสังกัดไม่อนุมัติการส่งตัว ต่อให้คุณหมอที่ต้องการเขียนใบ refer ใจจะขาด อยากช่วยคนไข้จะแย่ ก็ทำได้แต่นั่งนิ่งๆ โดนคนไข้หรือญาติคนไข้ด่าเอาแค่นั้น

“หมอจะดองเคสพ่อผมเหรอ , ทำไมส่งตัวไม่ได้ ทำไม?? , อยู่กับรพ.เดิมไม่เห็นดีขึ้นไม่ส่งตัวคนไข้ล่ะหมอ , เห็นๆอยู่ว่าคนไข้อาการไม่ดีจะให้ผมรออะไรอีกครับ”

เพราะคุณหมอเหล่านั้นก็ไม่ต้องการที่จะเอาตัวขึ้นไปเสี่ยงกับผู้บริหารที่ไม่อนุมัติการ refer เพราะนั่นเท่ากับว่าคุณหมอเหล่านั้นกำลังหาเรื่องเสี่ยงโดนไล่ออกนั่นเอง

ผู้ร้ายของเรื่องนี้คือรพ.ต้นสังกัดหรือเปล่าหรือว่าเป็นผู้บริหารรพ.??

ไม่ใช่หรอกครับ แต่มันคือระบบที่มันพังมาตั้งแต่บนลงล่าง แน่นอนว่ารพ.เอกชนก็ต้องรองบจัดสรรจากส่วนกลางจากระบบ 30 บาทอยู่ดี บางรพ.ขาดทุนแล้วขาดทุนอีก แบกรับต้นทุนแล้วแบกรับต้นทุนอีก มีรพ.ไม่กี่แ่ห่งหรอกครับที่บริหารหน้าตักภายใต้ระบบนี้ได้ดี ... จะว่าไปมันก็เป็น *Canthillon effect* ในระบบสาธารณสุขเหมือนกันนะครับ

กลับมาที่คุณลุงช่างและคนไข้ของเรากันต่อครับ แน่นอนว่าคนไข้ของเรา ได้พบหมอที่รพ. 30 บาท ไม่กี่ครั้ง ได้รับยา และนัดติดตามอาการ 2 เดือนมาพบแพทย์ครั้งนึง คนไข้ของเราอาการแย่ลง อาการทางจิตทำร้ายตัวเอง ทำร้ายคนรอบข้าง ทำร้ายร่างกายลูก หูแว่วประสาทหลอนเป็นหนักขึ้นๆ จนคุณลุงช่างของผมหาทางออกไม่ได้ คุณลุงช่างตัดสินใจดุ่มๆเดินทางเข้าไปที่รพ.เฉพาะทางจิตเวชแห่งหนึ่งด้วยตัวเองเพื่อเป็นที่พึ่งในการรักษาลูกสาวของคุณลุง ไม่มั่นใจว่าได้พบหมอหรือยัง แต่ได้เจอภาพสุดเศร้าภาพที่สามก็คือ เมื่อไปลงทะเบียนเพื่อเข้าตรวจ มีการตรวจสอบสิทธิ์แล้วพบว่าคนไข้มีสิทธิ์ 30 บาทอยู่แล้ว จึงได้รับคำแนะนำกึ่งๆไล่ให้กลับไปรักษารพ.ต้นสังกัดให้เต็มที่เสียก่อน ถ้าไม่ไหวค่อยทำเรื่อง refer มา

ภรรยาผมนำเรื่องนี้ปรึกษาผม ผมและภรรยาตัดสินใจยื่นมือเข้ามาช่วย ผมขอพบคนไข้หนึ่งครั้ง ในวันถัดไปคือวันศุกร์ที่ 5 เมษายน 2567 ผมเห็นอาการคนไข้ และผมทำใบ refer ให้ แต่ว่ารพ.ผมไม่ใช่ต้นสังกัดของคนไข้นะครับ เพียงแต่มีจดหมายจากหมอคนนึงที่สรุปอาการบอกว่าคนไข้ของเราอาการหนัก จำเป็นต้องได้รับการรักษาแบบผู้ป่วยในที่ต้องนอนรพ.แต่แล้ว ภาพที่น่าเศร้าอันที่สามก็เกิดซ้ำครับ (หรือจะเรียกว่าเรื่องทุเรศดีก็ไม่รู้) คุณลุงช่างพาคนไข้ไปถึงรพ.ปลายทางนำใบ refer ของผมให้เจ้าหน้าที่ดู ได้รับการปฏิบัติเช่นเดิมก็คือ ใบ refer นี้มาจากรพ.อื่น (รพ.ของผม) ที่ไม่ใช่รพ.ต้นสังกัด 30 บาทของคนไข้ ไม่สามารถใช้ได้ ต้องไปขอหนังสือจากรพ.ต้นกังกัดก่อนจึงจะใช้ได้ ลุงช่างของผมทำได้แค่ยอมแพ้ และพาคนไข้กลับบ้าน ภรรยาผมทราบเรื่องทีหลังและโทรปรึกษาผม

ตอนนั้นคาดเดาเหตุการณ์ได้แค่ว่า คนไข้ยังไม่ได้พบหมอ ลุงช่างน่าจะไปติดต่อที่โต๊ะลงทะเบียน ซึ่งเจ้าหน้าที่ตรงนั้น อาจจะไม่ใช่พยาบาลด้วย แล้วได้รับการบอกปฏิเสธ เพราะเนื้อหาในใบ refer ผม ถ้าเป็นบุคคลกรทางการแพทย์อ่านเข้าจะต้องเกิดความเอ๊ะแล้วว่าคนไข้คนนี้มีอาการบางอย่างที่เป็นอันตรายต่อตนเองและคนรอบข้าง จะต้องมีการหยุดคิดพิจารณาการทำเรื่องนอนรพ.แน่นอน เมื่อผมทราบเรื่องนี้จากภรรยา ในขณะนั้นลุงช่างพาคนไข้เดินทางกลับถึงบ้านเป็นที่เรียบร้อยแล้ว... บ้านของคุณลุงช่างและรพ.แห่งนี้ระยะทางประมาณ 15 - 20 กิโลเมตร วิ่งผ่านสองอำเภอ

ผมจำเป็นต้องงัดไม้ตายสุดท้ายออกมาคือโทรหาอาจารย์แพทย์ที่อยู่ในรพ.แห่งนั้น แล้วเล่าอาการคนไข้ให้อาจารย์ของผมฟังทางโทรศัพท์

“เอ๊ะ!!!คนไข้ดูอาการฉุกเฉินมากนะ ไม่ต้องใช้ใบส่งตัวก็ได้นี่นา”

นีคือสิ่งทีอาจารย์ผมอุทานออกมา หลังจากนั้นอาจารย์ท่านขอเวลา 10 นาที ในการเตรียมทีมของท่านในการรอรับคนไข้คนนี้ แล้วแจ้งผมว่าให้นำตัวคนไข้เข้ามาได้ และสุดท้ายคนไข้ของเราก็ได้รับการนอนรพ.เพื่อบำบัดรักษาโดยผู้เชี่ยวชาญจริงๆ

ผมไม่โทษเจ้าหน้าที่ให้ลุงช่างของผมออกจากรพ.ปลายทางหรอกครับ เพราะเขาก็ถูกระบบเบื้องบนโยนคำสั่งลงมาให้ปฏิบัติแบบนี้ เพราะถ้าเกิดมีการอนุญาติให้คนไข้ที่ไม่ได้ทำเรื่องส่งตัวมาอย่างถูกต้องเข้ารักษา ตัวเจ้าหน้าที่เองก็ต้องรายงานผู้บังคับบัญชาตามลำดับ เสียเวลางานเวลาพักผ่อนของเขาอีก

ส่วนวิธีการที่ผมใช้ เป็น connection ส่วนตัว ที่บังเอิญผมรู้จักอาจารย์แพทย์ท่านนั้น หากผมไม่รู้จักท่านและท่านไม่เมตตาช่วยเหลือ ผมกับภรรยาก็จะถึงสภาวะต้องปล่อยวาง เพราะเราทั้งคู่ดิ้นกันเต็มที่แล้วครับ

---

ผมอยากชวนคุยประเด็นหลักๆตามนี้นะครับ

• [ ] ให้ทุกคนลองสวมบทบาทเป็นลุงช่างท่านนี้ดูครับ ว่าจะรู้สึกอย่างไร ตั้งแต่ต้นจนจบ

• [ ] คนเราในสังคมมีบทบาทหน้าที่อาชีพที่ไม่เหมือนกัน

โดยเฉพาะคนที่มีอาชีพในการทำเพื่อคนอื่น ไม่ได้หมายถึงเฉพาะอาชีพของผมนะครับ อยากให้ลองพิจารณาดูว่า “สิ่งที่มันเป็นงาน routine ของเรา เราทำมันโดยไม่รู้สึกอะไร ทำมันด้วยความเคยชิน มันอาจจะไม่มีค่าอะไรสำหรับเรา แต่ไม่มีใครรู้หรอกครับว่าไอ้สิ่งเหล่านั้น มันอาจจะเป็นโลกใบใหม่ หรือชีวิตใหม่ทั้งชีวิต ให้กับใครซักคนที่เขาหนีร้อนมาพึ่งเย็น หนีทุกข์มาพึ่งใบบุญ” ก็ได้นะครับ

• [ ] ลองนึกดูว่ามีสถานการณ์ไหนในประสบการณ์ของเพื่อนๆ ที่เคยเจออะไรแบบนี้บ้าง มาเล่าสู่กันฟังใต้ note ได้นะครับ ผมเชื่อว่าเรื่องราวที่มีค่าจากสังคมดีๆอย่างทุ่งม่วงแห่งนี้ ย่อมเป็นประโยชน์แก่ผู้ที่พบเห็นแน่ๆครับ

ปล. ส่วนเรื่องด้านมืดของระบบประกันสุขภาพบ้านเรา ไม่ว่าจะเป็น 30 บาท หรือประกันสังคมผมไม่แตะนะครับ ผมเชื่อว่าสำนักข่าวคุณภาพบางแห่ง เจาะประเด็นเรื่องนี้ตีแผ่ออกมาทีละนิดทีละหน่อยแล้ว ติดตามจากทางนั้นดีกว่าครับ

จนกว่าจะพบกันใหม่ สวัสดีครับ

@ f6488c62:c929299d

สรุปข่าว

ศาลอุทธรณ์สหรัฐฯ ตัดสินว่าการขายคริปโตเคอร์เรนซีรองบนแพลตฟอร์ม Coinbase ไม่ละเมิดกฎหมายหลักทรัพย์ คดีนี้เกี่ยวข้องกับผู้ซื้อขายโทเค็นบน Coinbase ในช่วงปี 2019 ถึง 2022 โจทก์อ้างว่า Coinbase เสนอขายหลักทรัพย์ที่ไม่ได้จดทะเบียน Coinbase โต้แย้งว่าการขายคริปโตเคอร์เรนซีรองไม่เข้าข่ายธุรกรรมหลักทรัพย์ ศาลอุทธรณ์พลิกคำตัดสินของศาลชั้นต้นบางส่วน และตัดสินว่า Coinbase ไม่ได้ละเมิดกฎหมายหลักทรัพย์ ผลกระทบต่อ ETH

คำตัดสินนี้อาจส่งผลดีต่อ ETH และคริปโตเคอร์เรนซีอื่นๆ แสดงให้เห็นว่ากฎระเบียบด้านหลักทรัพย์อาจไม่เกี่ยวข้องกับคริปโตเคอร์เรนซีทั้งหมด สร้างความชัดเจนด้านกฎระเบียบ และส่งเสริมนวัตกรรมในอุตสาหกรรม เพิ่มความมั่นใจให้นักลงทุน และกระตุ้นการลงทุนใน ETH อย่างไรก็ตาม ยังมีปัจจัยอื่นๆ ที่ส่งผลต่อราคา ETH เช่น สภาพเศรษฐกิจโลก นโยบายของธนาคารกลาง และความต้องการของนักลงทุน

หมายเหตุ

คดีนี้ยังไม่สิ้นสุด โจทก์สามารถยื่นอุทธรณ์ต่อศาลฎีกาได้ กฎระเบียบด้านคริปโตเคอร์เรนซี ยังอยู่ในช่วงเริ่มต้น และอาจมีการเปลี่ยนแปลงในอนาคต

@ 1237fba4:53705d6d

Opinion about BlueWallet Bitcoin Wallet (android)

most easy to understand and use bitcoin mainnet full custodial (bech32 bc1 addr) + LN-BTC wallet using LNDhub (own or provider custody) open source android wallet - recommended for all - can be paired with alby also

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ 766d5884:e7fe6262

test

@ 195284db:2f006fc1

Opinion about Phoenix - LN Bitcoin wallet (android)

Reproducibility issue tracking https://github.com/ACINQ/phoenix/issues/112

WalletScrutiny #nostrOpinion

Join the conversation!

@ c8df6ae8:22293a06

"Teaching Bitcoin to a teenager requires a balanced approach that combines technical detail with engaging content."

I've given my nephew two short physical books I had about Bitcoin (I'm more of an Audible guy myself): - "The Bitcoin Handbook" by Anil Patel (the website offers a free PDF download of the book) - "Why Buy Bitcoin" by Andy Edstrom

But he wants more. So I started looking at what I could provide him that would be good while engaging for a teenager. Here is what I'm sharing with him. I'll let you know what he thought about the material once he goes through it 😁

---

The Bitcoin Course

The Bitcoin Course by Anil Patel is a no brainer. Anil recently made the course free (it used to cost $99) and not only he did that but he went through the extra step of reimbursing the $99 to anyone who had bought it in the past.

Introduction to Bitcoin by Andreas Antonopoulos

This is a YouTube playlist with a compilation of 49 mostly short videos explaining the different concepts about Bitcoin. Some run 20 to 30 minutes but the majority are short.

Material for the future

Yes, I'm omitting a lot of good material but I just want him to get started. If he is still interested then we can go into books like The Bitcoin Standard but let's first get started with videos. This is a list targeted at teenagers after all.

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Notable notes

nostr:note1n865fa8ry9q00dda96wkvu2vjrxwk4vwv8kd0vy6u579p2m6np5sey0uwa

nostr:note194dk3zn4fpme73n52sccnuf42p2my0pak9y3xqwkcgdv2r45245qstyu8p

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Recommendations

ck

"Home cooking + Bitcoin". I couldn't agree with him more.

You can follow ck here.

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What did you think of today's newsletter?

Your feedback helps me create the best newsletter possible for you.

Please leave a comment and checkout comments from other subscribers and readers. I love hearing from the Bitcoin For Families community ❤️ 🙏🏻

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See you again next week! — Alejandro

This newsletter is for educational purposes. It does not represent financial advice. Do your own research before buying Bitcoin.

@ 044b20cf:89e58620

Best Buy’s Geek Squad agents say they were hit by mass layoffs this week

Geek Squad agents have been flooding Reddit with images of their badges and posts about “going sleeper” after the company reportedly conducted mass layoffs this week. A former employee who spoke to 404 Media (https://www.404media.co/mass-layoffs-at-best-buy-geek-squad-former-employees-post-going-sleeper/) said they were sent an email notifying them to work from home on Wednesday and were then called individually to be told the news about their jobs. Some, per 404 Media’s sources and numerous Reddit posts, were longtime Geek Squad agents who had been with the company for more than 10 or even 20 years. Best Buy has not yet responded to Engadget’s request for comment.

There has been an outpouring of support for the laid off workers on the unofficial Geek Squad subreddit, where many have lamented the loss of jobs they’d dedicated much of their lives to and noted that things in the lead up had been heading in a concerning direction. Some commented that their hours had dwindled in recent months, with one former employee telling 404 Media it’s been “a struggle to get by.”

Best Buy conducted mass layoffs affecting employees at its retail stores just last spring, and as The Verge (https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/5/24122542/best-buy-geek-squad-layoffs-ai-restructuring) reports, CEO Corie Barry indicated during the company’s February earnings call that more layoffs were coming in 2024 as Best Buy shifts resources toward AI and other areas.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-buys-geek-squad-agents-say-they-were-hit-by-mass-layoffs-this-week-185720480.html?src=rss

https://www.engadget.com/best-buys-geek-squad-agents-say-they-were-hit-by-mass-layoffs-this-week-185720480.html?src=rss

@ 044b20cf:89e58620

OpenAI and Google reportedly used transcriptions of YouTube videos to train their AI models

OpenAI and Google trained their AI models on text transcribed from YouTube videos, potentially violating creators’ copyrights, according to The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/06/technology/tech-giants-harvest-data-artificial-intelligence.html). The report, which describes the lengths OpenAI, Google and Meta have gone to in order to maximize the amount of data they can feed to their AIs, cites numerous people with knowledge of the companies’ practices. It comes just days after YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said in an interview with Bloomberg Originals (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-04/youtube-says-openai-training-sora-with-its-videos-would-break-the-rules?sref=10lNAhZ9&embedded-checkout=true) that OpenAI’s alleged use of YouTube videos to train its new text-to-video generator, Sora, would go against the platform’s policies (https://www.engadget.com/youtube-ceo-warns-openai-that-training-models-on-its-videos-is-against-the-rules-121547513.html).

According to the NYT, OpenAI used its Whisper speech recognition tool to transcribe more than one million hours of YouTube videos, which were then used to train GPT-4. The Information (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/why-youtube-could-give-google-an-edge-in-ai?rc=whf0fd) previously reported that OpenAI had used YouTube videos and podcasts to train the two AI systems. OpenAI president Greg Brockman was reportedly among the people on this team. Per Google’s rules, “unauthorized scraping or downloading of YouTube content” is not allowed, Matt Bryant, a spokesperson for Google, told NYT, also saying that the company was unaware of any such use by OpenAI.

The report, however, claims there were people at Google who knew but did not take action against OpenAI because Google was using YouTube videos to train its own AI models. Google told NYT it only does so with videos from creators who have agreed to this. Engadget has reached out to Google and OpenAI for comment.

The NYT report also claims Google asked a team to tweak its privacy policy in June 2023 to more broadly cover its use of publicly available content, including Google Docs and Google Sheets, to train its AI models and products. The changes, which Google says were made for clarity's sake, were published in July. Bryant told NYT that this type of data is only used with the permission of users who opt into Google’s experimental features tests, and that the company “did not start training on additional types of data based on this language change.” The change added Bard as an example of what that data might be used for.

Correction, April 6, 2024, 3:45PM ET: This story originally stated that Google updated its privacy policy in June 2022. The policy update was actually made in 2023. We apologize for the error.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/openai-and-google-reportedly-used-transcriptions-of-youtube-videos-to-train-their-ai-models-163531073.html?src=rss

https://www.engadget.com/openai-and-google-reportedly-used-transcriptions-of-youtube-videos-to-train-their-ai-models-163531073.html?src=rss

@ 20e17dd0:2ae504d7

Regardless if you want to run a node or have your own server, it is important to install a headless server operational system. The term headless comes from the fact that this lightweight OS does not come with a user interface and can only be accessed via commande line using a SSH connection.

Prerequisites

1. Create a Ubuntu Bootable Stick

Installing Ubuntu Server

1. Connect your device up with a keyboard/mouse, ethernet cable, screen and with the boot USB inserted into the device but still powered off.
2. With the USB inserted, turn on your device. If it brings you to a Ubuntu screen then great move on to step 4, if not carry out the next step.
3. If the device does not boot to a Ubuntu screen with the USB plugged in, we need to tell it to boot from a USB rather than the internal hard drive. Shut the device. Turn it back on and hold “ALT” key once the computer is starting to boot. The “ALT” key is replacing the “OPTION” key on a Mac. Please select UEFI in the menu in order to reboot with the Boot stick.
4. You will arrive on the Ubuntu Server.
5. Next choose your desired language.
6. Select to update to new installer if any updates available.
7. Allow it to detect or select your regional keyboard layout.
8. Choose the basic installation, do not select any additional options.
9. At the next stage it will like you to connect to the internet, the WiFi will not work at this stage so you will need to plug in via ethernet if not already done.
10. Once connected to the internet an IP address is shown on the screen, write it down and press Done
11. Unless you’re using a proxy on the next screen (Configure Proxy) press Done.
12. Leave the default Mirror address by pressing Done. 
13. At the next screen Guided Storage Configuration you can select the disk setup, Uncheck “Set up this disk as a LVM” since you want to use the whole disk as your node and press Done.
14. The next screen will confirm the file system summary click Done.
15. Ensure you have opted for the correct disk and confirm action at the pop-up screen.
16. At the profile screen, you can provide your name, the servers name and provide the username.
17. It will ask you if you want to enable Ubuntu Pro, select skip for now.
18. At the SSH Setup screen, select to install OpenSSH server and select Done.
19. We did not opt to install any additional features at the next screen (Featured Server Snaps) this is to keep the Umbrel OS very lightweight click Done.
20. Once the install completes, the screen will show you (Install Complete!).
21. Select Reboot now.
22. Remove the USB drive when it tells you and press Enter.

This should now complete the Ubuntu installation stage, next we need to SSH to the server.

Connecting to the Ubuntu Server using SSH

Now that your Ubuntu Server is online, the rest of the operation will be done via another computer with SSH connection using Terminal. From now on, I will start the comments with # so they will not be confused with commands to enter into Terminal.

To connect to your server, you will need to use the following command with the name of the server from step 16 and the IP address noted down in the step 10 from the previous section

ssh "server name"@"IP address"

You will be prompt to enter the password from step 16

"enter password"

Congratulation, you are now connected and ready to start installing your node applications!

@ 20e17dd0:2ae504d7

In this article, we will learn how to create a bootable stick with only the commande line.

This is extremely useful for when you need to flash an image on a Stick.

This exemple will creat a bootable stick with the newest version of Ubuntu. I will be using this sitck in another article when I will upgrade my current laptop.

Prerequisite

• ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso
• Any version of Linux
• USB Key

Let's Go!

The first step is to see what is the correct path of the USB Key. In order to do so, type the following commande without the USB Key

ls -1 /dev/sd?

I get this

/dev/sda /dev/sdb

Afer, insert the USB Key and repeat

ls -1 /dev/sd? I then get this

/dev/sda /dev/sdb /dev/sdc

The USB Key path is clearly /dev/sdc

Now, all you need to put is a one liner command:

sudo dd bs=4M if=/path/to/file.iso of=/dev/sdc status=progress oflag=sync

Here /path/to/file.iso is simply the path to your file and /dev/sdc is the path to your USB that we have earlier determined.

To make things easier, I often go into the folder in which I have the ISO. cd Downloads/Ubuntu

After, I am able to only write the image name

sudo dd bs=4M if=ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdc status=progress oflag=sync

Et voila! No need for a special software! You can now create any bootable stick!