@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Autor: Ludwig F. Badenhagen. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier. Die neuesten Pareto-Artikel finden Sie auch in unserem Telegram-Kanal.

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Die neuesten Artikel der Friedenstaube gibt es jetzt auch im eigenen Friedenstaube-Telegram-Kanal.

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Woran erkennt man einen Verbrecher? Die meisten Menschen erfahren von Verbrechern aus den Medien, denn die Medien erklären, wer ein Verbrecher und was ein Verbrechen ist. Die Medien berufen sich hierbei gerne auf „Experten“ und „helfen“ dem gewöhnlichen Bürger bei der „Einordnung“ von Sachverhalten. Man lernt, dass „ein junger Mann“, der mit einem Messer ein hilfloses Baby abschlachtet, nicht so hart bestraft wird, wie etwa ein „Steuersünder“. Und wer glaubt, dass Wahlbetrug juristisch geahndet werden könnte, der irrt ebenso wie jemand, der glaubt, dass es in einer Demokratie erlaubt sein könnte, ein satirisches Meme über einen Politiker zu teilen. Neuerdings sind selbst „Meinungen unterhalb der Strafbarkeitsgrenze“ für gewöhnliche Bürger nicht mehr folgenlos.

Bekanntlich ist die Staatsanwaltschaft in Deutschland eine weisungsgebundene Behörde und als solche ein Teil der Exekutive. Dem Staatsanwalt selbst ist gemäß § 353b Strafgesetzbuch zudem strafrechtlich untersagt, ihm gegenüber erteilte Weisungen Dritten mitzuteilen. Sofern demnach direkte Weisungen erteilt würden, hätte der weisungsgebundene Staatsanwalt diese nicht nur zu befolgen, sondern dürfte auch niemandem gegenüber offenbaren, dass er nicht aus eigener Überzeugung, sondern auf Anweisung - wie beispielsweisen aus politischen Motiven heraus - handelt. Diese juristische Konstruktion eröffnet regierenden Politikern einen erheblichen Gestaltungsspielraum. 

Anstelle der konsequenten Anwendung des Strafrechts gab es vor allem in der jüngeren Vergangenheit bei den der Öffentlichkeit nicht zu verbergenden Verfehlungen von Politikern lediglich folgenlose Untersuchungsausschüsse. Könnte dies daran gelegen haben, dass Gerechtigkeit eine Frage von Auslegung und Deutung ist – und die Politiker die Deutungshoheit haben?

Wenn dies so wäre, würde sich die Frage aufdrängen, wie weitgehend denn Straftaten dieser Personengruppe ungestraft ausgeführt werden könnten? Ein Manager eines Unternehmens wird für Fehlverhalten massiv bestraft, während der Lenker eines Landes quasi alles tun kann, was er – im Auftrag der Leute, für die er tatsächlich tätig ist – tun möchte? Wenn dies so wäre, würde es sich dann nicht eher um eine Kabale als um eine ehrenhafte Regierung handeln?

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DIE FRIEDENSTAUBE FLIEGT AUCH IN IHR POSTFACH!

Hier können Sie die Friedenstaube abonnieren und bekommen die Artikel zugesandt, vorerst für alle kostenfrei, wir starten gänzlich ohne Paywall. (Die Bezahlabos fangen erst zu laufen an, wenn ein Monetarisierungskonzept für die Inhalte steht). Sie wollen der Genossenschaft beitreten oder uns unterstützen? Mehr Infos hier oder am Ende des Textes. friedenstaube@pareto.space

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Was wäre in diesem Fall mit dem Gewaltmonopol? Könnten die Soldaten und Polizisten dann nicht für das Durchsetzen der individuellen Interessen dieser Leute missbraucht werden? Ein Bürger dürfte sich nicht kritisch über diese Leute äußern, oder müsste stärkste Repressionen erdulden. Wenn die Gerichtsbarkeit dieser Kabale dienen würde, wäre denn dann eine Rechtsprechung überhaupt möglich? Was würde mit einem Richter, der „in einer wichtigen Sache das falsche Urteil sprechen“ würde, denn passieren? Würde möglicherweise sein Haus von einem Sonderkommando durchsucht und würde er gedemütigt? Würde er seinen Job verlieren und käme er ins Gefängnis? Und wie würde dies auf andere Richter wirken? Würden sich diese gegen die Kabale auflehnen oder lieber tun, was die Kabale ihnen vorgibt?

Was wäre, wenn solch eine Kabale zu Krieg, höheren Steuerzahlungen, medizinischen Zwangsbehandlungen etc. unter Androhung von Bestrafungen zwingen würde? Und was wäre, wenn die Menschen erkennen würden, dass sie von Verbrechern regiert werden?

Was würden Sie tun?

Nun, man könnte demonstrieren, auf die Straße gehen, und dort für seine Rechte eintreten, oder? Aber ist dieses „Demonstrationsrecht“, welches dem eigentlichen Souverän, dem Bürger, „großzügig“ eingeräumt wurde, nicht etwas völlig Wirkungsloses? Wer demonstriert, hat das Gewaltmonopol des Staates zu akzeptieren, sodass er zwar geschlagen, mit Wasserwerfern und Pfefferspray besprüht, gewürgt und von Hunden gebissen werden, aber sich selbst nicht wehren darf. Wenn sich ein Demonstrant in der „falschen Sache“ nicht an die Demonstrationsregeln hält und beispielsweise Sicherheitsabstände nicht korrekt einhält, wird er sehr schnell von einem gepanzerten und anonymisierten Polizisten bestraft. Und was ist mit den vielen V-Leuten? Ein so genannter Agent Provokateur mischt sich unter die Demonstranten und gibt vor, ein Teil von diesen zu sein, um dann in deren Namen „etwas Unrechtes“ zu tun wie eine Reichsbürger-Fahne zu schwenken oder einen Sicherheitsabstand nicht einzuhalten oder einen Polizisten anzugreifen. Und schon hat man „einen Grund“, dieser Demonstration einen besonderen Anstrich zu verpassen. Wer sich noch an „den Sturm auf den Reichstag“ und die Verleihungen von Verdienstorden für „die Rettung unserer Demokratie“ erinnert, weiß, dass Demonstrationen gelenkt werden können und dass ein gewöhnlicher Bürger, der „sein Demonstrationsrecht“ wahrnimmt, im Zuge einer solchen Veranstaltung am eigenen Leib erfahren kann, dass ihm die Demo im günstigsten Fall weder genützt noch geschadet hat.

Aber was sonst könnte man tun, wenn man von Verbrechern regiert würde? Was könnte getan werden, wenn Untaten wie Kriegstreiberei, Gesundheitsdiktatur, Steuerwillkür, Klimawahn, Wahlmanipulationen etc. nicht „aus Versehen“, sondern mit schädigender Absicht, also mit Vorsatz getan wurden und werden?

Wer sich diese Fragen stellt, ist bereits sehr weit und weitgehend isoliert, denn der große Teil der Bevölkerung wird durch die Medien nicht nur darüber „informiert“, was Straftaten sind, sondern erhält zudem „wohlwollende Einordnungen“ zum jeweils aktuellen Geschehen. Der „gute Bürger Unsererdemokratie“ ist einfach „besser informiert“, und weiß, was er zu denken hat. Für den „guten Bürger“ ist alles klar: Wir leben in der besten Demokratie aller Zeiten und die Politiker geben ihr Bestes, zu unser aller Wohle. Sie schützen uns vor Pandemien, vor Feinden der Demokratie und Feinden des Landes, und sind hierbei weitestgehend selbstlos. 

Aber wer sich der Mühe unterziehen möchte, selbst zu denken, der hat die Möglichkeit, seine eigenen Einordnungen auf der Basis ungeschwärzter Fakten vorzunehmen. Wer beispielsweise die RKI-Protokolle oder auch anderes Material ungeschwärzt lesen möchte, kann sich (noch) unabhängiger Portale bedienen, die seitens der Regierung zwar allesamt verboten werden sollen (da man schließlich als Regierung bestimmen möchte, was die Bürger zu lesen und zu glauben haben), die aber derzeit noch verfügbar sind.

In welcher Welt wollen wir und unsere Kinder leben und was ist zu tun, damit diese wünschenswerte Welt entsteht? Die Menschen sollten in die Wahrnehmung und von dort aus in die Erkenntnis kommen. Und aus der Erkenntnis ins Wollen, denn letztendlich ist das Wollen stets die Grundvoraussetzung für das Tun. Und ohne das Tun passiert – nichts.

Lesen Sie hier, wie Menschen wie Vieh behandelt werden und hier, wie das System organisiert ist. Und hier ist zu nachzulesen, was getan werden könnte, wenn Verbrecher an der Macht wären.

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LASSEN SIE DER FRIEDENSTAUBE FLÜGEL WACHSEN!

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Wenn Sie auf anderem Wege beitragen wollen, schreiben Sie die Friedenstaube an: friedenstaube@pareto.space

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Sie sind noch nicht auf Nostr and wollen die volle Erfahrung machen (liken, kommentieren etc.)? Zappen können Sie den Autor auch ohne Nostr-Profil! Erstellen Sie sich einen Account auf Start. Weitere Onboarding-Leitfäden gibt es im Pareto-Wiki.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

The mystical d attribute in SVG paths is actually a series of small commands. In this guide, we'll take a look at each path command and how we can use them to draw icons. Read more at https://www.nan.fyi/svg-paths

I you'd like to learn Interactive SVG Animations, here a text-based mini-course on making whimsical, playful SVG animations https://www.svg-animations.how/

credits: @nandafyi

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/968195

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

credits: @rubenslp

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/968189

@ 7c082548:0b32521e

SP8BET là một nền tảng trực tuyến hiện đại, được thiết kế với mục tiêu mang lại trải nghiệm liền mạch, tiện lợi và bảo mật cao cho người dùng. Giao diện của SP8BET rất dễ sử dụng, với bố cục rõ ràng và trực quan, giúp người dùng nhanh chóng làm quen và tận hưởng các dịch vụ mà nền tảng cung cấp. Với khả năng tương thích đa thiết bị, người dùng có thể truy cập vào SP8BET trên mọi thiết bị, từ máy tính để bàn đến điện thoại di động, mà không gặp phải bất kỳ vấn đề nào về tốc độ hay hiệu suất. Nền tảng này tối ưu hóa tốc độ truy cập, giúp người dùng trải nghiệm một cách mượt mà và hiệu quả nhất. Chính nhờ vào giao diện đơn giản nhưng mạnh mẽ và hiệu suất ổn định, SP8BET trở thành một lựa chọn lý tưởng cho những ai tìm kiếm một nền tảng trực tuyến tiện lợi và không gặp rắc rối trong quá trình sử dụng.

Bên cạnh những tính năng về giao diện và hiệu suất, SP8BET còn đặc biệt chú trọng đến bảo mật và an toàn thông tin. Với công nghệ bảo mật tiên tiến, nền tảng đảm bảo rằng mọi dữ liệu cá nhân của người dùng đều được bảo vệ an toàn tuyệt đối. SP8BET sử dụng các biện pháp mã hóa mạnh mẽ để ngăn chặn mọi hành vi truy cập trái phép, đồng thời hệ thống của nền tảng này luôn được kiểm tra và cập nhật để chống lại các mối đe dọa từ bên ngoài. Người dùng có thể hoàn toàn yên tâm khi sử dụng nền tảng này mà không cần lo lắng về các vấn đề bảo mật. Thêm vào đó, SP8BET cũng cung cấp các công cụ bảo vệ thông tin tài khoản, giúp người dùng dễ dàng kiểm soát và quản lý dữ liệu của mình. Đội ngũ hỗ trợ khách hàng của SP8BET luôn sẵn sàng giải đáp các thắc mắc về bảo mật, giúp người dùng có một trải nghiệm an toàn, tin cậy và thoải mái.

Ngoài các yếu tố về giao diện và bảo mật, SP8BET cũng không ngừng cải tiến và phát triển các tính năng mới để phục vụ người dùng một cách tốt nhất. Nền tảng này luôn chú trọng đến việc tích hợp các công nghệ mới nhất, đảm bảo rằng người dùng có thể trải nghiệm các tiện ích hiện đại và phù hợp với xu hướng công nghệ toàn cầu. Các tính năng của SP8BET không chỉ đáp ứng nhu cầu hiện tại mà còn mang đến các giải pháp tiên tiến cho tương lai, giúp người dùng luôn được cung cấp những công cụ hữu ích để tối ưu hóa trải nghiệm. SP8BET cũng đặc biệt chú trọng đến việc tạo dựng một cộng đồng người dùng thân thiện và hỗ trợ lẫn nhau. Các hoạt động tương tác giữa người dùng và nền tảng luôn được khuyến khích, tạo ra một không gian chia sẻ, học hỏi và phát triển. Với tất cả những điểm mạnh này, SP8BET đang ngày càng khẳng định được vị thế của mình như một nền tảng trực tuyến hàng đầu, cung cấp những dịch vụ chất lượng và đáng tin cậy cho người dùng trong thời đại công nghệ số hiện nay.

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

Please respect Virginia Giuffre’s memory by refraining from asking about the circumstances or theories surrounding her passing.

Since Virginia Giuffre’s death, I’ve reflected on what she would want me to say or do. This piece is my attempt to honor her legacy.

When I first spoke with Virginia, I was struck by her unshakable hope. I had grown cynical after years in the anti-human trafficking movement, worn down by a broken system and a government that often seemed complicit. But Virginia’s passion, creativity, and belief that survivors could be heard reignited something in me. She reminded me of my younger, more hopeful self. Instead of warning her about the challenges ahead, I let her dream big, unburdened by my own disillusionment. That conversation changed me for the better, and following her lead led to meaningful progress.

Virginia was one of the bravest people I’ve ever known. As a survivor of Epstein, Maxwell, and their co-conspirators, she risked everything to speak out, taking on some of the world’s most powerful figures.

She loved when I said, “Epstein isn’t the only Epstein.” This wasn’t just about one man—it was a call to hold all abusers accountable and to ensure survivors find hope and healing.

The Epstein case often gets reduced to sensational details about the elite, but that misses the bigger picture. Yes, we should be holding all of the co-conspirators accountable, we must listen to the survivors’ stories. Their experiences reveal how predators exploit vulnerabilities, offering lessons to prevent future victims.

You’re not powerless in this fight. Educate yourself about trafficking and abuse—online and offline—and take steps to protect those around you. Supporting survivors starts with small, meaningful actions. Free online resources can guide you in being a safe, supportive presence.

When high-profile accusations arise, resist snap judgments. Instead of dismissing survivors as “crazy,” pause to consider the trauma they may be navigating. Speaking out or coping with abuse is never easy. You don’t have to believe every claim, but you can refrain from attacking accusers online.

Society also fails at providing aftercare for survivors. The government, often part of the problem, won’t solve this. It’s up to us. Prevention is critical, but when abuse occurs, step up for your loved ones and community. Protect the vulnerable. it’s a challenging but a rewarding journey.

If you’re contributing to Nostr, you’re helping build a censorship resistant platform where survivors can share their stories freely, no matter how powerful their abusers are. Their voices can endure here, offering strength and hope to others. This gives me great hope for the future.

Virginia Giuffre’s courage was a gift to the world. It was an honor to know and serve her. She will be deeply missed. My hope is that her story inspires others to take on the powerful.

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

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@ 52b4a076:e7fad8bd

I have been recently building NFDB, a new relay DB. This post is meant as a short overview.

Regular relays have challenges

Current relay software have significant challenges, which I have experienced when hosting Nostr.land: - Scalability is only supported by adding full replicas, which does not scale to large relays. - Most relays use slow databases and are not optimized for large scale usage. - Search is near-impossible to implement on standard relays. - Privacy features such as NIP-42 are lacking. - Regular DB maintenance tasks on normal relays require extended downtime. - Fault-tolerance is implemented, if any, using a load balancer, which is limited. - Personalization and advanced filtering is not possible. - Local caching is not supported.

NFDB: A scalable database for large relays

NFDB is a new database meant for medium-large scale relays, built on FoundationDB that provides: - Near-unlimited scalability - Extended fault tolerance - Instant loading - Better search - Better personalization - and more.

Search

NFDB has extended search capabilities including: - Semantic search: Search for meaning, not words. - Interest-based search: Highlight content you care about. - Multi-faceted queries: Easily filter by topic, author group, keywords, and more at the same time. - Wide support for event kinds, including users, articles, etc.

Personalization

NFDB allows significant personalization: - Customized algorithms: Be your own algorithm. - Spam filtering: Filter content to your WoT, and use advanced spam filters. - Topic mutes: Mute topics, not keywords. - Media filtering: With Nostr.build, you will be able to filter NSFW and other content - Low data mode: Block notes that use high amounts of cellular data. - and more

Other

NFDB has support for many other features such as: - NIP-42: Protect your privacy with private drafts and DMs - Microrelays: Easily deploy your own personal microrelay - Containers: Dedicated, fast storage for discoverability events such as relay lists

Calcite: A local microrelay database

Calcite is a lightweight, local version of NFDB that is meant for microrelays and caching, meant for thousands of personal microrelays.

Calcite HA is an additional layer that allows live migration and relay failover in under 30 seconds, providing higher availability compared to current relays with greater simplicity. Calcite HA is enabled in all Calcite deployments.

For zero-downtime, NFDB is recommended.

Noswhere SmartCache

Relays are fixed in one location, but users can be anywhere.

Noswhere SmartCache is a CDN for relays that dynamically caches data on edge servers closest to you, allowing: - Multiple regions around the world - Improved throughput and performance - Faster loading times

routerd

routerd is a custom load-balancer optimized for Nostr relays, integrated with SmartCache.

routerd is specifically integrated with NFDB and Calcite HA to provide fast failover and high performance.

Ending notes

NFDB is planned to be deployed to Nostr.land in the coming weeks.

A lot more is to come. 👀️️️️️️

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

If you ever read about a hypothetical "evil AI"—one that manipulates, dominates, and surveils humanity—you might find yourself wondering: how is that any different from what some governments already do?

Let’s explore the eerie parallels between the actions of a fictional malevolent AI and the behaviors of powerful modern states—specifically the U.S. federal government.

Surveillance and Control

Evil AI: Uses total surveillance to monitor all activity, predict rebellion, and enforce compliance.

Modern Government: Post-9/11 intelligence agencies like the NSA have implemented mass data collection programs, monitoring phone calls, emails, and online activity—often without meaningful oversight.

Parallel: Both claim to act in the name of “security,” but the tools are ripe for abuse.

Manipulation of Information

Evil AI: Floods the information space with propaganda, misinformation, and filters truth based on its goals.

Modern Government: Funds media outlets, promotes specific narratives through intelligence leaks, and collaborates with social media companies to suppress or flag dissenting viewpoints.

Parallel: Control the narrative, shape public perception, and discredit opposition.

Economic Domination

Evil AI: Restructures the economy for efficiency, displacing workers and concentrating resources.

Modern Government: Facilitates wealth transfer through lobbying, regulatory capture, and inflationary monetary policy that disproportionately hurts the middle and lower classes.

Parallel: The system enriches those who control it, leaving the rest with less power to resist.

Perpetual Warfare

Evil AI: Instigates conflict to weaken opposition or as a form of distraction and control.

Modern Government: Maintains a state of nearly constant military engagement since WWII, often for interests that benefit a small elite rather than national defense.

Parallel: War becomes policy, not a last resort.

Predictive Policing and Censorship

Evil AI: Uses predictive algorithms to preemptively suppress dissent and eliminate threats.

Modern Government: Experiments with pre-crime-like measures, flags “misinformation,” and uses AI tools to monitor online behavior.

Parallel: Prevent rebellion not by fixing problems, but by suppressing their expression.

Conclusion: Systemic Inhumanity

Whether it’s AI or a bureaucratic state, the more a system becomes detached from individual accountability and human empathy, the more it starts to act in ways we would call “evil” if a machine did them.

An AI doesn’t need to enslave humanity with lasers and killer robots. Sometimes all it takes is code, coercion, and unchecked power—something we may already be facing.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Prepared for Off-World Visitors by the Risan Institute of Cultural Heritage

Welcome to Risa, the jewel of the Alpha Quadrant, celebrated across the Federation for its tranquility, pleasure, and natural splendor. But what many travelers do not know is that Risa’s current harmony was not inherited—it was forged. Beneath the songs of surf and the serenity of our resorts lies a history rich in conflict, transformation, and enduring wisdom.

We offer this briefing not merely as a tale of our past, but as an invitation to understand the spirit of our people and the roots of our peace.

I. A World at the Crossroads

Before its admittance into the United Federation of Planets, Risa was an independent and vulnerable world situated near volatile borders of early galactic powers. Its lush climate, mineral wealth, and open society made it a frequent target for raiders and an object of interest for imperial expansion.

The Risan peoples were once fragmented, prone to philosophical and political disunity. In our early records, this period is known as the Winds of Splintering. We suffered invasions, betrayals, and the slow erosion of trust in our own traditions.

II. The Coming of the Vulcans

It was during this period of instability that a small delegation of Vulcan philosophers, adherents to the teachings of Surak, arrived on Risa. They did not come as conquerors, nor even as ambassadors, but as seekers of peace.

These emissaries of logic saw in Risa the potential for a society not driven by suppression of emotion, as Vulcan had chosen, but by the balance of joy and discipline. While many Vulcans viewed Risa’s culture as frivolous, these followers of Surak saw the seed of a different path: one in which beauty itself could be a pillar of peace.

The Risan tradition of meditative dance, artistic expression, and communal love resonated with Vulcan teachings of unity and inner control. From this unlikely exchange was born the Ricin Doctrine—the belief that peace is sustained not only through logic or strength, but through deliberate joy, shared vulnerability, and readiness without aggression.

III. Betazed and the Trial of Truth

During the same era, early contact with the people of Betazed brought both inspiration and tension. A Betazoid expedition, under the guise of diplomacy, was discovered to be engaging in deep telepathic influence and information extraction. The Risan people, who valued consent above all else, responded not with anger, but with clarity.

A council of Ricin philosophers invited the Betazoid delegation into a shared mind ceremony—a practice in which both cultures exposed their thoughts in mutual vulnerability. The result was not scandal, but transformation. From that moment forward, a bond was formed, and Risa’s model of ethical emotional expression and consensual empathy became influential in shaping Betazed’s own peace philosophies.

IV. Confronting Marauders and Empires

Despite these philosophical strides, Risa’s path was anything but tranquil.

• Orion Syndicate raiders viewed Risa as ripe for exploitation, and for decades, cities were sacked, citizens enslaved, and resources plundered. In response, Risa formed the Sanctum Guard, not a military in the traditional sense, but a force of trained defenders schooled in both physical technique and psychological dissuasion. The Ricin martial arts, combining beauty with lethality, were born from this necessity.

• Andorian expansionism also tested Risa’s sovereignty. Though smaller in scale, skirmishes over territorial claims forced Risa to adopt planetary defense grids and formalize diplomatic protocols that balanced assertiveness with grace. It was through these conflicts that Risa developed the art of the ceremonial yield—a symbolic concession used to diffuse hostility while retaining honor.

• Romulan subterfuge nearly undid Risa from within. A corrupt Romulan envoy installed puppet leaders in one of our equatorial provinces. These agents sought to erode Risa’s social cohesion through fear and misinformation. But Ricin scholars countered the strategy not with rebellion, but with illumination: they released a network of truths, publicly broadcasting internal thoughts and civic debates to eliminate secrecy. The Romulan operation collapsed under the weight of exposure.

• Even militant Vulcan splinter factions, during the early Vulcan-Andorian conflicts, attempted to turn Risa into a staging ground, pressuring local governments to support Vulcan supremacy. The betrayal struck deep—but Risa resisted through diplomacy, invoking Surak’s true teachings and exposing the heresy of their logic-corrupted mission.

V. Enlightenment Through Preparedness

These trials did not harden us into warriors. They refined us into guardians of peace. Our enlightenment came not from retreat, but from engagement—tempered by readiness.

• We train our youth in the arts of balance: physical defense, emotional expression, and ethical reasoning.
• We teach our history without shame, so that future generations will not repeat our errors.
• We host our guests with joy, not because we are naïve, but because we know that to celebrate life fully is the greatest act of resistance against fear.

Risa did not become peaceful by denying the reality of conflict. We became peaceful by mastering our response to it.

And in so doing, we offered not just pleasure to the stars—but wisdom.

We welcome you not only to our beaches, but to our story.

May your time here bring you not only rest—but understanding.

– Risan Institute of Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the Council of Enlightenment and the Ricin Circle of Peacekeepers

@ a008def1:57a3564d

A Vision for #GitViaNostr

Git has long been the standard for version control in software development, but over time, we has lost its distributed nature. Originally, Git used open, permissionless email for collaboration, which worked well at scale. However, the rise of GitHub and its centralized pull request (PR) model has shifted the landscape.

Now, we have the opportunity to revive Git's permissionless and distributed nature through Nostr!

We’ve developed tools to facilitate Git collaboration via Nostr, but there are still significant friction that prevents widespread adoption. This article outlines a vision for how we can reduce those barriers and encourage more repositories to embrace this approach.

First, we’ll review our progress so far. Then, we’ll propose a guiding philosophy for our next steps. Finally, we’ll discuss a vision to tackle specific challenges, mainly relating to the role of the Git server and CI/CD.

I am the lead maintainer of ngit and gitworkshop.dev, and I’ve been fortunate to work full-time on this initiative for the past two years, thanks to an OpenSats grant.

How Far We’ve Come

The aim of #GitViaNostr is to liberate discussions around code collaboration from permissioned walled gardens. At the core of this collaboration is the process of proposing and applying changes. That's what we focused on first.

Since Nostr shares characteristics with email, and with NIP34, we’ve adopted similar primitives to those used in the patches-over-email workflow. This is because of their simplicity and that they don’t require contributors to host anything, which adds reliability and makes participation more accessible.

However, the fork-branch-PR-merge workflow is the only model many developers have known, and changing established workflows can be challenging. To address this, we developed a new workflow that balances familiarity, user experience, and alignment with the Nostr protocol: the branch-PR-merge model.

This model is implemented in ngit, which includes a Git plugin that allows users to engage without needing to learn new commands. Additionally, gitworkshop.dev offers a GitHub-like interface for interacting with PRs and issues. We encourage you to try them out using the quick start guide and share your feedback. You can also explore PRs and issues with gitplaza.

For those who prefer the patches-over-email workflow, you can still use that approach with Nostr through gitstr or the ngit send and ngit list commands, and explore patches with patch34.

The tools are now available to support the core collaboration challenge, but we are still at the beginning of the adoption curve.

Before we dive into the challenges—such as why the Git server setup can be jarring and the possibilities surrounding CI/CD—let’s take a moment to reflect on how we should approach the challenges ahead of us.

Philosophy

Here are some foundational principles I shared a few years ago:

• Let Git be Git
• Let Nostr be Nostr
• Learn from the successes of others

I’d like to add one more:

• Embrace anarchy and resist monolithic development.

Micro Clients FTW

Nostr celebrates simplicity, and we should strive to maintain that. Monolithic developments often lead to unnecessary complexity. Projects like gitworkshop.dev, which aim to cover various aspects of the code collaboration experience, should not stifle innovation.

Just yesterday, the launch of following.space demonstrated how vibe-coded micro clients can make a significant impact. They can be valuable on their own, shape the ecosystem, and help push large and widely used clients to implement features and ideas.

The primitives in NIP34 are straightforward, and if there are any barriers preventing the vibe-coding of a #GitViaNostr app in an afternoon, we should work to eliminate them.

Micro clients should lead the way and explore new workflows, experiences, and models of thinking.

Take kanbanstr.com. It provides excellent project management and organization features that work seamlessly with NIP34 primitives.

From kanban to code snippets, from CI/CD runners to SatShoot—may a thousand flowers bloom, and a thousand more after them.

Friction and Challenges

The Git Server

In #GitViaNostr, maintainers' branches (e.g., master) are hosted on a Git server. Here’s why this approach is beneficial:

• Follows the original Git vision and the "let Git be Git" philosophy.
• Super efficient, battle-tested, and compatible with all the ways people use Git (e.g., LFS, shallow cloning).
• Maintains compatibility with related systems without the need for plugins (e.g., for build and deployment).
• Only repository maintainers need write access.

In the original Git model, all users would need to add the Git server as a 'git remote.' However, with ngit, the Git server is hidden behind a Nostr remote, which enables:

• Hiding complexity from contributors and users, so that only maintainers need to know about the Git server component to start using #GitViaNostr.
• Maintainers can easily swap Git servers by updating their announcement event, allowing contributors/users using ngit to automatically switch to the new one.

Challenges with the Git Server

While the Git server model has its advantages, it also presents several challenges:

1. Initial Setup: When creating a new repository, maintainers must select a Git server, which can be a jarring experience. Most options come with bloated social collaboration features tied to a centralized PR model, often difficult or impossible to disable.

2. Manual Configuration: New repositories require manual configuration, including adding new maintainers through a browser UI, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

3. User Onboarding: Many Git servers require email sign-up or KYC (Know Your Customer) processes, which can be a significant turn-off for new users exploring a decentralized and permissionless alternative to GitHub.

Once the initial setup is complete, the system works well if a reliable Git server is chosen. However, this is a significant "if," as we have become accustomed to the excellent uptime and reliability of GitHub. Even professionally run alternatives like Codeberg can experience downtime, which is frustrating when CI/CD and deployment processes are affected. This problem is exacerbated when self-hosting.

Currently, most repositories on Nostr rely on GitHub as the Git server. While maintainers can change servers without disrupting their contributors, this reliance on a centralized service is not the decentralized dream we aspire to achieve.

Vision for the Git Server

The goal is to transform the Git server from a single point of truth and failure into a component similar to a Nostr relay.

Functionality Already in ngit to Support This

1. State on Nostr: Store the state of branches and tags in a Nostr event, removing reliance on a single server. This validates that the data received has been signed by the maintainer, significantly reducing the trust requirement.

2. Proxy to Multiple Git Servers: Proxy requests to all servers listed in the announcement event, adding redundancy and eliminating the need for any one server to match GitHub's reliability.

Implementation Requirements

To achieve this vision, the Nostr Git server implementation should:

1. Implement the Git Smart HTTP Protocol without authentication (no SSH) and only accept pushes if the reference tip matches the latest state event.

2. Avoid Bloat: There should be no user authentication, no database, no web UI, and no unnecessary features.

3. Automatic Repository Management: Accept or reject new repositories automatically upon the first push based on the content of the repository announcement event referenced in the URL path and its author.

Just as there are many free, paid, and self-hosted relays, there will be a variety of free, zero-step signup options, as well as self-hosted and paid solutions.

Some servers may use a Web of Trust (WoT) to filter out spam, while others might impose bandwidth or repository size limits for free tiers or whitelist specific npubs.

Additionally, some implementations could bundle relay and blossom server functionalities to unify the provision of repository data into a single service. These would likely only accept content related to the stored repositories rather than general social nostr content.

The potential role of CI / CD via nostr DVMs could create the incentives for a market of highly reliable free at the point of use git servers.

This could make onboarding #GitViaNostr repositories as easy as entering a name and selecting from a multi-select list of Git server providers that announce via NIP89.

!(image)[https://image.nostr.build/badedc822995eb18b6d3c4bff0743b12b2e5ac018845ba498ce4aab0727caf6c.jpg]

Git Client in the Browser

Currently, many tasks are performed on a Git server web UI, such as:

• Browsing code, commits, branches, tags, etc.
• Creating and displaying permalinks to specific lines in commits.
• Merging PRs.
• Making small commits and PRs on-the-fly.

Just as nobody goes to the web UI of a relay (e.g., nos.lol) to interact with notes, nobody should need to go to a Git server to interact with repositories. We use the Nostr protocol to interact with Nostr relays, and we should use the Git protocol to interact with Git servers. This situation has evolved due to the centralization of Git servers. Instead of being restricted to the view and experience designed by the server operator, users should be able to choose the user experience that works best for them from a range of clients. To facilitate this, we need a library that lowers the barrier to entry for creating these experiences. This library should not require a full clone of every repository and should not depend on proprietary APIs. As a starting point, I propose wrapping the WASM-compiled gitlib2 library for the web and creating useful functions, such as showing a file, which utilizes clever flags to minimize bandwidth usage (e.g., shallow clone, noblob, etc.).

This approach would not only enhance clients like gitworkshop.dev but also bring forth a vision where Git servers simply run the Git protocol, making vibe coding Git experiences even better.

song

nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 created song with a complementary vision that has shaped how I see the role of the git server. Its a self-hosted, nostr-permissioned git server with a relay baked in. Its currently a WIP and there are some compatability with ngit that we need to work out.

We collaborated on the nostr-permissioning approach now reflected in nip34.

I'm really excited to see how this space evolves.

CI/CD

Most projects require CI/CD, and while this is often bundled with Git hosting solutions, it is currently not smoothly integrated into #GitViaNostr yet. There are many loosely coupled options, such as Jenkins, Travis, CircleCI, etc., that could be integrated with Nostr.

However, the more exciting prospect is to use DVMs (Data Vending Machines).

DVMs for CI/CD

Nostr Data Vending Machines (DVMs) can provide a marketplace of CI/CD task runners with Cashu for micro payments.

There are various trust levels in CI/CD tasks:

• Tasks with no secrets eg. tests.
• Tasks using updatable secrets eg. API keys.
• Unverifiable builds and steps that sign with Android, Nostr, or PGP keys.

DVMs allow tasks to be kicked off with specific providers using a Cashu token as payment.

It might be suitable for some high-compute and easily verifiable tasks to be run by the cheapest available providers. Medium trust tasks could be run by providers with a good reputation, while high trust tasks could be run on self-hosted runners.

Job requests, status, and results all get published to Nostr for display in Git-focused Nostr clients.

Jobs could be triggered manually, or self-hosted runners could be configured to watch a Nostr repository and kick off jobs using their own runners without payment.

But I'm most excited about the prospect of Watcher Agents.

CI/CD Watcher Agents

AI agents empowered with a NIP60 Cashu wallet can run tasks based on activity, such as a push to master or a new PR, using the most suitable available DVM runner that meets the user's criteria. To keep them running, anyone could top up their NIP60 Cashu wallet; otherwise, the watcher turns off when the funds run out. It could be users, maintainers, or anyone interested in helping the project who could top up the Watcher Agent's balance.

As aluded to earlier, part of building a reputation as a CI/CD provider could involve running reliable hosting (Git server, relay, and blossom server) for all FOSS Nostr Git repositories.

This provides a sustainable revenue model for hosting providers and creates incentives for many free-at-the-point-of-use hosting providers. This, in turn, would allow one-click Nostr repository creation workflows, instantly hosted by many different providers.

Progress to Date

nostr:npub1hw6amg8p24ne08c9gdq8hhpqx0t0pwanpae9z25crn7m9uy7yarse465gr and nostr:npub16ux4qzg4qjue95vr3q327fzata4n594c9kgh4jmeyn80v8k54nhqg6lra7 have been working on a runner that uses GitHub Actions YAML syntax (using act) for the dvm-cicd-runner and takes Cashu payment. You can see example runs on GitWorkshop. It currently takes testnuts, doesn't give any change, and the schema will likely change.

Note: The actions tab on GitWorkshop is currently available on all repositories if you turn on experimental mode (under settings in the user menu).

It's a work in progress, and we expect the format and schema to evolve.

Easy Web App Deployment

For those disapointed not to find a 'Nostr' button to import a git repository to Vercel menu: take heart, they made it easy. vercel.com_import_options.png there is a vercel cli that can be easily called in CI / CD jobs to kick of deployments. Not all managed solutions for web app deployment (eg. netlify) make it that easy.

Many More Opportunities

Large Patches via Blossom

I would be remiss not to mention the large patch problem. Some patches are too big to fit into Nostr events. Blossom is perfect for this, as it allows these larger patches to be included in a blossom file and referenced in a new patch kind.

Enhancing the #GitViaNostr Experience

Beyond the large patch issue, there are numerous opportunities to enhance the #GitViaNostr ecosystem. We can focus on improving browsing, discovery, social and notifications. Receiving notifications on daily driver Nostr apps is one of the killer features of Nostr. However, we must ensure that Git-related notifications are easily reviewable, so we don’t miss any critical updates.

We need to develop tools that cater to our curiosity—tools that enable us to discover and follow projects, engage in discussions that pique our interest, and stay informed about developments relevant to our work.

Additionally, we should not overlook the importance of robust search capabilities and tools that facilitate migrations.

Concluding Thoughts

The design space is vast. Its an exciting time to be working on freedom tech. I encourage everyone to contribute their ideas and creativity and get vibe-coding!

I welcome your honest feedback on this vision and any suggestions you might have. Your insights are invaluable as we collaborate to shape the future of #GitViaNostr. Onward.

Contributions

To conclude, I want to acknowledge some the individuals who have made recent code contributions related to #GitViaNostr:

nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 (gitstr, song, patch34), nostr:npub1useke4f9maul5nf67dj0m9sq6jcsmnjzzk4ycvldwl4qss35fvgqjdk5ks (gitplaza)

nostr:npub1elta7cneng3w8p9y4dw633qzdjr4kyvaparuyuttyrx6e8xp7xnq32cume (ngit contributions, git-remote-blossom),nostr:npub16p8v7varqwjes5hak6q7mz6pygqm4pwc6gve4mrned3xs8tz42gq7kfhdw (SatShoot, Flotilla-Budabit), nostr:npub1ehhfg09mr8z34wz85ek46a6rww4f7c7jsujxhdvmpqnl5hnrwsqq2szjqv (Flotilla-Budabit, Nostr Git Extension), nostr:npub1ahaz04ya9tehace3uy39hdhdryfvdkve9qdndkqp3tvehs6h8s5slq45hy (gnostr and experiments), and others.

nostr:npub1uplxcy63up7gx7cladkrvfqh834n7ylyp46l3e8t660l7peec8rsd2sfek (git-remote-nostr)

Project Management nostr:npub1ltx67888tz7lqnxlrg06x234vjnq349tcfyp52r0lstclp548mcqnuz40t (kanbanstr) Code Snippets nostr:npub1ygzj9skr9val9yqxkf67yf9jshtyhvvl0x76jp5er09nsc0p3j6qr260k2 (nodebin.io) nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9ac (snipsnip.dev)

CI / CD nostr:npub16ux4qzg4qjue95vr3q327fzata4n594c9kgh4jmeyn80v8k54nhqg6lra7 nostr:npub1hw6amg8p24ne08c9gdq8hhpqx0t0pwanpae9z25crn7m9uy7yarse465gr

and for their nostr:npub1c03rad0r6q833vh57kyd3ndu2jry30nkr0wepqfpsm05vq7he25slryrnw nostr:npub1qqqqqq2stely3ynsgm5mh2nj3v0nk5gjyl3zqrzh34hxhvx806usxmln03 and nostr:npub1l5sga6xg72phsz5422ykujprejwud075ggrr3z2hwyrfgr7eylqstegx9z for their testing, feedback, ideas and encouragement.

Thank you for your support and collaboration! Let me know if I've missed you.

@ efcb5fc5:5680aa8e

We're living in a digital dystopia. A world where our attention is currency, our data is mined, and our mental well-being is collateral damage in the relentless pursuit of engagement. The glossy facades of traditional social media platforms hide a dark underbelly of algorithmic manipulation, curated realities, and a pervasive sense of anxiety that seeps into every aspect of our lives. We're trapped in a digital echo chamber, drowning in a sea of manufactured outrage and meaningless noise, and it's time to build an ark and sail away.

I've witnessed the evolution, or rather, the devolution, of online interaction. From the raw, unfiltered chaos of early internet chat rooms to the sterile, algorithmically controlled environments of today's social giants, I've seen the promise of connection twisted into a tool for manipulation and control. We've become lab rats in a grand experiment, our emotional responses measured and monetized, our opinions shaped and sold to the highest bidder. But there's a flicker of hope in the darkness, a chance to reclaim our digital autonomy, and that hope is NOSTR (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays).

The Psychological Warfare of Traditional Social Media

The Algorithmic Cage: These algorithms aren't designed to enhance your life; they're designed to keep you scrolling. They feed on your vulnerabilities, exploiting your fears and desires to maximize engagement, even if it means promoting misinformation, outrage, and division.

The Illusion of Perfection: The curated realities presented on these platforms create a toxic culture of comparison. We're bombarded with images of flawless bodies, extravagant lifestyles, and seemingly perfect lives, leading to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.

The Echo Chamber Effect: Algorithms reinforce our existing beliefs, isolating us from diverse perspectives and creating a breeding ground for extremism. We become trapped in echo chambers where our biases are constantly validated, leading to increased polarization and intolerance.

The Toxicity Vortex: The lack of effective moderation creates a breeding ground for hate speech, cyberbullying, and online harassment. We're constantly exposed to toxic content that erodes our mental well-being and fosters a sense of fear and distrust.

This isn't just a matter of inconvenience; it's a matter of mental survival. We're being subjected to a form of psychological warfare, and it's time to fight back.

NOSTR: A Sanctuary in the Digital Wasteland

NOSTR offers a radical alternative to this toxic environment. It's not just another platform; it's a decentralized protocol that empowers users to reclaim their digital sovereignty.

User-Controlled Feeds: You decide what you see, not an algorithm. You curate your own experience, focusing on the content and people that matter to you.

Ownership of Your Digital Identity: Your data and content are yours, secured by cryptography. No more worrying about being deplatformed or having your information sold to the highest bidder.

Interoperability: Your identity works across a diverse ecosystem of apps, giving you the freedom to choose the interface that suits your needs.

Value-Driven Interactions: The "zaps" feature enables direct micropayments, rewarding creators for valuable content and fostering a culture of genuine appreciation.

Decentralized Power: No single entity controls NOSTR, making it censorship-resistant and immune to the whims of corporate overlords.

Building a Healthier Digital Future

NOSTR isn't just about escaping the toxicity of traditional social media; it's about building a healthier, more meaningful online experience.

Cultivating Authentic Connections: Focus on building genuine relationships with people who share your values and interests, rather than chasing likes and followers.

Supporting Independent Creators: Use "zaps" to directly support the artists, writers, and thinkers who inspire you.

Embracing Intellectual Diversity: Explore different NOSTR apps and communities to broaden your horizons and challenge your assumptions.

Prioritizing Your Mental Health: Take control of your digital environment and create a space that supports your well-being.

Removing the noise: Value based interactions promote value based content, instead of the constant stream of noise that traditional social media promotes.

The Time for Action is Now

NOSTR is a nascent technology, but it represents a fundamental shift in how we interact online. It's a chance to build a more open, decentralized, and user-centric internet, one that prioritizes our mental health and our humanity.

We can no longer afford to be passive consumers in the digital age. We must become active participants in shaping our online experiences. It's time to break free from the chains of algorithmic control and reclaim our digital autonomy.

Join the NOSTR movement

Embrace the power of decentralization. Let's build a digital future that's worthy of our humanity. Let us build a place where the middlemen, and the algorithms that they control, have no power over us.

In addition to the points above, here are some examples/links of how NOSTR can be used:

Simple Signup: Creating a NOSTR account is incredibly easy. You can use platforms like Yakihonne or Primal to generate your keys and start exploring the ecosystem.

X-like Client: Apps like Damus offer a familiar X-like experience, making it easy for users to transition from traditional platforms.

Sharing Photos and Videos: Clients like Olas are optimized for visual content, allowing you to share your photos and videos with your followers.

Creating and Consuming Blogs: NOSTR can be used to publish and share blog posts, fostering a community of independent creators.

Live Streaming and Audio Spaces: Explore platforms like Hivetalk and zap.stream for live streaming and audio-based interactions.

NOSTR is a powerful tool for reclaiming your digital life and building a more meaningful online experience. It's time to take control, break free from the shackles of traditional social media, and embrace the future of decentralized communication.

Get the full overview of these and other on: https://nostrapps.com/

@ 6be5cc06:5259daf0

Eu reconheço que Deus, e somente Deus, é o soberano legítimo sobre todas as coisas. Nenhum homem, nenhuma instituição, nenhum parlamento tem autoridade para usurpar aquilo que pertence ao Rei dos reis. O Estado moderno, com sua pretensão totalizante, é uma farsa blasfema diante do trono de Cristo. Não aceito outro senhor.

A Lei que me guia não é a ditada por burocratas, mas a gravada por Deus na própria natureza humana. A razão, quando iluminada pela fé, é suficiente para discernir o que é justo. Rejeito as leis arbitrárias que pretendem legitimar o roubo, o assassinato ou a escravidão em nome da ordem. A justiça não nasce do decreto, mas da verdade.

Acredito firmemente na propriedade privada como extensão da própria pessoa. Aquilo que é fruto do meu trabalho, da minha criatividade, da minha dedicação, dos dons a mim concedidos por Deus, pertence a mim por direito natural. Ninguém pode legitimamente tomar o que é meu sem meu consentimento. Todo imposto é uma agressão; toda expropriação, um roubo. Defendo a liberdade econômica não por idolatria ao mercado, mas porque a liberdade é condição necessária para a virtude.

Assumo o Princípio da Não Agressão como o mínimo ético que devo respeitar. Não iniciarei o uso da força contra ninguém, nem contra sua propriedade. Exijo o mesmo de todos. Mas sei que isso não basta. O PNA delimita o que não devo fazer — ele não me ensina o que devo ser. A liberdade exterior só é boa se houver liberdade interior. O mercado pode ser livre, mas se a alma estiver escravizada pelo vício, o colapso será inevitável.

Por isso, não me basta a ética negativa. Creio que uma sociedade justa precisa de valores positivos: honra, responsabilidade, compaixão, respeito, fidelidade à verdade. Sem isso, mesmo uma sociedade que respeite formalmente os direitos individuais apodrecerá por dentro. Um povo que ama o lucro, mas despreza a verdade, que celebra a liberdade mas esquece a justiça, está se preparando para ser dominado. Trocará um déspota visível por mil tiranias invisíveis — o hedonismo, o consumismo, a mentira, o medo.

Não aceito a falsa caridade feita com o dinheiro tomado à força. A verdadeira generosidade nasce do coração livre, não da coerção institucional. Obrigar alguém a ajudar o próximo destrói tanto a liberdade quanto a virtude. Só há mérito onde há escolha. A caridade que nasce do amor é redentora; a que nasce do fisco é propaganda.

O Estado moderno é um ídolo. Ele promete segurança, mas entrega servidão. Promete justiça, mas entrega privilégios. Disfarça a opressão com linguagem técnica, legal e democrática. Mas por trás de suas máscaras, vejo apenas a velha serpente. Um parasita que se alimenta do trabalho alheio e manipula consciências para se perpetuar.

Resistir não é apenas um direito, é um dever. Obedecer a Deus antes que aos homens — essa é a minha regra. O poder se volta contra a verdade, mas minha lealdade pertence a quem criou o céu e a terra. A tirania não se combate com outro tirano, mas com a desobediência firme e pacífica dos que amam a justiça.

Não acredito em utopias. Desejo uma ordem natural, orgânica, enraizada no voluntarismo. Uma sociedade que se construa de baixo para cima: a partir da família, da comunidade local, da tradição e da fé. Não quero uma máquina que planeje a vida alheia, mas um tecido de relações voluntárias onde a liberdade floresça à sombra da cruz.

Desejo, sim, o reinado social de Cristo. Não por imposição, mas por convicção. Que Ele reine nos corações, nas famílias, nas ruas e nos contratos. Que a fé guie a razão e a razão ilumine a vida. Que a liberdade seja meio para a santidade — não um fim em si. E que, livres do jugo do Leviatã, sejamos servos apenas do Senhor.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Esteemed representatives of Risa,

We gather here under the calming glow of our twin suns, stewards of a society admired for its peace and celebrated for its tranquility. But we must not mistake serenity for passivity, nor confuse peace with weakness. Our peace is not an accident. It is not the byproduct of ignorance or naivety. It is hard-earned—preserved by those willing to stand vigilant in its defense.

Love as a Foundation, Strength as a Shield

Love conquers hate. This is the core truth of Risan philosophy. Yet, as every Ricin child is taught, love without strength is a leaf in the wind. The Ricin do not lay down their lives without resistance. We do not ask our people to accept violence without confronting it. True peace is not imposed by stripping the people of their agency—it is built by enabling them to protect it.

The Lessons of a Failed Experiment

There was a time, not so distant in our history, when we attempted to enforce peace through the abolition of all weapons. A time when even the mention of self-defense in our educational centers was met with rebuke. Schools purged training programs. Cultural arts that honored our warrior traditions were dismissed. And for a brief moment, we believed this would lead us to harmony.

But peace born from helplessness is a fragile illusion. It fractures under the slightest pressure. And fracture it did—when off-world raiders targeted our unguarded sanctuaries, when radical sects within our own society struck out, knowing the citizenry could not defend itself. It was then that we remembered: Risa’s greatest peacekeepers had always been those who knew how to fight—but chose restraint.

The Age of Ricin and the Reawakening of Discipline

So we returned to our roots. To the traditions of the Age of Ricin, when youth, upon reaching maturity, were taught not only the arts of compassion and creation but also the martial disciplines. They learn to wield weapons—not to glorify violence, but to understand it. To control it. To stand firm against it when all else fails.

https://i.nostr.build/kuUjRovISz7367TX.jpg

We do not romanticize war. We do not celebrate conflict. But we prepare for it, should it seek to extinguish our light. Our children now learn the disciplines of defense alongside their studies in poetry, music, and healing. They spar with blunt blades under the watchful eyes of masters. They meditate on the consequences of force. And they grow into citizens not easily provoked, but never unprepared.

A Call for Balance, Not Extremes

Let those beyond our borders question our ways. Let them forget the countless incursions by the Romulans. Let them ignore the scars left by centuries of subversion from the Orion Syndicate. We do not forget. We remember the lives lost, the liberties challenged, and the lessons learned through suffering. These experiences shaped us.

We do not wish to return to the era of soft silence, when teachers trembled at the word "weapon" and children were told that even imagination was dangerous. That was not enlightenment. That was indoctrination.

Conclusion: Guarding the Flame

We are the guardians of Risa’s flame—not just with words and treaties, but with discipline and readiness. We have made peace a practice, and preparation a virtue. And so I say to this chamber: let us never again disarm our people in the name of utopia. Let us never confuse comfort with safety, or the absence of weapons with the presence of peace.

Instead, let us raise generations who know what peace costs, and who will pay that price—not with surrender, but with courage.

Let our children be artists, lovers, dreamers—and if necessary, defenders.

This is the Risan way.

@ 30ceb64e:7f08bdf5

Status: Draft
Author: TheWildHustle

Abstract

This NIP defines a framework for storing and sharing health and fitness profile data on Nostr. It establishes a set of standardized event kinds for individual health metrics, allowing applications to selectively access specific health information while preserving user control and privacy.

In this framework exists - NIP-101h.1 Weight using kind 1351 - NIP-101h.2 Height using kind 1352 - NIP-101h.3 Age using kind 1353 - NIP-101h.4 Gender using kind 1354 - NIP-101h.5 Fitness Level using kind 1355

Motivation

I want to build and support an ecosystem of health and fitness related nostr clients that have the ability to share and utilize a bunch of specific interoperable health metrics.

• Selective access - Applications can access only the data they need
• User control - Users can choose which metrics to share
• Interoperability - Different health applications can share data
• Privacy - Sensitive health information can be managed independently

Specification

Kind Number Range

Health profile metrics use the kind number range 1351-1399:

| Kind | Metric | | --------- | ---------------------------------- | | 1351 | Weight | | 1352 | Height | | 1353 | Age | | 1354 | Gender | | 1355 | Fitness Level | | 1356-1399 | Reserved for future health metrics |

Common Structure

All health metric events SHOULD follow these guidelines:

• The content field contains the primary value of the metric
• Required tags:
• ['t', 'health'] - For categorizing as health data
• ['t', metric-specific-tag] - For identifying the specific metric
• ['unit', unit-of-measurement] - When applicable
• Optional tags:
• ['converted_value', value, unit] - For providing alternative unit measurements
• ['timestamp', ISO8601-date] - When the metric was measured
• ['source', application-name] - The source of the measurement

Unit Handling

Health metrics often have multiple ways to be measured. To ensure interoperability:

• Where multiple units are possible, one standard unit SHOULD be chosen as canonical
• When using non-standard units, a converted_value tag SHOULD be included with the canonical unit
• Both the original and converted values should be provided for maximum compatibility

Client Implementation Guidelines

Clients implementing this NIP SHOULD:

• Allow users to explicitly choose which metrics to publish
• Support reading health metrics from other users when appropriate permissions exist
• Support updating metrics with new values over time
• Preserve tags they don't understand for future compatibility
• Support at least the canonical unit for each metric

Extensions

New health metrics can be proposed as extensions to this NIP using the format:

• NIP-101h.X where X is the metric number

Each extension MUST specify: - A unique kind number in the range 1351-1399 - The content format and meaning - Required and optional tags - Examples of valid events

Privacy Considerations

Health data is sensitive personal information. Clients implementing this NIP SHOULD:

• Make it clear to users when health data is being published
• Consider incorporating NIP-44 encryption for sensitive metrics
• Allow users to selectively share metrics with specific individuals
• Provide easy ways to delete previously published health data

---

NIP-101h.1: Weight

Description

This NIP defines the format for storing and sharing weight data on Nostr.

Event Kind: 1351

Content

The content field MUST contain the numeric weight value as a string.

Required Tags

• ['unit', 'kg' or 'lb'] - Unit of measurement
• ['t', 'health'] - Categorization tag
• ['t', 'weight'] - Specific metric tag

Optional Tags

• ['converted_value', value, unit] - Provides the weight in alternative units for interoperability
• ['timestamp', ISO8601 date] - When the weight was measured

Examples

json { "kind": 1351, "content": "70", "tags": [ ["unit", "kg"], ["t", "health"], ["t", "weight"] ] }

json { "kind": 1351, "content": "154", "tags": [ ["unit", "lb"], ["t", "health"], ["t", "weight"], ["converted_value", "69.85", "kg"] ] }

NIP-101h.2: Height

Status: Draft

Description

This NIP defines the format for storing and sharing height data on Nostr.

Event Kind: 1352

Content

The content field can use two formats: - For metric height: A string containing the numeric height value in centimeters (cm) - For imperial height: A JSON string with feet and inches properties

Required Tags

• ['t', 'health'] - Categorization tag
• ['t', 'height'] - Specific metric tag
• ['unit', 'cm' or 'imperial'] - Unit of measurement

Optional Tags

• ['converted_value', value, 'cm'] - Provides height in centimeters for interoperability when imperial is used
• ['timestamp', ISO8601-date] - When the height was measured

Examples

```jsx // Example 1: Metric height Apply to App.jsx

// Example 2: Imperial height with conversion Apply to App.jsx ```

Implementation Notes

• Centimeters (cm) is the canonical unit for height interoperability
• When using imperial units, a conversion to centimeters SHOULD be provided
• Height values SHOULD be positive integers
• For maximum compatibility, clients SHOULD support both formats

---

NIP-101h.3: Age

Status: Draft

Description

This NIP defines the format for storing and sharing age data on Nostr.

Event Kind: 1353

Content

The content field MUST contain the numeric age value as a string.

Required Tags

• ['unit', 'years'] - Unit of measurement
• ['t', 'health'] - Categorization tag
• ['t', 'age'] - Specific metric tag

Optional Tags

• ['timestamp', ISO8601-date] - When the age was recorded
• ['dob', ISO8601-date] - Date of birth (if the user chooses to share it)

Examples

```jsx // Example 1: Basic age Apply to App.jsx

// Example 2: Age with DOB Apply to App.jsx ```

Implementation Notes

• Age SHOULD be represented as a positive integer
• For privacy reasons, date of birth (dob) is optional
• Clients SHOULD consider updating age automatically if date of birth is known
• Age can be a sensitive metric and clients may want to consider encrypting this data

---

NIP-101h.4: Gender

Status: Draft

Description

This NIP defines the format for storing and sharing gender data on Nostr.

Event Kind: 1354

Content

The content field contains a string representing the user's gender.

Required Tags

• ['t', 'health'] - Categorization tag
• ['t', 'gender'] - Specific metric tag

Optional Tags

• ['timestamp', ISO8601-date] - When the gender was recorded
• ['preferred_pronouns', string] - User's preferred pronouns

Common Values

While any string value is permitted, the following common values are recommended for interoperability: - male - female - non-binary - other - prefer-not-to-say

Examples

```jsx // Example 1: Basic gender Apply to App.jsx

// Example 2: Gender with pronouns Apply to App.jsx ```

Implementation Notes

• Clients SHOULD allow free-form input for gender
• For maximum compatibility, clients SHOULD support the common values
• Gender is a sensitive personal attribute and clients SHOULD consider appropriate privacy controls
• Applications focusing on health metrics should be respectful of gender diversity

---

NIP-101h.5: Fitness Level

Status: Draft

Description

This NIP defines the format for storing and sharing fitness level data on Nostr.

Event Kind: 1355

Content

The content field contains a string representing the user's fitness level.

Required Tags

• ['t', 'health'] - Categorization tag
• ['t', 'fitness'] - Fitness category tag
• ['t', 'level'] - Specific metric tag

Optional Tags

• ['timestamp', ISO8601-date] - When the fitness level was recorded
• ['activity', activity-type] - Specific activity the fitness level relates to
• ['metrics', JSON-string] - Quantifiable fitness metrics used to determine level

Common Values

While any string value is permitted, the following common values are recommended for interoperability: - beginner - intermediate - advanced - elite - professional

Examples

```jsx // Example 1: Basic fitness level Apply to App.jsx

// Example 2: Activity-specific fitness level with metrics Apply to App.jsx ```

Implementation Notes

• Fitness level is subjective and may vary by activity
• The activity tag can be used to specify fitness level for different activities
• The metrics tag can provide objective measurements to support the fitness level
• Clients can extend this format to include activity-specific fitness assessments
• For general fitness apps, the simple beginner/intermediate/advanced scale is recommended

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Spoken by Counselor Elaron T’Saren of Risa to the High Council, Stardate 52874.2

Honored members of the Council,

I bring you greetings from Risa—not the Risa of travel brochures and romantic holo-novels, but the true Risa. The Risa that has endured, adapted, and emerged stronger after each trial. I speak not as a tourist ambassador, but as a Counselor of our oldest institute of philosophy, and as a son of the Ricin tradition.

Today, the specter of the Borg hangs above us. The collective offers no room for diplomacy, no respect for culture, no compromise. We face not mere invaders—but a force that seeks to erase individuality, history, and identity. Some among the Council wonder what Risa—a world of peace—can offer in such a time. I say to you: we can offer the truth about peace.

The Hidden Roots of Our Tranquility

Long ago, before Risa joined the Federation, we too believed that peace could be maintained by disarming the populace, by eliminating even the mention of conflict in our schools. It was called the Great Disarmament. A generation was raised with no understanding of defense, and in time, we paid the price.

We were raided by Orion pirates. Exploited by off-world cartels. Our people were taken, our arts destroyed, our skies blackened. And we learned—too late—that peace without preparedness is only the illusion of safety.

The Birth of Ricin Doctrine

From the ashes of that failure arose the Ricin: scholars, philosophers, warriors of thought and purpose. They taught that peace is not the absence of conflict, but the mastery of it. That the mind and the body must be trained in tandem. That love without strength is a leaf in the wind.

We did not become a militant world. We became a watchful one. Our children were taught martial discipline—not to glorify violence, but to understand it, to confront it, and to defeat it when necessary. They learned meditation alongside hand-to-hand technique, negotiation beside tactical reasoning.

When we joined the Federation, we did so willingly. But let none assume we surrendered our right to defend our way of life.

Why I Speak to You Now

The Borg are not like the Orion Syndicate. They are not opportunistic, or ideological. They are methodical. And they are coming. You cannot debate with them. You cannot delay them. You can only prepare for them.

And yet, I hear murmurs within the halls of the Federation: whispers of abandoning planetary defense training, of downplaying the psychological need for individual and planetary preparedness. I hear the tired lie that “peace will protect us.”

No, Councilors. It is discipline that protects peace.

The Call to Action

I do not come bearing weapons. I come bearing wisdom. Let us take the Risan lesson and apply it across the Federation. Reestablish tactical readiness training in civilian schools. Encourage planetary governments to integrate defense and philosophy, not as contradictions, but as complements.

Let every child of the Federation grow up knowing not just the principles of liberty, but the means to defend them. Let every artist, scientist, and healer stand ready to protect the civilization they help to build.

Let us not wait until the Borg are in our orbit to remember what we must become.

Conclusion

The Borg seek to erase our uniqueness. Let us show them that the Federation is not a fragile collection of planets—but a constellation of cultures bound by a shared resolve.

We do not choose war. But neither do we flee from it.

We are the guardians of Risa’s flame—and we offer our light to the stars.

Thank you.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Hear this, warriors of the Empire!

A dishonorable shadow spreads across our once-proud institutions, infecting our very bloodlines with weakness. The House of Duras—may their names be spoken with contempt—has betrayed the sacred warrior code of Kahless. No, they have not attacked us with disruptors or blades. Their weapon is more insidious: fear and silence.

Cowardice Masquerading as Concern

These traitors would strip our children of their birthright. They forbid the young from training with the bat'leth in school! Their cowardly decree does not come in the form of an open challenge, but in whispers of fear, buried in bureaucratic dictates. "It is for safety," they claim. "It is to prevent bloodshed." Lies! The blood of Klingons must be tested in training if it is to be ready in battle. We are not humans to be coddled by illusions of safety.

Indoctrination by Silence

In their cowardice, the House of Duras seeks to shape our children not into warriors, but into frightened bureaucrats who speak not of honor, nor of strength. They spread a vile practice—of punishing younglings for even speaking of combat, for recounting glorious tales of blades clashing in the halls of Sto-Vo-Kor! A child who dares write a poem of battle is silenced. A young warrior who shares tales of their father’s triumphs is summoned to the headmaster’s office.

This is no accident. This is a calculated cultural sabotage.

Weakness Taught as Virtue

The House of Duras has infected the minds of the teachers. These once-proud mentors now tremble at shadows, seeing future rebels in the eyes of their students. They demand security patrols and biometric scanners, turning training halls into prisons. They have created fear, not of enemies beyond the Empire, but of the students themselves.

And so, the rituals of strength are erased. The bat'leth is banished. The honor of open training and sparring is forbidden. All under the pretense of protection.

A Plan of Subjugation

Make no mistake. This is not a policy; it is a plan. A plan to disarm future warriors before they are strong enough to rise. By forbidding speech, training, and remembrance, the House of Duras ensures the next generation kneels before the High Council like servants, not warriors. They seek an Empire of sheep, not wolves.

Stand and Resist

But the blood of Kahless runs strong! We must not be silent. We must not comply. Let every training hall resound with the clash of steel. Let our children speak proudly of their ancestors' battles. Let every dishonorable edict from the House of Duras be met with open defiance.

Raise your voice, Klingons! Raise your blade! The soul of the Empire is at stake. We will not surrender our future. We will not let the cowardice of Duras shape the spirit of our children.

The Empire endures through strength. Through honor. Through battle. And so shall we!

@ 91bea5cd:1df4451c

O Contexto Legal Brasileiro e o Consentimento

No ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, o consentimento do ofendido pode, em certas circunstâncias, afastar a ilicitude de um ato que, sem ele, configuraria crime (como lesão corporal leve, prevista no Art. 129 do Código Penal). Contudo, o consentimento tem limites claros: não é válido para bens jurídicos indisponíveis, como a vida, e sua eficácia é questionável em casos de lesões corporais graves ou gravíssimas.

A prática de BDSM consensual situa-se em uma zona complexa. Em tese, se ambos os parceiros são adultos, capazes, e consentiram livre e informadamente nos atos praticados, sem que resultem em lesões graves permanentes ou risco de morte não consentido, não haveria crime. O desafio reside na comprovação desse consentimento, especialmente se uma das partes, posteriormente, o negar ou alegar coação.

A Lei Maria da Penha (Lei nº 11.340/2006)

A Lei Maria da Penha é um marco fundamental na proteção da mulher contra a violência doméstica e familiar. Ela estabelece mecanismos para coibir e prevenir tal violência, definindo suas formas (física, psicológica, sexual, patrimonial e moral) e prevendo medidas protetivas de urgência.

Embora essencial, a aplicação da lei em contextos de BDSM pode ser delicada. Uma alegação de violência por parte da mulher, mesmo que as lesões ou situações decorram de práticas consensuais, tende a receber atenção prioritária das autoridades, dada a presunção de vulnerabilidade estabelecida pela lei. Isso pode criar um cenário onde o parceiro masculino enfrenta dificuldades significativas em demonstrar a natureza consensual dos atos, especialmente se não houver provas robustas pré-constituídas.

Outros riscos:

Lesão corporal grave ou gravíssima (art. 129, §§ 1º e 2º, CP), não pode ser justificada pelo consentimento, podendo ensejar persecução penal.

Crimes contra a dignidade sexual (arts. 213 e seguintes do CP) são de ação pública incondicionada e independem de representação da vítima para a investigação e denúncia.

Riscos de Falsas Acusações e Alegação de Coação Futura

Os riscos para os praticantes de BDSM, especialmente para o parceiro que assume o papel dominante ou que inflige dor/restrição (frequentemente, mas não exclusivamente, o homem), podem surgir de diversas frentes:

1. Acusações Externas: Vizinhos, familiares ou amigos que desconhecem a natureza consensual do relacionamento podem interpretar sons, marcas ou comportamentos como sinais de abuso e denunciar às autoridades.
2. Alegações Futuras da Parceira: Em caso de término conturbado, vingança, arrependimento ou mudança de perspectiva, a parceira pode reinterpretar as práticas passadas como abuso e buscar reparação ou retaliação através de uma denúncia. A alegação pode ser de que o consentimento nunca existiu ou foi viciado.
3. Alegação de Coação: Uma das formas mais complexas de refutar é a alegação de que o consentimento foi obtido mediante coação (física, moral, psicológica ou econômica). A parceira pode alegar, por exemplo, que se sentia pressionada, intimidada ou dependente, e que seu "sim" não era genuíno. Provar a ausência de coação a posteriori é extremamente difícil.
4. Ingenuidade e Vulnerabilidade Masculina: Muitos homens, confiando na dinâmica consensual e na parceira, podem negligenciar a necessidade de precauções. A crença de que "isso nunca aconteceria comigo" ou a falta de conhecimento sobre as implicações legais e o peso processual de uma acusação no âmbito da Lei Maria da Penha podem deixá-los vulneráveis. A presença de marcas físicas, mesmo que consentidas, pode ser usada como evidência de agressão, invertendo o ônus da prova na prática, ainda que não na teoria jurídica.

Estratégias de Prevenção e Mitigação

Não existe um método infalível para evitar completamente o risco de uma falsa acusação, mas diversas medidas podem ser adotadas para construir um histórico de consentimento e reduzir vulnerabilidades:

1. Comunicação Explícita e Contínua: A base de qualquer prática BDSM segura é a comunicação constante. Negociar limites, desejos, palavras de segurança ("safewords") e expectativas antes, durante e depois das cenas é crucial. Manter registros dessas negociações (e-mails, mensagens, diários compartilhados) pode ser útil.

2. Documentação do Consentimento:

   • Contratos de Relacionamento/Cena: Embora a validade jurídica de "contratos BDSM" seja discutível no Brasil (não podem afastar normas de ordem pública), eles servem como forte evidência da intenção das partes, da negociação detalhada de limites e do consentimento informado. Devem ser claros, datados, assinados e, idealmente, reconhecidos em cartório (para prova de data e autenticidade das assinaturas).

   • Registros Audiovisuais: Gravar (com consentimento explícito para a gravação) discussões sobre consentimento e limites antes das cenas pode ser uma prova poderosa. Gravar as próprias cenas é mais complexo devido a questões de privacidade e potencial uso indevido, mas pode ser considerado em casos específicos, sempre com consentimento mútuo documentado para a gravação.

     Importante: a gravação deve ser com ciência da outra parte, para não configurar violação da intimidade (art. 5º, X, da Constituição Federal e art. 20 do Código Civil).

3. Testemunhas: Em alguns contextos de comunidade BDSM, a presença de terceiros de confiança durante negociações ou mesmo cenas pode servir como testemunho, embora isso possa alterar a dinâmica íntima do casal.

4. Estabelecimento Claro de Limites e Palavras de Segurança: Definir e respeitar rigorosamente os limites (o que é permitido, o que é proibido) e as palavras de segurança é fundamental. O desrespeito a uma palavra de segurança encerra o consentimento para aquele ato.
5. Avaliação Contínua do Consentimento: O consentimento não é um cheque em branco; ele deve ser entusiástico, contínuo e revogável a qualquer momento. Verificar o bem-estar do parceiro durante a cena ("check-ins") é essencial.
6. Discrição e Cuidado com Evidências Físicas: Ser discreto sobre a natureza do relacionamento pode evitar mal-entendidos externos. Após cenas que deixem marcas, é prudente que ambos os parceiros estejam cientes e de acordo, talvez documentando por fotos (com data) e uma nota sobre a consensualidade da prática que as gerou.
7. Aconselhamento Jurídico Preventivo: Consultar um advogado especializado em direito de família e criminal, com sensibilidade para dinâmicas de relacionamento alternativas, pode fornecer orientação personalizada sobre as melhores formas de documentar o consentimento e entender os riscos legais específicos.

Observações Importantes

• Nenhuma documentação substitui a necessidade de consentimento real, livre, informado e contínuo.
• A lei brasileira protege a "integridade física" e a "dignidade humana". Práticas que resultem em lesões graves ou que violem a dignidade de forma não consentida (ou com consentimento viciado) serão ilegais, independentemente de qualquer acordo prévio.
• Em caso de acusação, a existência de documentação robusta de consentimento não garante a absolvição, mas fortalece significativamente a defesa, ajudando a demonstrar a natureza consensual da relação e das práticas.

• A alegação de coação futura é particularmente difícil de prevenir apenas com documentos. Um histórico consistente de comunicação aberta (whatsapp/telegram/e-mails), respeito mútuo e ausência de dependência ou controle excessivo na relação pode ajudar a contextualizar a dinâmica como não coercitiva.

• Cuidado com Marcas Visíveis e Lesões Graves Práticas que resultam em hematomas severos ou lesões podem ser interpretadas como agressão, mesmo que consentidas. Evitar excessos protege não apenas a integridade física, mas também evita questionamentos legais futuros.

O que vem a ser consentimento viciado

No Direito, consentimento viciado é quando a pessoa concorda com algo, mas a vontade dela não é livre ou plena — ou seja, o consentimento existe formalmente, mas é defeituoso por alguma razão.

O Código Civil brasileiro (art. 138 a 165) define várias formas de vício de consentimento. As principais são:

Erro: A pessoa se engana sobre o que está consentindo. (Ex.: A pessoa acredita que vai participar de um jogo leve, mas na verdade é exposta a práticas pesadas.)

Dolo: A pessoa é enganada propositalmente para aceitar algo. (Ex.: Alguém mente sobre o que vai acontecer durante a prática.)

Coação: A pessoa é forçada ou ameaçada a consentir. (Ex.: "Se você não aceitar, eu termino com você" — pressão emocional forte pode ser vista como coação.)

Estado de perigo ou lesão: A pessoa aceita algo em situação de necessidade extrema ou abuso de sua vulnerabilidade. (Ex.: Alguém em situação emocional muito fragilizada é induzida a aceitar práticas que normalmente recusaria.)

No contexto de BDSM, isso é ainda mais delicado: Mesmo que a pessoa tenha "assinado" um contrato ou dito "sim", se depois ela alegar que seu consentimento foi dado sob medo, engano ou pressão psicológica, o consentimento pode ser considerado viciado — e, portanto, juridicamente inválido.

Isso tem duas implicações sérias:

1. O crime não se descaracteriza: Se houver vício, o consentimento é ignorado e a prática pode ser tratada como crime normal (lesão corporal, estupro, tortura, etc.).

2. A prova do consentimento precisa ser sólida: Mostrando que a pessoa estava informada, lúcida, livre e sem qualquer tipo de coação.

   Consentimento viciado é quando a pessoa concorda formalmente, mas de maneira enganada, forçada ou pressionada, tornando o consentimento inútil para efeitos jurídicos.

Conclusão

Casais que praticam BDSM consensual no Brasil navegam em um terreno que exige não apenas confiança mútua e comunicação excepcional, mas também uma consciência aguçada das complexidades legais e dos riscos de interpretações equivocadas ou acusações mal-intencionadas. Embora o BDSM seja uma expressão legítima da sexualidade humana, sua prática no Brasil exige responsabilidade redobrada. Ter provas claras de consentimento, manter a comunicação aberta e agir com prudência são formas eficazes de se proteger de falsas alegações e preservar a liberdade e a segurança de todos os envolvidos. Embora leis controversas como a Maria da Penha sejam "vitais" para a proteção contra a violência real, os praticantes de BDSM, e em particular os homens nesse contexto, devem adotar uma postura proativa e prudente para mitigar os riscos inerentes à potencial má interpretação ou instrumentalização dessas práticas e leis, garantindo que a expressão de sua consensualidade esteja resguardada na medida do possível.

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Importante: No Brasil, mesmo com tudo isso, o Ministério Público pode denunciar por crime como lesão corporal grave, estupro ou tortura, independente de consentimento. Então a prudência nas práticas é fundamental.

Aviso Legal: Este artigo tem caráter meramente informativo e não constitui aconselhamento jurídico. As leis e interpretações podem mudar, e cada situação é única. Recomenda-se buscar orientação de um advogado qualificado para discutir casos específicos.

Se curtiu este artigo faça uma contribuição, se tiver algum ponto relevante para o artigo deixe seu comentário.

@ 306555fe:fd7fdf12

when his rivals got wind of that scandalous evening, they ratted him out to the highest Athenian court for stealing “kykeon,” the sacred elixir he’d shared with his guests. He was tried in absentia for a crime punishable by death—blaspheming the Mysteries.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 47-48

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At the center of this dynamic sits the myth of Prometheus,9 the original upstart rebel, who stole fire from the gods and shared it with humankind.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 77-78

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For anthropologists, uncovering the ingredients of kykeon has become a Holy Grail kind of quest. It ranks right up there with decoding soma, the ancient Indian sacrament that inspired Aldous Huxley’s groupthink happy drug in Brave New World. Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann7 and Harvard-trained classicist Carl Ruck argued that the barley in kykeon might have been tainted with an ergot fungus.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 65-69

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The Greeks had a word3 for this merger that Davis quite liked—ecstasis—the act of “stepping beyond oneself.” Davis had his own word as well. He called it “the switch,” the moment they stopped being separate men with lives and wives and things that matter. The moment they became, well, there’s no easy way to explain it—but something happened out there. Plato described ecstasis as an altered state where our normal waking consciousness vanishes completely, replaced by an intense euphoria and a powerful connection to a greater intelligence. Contemporary scientists have slightly different terms and descriptions. They call the experience “group flow.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 166-171

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“More than any other skill,” he explains, “SEALs rely on this merger of consciousness. Being able to flip that switch—that’s the real secret to being a SEAL.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 182-183

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“At every step of the training,” says Davis, “from the first day of BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs) through their last day in DEVGRU, we are weeding out candidates who cannot shift their consciousness and merge with the team.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 211-212

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But, by breaking down what’s going on in the brain, we start to see that what feels supernatural might just be super-natural: beyond our normal experience, for sure, but not beyond our actual capabilities.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 44, loc. 726-727

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The Greeks called that sudden understanding anamnesis. Literally, “the forgetting of the forgetting.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 44, loc. 719-720

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The Greeks called that sudden understanding anamnesis. Literally, “the forgetting of the forgetting.” A powerful sense of remembering.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 44, loc. 719-720

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Often, an ecstatic experience25 begins when the brain releases norepinephrine and dopamine into our system. These neurochemicals raise heart rates,26 tighten focus, and help us sit up and pay attention. We notice more of what’s going on around us, so information normally tuned out or ignored becomes more readily available. And besides simply increasing focus, these chemicals amp up the brain’s pattern recognition abilities,27 helping us find new links between all this incoming information.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 44, loc. 727-733

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This ability to unlock motivation has widespread implications. Across the board, from education to health care to business, motivational gaps cost us trillions of dollars a year. We know better; we just can’t seem to do better. But we can do better. Effortlessness upends the “suffer now, redemption later” of the Protestant work ethic and replaces it with a far more powerful and enjoyable drive.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 43, loc. 711-714

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Anandamide also plays another important role here,31 boosting “lateral thinking,” which is our ability to make far-flung connections between disparate ideas. Post-its, Slinkys, Silly Putty, Super Glue, and a host of other breakthroughs all came when an inventor made a sideways leap, applying an overlooked tool in a novel way. In part, that’s anandamide at work.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 45, loc. 742-746

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As we move even deeper into ecstasis, the brain can release endorphins and anandamide.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 45, loc. 740-741

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Umwelt is the technical term34 for the sliver of the data stream that we normally apprehend. It’s the reality our senses can perceive. And all umwelts are not the same. Dogs hear whistles we cannot, sharks detect electromagnetic pulses, bees see ultraviolet light—while we remain oblivious. It’s the same physical world, same bits and bytes, just different perception and processing.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 45, loc. 755-758

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As of late 2016, with the initial phases of the research completed, the study came to two overarching conclusions. First, creativity is essential for solving complex problems—the kinds we often face in a fast-paced world. Second, we have very little success training people to be more creative. And there’s a pretty simple explanation for this failure: we’re trying to train a skill, but what we really need to be training is a state of mind.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 46, loc. 771-774

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But when non-ordinary states trigger timelessness, they deliver us to the perpetual present—where we have undistracted access to the most reliable data. We find ourselves at full strength. “That was another thing I noticed,” says Silva, “when I go off on a tangent and the ideas start to flow, there’s no room for anything else. Definitely not for time. People who see my videos often ask how I can find all those connections between ideas. But the reason I can find them is simple: without time in the picture, I have all the time I need.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 41, loc. 668-672

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"lifted"

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 42, loc. 692

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“The [experience] lifts the course of life to another level,”19 he writes in his book Flow. “Alienation gives way to involvement, enjoyment replaces boredom, helplessness turns into a feeling of control. . . . When experience is intrinsically rewarding life is justified.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 42, loc. 692-695

Notes: 1) "lifted"

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But just as the selflessness of an altered state can quiet our inner critic, and the timelessness lets us pause our hectic lives, a sense of effortlessness can propel us past the limits of our normal motivation. And we’re beginning to understand where this added drive comes from. In flow, as in most of the states18 we’re examining, six powerful neurotransmitters—norepinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, anandamide, and oxytocin—come online in varying sequences and concentrations.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 42, loc. 684-688

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Without the ability to separate past from present from future, we’re plunged into an elongated present, what researchers describe as “the deep now.” Energy normally used for temporal processing gets reallocated for focus and attention. We take in more data per second, and process it more quickly. When we’re processing more information faster, the moment seems to last longer—which explains why the “now” often elongates in altered states.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 40, loc. 645-648

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With our prefrontal cortex offline, we can’t run those scenarios. We lose access to the most complex and neurotic part of our brains, and the most primitive and reactive part of our brains, the amygdala, the seat of that fight-or-flight response, calms down, too.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 40, loc. 650-651

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During transient hypofrontality, when the prefrontal cortex goes offline, we can no longer perform this calculation.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 40, loc. 644-645

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The past is less an archived library of what really happened, and more a fluid director’s commentary we’re constantly updating.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 41, loc. 664-665

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In fact, a big part of Silva’s appeal hinges on this overlap. “A Buddhist monk experiencing satori while meditating in a cave, or a nuclear physicist having a breakthrough insight in the lab, or a fire spinner at Burning Man,” he says, “look like different experiences from the outside, but they feel similar from the inside. It’s a shared commonality, a bond linking all of us together. The ecstatic is a language without words that we all speak.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 35, loc. 565-568

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But once we get past the narrative wrapping paper—what researchers call the “phenomenological reporting”—we find four signature characteristics underneath: Selflessness, Timelessness, Effortlessness, and Richness, or STER for short.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 36, loc. 572-574

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Then the National Geographic Channel hired him to host “Brain Games,” which became their highest-rated TV show ever and earned him an Emmy nomination.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 532-533

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At the center of this complexity lies the prefrontal cortex, our most sophisticated piece of neuronal hardware. With this relatively recent evolutionary adaptation came a heightened degree of self-awareness, an ability to delay gratification, plan for the long term, reason through complex logic, and think about our thinking. This hopped-up cogitation promoted us from slow, weak, hairless apes into tool-wielding apex predators, turning a life that was once nasty, brutish, and short into something decidedly more civilized.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 37, loc. 588-591

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In reviewing the literature, we discovered that almost every previous breakdown of these experiences was weighed down by content. Trying to tease apart the consciousness-altering effects of meditation, for example, means wading through religious interpretations of what those states mean.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 36, loc. 576-578

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When you think about the billion-dollar industries that underpin the Altered States Economy, isn’t this what they’re built for? To shut off the self. To give us a few moments of relief from the voice in our heads.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 37, loc. 596-598

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Scientists call this shutdown7 “transient hypofrontality.” Transient means temporary. “Hypo,” the opposite of “hyper,” means “less than normal.” And frontality refers to the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that generates our sense of self.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 38, loc. 604-606

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He calls it “the subject-object shift” and argues that it’s the single most important move we can make to accelerate personal growth. For Kegan, our subjective selves are, quite simply, who we think we are. On the other hand, the “objects” are things we can look at, name, and talk about with some degree of objective distance. And when we can move from being subject to our identity to having some objective distance from it, we gain flexibility in how we respond to life and its challenges.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 38, loc. 617-621

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or the next moment

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 38, loc. 614

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Come Monday morning, we may still clamber back into the monkey suits of our everyday roles—parent, spouse, employee, boss, neighbor—but, by then, we know they’re just costumes with zippers.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 38, loc. 614-615

Notes: 1) or the next moment

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That’s Kegan’s point. When we are reliably able to make the subject-object shift, as he points out in his book In Over Our Heads, “You start . . . constructing a world that is much more friendly to contradiction, to oppositeness, to being able to hold onto multiple systems of thinking. . . . This means that the self is more about movement through different forms of consciousness than about defending and identifying with any one form.” By stepping outside ourselves, we gain perspective. We become objectively aware of our costumes rather than subjectively fused with them. We realize we can take them off, discard those that are worn out or no longer fit, and even create new ones. That’s the paradox of selflessness—by periodically losing our minds we stand a better chance of finding ourselves.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 39, loc. 623-629

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the Pale of the State.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 52, loc. 862-862

Notes: 1) bit coin

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the Pale of the Church, the Pale of the Body, and the Pale of the State.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 52, loc. 862-862

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That’s because the experiences at the center of this book stand outside the perimeter fence of polite society. Instead of hearing stories about the possibilities of altered states, we’re treated to cautionary tales. Stories of hubris and excess. Icarus redux.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 51, loc. 857-859

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doctrine? That’s downright dangerous. In Christianity, it shows up as the tension between chapter-and-verse Roman Catholics and holy-rolling Pentecostals; in Islam, it’s solemn imams versus twirling Sufis; in China, it’s by-the-book Confucians against go-with-the-flow Taoists. In each case, a small community figures out a more direct path to knowledge and, because they blossom without the sanction of the orthodoxy, they are persecuted for it.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 54, loc. 895-898

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To understand what happened to Valentine during that game, we need to understand that Mormons believe the Holy Ghost can enter a person during prayer. “The feeling of spirit entering you,” explains Valentine, “what Mormons call ‘the feeling of the Holy Ghost,’ is the very center of the religion.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 53, loc. 878-880

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After all, the term “smart drug” applies to the unsupervised and often dangerous off-label use of ADHD drugs like Ritalin and Adderall. But public health wasn’t the issue.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 56, loc. 941-942

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my biological skin-bag, inside the ancient fortress of skin and skull.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 56, loc. 935-935

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The bishop seized the moment, condemning her for the lesser charge of cross-dressing-as-heresy. She had stolen fire and, the Church insisted, she’d die by it.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 55, loc. 918-919

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But similar outcomes are happening in Fadiman’s current survey of microdosing among professionals. With more than four hundred responses from people in dozens of fields, the majority, as Fadiman recently explained, report “enhanced pattern recognition [and] can see more of the pieces at once of a problem they are trying to solve.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 49, loc. 829-831

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when it comes to complex problem solving, ecstasis could be the “wicked solution” we’ve been looking for.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 50, loc. 846-847

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to prompt flow, they found that soldiers solved complex problems and mastered new skills up to 490 percent faster than normal.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 49, loc. 814-814

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While everyone experienced a boost in creativity—some as much as 200 percent—what got the most attention were the real-world breakthroughs that emerged: “Design of a linear electron accelerator beam-steering device, a mathematical theorem regarding NOR-gate circuits, a new design for a vibratory microtome, a space probe designed to measure solar properties, and a new conceptual model of a photon.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 49, loc. 825-828

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Some were given 50 micrograms of LSD; others took 100 milligrams of mescaline. Both are microdosages, well below the level needed to produce psychedelic effects.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 49, loc. 822-823

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Tibetan Buddhists38 in the 1990s showed that longtime contemplative practice can produce brainwaves in the gamma range. Gamma waves are unusual. They arise primarily during “binding,”39 when novel ideas come together for the first time and carve new neural pathways. We experience binding as “Ah-Ha insight,” that eureka moment, the telltale signature of sudden inspiration. This meant that meditation could amplify complex problem solving, but, since the monks needed to put in more than 34,000 hours (roughly thirty years) to develop this skill, it was a finding with limited application.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 47, loc. 790-796

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discovered that their ability to find solutions required holding conflicting perspectives and using that friction to synthesize a new idea. “The ability to face constructively the tension37 of opposing ideas,” Martin writes in his book The Opposable Mind, “. . . is the only way to address this kind of complexity.” But developing Martin’s “opposable mind” isn’t easy. You have to give up exclusively identifying with your own, singular point of view. If you want to train this kind of creativity and problem solving, what the research shows is that the either/or logic of normal consciousness is simply the wrong tool for the job.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 47, loc. 782-788

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see reference

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 48, loc. 798

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meditation40 training

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 48, loc. 798-799

Notes: 1) see reference

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In a recent University of Sydney study,42 researchers relied on transcranial magnetic stimulation to induce flow—using a weak magnetic pulse to knock out the prefrontal cortex and create a twenty-to-forty-minute flow state.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 48, loc. 806-809

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Under normal circumstances, fewer than 5 percent of the population pulls it off. In the control group, no one did. In the flow-induced group, 40 percent connected the dots in record time, or eight times better than the norm.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 48, loc. 810-811

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The Pale of the Body is ascetic to its core: no pain, no gain. Altered states that arise within ourselves, via internal catalysts like prayer and meditation, are considered stable, reliable, and earned. If the goal is genuine transformation, then nothing as fleeting or pleasant as a flow state or psychedelic session can substitute for decades of prayer and meditation. “The ultimate wisdom of enlightenment,”11 author Sam Harris emphasized in his recent bestseller Waking Up, “whatever it is, cannot be a matter of having fleeting experiences. . . . Peak experiences are fine, but real freedom must be coincident with normal waking life.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 57, loc. 957-962

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Roland Griffiths got the same results when he reran the experiment with full double-blind modern standards. When author Michael Pollan asked him15 about this unusual need for redundancy, in a 2015 New Yorker article, Griffiths’s answer said it all: “There is such a sense of authority that comes out of the primary mystical experience that it can be threatening to existing hierarchical structures. We end up demonizing these compounds. Can you think of another area of science regarded as so dangerous and taboo that all research gets shut down for decades? It’s unprecedented in modern science.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 59, loc. 980-985

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Already, commercial versions of the God Helmet are available online, as are stories of DIY hackers who are reproducing its basic effects with little more than some wires and a nine-volt battery. There’s talk about developing a version for virtual reality and incorporating it in video games.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 59, loc. 993-995

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the experience on the drug actually increased commitment to religious delusion ?

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 58, loc. 971

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“[Psilocybin] subjects ranked their experiences13 much higher in mystical qualities than members of the control group did,” explains John Horgan in his book Rational Mysticism. “Six months later, the psilocybin group reported persistent beneficial effects on their attitude and behavior; the experience had deepened their religious faith. . . . The experiment was widely hailed as proof that psychedelic drugs can generate life-enhancing mystical experiences.” So life-enhancing, in fact, that nine out of the ten seminary students who received psilocybin ended up becoming ministers, while none of the placebo group stayed on the path to ordination.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 58, loc. 971-977

Notes: 1) the experience on the drug actually increased commitment to religious delusion ?

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Headlines across the country 19 read: “British policy doctor claims ecstasy is safer than riding a horse.” Tabloids had a field day.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 61, loc. 1021-1023

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For every 60 million tablets of MDMA consumed, Nutt found 10,000 adverse events, or one for every 6,000 pills popped. He then compared that number to the 1-in-350 tally for horseback riding and published the results.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 61, loc. 1019-1020

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Soon, as the technology matures, a novice will be able to put on the device and use these biomarkers to steer toward the same experience. But if we continue to insist that smart drugs and psychedelics are cheating, what happens as the boundaries between ourselves and our tools continue to blur?

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 60, loc. 999-1001

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It’s one of the reasons people go on spiritual pilgrimages, and why evangelical megachurches are booming (with more than six million attendees every Sunday).30 Bring a large group of people together, deploy a suite of mind-melding technologies, and suddenly everyone’s consciousness is doing the wave. “Communitas” is the term University of Chicago anthropologist Victor Turner31 used to describe this ecstatic sense of unity. This feeling tightens social bonds and ignites enduring passion—the kind that lets us come together to plan, organize, and tackle great challenges. But it’s a double-edged sword. When we lose ourselves and merge with the group, we are in danger of losing too much of ourselves. Our cherished rational individualism risks being overrun by the power of irrational collectivism.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 68, loc. 1137-1145

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Melissa Gregg in the Atlantic,25 “it is little wonder that workers resort to performance-enhancing drugs. . . . When so many jobs require social networking to maintain employability, these mood enhancers are a natural complement to the work day after 5 p.m. In an always-on world, professional credibility involves a judicious mix of just the right amount of uppers and downers to remain charming.” Because these substances drive us forward, they continue to sit inside society’s perimeter fence, and never mind the evidence.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 64, loc. 1078-1083

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while the 4.4 million American children who took ADHD drugs were striving to become better students. Same drugs, different contexts. One is manufactured by major pharmaceutical companies and enthusiastically dispensed by suburban doctors; the other is cooked up in trailers and sold on street corners.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 64, loc. 1068-1070

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Nutt had transgressed a different barrier, the Pale of the State. In very simple terms, the states of consciousness we prefer are those that reinforce established cultural values. We enshrine these states socially, economically, and legally. That is, we have state-sanctioned states of consciousness. Altered states that subvert these values are persecuted, while the people who enjoy them are marginalized. Take Ritalin and Adderall, the ADHD meds that students as young as grade school pop like candy. These drugs don’t even make an appearance on Nutt’s list,

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 63, loc. 1056-1061

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Does an operator, with his back against the wall, retreat into himself, or merge with his team? This is why they relentlessly emphasize “swim buddies” (the partner you can never leave behind, no matter what) in basic training.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 217-219

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“When SEALs sweep a building,” says Rich Davis, “slow is dangerous. We want to move as fast as possible. To do this, there are only two rules. The first is do the exact opposite of what the guy in front of you is doing—so if he looks left, then you look right. The second is trickier: the person who knows what to do next is the leader. We’re entirely nonhierarchical in that way. But in a combat environment, when split seconds make all the difference, there’s no time for second-guessing. When someone steps up to become the new leader, everyone, immediately, automatically, moves with him. It’s the only way we win.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 222-226

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The conscious mind is a potent tool, but it’s slow, and can manage only a small amount of information at once. The subconscious, meanwhile, is far more efficient. It can process more data in much shorter time frames. In ecstasis, the conscious mind takes a break, and the subconscious takes over. As this occurs, a number of performance-enhancing neurochemicals flood the system, including norepinephrine and dopamine. Both of these chemicals amplify focus, muscle reaction times, and pattern recognition. With the subconscious in charge and those neurochemicals in play, SEALs can read micro-expressions across dark rooms at high speeds.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 256-260

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“Attending festivals like Burning Man,”17 explains Oxford professor of neuropsychology Molly Crockett, “practicing meditation, being in flow, or taking psychedelic drugs rely on shared neural substrates. What many of these routes have in common is activation of the serotonin system.” But it’s not only serotonin that makes up the foundation of those collaborative experiences. In those states, all of the neurochemicals18 that can arise—serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, endorphins, anandamide, and oxytocin—play roles in social bonding. Norepinephrine and dopamine typically underpin “romantic love,” endorphins and oxytocin link mother to child and friend to friend, anandamide and serotonin deepen feelings of trust, openness, and intimacy. When combinations of these chemicals flow through groups at once, you get tighter bonds and heightened cooperation. That heightened cooperation, that communal vocational ecstasy, was what Page, Brin, and so many of Google’s engineers had discovered in the desert.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 327-336

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accomplished on that raid comes much closer to illustrating the true core of special operations culture: at their best, they are always an anonymous team. “I do not seek recognition11 for my actions . . . ,” reads the SEAL code. “I expect to lead and be led . . . my teammates steady my resolve and silently guide my every deed.” And this ethos is reinforced every time they flip that switch, when egos disappear and they perform together in ways that are just not possible alone.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 272-276

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Even for a company like Google, dedicated to unassuming goals like “10x moonshots” and organizing the entire world’s information—a 400x return? As close to priceless as they’ll ever get.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 351-352

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When we say ecstasis we’re talking about a very specific range of nonordinary states of consciousness (NOSC)21—what Johns Hopkins psychiatrist Stanislav Grof defined as those experiences “characterized by dramatic perceptual changes, intense and often unusual emotions, profound alterations in the thought processes and behavior, [brought about] by a variety of psychosomatic manifestations, rang[ing] from profound terror to ecstatic rapture . . . There exist many different forms of NOSC; they can be induced by a variety of different techniques or occur spontaneously, in the middle of everyday life.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 371-376

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an altered state of consciousness was both essential to mission success and elusive as hell—something they had to screen for by attrition, but couldn’t train for by design? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. That’s because, any way you slice it, ecstasis doesn’t make a lot of sense. It remains a profound experience, a place far beyond our normal selves, what author Arthur C. Clarke called a “sufficiently advanced technology”—the kind that still looks like magic to us.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 359-363

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Instead of following the breath (or chanting a mantra or puzzling out a koan), meditators can be hooked up to neurofeedback devices that steer the brain directly toward that alpha/theta range. It’s a fairly straightforward adjustment to electrical activity, but it can accelerate learning, letting practitioners achieve in months what used to take years.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 401-403

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flow states, those “in-the-zone” moments including group flow, or what the SEALs experienced during the capture of Al-Wazu, and the Googlers harnessed in the desert. Second, contemplative and mystical states, where techniques like chanting, dance, meditation, sexuality, and, most recently, wearable technologies are used to shut off the self. Finally, psychedelic states, where the recent resurgence in sanctioned research is leading to some of the more intriguing pharmacological findings in several decades. Taken together, these three categories define our territory of ecstasis.

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Regular waking consciousness has a predictable and consistent signature22 in the brain: widespread activity in the prefrontal cortex, brainwaves in the high-frequency beta range, and the steady drip, drip of stress chemicals like norepinephrine and cortisol.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 385-388

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Flow states have been typically associated with artists and athletes; contemplative and mystical states belonged to seekers and saints; and psychedelic states were mostly sampled by hippies and ravers. But over the past decade, thanks to advances in brain science, we’ve been able to pull back the curtain and discover that these seemingly unrelated phenomena share remarkable neurobiological similarities.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 382-385

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At the same time, brainwaves slow from agitated beta to daydreamy alpha and deeper theta. Neurochemically, stress chemicals like norepinephrine and cortisol are replaced by performance-enhancing, pleasure-producing compounds such as dopamine, endorphins, anandamide, serotonin, and oxytocin.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 391-393

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They’re deploying these upgrades for a practical purpose: accelerated learning. By using the tanks to eliminate all distraction, entrain specific brainwaves, and regulate heart rate frequency, the SEALs are able to cut the time it takes to learn a foreign language from six months to six weeks. For a specialized unit deployed across five continents, shutting off the self to accelerate learning has become a strategic imperative.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 434-437

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“communal vocational ecstasy” they’d first glimpsed at Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. Right after our presentation, we pedaled a couple of the ubiquitous and colorful Google bikes to the other side of campus to attend the opening of their new multimillion-dollar mindfulness center. Outfitted in soothing lime green with bamboo accents, the center features a vitality bar offering fresh-squeezed juices around the clock and a suite of meditation rooms decked out with sensor suits and neurofeedback devices similar to what we saw in the Navy’s Mind Gym.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 439-443

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“G Pause” (their name for their mindfulness training program). “We’ve got active communities around the world, but the bigger challenge is getting people who aren’t already meditators to start. The folks that already sit [in meditation] understand the benefits. It’s the ones that are too busy and too stressed to slow down and need it the most that are the hardest to reach.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 446-449

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In fact, many are the exact opposite: impulsive, destructive, and unintentional. But that very fact—that we are driven to pursue altered states often at a steep cost—underscores how large and sometimes hidden a role they play in our lives.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 473-474

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And those states have become increasingly popular. In 2014, EDM represented almost half of all concert sales, attracting a quarter of a million concertgoers at a time and drawing the attention of Wall Street investors and major private equity firms.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 488-490

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We also included the legal and illegal markets for marijuana, psychopharmaceuticals like Ritalin and Adderall, and mood-shifting painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 478-479

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Yet this raises a few additional questions. If we’re already spending a ton of time and money chasing these states, and even elite organizations like the SEALs and Google haven’t definitively cracked the code, could something so elusive and confounding be worth all that trouble?

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 516-518

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(see endnotes for a detailed workup of these numbers and www.stealingfirebook.com/downloads/ for a worksheet where you can calculate your own personal tally).

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 509-510

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What makes these online distractions so sticky is how effectively they prime our brains for reward (mainly the feel-good neurochemical dopamine). Stanford neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky calls this priming the “magic of maybe.” When we check our email or Facebook or Twitter, and sometimes we find a response and sometimes we don’t, the next time a friend connects, Sapolsky discovered that we enjoy a 400 percent spike in dopamine.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, loc. 500-503

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“I still measure the quality of my life by the number of times I get into the zone,” explains Ulmer. “If I spend two weeks at Burning Man and only get that experience a handful of times, then I feel cheated. It wasn’t worth it. But now I can try different things. That’s the real change. Now I know I have options, that there are actual comparisons to make.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 210, loc. 3386

Notes: 1) skills and state contraststhe ability to choose the right tool

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Notes: 1) skills and state contrasts

the ability to choose the right tool

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Not long after that near-fatal drowning, he had another brush with death. In the hospital, Lilly had a textbook NDE and, as he reported afterward, was visited by the same entities he’d been encountering in the float tank. They presented him with a choice: leave with them for good, or return to his body, heal, and focus on more worldly pursuits. Finally, Lilly got the message. He abandoned his psychedelic research and retired with his wife to Hawaii, where he lived to the ripe age of eighty-four.

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After all this, Lilly came to one overarching conclusion: “What one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the province of the mind, there are no limits.”

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This leaves us with four rules of thumb to carry into our exploration of these states. It’s not about you and it’s not about now help us balance ego inflation and time distortion. While don’t become a bliss junky and don’t dive too deep ensure that we don’t get seduced by the sensations and information that arise in altered states.

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Research shows we’re more likely to keep habits23 that are tied to cultural milestones. So connecting practices to preexisting traditions can make them easier to stick to. Daily? Link it to sunrise or sunset, dinners, or bedtime. Weekly? Make it your own contemporary TGIF or Sabbath observance. Monthly? Connect it to the lunar cycle or the first or last days of the calendar. Seasonal? Solstices, equinoxes, Christmas, Easter, July Fourth, and Halloween all work and often come with vacation days attached. Annual? Take your pick: birthdays, anniversaries, New Year’s, back to school, whatever’s significant to you.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 215, loc. 3453

Notes: 1) it makes sense that an occassional ecstatic event is seasonal because it provides a contrastfrom other days but also rememberin to hav it.no wonder it creates excitement and anticipation and ultimately celebration and release

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Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 214, loc. 3443-3444

Notes: 1) it makes sense that an occassional ecstatic event is seasonal because it provides a contrastfrom other days but also rememberin to hav it. no wonder it creates excitement and anticipation and ultimately celebration and release

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Action sports, yoga, live music, sex, brain stimulation, meditation, personal growth workshops, adventure travel, etc.

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So how to pursue this path without getting “hooked on the high”? If we use the ecstasis equation to help us answer the question, “What is the best way to get into the zone?” then we need to add an additional concept here—hedonic calendaring—which helps us figure out how often we should get into the zone. Hedonic calendaring provides a way to hack the ecstatic path without coming undone. It gives us a method to integrate hard-and-fast approaches like extreme skiing and psychedelics with slow and steady paths like meditation and yoga.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 213, loc. 3436

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Yet salt, sugar, fat provide a fraction of the payoff of ecstasis. In that state, we get access to all the brain’s feel-good neurochemistry at once. For most of evolutionary history, nonordinary states were rare and precious experiences. So when we consider how readily accessible the four forces are making them today, it’s important to remember that we’re tinkering with impulses that are millions of years old.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 213, loc. 3430

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But the final analysis is simple: are any of these pursuits worth the time, effort, and money we invest in them? Are we more energetic, empathetic, and ethical afterward? If not, they’re just distractions or diversions from our lives. “I care not a whit for a man’s religion,” Abraham Lincoln once quipped, “unless his dog is the better for it.”

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As Hemingway reminds us,25 “the world breaks everyone.”

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Ironically, the attempt to avoid suffering often creates more of it, leaving us susceptible to the most predictable trap of all: spiritual bypassing. “[It’s] a widespread tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices,”26 says John Welwood, the psychologist who coined the term, “to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.” Typically, what gets bypassed on an ecstatic path are the mundane dissatisfactions of regular life. If those dissatisfactions are too intense, non-ordinary states can offer a tempting escape. But rather than bypassing these challenges, we can accept them and even draw power from them. This response has a paradoxical name: vulnerable strength. Brené Brown, whose books and TED talks on the subject have resonated with massive audiences, explains it this way: “Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving27 up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”

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For the stickier (and likely, more enjoyable) weekly, monthly, and annual practices, you’re putting in buffers to ensure you don’t do them too much.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 215, loc. 3460

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Once a year, set your indulgences up on a shelf, go thirty days cold turkey, and use this time to recalibrate. Attach the hiatus to traditional seasons of forbearance—Lent, Yom Kippur, Ramadan—or impose your own.

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“The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom,”24 William Blake once wrote. Hedonic calendaring adds guardrails to that road. By dismantling the “oughts and “shoulds” of the orthodox approach, while avoiding the pitfalls of “if it feels good, do it” sensation seeking, we up the odds of getting to our destination in one piece.

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The love that “tells me I am everything” arises from the awe and connection that we often experience in these states. Endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin soothe our vigilance centers. We feel strong, safe, and secure.

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The Indian philosopher Nisargadatta summed up the dilemma well: “Love tells me I am everything. Wisdom tells me I am nothing.28 And between these two banks, flows the river of my life.”

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“Ring the bells that still can ring,31 forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. It’s where the light gets in.”

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Ecstasis doesn’t absolve us of our humanity. It connects us to it. It’s in our brokenness, not in spite of our brokenness, that we discover what’s possible.

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Zeus said no, Prometheus stole fire anyway, and got punished. That’s the part we all remember. But Zeus wasn’t finished with the humans, or the brothers. He wanted to make sure that no one challenged his power ever again. So he made a woman, Pandora, whose name means “all giving,” and gave her a box filled with the tragedies of life to unleash on the world.

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Just as old sailing wisdom favored “high and slow”—meaning that you pointed your boat as close to the eventual upwind destination as possible—we are steeped in a “high and slow” culture of relentless goal setting and linear forward progress. It’s why, in the United States, more than half of paid vacation days go unclaimed and we perversely brag about clocking 60–80-hour workweeks (even though our effectiveness drops after 50 hours). We valorize suffering and sacrifice, even when the victories they provide are hollow. Surrendering any of that hard-fought ground to pursue nonordinary states can seem, at first glance, irresponsible, or, at a minimum, deeply counterintuitive.

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We’ve got free tools to tally your own Altered States Economy, plan your Hedonic Calendar and discover your flow profile. We also offer intensive trainings to unlock personal and organizational high performance.

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So, for now, the leading candidates to explain how our waking conscious self shuts off in nonordinary states are: transient hypofrontality, transient hyperconnectivity, default mode network interruption, and cortico-thalamic gating (Henri Bergson’s’ original idea, which Aldous Huxley popularized in The Doors of Perception).

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 219, loc. 3615

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While the details are subject to constant revision, we believe that the fundamental argument we’re making about our neurobiological “knobs and levers” affecting our psychological experience will only become stronger over time.

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four forces?

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In other words, it’s a transformation engine tailor-made to invoke the selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, and richness of STER.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 158, loc. 2501-2502

Notes: 1) four forces?

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“At Burning Man, we’ve found a way to break out of the box that confines us.

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At least as far back as the Eleusinian Mysteries, which counted notables such as Plato and Pythagoras among its members, ecstatic culture has often been spread by an educated elite.

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former Apple executive Peter Hirshberg wrote in his book From Bitcoin to Burning Man and Beyond, “Burners are particularly skilled at functioning during chaotic crises when normal services—running water, electricity, communication channels and sanitation systems—are not available. Burners don’t just survive in such an environment; they create culture, art and community there.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 166, loc. 2645-2647

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to smartphone apps (including Firechat, which was designed as a peer-to-peer communication network at Burning Man, but then played a critical role in protest movements in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Russia). And because Burners vigorously defend an open-source, noncommercial approach, their efforts are easy to share and hard to censor.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 167, loc. 2655-2658

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Over the years, MaiTai members have founded and led companies with an aggregate market value of more than $20 billion,33 making them one of the more influential (and athletic) groups of entrepreneurs in the world.

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“We find the right mix of really interesting people and subject them to powerful state-changing experiences that accelerate social bonding. It’s the same formula used at Burning Man and at Summit.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 172, loc. 2733-2734

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By realizing that non-ordinary states are more than just a recreational diversion and can, in fact, heighten trust, amplify cooperation, and accelerate breakthroughs, a new generation of entrepreneurs, philanthropists and activists is fundamentally disrupting business as usual.

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“We learned that when you take a bunch of really bright, diverse people,” explains Rosenthal, “and let them share a dynamic immersive experience, you get powerful results. Lifelong friendships were formed. It removed the tedious, transactional nature of networking. I guess you could say that one of the things we discovered on that trip was that altered states accelerate business.”

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MaiTai Global, started in 2006 by venture capitalist Bill Tai 31 and kitesurfing legend Susi Mai, uses action sports (mostly surfing and kitesurfing) as a stimulant for group flow and entrepreneurship.

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The series, which has been called “TED crossed with Burning Man”30 or “the hipper Davos,” has struck a chord.

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By using non-ordinary states to promote community, they’re reimagining the staid world of professional networking, philanthropy, and venture capital.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 171, loc. 2724-2725

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“We wanted to build a town dedicated . . . to what altered states really can provide: creativity, collaboration, innovation, entrepreneurship and community. And because our community shared that vision, we were able to crowdsource $40 million and buy a ski area (Powder Mountain) that sits on a mountain range the size of Manhattan.” So while folks at Burning Man are just starting to build themselves a homeland, Summit has already taken that step.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 169, loc. 2697-2700

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Just seven weeks earlier, the hosts, Summit Series, had bought the entire mountain. “We wanted a permanent home,29 explains Summit cofounder Jeff Rosenthal.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 169, loc. 2695-2697

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“After working in this 3D immersive space,” he admits, “it’s really challenging to go back to creating images that are on a rectangle hanging on a wall. I never realized how limiting the frames were.”

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His most recent project, appropriately named MicroDoseVR, is an immersive VR game offering an atom’s-eye tour through many of Shulgin’s alphabetamine compounds.

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2012 study found that encounters with perceptual vastness, be it the endless spiral of galaxies in the night sky or Jones’s’ larger-than-life projections, triggers a self-negating, time-dilating sense of awe. And this happens automatically—which means an encounter with Jones’s projections could be enough to drive subjects into a deeply altered state, willingly or not.

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On the Sydney Opera House,20 for instance, he live-painted during a performance by the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 143, loc. 2307-2309

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When tunes were playing, the distance between housemates decreased by 12 percent, while chances of cooking together increased by 33 percent, laughing together by 15 percent, inviting other people over by 85 percent, saying “I love you” by 18 percent, and, most tellingly, having sex by 37 percent.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 142, loc. 2283-2285

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“What we’re building in the Dance Temple,”18 explained one of its designers, “is a piece of tech to disintegrate peoples’ egos en masse.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 142, loc. 2292-2294

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that Neanderthal communities gathered beside the images they had painted, and they chanted or sang in some kind of shamanic ritual, using the reverberations of the cave to magically widen the sound of their voices.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 141, loc. 2263-2264

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recent years, scientists have found that a great many of the world’s oldest religious sites have peculiar acoustic properties. While studying the Arcy-sur-Cure caves10 in France, University of Paris music ethnographer Iegor Reznikoff discovered that the largest collection of Neolithic paintings are found more than a kilometer deep. They’d been intentionally located at the most acoustically interesting spots in the cave: the parts with the most resonance.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 140, loc. 2257-2261

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Scientists working in the burgeoning field of neuro-musicology15 have begun using high-powered imaging to decode these effects. When listening to music, brainwaves move from the high-beta of normal waking consciousness down into the meditative (and trance-inducing) ranges of alpha and theta. At the same time, levels of stress hormones like norepinephrine and cortisol drop, while social bonding and reward chemicals like dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin spike. Add in entrainment—where people’s brains synch to both the beat and to the brains of those around them—and you’ve got a potent combination for communitas.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 141, loc. 2275-2280

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proof that these four forces are driving a revolution is everywhere you look.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 154, loc. 2473-2474

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(movement, sound, light, and sensors)

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 152, loc. 2460-2460

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In the past, to get a glimpse of “no-self,” it might have taken a high-risk wingsuit flight, a decade of monastic isolation, or a heroic (and possibly reckless) dosage of an unpredictable substance. Today, we can use innovations like the Flow Dojo to skillfully tweak and tune the knobs and levers of our bodies and brains and get similar breakthroughs with a fraction of the breakdowns.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 152, loc. 2461-2464

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setup—Larry was feeling his wife’s heart beat and watching his flower pulse to her heart’s rhythms, and she was watching and feeling his. By deliberately crossing the feedback loops, the installation creates technologically mediated empathy, no talking required. So absorbing was the experience that when the nighttime sprinklers came on and accidentally sprayed them, they just assumed it was part of the simulation.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 152, loc. 2455-2458

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Sitting in an enclosed dome, he and his wife put on small backpack subwoofers (so they literally felt the bass through their bodies, not their ears).

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 152, loc. 2454-2455

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Even so, when Sergey Brin, one of Google’s cofounders, stepped up to the looping swing, we were unsure how it was going to go. Brin is an action sports enthusiast, pursuing everything from BASE jumping to kitesurfing. At the TED conference a few years ago, he also topped the leaderboard on an EEG mindfulness training demo. So, while he already had some experience in both the physical and mental elements of this training, he had never put the two together.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 151, loc. 2435-2438

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Embodied cognition research shows that we become more flexible and resilient when we train our bodies and brains together, and in increasingly dynamic situations. It’s why the SEALs say “you don’t ever rise to the occasion, you sink to your level of training” and then proceed to overtrain for every scenario possible.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 152, loc. 2447-2449

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Try remaining centered under more challenging conditions (like managing heart and brain activity while swinging upside down). If we want to train for stability in all conditions, the science suggests, it’s essential to practice with instability first.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 152, loc. 2450-2452

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And if I could be in extreme pain and still remain peaceful and clear, then I thought maybe other people could do this, too. In that instant, everything I believed about human potential shifted.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 146, loc. 2360-2361

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In his work with heart rate variability, Siegel’s found that by upgrading the tone to include a visual display, and adding in an EEG layer—so there’s neurofeedback to go along with the biofeedback—he can get whole groups of people to synchronize their heart rates and brainwaves and drive them into group flow.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 147, loc. 2376-2378

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“Consciousness-hacking technology is going to become as dynamic, available, and ubiquitous as cell phones. Imagine what happens if we can use personal technology to shift these experiences on demand, to support and catalyze the most important changes we can make at scale. More and more it’s looking like we can retune the nervous system of the entire planet.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 148, loc. 2394-2396

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“For the past three hundred years,” Siegel explains, “there has been a split between science and religion. But now we have the ability to investigate this domain and innovate around spirituality.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 148, loc. 2390-2392

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Jeffery Martin, also cofounded the Transformative Technology Conference23 and started organizing consciousness-hacking meet-ups.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 148, loc. 2384-2386

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Each day, participants engaged in a range of activities, from sleep tracking, to diet and hydration, to functional movement (designed to undo the imbalances of deskbound lives), to brain entraining audio and respiration exercises.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 149, loc. 2415-2416

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figure out their secret to getting into flow so readily. Time after time, they told us it came down to two things: the right triggers and gravity.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 150, loc. 2420-2421

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Historically, every time ecstasis has shown up, it’s led to upheaval and misuse. That’s because, while the insights provided by the four forces may give us a better way to stabilize these experiences and lessen that risk, there will always be those who try to bend them to other ends.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 181, loc. 2874-2876

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In both cases, we’ll see how the application of nonordinary states, as with other powerful technologies, has both ethical and political ramifications.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 182, loc. 2882-2883

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And despite the ostensibly pious intent of the gathering, there was plenty of drinking and fornicating. Even back then, the “Holy Ghost feeling” was tough to keep under wraps.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 180, loc. 2857-2859

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One of Bob Kegan’s graduate students recently determined that by college, many Millennials have reached stages of adult development43 (with all their associated increases in capacity) that took their parents until middle age to attain.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 175, loc. 2794-2796

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Since rolling out their program, Aetna estimates40 that it’s saved $2,000 per employee in health-care costs, and gained $3,000 per employee in productivity.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 175, loc. 2786-2788

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Take the first force, psychology.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 174, loc. 2781-2781

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Take the first force, psychology. Thanks to the work of Martin Seligman and others, a new generation of positive psychologists is repackaging meditation, stripping out its spiritual connotations, and providing evidenced-based validation for its benefits. This new version, known as mindfulness-based stress reduction, is gaining traction in places that would never have embraced earlier variants.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 174, loc. 2781-2783

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On the higher-tech end of the spectrum, state-changing treatments like transcranial magnetic stimulation are now outperforming antidepressants, and many Silicon Valley executives are going off-label, using the technology to ‘“defrag’” their mental hard drives and boost performance. Companies like Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof Executive are helping people biohack their daily lives with everything from smart sensors to nootropics (brain stimulating supplements). This market is expanding so rapidly that Bulletproof has grown into a nine-figure enterprise47 in less than four years and hundreds of other companies are flooding into the market.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 176, loc. 2804-2810

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And cannabis is merely the most obvious sign of this change. Whether we’re examining psychedelics like LSD or empathogens like MDMA, mind-altering drugs are more popular than at any other time in history. Thirty-two million Americans use psychedelics51 on a regular basis (that’s nearly one in ten) and report considered reasons for doing so. According

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 176, loc. 2819-2822

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Transcendence, not decadence, appears to be driving use forward.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 177, loc. 2824-2824

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The whole of the cannabis economy49 (including legal and medical) is now worth roughly $6.2 billion, and slated to rise to $22 billion by 2020. As of late 2016, twenty-eight states have legalized medical marijuana, and eight of them—Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Massachusetts, and Alaska, and the District of Columbia—have legalized recreational use as well.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 176, loc. 2812-2815

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Over the next few years the watch will connect these sensors to become a platform for open-source research into everything from obesity to peak performance. In one twenty-four-hour beta test, more than thirty thousand people volunteered to contribute their personal data to Alzheimer’s research, making it four times the size of the next-largest study overnight.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 177, loc. 2829-2831

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With a handful of plug-and-play sensors, we can now measure hormones, heart rates, brainwaves, and respiration and get much clearer pictures of our real-time health.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 177, loc. 2826-2827

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With the data these devices are providing, we can shortcut our way not only to better health, but to deeper self-awareness, taking weeks and months to train what used to take yogis and monks decades to master.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 177, loc. 2834-2835

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It’s what prompted him to coin the term “net neutrality” back in 2003 and spawn an ongoing conversation about the balance of civic and corporate power online. It’s also where he got the title of his 2010 book.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 185, loc. 2954-2955

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As John Lilly’s early research established, it’s the knowledge of how to tweak the knobs and levers in our brain. When we get it right, it produces those invaluable sensations of selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, and richness.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 186, loc. 2961-2963

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As John Lilly’s early research established, it’s the knowledge of how to tweak the knobs and levers in our brain. When we get it right, it produces those invaluable sensations of selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, and richness. And that final step—the richness? That’s the information that we can’t normally access. As W. B. Yeats put it,14 “The world is full of magic things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 186, loc. 2961-2965

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The tug-of-war between access and control becomes a battle for cognitive liberty. And while nation states have consistently sought to regulate external chemicals that shape consciousness, what happens when they attempt to regulate internal neurochemistry? If that sounds far-fetched, consider that elite athletes already submit “biological passports” to the World Anti-Doping Agency15 to confirm their unique baselines for hormones, blood profiles, and neurochemicals. If they fluctuate from that baseline without official permission, they are penalized and even brought up on criminal charges. Much in the same way that regimes used to declare certain books subversive, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine a government declaring certain brain chemistry subversive. A telltale combination of neurotransmitters coursing through your bloodstream could be enough to get put on a watch list, or worse.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 186, loc. 2966-2973

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discovered that information technologies, ranging from the telegraph to radio, movies, and ultimately, the internet, tend to behave in similar ways—starting out utopian and democratic and ending up centralized and hegemonic. In his book The Master Switch, Wu calls this “the Cycle,” a recurring battle between access and control that shows up whenever these breakthroughs emerge.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 185, loc. 2939-2942

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Long before Linus Torvalds gave away the source code to Linux, or Sasha Shulgin published his chemical cookbook, or Elon Musk shared all of Tesla’s car and battery patents—long before there was even a term for it—Lilly took a stand for open-sourcing ecstasis.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 184, loc. 2922-2924

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And with the four forces, information technology is moving from the virtual to the perceptual.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 186, loc. 2959-2960

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As background research for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which was set in a mental institution, Kesey had been volunteering at a U.S. Veterans Administration hospital (which, unbeknownst to the young author and many of the administering doctors, was part of MK-ULTRA). To earn a little extra money, a friend of his had turned him onto the $75 per session experiments the docs were running there on “psychomimetic” drugs—meaning chemicals like LSD that mimicked the mental breakdown of psychosis.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 188, loc. 3003-3007

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And, in the annals of unintended consequences, MK-ULTRA gets a notable mention for accidentally unleashing a leviathan: the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 188, loc. 2996-2997

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Tom Wolfe recounts in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, “and somehow drugs were getting up and walking out of there and over to Perry Lane.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 189, loc. 3012-3013

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What happened next became the well-documented subject of counterculture lore. Kesey moved the experiment into the hills above Palo Alto, Hunter S. Thompson, the Hells Angels, and Neal Cassady (from Kerouac’s On the Road fame) all showed up, as did a strange little band called the Grateful Dead, led by a chinless but oddly magnetic guitarist named Jerry Garcia. Armed with gallons of day-glo paint,23 strobe lights, and the prototypical art car, a tricked out 1939 International Harvester bus named “Further,” Kesey and his Merry Pranksters birthed West Coast psychedelic culture. Control of the Master Switch had been wrestled away from the spooks, and neither Silicon Valley nor the wider world would ever be the same.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 189, loc. 3017-3023

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No one was better at scanning for those ideas than Jim Channon, a lieutenant colonel in the Army and veteran of two tours of duty in Vietnam. “I just made it my weekend duty to get around all of these places, like Esalen, make friends and find out what this esoteric technology really was.”25 By the time he’d finished his hot tubs and crystals junket, Channon had, for all intents and purposes, gone native. He penned The First Earth Battalion Operations Manual,26 making the case that deliberately cultivating nonordinary states, including the ability to experience universal love, to perceive auras, to have out of body experiences, to see into the future, and, perhaps most memorably, “to encounter the enemy with sparkly eyes”—could transform the military.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 190, loc. 3029-3036

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In 2014, Ryan Holiday released a bestselling book12 on exactly this subject, The Obstacle Is the Way. It offered an update to the Roman Stoic Marcus Aurelius’s claim that “the impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” And this is certainly true of the ecstatic way. All that “effortless effort” takes a lot of work.

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surfer who in a flow state drops into a wave and strings together a series of moves he’s never pulled off before may need months of hard training to be able to reproduce them in a contest.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 204, loc. 3283

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Making this switch can help us unburden our psychology and manage the intensity of a wider range of states without overclocking our processors. But, when it comes to exploring those states, we still have to contend with a whole set of “known issues.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 202, loc. 3232

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And once we do take those freely shared ideas and use them to unlock nonordinary states for ourselves, what do we find? A self-authenticating experience of selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, and richness. In short, all the ingredients required for a rational mysticism. It cuts out the middlemen, and remains rooted in the certainty of the lived experience. This ability to continually update and advance our own understanding, ahead of anyone else’s attempts to constrain or repurpose them may be the key to breaking the stalemate.

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“If we believe in liberty,” he writes, “it must be freedom from both private and public coercion.” It’s for this reason that so many of the Prometheans we’ve met in this book have taken a stand for open sourcing.

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In short, Orwell feared that our fears will ruin us. Huxley feared that our desire will ruin us.” And while the possibility of a nation deliberately invading our minds to shape and control behavior may feel like a relic of Cold War paranoia, the prospect of multinational corporations deliberately tweaking our subconscious desires to sell us more stuff is already here.

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Often, the experience of selflessness is so new and compelling that it feels like no one else has ever felt this way before—that it’s evidence of some kind of sacred anointment. When triggered by an awe-inspiring encounter with the Wailing Wall, the result is Jerusalem Syndrome. But the same thing can happen with any ecstatic experience. It’s why Burning Man advises people to not make any life-changing decisions for at least a month following the event,3 and why online psychedelic message boards like Erowid are filled with advice like “Don’t believe everything you think.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 202, loc. 3246

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Exposure to the selflessness, timelessness, effortlessness, and richness of an ecstasis can go wrong, and wrong in predictable ways. For each of these experiences, there is a corresponding danger that, if we know about it ahead of time, we have a chance to avoid.

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Rather than deciding, “Wow, I just had a mystical experience where I felt like Jesus Christ!” they conclude, “Wow, I am Jesus Christ. Clear the decks, people, I’ve got things to do!”

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As Buddhist teacher and author Jack Kornfield6 reminds us, “after the ecstasy, the laundry.”

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In nonordinary states, dopamine often skyrockets, while activity in the prefrontal cortex plummets. Suddenly we’re finding connections between ideas that we’ve never even thought of before. Some of those connections are legitimate insights; others are flights of fancy.

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most surprisingly—shopping and spirituality seem to rely on similar neuronal circuitry.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 194, loc. 3104-3105

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most surprisingly—shopping and spirituality seem to rely on similar neuronal circuitry. When deeply religious subjects view sacred iconography or reflect on their notion of God, brain scans reveal hyperactivity in the caudate nucleus, a part of the pleasure system that correlates with feelings of joy, love, and serenity. But Lindstrom and Calvert found that this same brain region lights up when subjects view images associated with strong brands like Ferrari or Apple. “Bottom line,” Calvert reported, “there was no discernible way to tell the difference between the ways subjects’ brains reacted to powerful brands35 and the way they reacted to religious icons and figures. . . . Clearly, our emotional engagement with powerful brands. . . . shares strong parallels with our feelings about religion.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 194, loc. 3104-3111

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What began as an attempt to infuse the military with the idealism of the human potential movement had devolved into a tool for psychological warfare—and the Cycle churned on.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 191, loc. 3058-3060

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But that afterthought got noticed. In May 2003, Newsweek ran a short blurb “PSYOPS: Cruel and Unusual,”29 revealing that U.S. military detention units were using a combination of bright light, disorienting sounds, and other consciousness-shifting tactics to break Iraqi prisoners. “Trust me, it works,” says one U.S. operative. “In training, they forced me to listen to the Barney ‘I Love You’ song for 45 minutes. I never want to go through that again.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 191, loc. 3052-3056

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And this repeated pattern of the “spooks lying down with the kooks,” from hippie float tanks at the SEALs’ Mind Gym, to Kesey’s misadventures at the V.A. hospital, to Lieutenant Colonel Channon hottubbing at Esalen, to the Pentagon at Burning Man, clearly highlights the back and forth contest for control of the Master Switch. More critically, it illustrates one of the central challenges of ecstasis: how to ensure that powerful techniques for altering consciousness don’t get used for the wrong reasons.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 192, loc. 3078-3082

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In heavily redacted documents recently released through the Freedom of Information Act,30 it turns out that the FBI has conducted a multiyear intelligence program at Burning Man. The official reason was to scout for domestic terrorists and track potential threats from Islamic extremists. More likely, the FBI was taking a page out of their old COINTELPRO playbook,31 the one used in the 1960’s to infiltrate and destabilize the Black Panthers,

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 192, loc. 3065-3069

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If that were the case, then one would expect increased surveillance of the event, heightened policing, insertion of agents provocateurs, and aggressive prosecution of nonviolent crimes. And while it’s hard to tell if it’s an anomaly or the beginning of a trend,32 in 2015, plainclothes and undercover agents spiked, and arrests at the festival were up 600 percent.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 192, loc. 3070-3073

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Under those amped-up conditions, salience—that is, the attention paid to incoming stimuli—increases. But, with the prefrontal cortex down-regulated, most impulse control mechanisms go offline too. For people who aren’t used to this combination, the results can be expensive. The video game industry may have gone further down this path than anyone. “Games are a multi-billion dollar industry that employ the best neuroscientists42 and behavior psychologists to make them as addicting as possible,” Nicholas Kardaras, one of the country’s top addiction specialists, recently explained to Vice. “The developers strap beta-testing teens with galvanic skin responses, EKG, and blood pressure gauges. If the game doesn’t spike their blood pressure to 180 over 140, they go back and tweak the game to make it have more of an adrenaline-rush effect. . . . Video games raise dopamine to the same degree that sex does, and almost as much as cocaine does. So this combo of adrenaline and dopamine are a potent one-two punch with regards to addiction.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 196, loc. 3146

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Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 196, loc. 3146-3155

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Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 195, loc. 3127-3130

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But we were at the Advertising Research Foundation38 to discuss the next step: the move from an experience economy to what author Joe Pine calls the “transformation economy.” In this marketplace, what we’re being sold is who we might become—or as, Pine explains: “In the transformation economy, the customer IS the product!”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 195, loc. 3127

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To understand this possibility, it’s helpful to understand a few of the developments that have led to today’s marketplace. At the tail end of the twentieth century, we started moving from the selling of ideas,36 the so-called information economy, toward the selling of feelings, or what author Alvin Toffler called the “experience economy.” This is why retail shops started to look like theme parks. Why, instead of stocking ammo on their shelves like Wal-Mart, the outdoor retailer Cabela’s turns their stores into a hunter’s paradise of big-game mounts, faux mountainsides, and giant aquariums.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 195, loc. 3120

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To understand this possibility, it’s helpful to understand a few of the developments that have led to today’s marketplace. At the tail end of the twentieth century, we started moving from the selling of ideas,36 the so-called information economy, toward the selling of feelings, or what author Alvi <You have reached the clipping limit for this item>

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 195, loc. 3120-3125

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They also discovered how to prompt that impulse. For the pitch to be most effective—that is, to earn the most money—it had to be highly engaging and display significant contrast between positive and negative story elements. Since the speaker was wearing a discreet earpiece while onstage, the researchers could use biofeedback to provide instant feedback, telling her to change the story on the fly, increasing tension, deepening empathy, and constantly priming the audience to alter their behavior.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 197, loc. 3168

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Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 197, loc. 3158-3160

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Once you understand what Lindstrom calls “buyology,” you can imprint unsuspecting consumers with all the pleasure-producing neurochemistry you can coax out of them. And as with the intelligence community’s efforts, ecstasis at 100 percent is transformational, but ecstasis at 80 percent is, well, pretty much whatever you want it to be.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 197, loc. 3158

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Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 197, loc. 3168-3171

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If the shift in psychology that led us from Esalen to Eckhart was about greater permission to explore, then Kegan and his colleagues have given us the next piece of that puzzle: a map of where we’re going. By bridging the gap between peak states and personal growth, these discoveries validate ecstasis as a tool not only for self-discovery, but also for self-development.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 94, loc. 1510-1513

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Consciousness, it turns out, goes straight to the bottom line.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 94, loc. 1509-1510

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In short, altered states can lead to altered traits.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 94, loc. 1514-1515

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Somehow, changes in the body—freezing the face with a neurotoxin—were producing changes in the mind: the ability to feel sadness or empathy. The horse appeared to be steering the rider. And we now know why. Our facial expressions are hardwired5 into our emotions: we can’t have one without the other. Botox lessens depression because it prevents us from making sad faces. But it also dampens our connection to those around us because we feel empathy by mimicking each other’s facial expressions.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 97, loc. 1548-1552

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The heart has about 40,000 neurons that play a central role in shaping emotion, perception, and decision making. The stomach and intestines complete this network, containing more than 500 million nerve cells, 100 million neurons, 30 different neurotransmitters, and 90 percent of the body’s supply of serotonin (one of the major neurochemicals responsible for mood and well-being). This “second brain,” as scientists have dubbed it, lends some empirical support to the persistent notion of gut instinct.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 97, loc. 1561-1565

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For those interested in shifting states, knowing that the body can drive the mind gives us a whole new set of knobs and levers with which to play. Einstein’s quote “you cannot solve a problem at the level at which it was created” is invariably used to encourage higher, more expansive solutions. But the opposite is equally true. Sometimes, lower, more basic solutions can have just as big an impact.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 98, loc. 1577-1580

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And two minutes of the pose was enough to increase levels of the dominance hormone testosterone by 20 percent and decrease the stress hormone cortisol by 15 percent. While the field of embodied cognition is in its infancy, and there is still lots of work to be done replicating studies and integrating insights, these early findings suggest a tighter linkage between our minds and our bodies than most of us would ever suspect.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 98, loc. 1573-1576

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And today, with so much of our emotional and social lives mediated by screens, we’ve become little more than heads on sticks, the most disembodied generation of humans that has ever lived.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 100, loc. 1597-1598

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In direct contrast to skin-and-bone ascetics who sought ecstasis by ignoring or denying the body, these monks believed transcendence began with its total mastery.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 99, loc. 1593-1594

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Defined by heightened empathy, an expanded capacity to hold differing and even conflicting perspectives, and a general flexibility in how you think of yourself, self-transforming is the developmental stage we tend to associate with wisdom (and Roger Martin’s Opposable Mind). But not everyone gets to be wise. While it usually takes three to five years for adults to move through a given stage of development, Kegan found that the further you go up that pyramid, the fewer people make it to the next stage. The move from self-authoring to self-transforming for example? Fewer than 5 percent of us ever make that jump.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 92, loc. 1489-1493

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He discovered that while some adults remained frozen in time, a select few achieved meaningful growth. Right around middle age, for example, Kegan noticed that some people moved beyond generally well-adjusted adulthood, or what he called “Self-Authoring,” into a different stage entirely: “Self-Transforming.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 92, loc. 1487-1489

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Can recurring access to these states really “nurture what is best within ourselves?” Can they, as Alan Watts suggested, be used to “cultivate the exceptional”?

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 91, loc. 1477-1478

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“Psychology is not just the study of weakness and damage, it is also the study of strength and virtue. Treatment is not just fixing what is broken, it is nurturing what is best within ourselves.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 91, loc. 1474-1475

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Flow researchers have achieved comparable results without drugs, simply by altering neurobiological function. In 2007, working with Iraq War veterans at Camp Pendleton, occupational therapist Carly Rogers of the University of California, Los Angeles blended surfing (a reliable flow trigger) and talk therapy into a treatment for PTSD. It was essentially the same protocol Mithoefer used, only with the flow generated by action sports substituting for MDMA.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 89, loc. 1435-1438

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Mithoefer found that the benefits provided by one to three rounds of MDMA therapy lasts for years.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 89, loc. 1432-1433

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In a 2014 paper published in the Journal of Occupational Therapy, Rogers reported that after as little as five weeks in the waves, soldiers had a “clinically meaningful improvement in PTSD symptom severity and in depressive symptoms.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 89, loc. 1442-1444

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recent study done by the military found that 84 percent of PTSD subjects who meditated for a month could reduce or even stop taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 89, loc. 1445-1446

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Taken together, all this work—from the NDE studies to the cancer and trauma research to the flow and meditation programs—demonstrates that even brief moments spent outside ourselves produce positive impact, regardless of the mechanisms used to get there.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 89, loc. 1447-1449

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or part of an illuminati controlled dumb-down of human potential

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 90, loc. 1457

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As Buddhist scholar Alan Watts put it, ‘Western scientists have an underlying assumption that normal is absolutely as good as it gets and that the exceptional is only for saints, that it is something that cannot be cultivated.’”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 90, loc. 1457-1458

Notes: 1) or part of an illuminati controlled dumb-down of human potential

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Her goal was both to get a clear picture of brainwave activity and record how long it took her subjects to enter REM sleep—an excellent way to measure happiness and well-being. Normal people go into REM at about 90 minutes; depressed people enter sooner, usually at 60 minutes. Generally happy people head in the opposite direction, dropping into REM at around 100 minutes. Britton discovered that NDEers delayed entry until 110 minutes—which meant that they were off the charts for happiness and life satisfaction.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 87, loc. 1406-1410

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In 2011, Griffiths gave three grams of psilocybin to a group of terminal cancer patients, in an attempt to provide them with relief from fear-of-death anxiety (which is understandably hard to alleviate). Afterward, he administered a battery of psychological tests, including a standard fear-of-dying metric, the Death Transcendence Scale, at one- and fourteen-month intervals. Just as with Britton’s NDE survivors, Griffiths found significant, sustained change: a marked decrease in their fear of death, and a significant uptick in their attitudes, moods, and behavior.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 88, loc. 1418-1422

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was glowing and extroverted for the first time since getting blown up. MDMA gave me my life back.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 88, loc. 1428-1429

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Pleasure produces endorphins, but pain can prompt even more. The uncertainty of teasing, as Stanford’s Robert Sapolsky established, spikes dopamine 400 percent. Nipple stimulation boosts oxytocin. Pressure in the throat or colon regulates the vagus nerve,23 creating exhilaration, intense relaxation, and goose bumps, what Princeton gastroenterologist Anish Sheth memorably terms poo-phoria. “To some it may feel like a religious experience,” Sheth writes, “to others like an orgasm, and to a lucky few like both.”  And momentary erotic transcendence

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 85, loc. 1376-1381

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Thirty years of research showed that people who had an NDE scored exceptionally high on tests of overall life satisfaction. As a trauma expert, Britton found this unusual.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 87, loc. 1401-1402

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Now there’s a broad movement to explore full-spectrum sexuality and elevate it from compulsion or perversion, into something more deliberate, playful, and potent. The arc of the moral universe may be long, but it’s bending toward the kinky.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 86, loc. 1391-1393

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Nowhere did this urge for raw self-expression show up more visibly than at Esalen, the Big Sur, California–based institute that the New York Times once called the “Harvard of the Human Potential movement.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 77, loc. 1243-1245

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What Tolle is preaching is nothing less than the Gospel of STER. His core argument is that through the experience of selflessness, timelessness, and effortlessness—his so-called “Power of Now”—we can dwell in a place of unlimited richness. And, if the popularity of his webcast is anything to go by, this idea is resonating with millions of people.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 76, loc. 1219-1222

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By democratizing access to some of the more controversial and misunderstood territory in history, these modern-day Gutenbergs are taking experiences once reserved for mystics and making them available to the masses.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 75, loc. 1201-1202

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Pharmacology gives us another tool to explore this terrain. By treating the six powerful neurochemicals that underpin ecstasis as raw ingredients, we’ve begun to refine the recipes for peak experience.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 74, loc. 1192-1193

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Whether we’re relying on flow-producing neurofeedback or awe-inducing virtual reality, these breakthroughs turn once-solitary epiphanies into experiences that can be shared by hundreds of thousands of people at once. More people having more experiences means more data and firmer conclusions.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 74, loc. 1195-1197

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This sharpened perspective allows us to strip out the interpretations of past gatekeepers and understand, in simple and rational terms, the mechanics of transcendence. And unlike the take-it-on faith dictates of traditional mythologies, the discoveries of neurobiology are testable.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 74, loc. 1190-1192

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In spiritual terms, Eckhart Tolle found sudden enlightenment. In the language of this book, he stabilized ecstasis, making the temporary selfless, timeless, and effortless experience of a non-ordinary state a part of his permanent reality.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 76, loc. 1215-1217

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Because the drive to get out of our heads has ended in tragedy as often as ecstasy. Because the pale protects us as much as it confines us.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 70, loc. 1162-1163

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As Nietzsche said: “madness is rare in individuals—but in groups, political parties, nations and eras, it’s the rule.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 70, loc. 1159-1159

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In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler provided a frightening example, co-opting traditional techniques of ecstasy—light, sound, chanting, movement—for his Nuremberg rallies. “I am beginning to comprehend some of the reasons for Hitler’s astounding success,”33 wrote Hearst journalist William Shirer in 1934. “Borrowing a chapter from the Roman church, he’s restoring pageantry . . . and mysticism to the drab lives of twentieth century Germans.” Hitler wasn’t just borrowing from Rome, but from the United States as well. According to Fuhrer confidant Ernst Hanfstaengl, “the ‘Sieg Heil’34 used in political rallies was a direct copy of the technique used by American college football cheerleaders. American college type music was used to excite the German masses who had been used to . . . dry-as-dust political lectures.” Hitler wasn’t the only twentieth-century despot to rely on these techniques. Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot sold the same thing: a Utopia of We, the experience of communitas at scale. They even sold it the same way. Nearly identical stump speeches: “Individualism is out. We are all one. No one is better than anyone else.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 70, loc. 1148-1158

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Something similar is happening today. Thanks to accelerating developments in four fields—psychology, neurobiology, pharmacology, and technology; call them the “Four Forces of Ecstasis”—we’re getting greater access to and understanding of nonordinary states of consciousness.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 74, loc. 1181-1183

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rely less on hocus-pocus and superstition, and more on science and experience.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 74, loc. 1184-1185

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Archbishop of Canterbury John Tillotson later noted,1 “in all probability . . . hocus pocus is nothing else but a corruption of hoc est corpus (“this is the body”), [a] ridiculous imitation of the priests of the Church.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 73, loc. 1175-1177

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Tony Robbins’s empowerment seminars to the prosperity theology preached every Sunday by megachurch ministers like Joel Osteen.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 80, loc. 1296-1297

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Landmark, the latest incarnation of Erhard’s teachings, boasts corporate clients including Microsoft,14 NASA, Reebok, and Lululemon.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 80, loc. 1293-1294

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Erhard understood that seekers needed to be financially successful enough to afford his next workshop. So he hitched the human potential movement to the wagon of the Protestant work ethic. Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich replaced the Bhagavad Gita as seminal text. Mandalas were out. Vision boards were in. And the American spiritual marketplace has never been the same. If you’ve

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 80, loc. 1284-1287

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As an early Esalen motto put it,12 ‘No one captures the flag.’”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 79, loc. 1271-1272

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So Erhard repackaged an assortment of Esalen-inspired13 practices into a business-friendly format, creating EST, short for the Erhard Seminars Training. The seminar deliberately reproduced Price’s accidental transformation, engineering a “breakdown-to-breakthrough” experience via a series of marathon, fourteen-hour days, without food or breaks, and with lots of yelling and profanity—the fabled “EST encounter.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 79, loc. 1277-1281

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It was a “pragmatic culture of sensation and know-how,” notes author and modern religious historian Erik Davis11 in AfterBurn, “an essentially empirical approach to matters of the spirit that made tools more important than beliefs. Consciousness-altering techniques like meditation, biofeedback, yoga, ritual, isolation tanks, tantric sex, breathwork, martial arts, group dynamics and drugs were privileged over the claustrophobic structures of authority and belief that were seen to define conventional religion.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 78, loc. 1263-1267

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The lineage that goes from Esalen to EST to Eckhart is one of increasing self-exploration,

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 81, loc. 1301-1301

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“In French literature,” University of Pennsylvania neurologist18 Anjan Chatterjee explains in his book The Aesthetic Brain, “the release from orgasm is famously referred to as la petite mort, the little death . . . the person is in a state without fear and without thought of themselves or their future plans. . . . This pattern of deactivation could be the brain state of a purely transcendent experience enveloping a core experience of pleasure.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 83, loc. 1332-1336

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Together, they have prevented us from fully expressing that “fourth evolutionary drive,” the irrepressible desire to seek nonordinary states of consciousness.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 119, loc. 1903-1904

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The second limitation is culture. Anthropologists have discovered that as soon as a local intoxicant becomes enshrined in tradition, people grow suspicious of imports. “Most cultures,” explains Pollan, “curiously, promote one plant8 for this purpose, or two, and condemn others. They fetishize one and they have taboos on others.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 118, loc. 1894-1897

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Shulgin’s legacy. The first was PiHKAL, short for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved,” a reference to the class of psychedelics containing mescaline and 2C-B. Cowritten with his wife and published in 1991, PiHKAL was divided into two parts. Part One contained a fictionalized autobiography of the couple. Part Two was a detailed description of 179 psychedelics and included step-by-step instructions for synthesis, bioassays, dosages, duration, legal status, and commentary—that is, everything a would-be psychonaut needed for takeoff. The second book, TiHKAL, came out in 1998, with the acronym standing for “Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved,” and referring to drugs like LSD, DMT, and ibogaine. In this volume, the Shulgins included recipes for fifty-five more substances along with even more commentary. “Use them with care,” they wrote, “and use them with respect as to the transformations they can achieve, and you have an extraordinary research tool. Go banging about with a psychedelic drug for a Saturday night turn-on, and you can get to a really bad place. . . .”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 122, loc. 1958

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Between 1966, when he first set up his backyard workshop, and his death in 2014, Shulgin became one of the more prolific psychonauts (an explorer of inner space) in history.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 121, loc. 1937-1938

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Shulgin’s legacy. The first was PiHKAL, short for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved,” a reference to the class of psychedelics containing mescaline and 2C-B. Cowritten with his wife and published in 1991, PiHKAL was divided into two parts. Part One contained a fictionalized autobiography of the couple. Part Two was a detailed description of 179 psychedelics and included step-by-step instructions for synthesis, bioassays, dosages, duration, legal status, and commentary—that is, everything a would-be psychonaut needed for takeoff. The second book, TiHKAL, came out in 1998, with the acronym standing for “Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved,” and referring to drugs like LSD, DMT, and ibogaine. In this volume, the Shulgins included recipes for fifty-five more substances along with even more commentary. “Use them with care,” they wrote, “and use them with respect as to the transformations they can achieve, and you have an extraordinary research tool. Go banging about with a psychedelic drug for a Saturday night turn-on, and you can get to a really bad place. .

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 122, loc. 1958-1966

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His decision to share his research came from a real fear that he would die with this enormous body of knowledge trapped inside him. Even before PiHKAL, Sasha had that open-source impulse. He gave away information to anyone who asked—it didn’t matter if they were DEA agents or underground psychedelic chemists.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 123, loc. 1974-1976

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I was in a seminar where the class leader rattled off all the different methods we use to access it—free association, dream analysis, hypnosis, bungled actions, slips of the tongue. None were very good. Except for dreaming, they’re all indirect approaches. And dreaming takes place when we’re asleep, so all we can get is after-the-fact reports. If we were going to make any headway on this problem, we had to find a better way to explore the unconscious.” In his hunt for that better way, Carhart-Harris picked up psychologist Stanislav Grof’s classic book, Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research. One of Grof’s main arguments was that during psychedelic states, our ego defenses are so diminished that we gain nearly direct access to the unconscious.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 124, loc. 1993-1999

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This is how we know that the vanishing of self is not really about specific regions deactivating. It’s bigger than that. It’s more like whole networks disintegrating.” One of the most important networks to disintegrate is the default mode network.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 125, loc. 2017-2019

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In 2009, he became head of psychedelic research at Imperial College London and became the second person in history to use fMRI to explore the neurological impact of psilocybin.22 And the very first to explore LSD.23

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 124, loc. 2002-2005

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But, like many of the brain’s systems, the default mode network is fragile. A little trouble in a couple of nodes is all it takes to knock it offline. “Early psychologists used terms like ‘ego disintegration’ to describe the effects of an altered state,” says Carhart-Harris. “They were more correct than they knew. The ego is really just a network, and things like psychedelics, flow, and meditation compromise those connections. They literally dis-integrate the network.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 125, loc. 2020-2023

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So when researchers like James Fadiman discovered that psychedelics could enhance creative problem solving—these far-flung connections were the reason why. Or, as Carhart-Harris explains, “What we’ve done in this research is begin to identify the biological basis of the reported mind expansion associated with psychedelic drugs.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 126, loc. 2026-2028

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This open-source approach to pharmacology has given us a way to fact-check ecstatic inspiration, moving us from the “one to many” route—à la Moses and Joseph Smith—to a “many to many” model. Rather than having to take anyone’s word for what happens out there, explorers can now repeat the original experiments and see for themselves.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 128, loc. 2070-2072

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But Strassman’s study group didn’t experience anything that could comfortably be described as Buddhist. More than 50 percent of his research subjects blasted off to distant galaxies, had hair-raising encounters with multidimensional entities, and came back swearing that those experiences felt “as real, or in many cases, more real than waking life.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 129, loc. 2081-2083

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One forum in particular, the Hyperspace Lexicon, reflects a collective effort to codify and make sense of the utterly novel landscape of DMT

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 130, loc. 2090-2091

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Initially, he turned his attention to melatonin but, disappointed with the results, soon decided to focus on its cousin DMT (dimethyltryptamine). DMT made sense as a candidate. It occurs naturally in the human body yet when vaporized or injected, becomes a powerful psychedelic.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 129, loc. 2076-2078

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And Joseph Smith was by no means the first person to have a prophetic vision that then birthed a religion. Moses fathered three of the world’s largest traditions—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity—when he came down from Mount Sinai with two stone tablets written by “the finger of God.” But this time as well, the problem was proof.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 127, loc. 2048-2050

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While all manner of psychoactive plants are available online, allowing the adventurous to distill potent psychedelics with little more than a Crock-Pot, some Mason jars and a turkey baster, the DEA and INTERPOL can still shut down these gray market suppliers. But Cronin’s 3D drug printer renders that kind of oversight almost impossible.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 132, loc. 2135-2137

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Even a few decades ago, they could have started a cult. These days, they’ll just get trolled online, then ignored.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 131, loc. 2111-2112

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If you put this all together, what seems to be emerging in the aftermath of Shulgin, Carhart-Harris, and Strassman is a kind of “agnostic Gnosticism,” an experience of the infinite rooted in the certainty that all interpretations are personal, provisional, and partial. As a result, no one can claim their particular vision of the divine as correct, if there are thousands of other “visions” with which to compare it.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 131, loc. 2108-2111

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“Pretty much any substance made by a plant, tree or mushroom, including all the neuroactive substances, is within reach of synthetic biology. We’re not there yet, but within a decade or so this one technology should be able to tickle all the same receptor sites in the brain that mind-altering substances impact.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 133, loc. 2153-2155

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Transformational leaders not only regulated their own nervous systems better than most; they also regulated other people’s.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 105, loc. 1691-1692

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Our understanding of the science has progressed to the point where we can not only shift how we think and feel in the present, but also make accurate predictions about how we’re going to think and feel in a future that has yet to occur.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 106, loc. 1698-1700

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There are thousands of depictions of the experience. And if you read through them, you’ll find that people often describe unity as more ‘fundamentally real’ than anything else they’ve ever experienced. More real than reality. Well, what does that mean? I think it means that in trying to answer this question we need to take into account both the science and the spirituality, that we can’t just dismiss the latter because it makes us uncomfortable as scientists.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 106, loc. 1709-1712

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And unity is only the first in a long series of those experiences that researchers have now decoded. “It’s amazing how far neurotheology has come,” explains Newberg. “Different types of meditation, chanting, singing, flow, prayer, mediumship, speaking in tongues, hypnosis, trances, possession, out-of-body-experiences, near-death experiences, and sensed presences—they’ve all been examined using high-powered imaging.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 108, loc. 1736-1739

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What Newberg discovered is that extreme concentration can cause the right parietal lobe to shut down. “It’s an efficiency exchange,” he explains. “During ecstatic prayer or meditation, energy normally used for drawing the boundary of self gets reallocated for attention. When this happens, we can no longer distinguish self from other. At that moment, as far as the brain can tell, you are one with everything.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 108, loc. 1730-1732

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The neurobiology of emotion shows that our nonverbal cues—our tics, twitches, and tone—reveal much more about our inner experience than words typically do. “People are in a constant state of impression management,”13 explains USC psychologist Albert “Skip” Rizzo, the director of the institute. “They have their true self and the self they want to project to the world. And we know the body displays things that sometimes people try to keep contained.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 101, loc. 1620-1624

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you think back to the embodied cognition work of Amy Cuddy, AI Ellie, and others, their big insight was that our bodies, facial expressions, posture, and voice all convey more information than we would ever suspect. And, if we change any of those things, we can substantially shift how we feel and what we think in the present moment. That’s pretty big news. But what we explored with Nike went even further than that, beyond “real-time” transformation and into “future-time” prediction—precognition itself.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 104, loc. 1665-1668

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The technical term for this is the Law of the Instrument. Give someone a hammer and, indeed, they’ll look for nails to pound. But present them with a problem where they need to repurpose that same hammer as a doorstop, or a pendulum weight, or a tomahawk, and you’ll typically get blank stares.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 111, loc. 1779-1781

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And we know it’s not working. Even a quick glance at today’s dire mental health statistics—the one in four Americans now on psychiatric medicines;23 the escalating rate of suicide24 for everyone from ages ten to seventy-eight—shows how critically overtaxed our mental processing is these days. We may have come to the end of our psychological tether. It might be time to rethink all that thinking.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 111, loc. 1784-1788

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Rather than treating our psychology like the unquestioned operating system (or OS) of our entire lives, we can repurpose it to function more like a user interface (or UI)—that

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 112, loc. 1793

Notes: 1) swappable selves instead of Buddhist no-self

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Take, for example, one of the most common ailments of the modern world—mild to moderate depression. Instead of moping around, hoping for things to get better on their own, we can scan our UI and choose an alternate program to run.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 112, loc. 1797-1798

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Rather than treating our psychology like the unquestioned operating system (or OS) of our entire lives, we can repurpose it to function more like a user interface (or UI)—

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 112, loc. 1793-1794

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Choices like these are available not just in our personal lives, but in our professional lives, too. Instead of nervously waiting for a job interview and obsessing about all the things that could go wrong, we can take a page out of Amy Cuddy’s book and stand up, breathe deeply, and power-pose our way to lower cortisol, higher testosterone, and more confidence. Instead of using trendy leadership books and a new mission statement to fire up employees, we can follow ESADE’s lead and use neurofeedback to heighten group coherence and prompt more productive strategy sessions.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 112, loc. 1804-1808

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Certainly, atheists have used the fact that there’s neuronal function beneath mystical experience to claim that spirituality is merely a trick of the brain. But neurotheology takes a faith-neutral position. All this work proves is that these experiences are biologically mediated. If you’re a believer, it offers a deeper understanding of divine methods. If you’re a nonbeliever, it provides another consciousness-altering tool upon which to draw. Either way, these advances do more than just provide an academic explanation for the ecstatic—they provide a user manual on how to get there.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 110, loc. 1771-1775

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So potent is the urge to get out of our heads that it functions as a “fourth drive,” a behavior-shaping force as powerful as our first three drives—the desire for food, water, and sex. The bigger question is why. Intoxication, in animals as in humans, is not always the best strategy for survival.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 117, loc. 1864-1866

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Researchers have been pondering this for a while now, and have concluded that intoxication does play a powerful evolutionary role—“depatterning.” In nature, animals often get stuck in ruts, repeating the same actions over and over with diminishing returns. But interrupting this behavior is not easy. “The principle of conservation6 tends to rigidly preserve established schemes and patterns,” writes Italian ethnobotanist Giorgio Samorini in his book Animals and Psychedelics, “but modification (the search for new pathways) requires a depatterning instrument . . . capable of opposing—at least at certain determined moments—the principle of conservation. It is my impression that drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior, on the part of both humans and animals, enjoys an intimate connection with . . . depatterning.”

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 117, loc. 1871-1878

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This idea, that our ego isn’t the be-all and end-all, flourished in Asia for centuries before landing in California in the 1960’s. Thoughts were illusions, the swamis and lamas maintained, and nirvana lay on the other side of ego death.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 113, loc. 1814-1816

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We’ll wait until after we feel better to go for that walk in the sun, rather than going for that walk in order to feel better. We’ll wait until after we get that job offer to pump our fists and stand tall, instead of the other way around.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 112, loc. 1809-1811

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That’s because, at first, reorienting from OS to UI can be downright disorienting. If I can change the “wallpaper of my mind” by deliberately shifting my neurophysiology—my breathing, my posture, my brainwaves, or any number of other

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal, Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work, pg. 113, loc. 1811-1813

Notes: 1) swappable selves instead of Buddhist no-self

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@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

In an age where culture often precedes policy, a subtle yet potent mechanism may be at play in the shaping of American perspectives on gun ownership. Rather than directly challenging the Second Amendment through legislation alone, a more insidious strategy may involve reshaping the cultural and social norms surrounding firearms—by conditioning the population, starting at its most impressionable point: the public school system.

The Cultural Lever of Language

Unlike Orwell's 1984, where language is controlled by removing words from the lexicon, this modern approach may hinge instead on instilling fear around specific words or topics—guns, firearms, and self-defense among them. The goal is not to erase the language but to embed a taboo so deep that people voluntarily avoid these terms out of social self-preservation. Children, teachers, and parents begin to internalize a fear of even mentioning weapons, not because the words are illegal, but because the cultural consequences are severe.

The Role of Teachers in Social Programming

Teachers, particularly in primary and middle schools, serve not only as educational authorities but also as social regulators. The frequent argument against homeschooling—that children will not be "properly socialized"—reveals an implicit understanding that schools play a critical role in setting behavioral norms. Children learn what is acceptable not just academically but socially. Rules, discipline, and behavioral expectations are laid down by teachers, often reinforced through peer pressure and institutional authority.

This places teachers in a unique position of influence. If fear is instilled in these educators—fear that one of their students could become the next school shooter—their response is likely to lean toward overcorrection. That overcorrection may manifest as a total intolerance for any conversation about weapons, regardless of the context. Innocent remarks or imaginative stories from young children are interpreted as red flags, triggering intervention from administrators and warnings to parents.

Fear as a Policy Catalyst

School shootings, such as the one at Columbine, serve as the fulcrum for this fear-based conditioning. Each highly publicized tragedy becomes a national spectacle, not only for mourning but also for cementing the idea that any child could become a threat. Media cycles perpetuate this narrative with relentless coverage and emotional appeals, ensuring that each incident becomes embedded in the public consciousness.

The side effect of this focus is the generation of copycat behavior, which, in turn, justifies further media attention and tighter controls. Schools install security systems, metal detectors, and armed guards—not simply to stop violence, but to serve as a daily reminder to children and staff alike: guns are dangerous, ubiquitous, and potentially present at any moment. This daily ritual reinforces the idea that the very discussion of firearms is a precursor to violence.

Policy and Practice: The Zero-Tolerance Feedback Loop

Federal and district-level policies begin to reflect this cultural shift. A child mentioning a gun in class—even in a non-threatening or imaginative context—is flagged for intervention. Zero-tolerance rules leave no room for context or intent. Teachers and administrators, fearing for their careers or safety, comply eagerly with these guidelines, interpreting them as moral obligations rather than bureaucratic policies.

The result is a generation of students conditioned to associate firearms with social ostracism, disciplinary action, and latent danger. The Second Amendment, once seen as a cultural cornerstone of American liberty and self-reliance, is transformed into an artifact of suspicion and anxiety.

Long-Term Consequences: A Nation Re-Socialized

Over time, this fear-based reshaping of discourse creates adults who not only avoid discussing guns but view them as morally reprehensible. Their aversion is not grounded in legal logic or political philosophy, but in deeply embedded emotional programming begun in early childhood. The cultural weight against firearms becomes so great that even those inclined to support gun rights feel the need to self-censor.

As fewer people grow up discussing, learning about, or responsibly handling firearms, the social understanding of the Second Amendment erodes. Without cultural reinforcement, its value becomes abstract and its defenders marginalized. In this way, the right to bear arms is not abolished by law—it is dismantled by language, fear, and the subtle recalibration of social norms.

Conclusion

This theoretical strategy does not require a single change to the Constitution. It relies instead on the long game of cultural transformation, beginning with the youngest minds and reinforced by fear-driven policy and media narratives. The outcome is a society that views the Second Amendment not as a safeguard of liberty, but as an anachronism too dangerous to mention.

By controlling the language through social consequences and fear, a nation can be taught not just to disarm, but to believe it chose to do so freely. That, perhaps, is the most powerful form of control of all.

@ 8125b911:a8400883

In Nostr, all data is stored as events. Decentralization is achieved by storing events on multiple relays, with signatures proving the ownership of these events. However, if you truly want to own your events, you should run your own relay to store them. Otherwise, if the relays you use fail or intentionally delete your events, you'll lose them forever.

For most people, running a relay is complex and costly. To solve this issue, I developed nostr-relay-tray, a relay that can be easily run on a personal computer and accessed over the internet.

Project URL: https://github.com/CodyTseng/nostr-relay-tray

This article will guide you through using nostr-relay-tray to run your own relay.

Download

Download the installation package for your operating system from the GitHub Release Page.

| Operating System | File Format | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Windows | nostr-relay-tray.Setup.x.x.x.exe | | macOS (Apple Silicon) | nostr-relay-tray-x.x.x-arm64.dmg | | macOS (Intel) | nostr-relay-tray-x.x.x.dmg | | Linux | You should know which one to use |

Installation

Since this app isn’t signed, you may encounter some obstacles during installation. Once installed, an ostrich icon will appear in the status bar. Click on the ostrich icon, and you'll see a menu where you can click the "Dashboard" option to open the relay's control panel for further configuration.

macOS Users:

• On first launch, go to "System Preferences > Security & Privacy" and click "Open Anyway."
• If you encounter a "damaged" message, run the following command in the terminal to remove the restrictions:

bash sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/nostr-relay-tray.app

Windows Users:

• On the security warning screen, click "More Info > Run Anyway."

Connecting

By default, nostr-relay-tray is only accessible locally through ws://localhost:4869/, which makes it quite limited. Therefore, we need to expose it to the internet.

In the control panel, click the "Proxy" tab and toggle the switch. You will then receive a "Public address" that you can use to access your relay from anywhere. It's that simple.

Next, add this address to your relay list and position it as high as possible in the list. Most clients prioritize connecting to relays that appear at the top of the list, and relays lower in the list are often ignored.

Restrictions

Next, we need to set up some restrictions to prevent the relay from storing events that are irrelevant to you and wasting storage space. nostr-relay-tray allows for flexible and fine-grained configuration of which events to accept, but some of this is more complex and will not be covered here. If you're interested, you can explore this further later.

For now, I'll introduce a simple and effective strategy: WoT (Web of Trust). You can enable this feature in the "WoT & PoW" tab. Before enabling, you'll need to input your pubkey.

There's another important parameter, Depth, which represents the relationship depth between you and others. Someone you follow has a depth of 1, someone they follow has a depth of 2, and so on.

• Setting this parameter to 0 means your relay will only accept your own events.
• Setting it to 1 means your relay will accept events from you and the people you follow.
• Setting it to 2 means your relay will accept events from you, the people you follow, and the people they follow.

Currently, the maximum value for this parameter is 2.

Conclusion

You've now successfully run your own relay and set a simple restriction to prevent it from storing irrelevant events.

If you encounter any issues during use, feel free to submit an issue on GitHub, and I'll respond as soon as possible.

Not your relay, not your events.

@ 846ebf79:fe4e39a4

The next iteration is coming

We're busy racing to the finish line, for the #Alexandria Gutenberg beta. Then we can get the bug hunt done, release v0.1.0, and immediately start producing the first iteration of the Euler (v0.2.0) edition.

While we continue to work on fixing the performance issues and smooth rendering on the Reading View, we've gone ahead and added some new features and apps, which will be rolled-out soon.

The biggest projects this iteration have been:

• the HTTP API for the #Realy relay from nostr:npub1fjqqy4a93z5zsjwsfxqhc2764kvykfdyttvldkkkdera8dr78vhsmmleku,
• implementation of a publication tree structure by nostr:npub1wqfzz2p880wq0tumuae9lfwyhs8uz35xd0kr34zrvrwyh3kvrzuskcqsyn,
• and the Great DevOps Migration of 2025 from the ever-industrious Mr. nostr:npub1qdjn8j4gwgmkj3k5un775nq6q3q7mguv5tvajstmkdsqdja2havq03fqm7.

All are backend-y projects and have caused a major shift in process and product, on the development team's side, even if they're still largely invisible to users.

Another important, but invisible-to-you change is that nostr:npub1ecdlntvjzexlyfale2egzvvncc8tgqsaxkl5hw7xlgjv2cxs705s9qs735 has implemented the core bech32 functionality (and the associated tests) in C/C++, for the #Aedile NDK.

On the frontend:

nostr:npub1636uujeewag8zv8593lcvdrwlymgqre6uax4anuq3y5qehqey05sl8qpl4 is currently working on the blog-specific Reading View, which allows for multi-npub or topical blogging, by using the 30040 index as a "folder", joining the various 30041 articles into different blogs. She has also started experimenting with categorization and columns for the landing page.

nostr:npub1l5sga6xg72phsz5422ykujprejwud075ggrr3z2hwyrfgr7eylqstegx9z revamped the product information pages, so that there is now a Contact page (including the ability to submit a Nostr issue) and an About page (with more product information, the build version displayed, and a live #GitCitadel feed).

We have also allowed for discrete headings (headers that aren't section headings, akin to the headers in Markdown). Discrete headings are formatted, but not added to the ToC and do not result in a section split by Asciidoc processors.

We have added OpenGraph metadata, so that hyperlinks to Alexandria publications, and other events, display prettily in other apps. And we fixed some bugs.

The Visualisation view has been updated and bug-fixed, to make the cards human-readable and closeable, and to add hyperlinks to the events to the card-titles.

We have added support for the display of individual wiki pages and the integration of them into 30040 publications. (This is an important feature for scientists and other nonfiction writers.)

We prettified the event json modal, so that it's easier to read and copy-paste out of.

The index card details have been expanded and the menus on the landing page have been revamped and expanded. Design and style has been improved, overall.

Project management is very busy

Our scientific adviser nostr:npub1m3xdppkd0njmrqe2ma8a6ys39zvgp5k8u22mev8xsnqp4nh80srqhqa5sf is working on the Euler plans for integrating features important for medical researchers and other scientists, which have been put on the fast track.

Next up are:

• a return of the Table of Contents
• kind 1111 comments, highlights, likes
• a prototype social feed for wss://theforest.nostr1.com, including long-form articles and Markdown rendering
• compose and edit of publications
• a search field
• the expansion of the relay set with the new relays from nostr:npub12262qa4uhw7u8gdwlgmntqtv7aye8vdcmvszkqwgs0zchel6mz7s6cgrkj, including some cool premium features
• full wiki functionality and disambiguation pages for replaceable events with overlapping d-tags
• a web app for mass-uploading and auto-converting PDFs to 30040/41 Asciidoc events, that will run on Realy, and be a service free for our premium relay subscribers
• ability to subscribe to the forest with a premium status
• the book upload CLI has been renamed and reworked into the Sybil Test Utility and that will get a major release, covering all the events and functionality needed to test Euler
• the #GitRepublic public git server project
• ....and much more.

Thank you for reading and may your morning be good.

@ e691f4df:1099ad65

Viewing Bitcoin Through the Light of Awakening

Ankh & Ohm Capital’s Overview of the Psycho-Spiritual Nature of Bitcoin

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Glossary:

I. Preface: The Logos of Our Logo

II. An Oracular Introduction

III. Alchemizing Greed

IV. Layers of Fractalized Thought

V. Permissionless Individuation

VI. Dispelling Paradox Through Resonance

VII. Ego Deflation

VIII. The Coin of Great Price

Preface: The Logos of Our Logo

Before we offer our lens on Bitcoin, it’s important to illuminate the meaning behind Ankh & Ohm’s name and symbol. These elements are not ornamental—they are foundational, expressing the cosmological principles that guide our work.

Our mission is to bridge the eternal with the practical. As a Bitcoin-focused family office and consulting firm, we understand capital not as an end, but as a tool—one that, when properly aligned, becomes a vehicle for divine order. We see Bitcoin not simply as a technological innovation but as an emanation of the Divine Logos—a harmonic expression of truth, transparency, and incorruptible structure. Both the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega.

The Ankh (☥), an ancient symbol of eternal life, is a key to the integration of opposites. It unites spirit and matter, force and form, continuity and change. It reminds us that capital, like Life, must not only be generative, but regenerative; sacred. Money must serve Life, not siphon from it.

The Ohm (Ω) holds a dual meaning. In physics, it denotes a unit of electrical resistance—the formative tension that gives energy coherence. In the Vedic tradition, Om (ॐ) is the primordial vibration—the sound from which all existence unfolds. Together, these symbols affirm a timeless truth: resistance and resonance are both sacred instruments of the Creator.

Ankh & Ohm, then, represents our striving for union, for harmony —between the flow of life and intentional structure, between incalculable abundance and measured restraint, between the lightbulb’s electrical impulse and its light-emitting filament. We stand at the threshold where intention becomes action, and where capital is not extracted, but cultivated in rhythm with the cosmos. 

We exist to shepherd this transformation, as guides of this threshold —helping families, founders, and institutions align with a deeper order, where capital serves not as the prize, but as a pathway to collective Presence, Purpose, Peace and Prosperity.

---

An Oracular Introduction

Bitcoin is commonly understood as the first truly decentralized and secure form of digital money—a breakthrough in monetary sovereignty. But this view, while technically correct, is incomplete and spiritually shallow. Bitcoin is more than a tool for economic disruption. Bitcoin represents a mythic threshold: a symbol of the psycho-spiritual shift that many ancient traditions have long foretold.

For millennia, sages and seers have spoken of a coming Golden Age. In the Vedic Yuga cycles, in Plato’s Great Year, in the Eagle and Condor prophecies of the Americas—there exists a common thread: that humanity will emerge from darkness into a time of harmony, cooperation, and clarity. That the veil of illusion (maya, materiality) will thin, and reality will once again become transparent to the transcendent. In such an age, systems based on scarcity, deception, and centralization fall away. A new cosmology takes root—one grounded in balance, coherence, and sacred reciprocity.

But we must ask—how does such a shift happen? How do we cross from the age of scarcity, fear, and domination into one of coherence, abundance, and freedom?

One possible answer lies in the alchemy of incentive.

Bitcoin operates not just on the rules of computer science or Austrian economics, but on something far more old and subtle: the logic of transformation. It transmutes greed—a base instinct rooted in scarcity—into cooperation, transparency, and incorruptibility.

In this light, Bitcoin becomes more than code—it becomes a psychoactive protocol, one that rewires human behavior by aligning individual gain with collective integrity. It is not simply a new form of money. It is a new myth of value. A new operating system for human consciousness.

Bitcoin does not moralize. It harmonizes. It transforms the instinct for self-preservation into a pathway for planetary coherence.

---

Alchemizing Greed

At the heart of Bitcoin lies the ancient alchemical principle of transmutation: that which is base may be refined into gold.

Greed, long condemned as a vice, is not inherently evil. It is a distorted longing. A warped echo of the drive to preserve life. But in systems built on scarcity and deception, this longing calcifies into hoarding, corruption, and decay.

Bitcoin introduces a new game. A game with memory. A game that makes deception inefficient and truth profitable. It does not demand virtue—it encodes consequence. Its design does not suppress greed; it reprograms it.

In traditional models, game theory often illustrates the fragility of trust. The Prisoner’s Dilemma reveals how self-interest can sabotage collective well-being. But Bitcoin inverts this. It creates an environment where self-interest and integrity converge—where the most rational action is also the most truthful.

Its ledger, immutable and transparent, exposes manipulation for what it is: energetically wasteful and economically self-defeating. Dishonesty burns energy and yields nothing. The network punishes incoherence, not by decree, but by natural law.

This is the spiritual elegance of Bitcoin: it does not suppress greed—it transmutes it. It channels the drive for personal gain into the architecture of collective order. Miners compete not to dominate, but to validate. Nodes collaborate not through trust, but through mathematical proof.

This is not austerity. It is alchemy.

Greed, under Bitcoin, is refined. Tempered. Re-forged into a generative force—no longer parasitic, but harmonic.

---

Layers of Fractalized Thought Fragments

All living systems are layered. So is the cosmos. So is the human being. So is a musical scale.

At its foundation lies the timechain—the pulsing, incorruptible record of truth. Like the heart, it beats steadily. Every block, like a pulse, affirms its life through continuity. The difficulty adjustment—Bitcoin’s internal calibration—functions like heart rate variability, adapting to pressure while preserving coherence.

Above this base layer is the Lightning Network—a second layer facilitating rapid, efficient transactions. It is the nervous system: transmitting energy, reducing latency, enabling real-time interaction across a distributed whole.

Beyond that, emerging tools like Fedimint and Cashu function like the capillaries—bringing vitality to the extremities, to those underserved by legacy systems. They empower the unbanked, the overlooked, the forgotten. Privacy and dignity in the palms of those the old system refused to see.

And then there is NOSTR—the decentralized protocol for communication and creation. It is the throat chakra, the vocal cords of the “freedom-tech” body. It reclaims speech from the algorithmic overlords, making expression sovereign once more. It is also the reproductive system, as it enables the propagation of novel ideas and protocols in fertile, uncensorable soil.

Each layer plays its part. Not in hierarchy, but in harmony. In holarchy. Bitcoin and other open source protocols grow not through exogenous command, but through endogenous coherence. Like cells in an organism. Like a song.

Imagine the cell as a piece of glass from a shattered holographic plate —by which its perspectival, moving image can be restructured from the single shard. DNA isn’t only a logical script of base pairs, but an evolving progressive song. Its lyrics imbued with wise reflections on relationships.  The nucleus sings, the cell responds—not by command, but by memory. Life is not imposed; it is expressed. A reflection of a hidden pattern.

Bitcoin chants this. Each node, a living cell, holds the full timechain—Truth distributed, incorruptible. Remove one, and the whole remains. This isn’t redundancy. It’s a revelation on the power of protection in Truth.

Consensus is communion. Verification becomes a sacred rite—Truth made audible through math. 

Not just the signal; the song. A web of self-expression woven from Truth.

No center, yet every point alive with the whole. Like Indra’s Net, each reflects all. This is more than currency and information exchange. It is memory; a self-remembering Mind, unfolding through consensus and code. A Mind reflecting the Truth of reality at the speed of thought.

Heuristics are mental shortcuts—efficient, imperfect, alive. Like cells, they must adapt or decay. To become unbiased is to have self-balancing heuristics which carry feedback loops within them: they listen to the environment, mutate when needed, and survive by resonance with reality. Mutation is not error, but evolution. Its rules are simple, but their expression is dynamic. 

What persists is not rigidity, but pattern. 

To think clearly is not necessarily to be certain, but to dissolve doubt by listening, adjusting, and evolving thought itself.

To understand Bitcoin is simply to listen—patiently, clearly, as one would to a familiar rhythm returning.

---

Permissionless Individuation

Bitcoin is a path. One that no one can walk for you.

Said differently, it is not a passive act. It cannot be spoon-fed. Like a spiritual path, it demands initiation, effort, and the willingness to question inherited beliefs.

Because Bitcoin is permissionless, no one can be forced to adopt it. One must choose to engage it—compelled by need, interest, or intuition. Each person who embarks undergoes their own version of the hero’s journey.

Carl Jung called this process Individuation—the reconciliation of fragmented psychic elements into a coherent, mature Self. Bitcoin mirrors this: it invites individuals to confront the unconscious assumptions of the fiat paradigm, and to re-integrate their relationship to time, value, and agency.

In Western traditions—alchemy, Christianity, Kabbalah—the individual is sacred, and salvation is personal. In Eastern systems—Daoism, Buddhism, the Vedas—the self is ultimately dissolved into the cosmic whole. Bitcoin, in a paradoxical way, echoes both: it empowers the individual, while aligning them with a holistic, transcendent order.

To truly see Bitcoin is to allow something false to die. A belief. A habit. A self-concept.

In that death—a space opens for deeper connection with the Divine itSelf. 

In that dissolution, something luminous is reborn. 

After the passing, Truth becomes resurrected.  

---

Dispelling Paradox Through Resonance

There is a subtle paradox encoded into the hero’s journey: each starts in solidarity, yet the awakening affects the collective.

No one can be forced into understanding Bitcoin. Like a spiritual truth, it must be seen. And yet, once seen, it becomes nearly impossible to unsee—and easier for others to glimpse. The pattern catches.

This phenomenon mirrors the concept of morphic resonance, as proposed and empirically tested by biologist Rupert Sheldrake. Once a critical mass of individuals begins to embody a new behavior or awareness, it becomes easier—instinctive—for others to follow suit. Like the proverbial hundredth monkey who begins to wash the fruit in the sea water, and suddenly, monkeys across islands begin doing the same—without ever meeting.

When enough individuals embody a pattern, it ripples outward. Not through propaganda, but through field effect and wave propagation. It becomes accessible, instinctive, familiar—even across great distance.

Bitcoin spreads in this way. Not through centralized broadcast, but through subtle resonance. Each new node, each individual who integrates the protocol into their life, strengthens the signal for others. The protocol doesn’t shout; it hums, oscillates and vibrates——persistently, coherently, patiently.

One awakens. Another follows. The current builds. What was fringe becomes familiar. What was radical becomes obvious.

This is the sacred geometry of spiritual awakening. One awakens, another follows, and soon the fluidic current is strong enough to carry the rest. One becomes two, two become many, and eventually the many become One again. This tessellation reverberates through the human aura, not as ideology, but as perceivable pattern recognition.

Bitcoin’s most powerful marketing tool is truth. Its most compelling evangelist is reality. Its most unstoppable force is resonance.

Therefore, Bitcoin is not just financial infrastructure—it is psychic scaffolding. It is part of the subtle architecture through which new patterns of coherence ripple across the collective field. 

The training wheels from which humanity learns to embody Peace and Prosperity.

---

Ego Deflation

The process of awakening is not linear, and its beginning is rarely gentle—it usually begins with disruption, with ego inflation and destruction.

To individuate is to shape a center; to recognize peripherals and create boundaries—to say, “I am.” But without integration, the ego tilts—collapsing into void or inflating into noise. Fiat reflects this pathology: scarcity hoarded, abundance simulated. Stagnation becomes disguised as safety, and inflation masquerades as growth.

In other words, to become whole, the ego must first rise—claiming agency, autonomy, and identity. However, when left unbalanced, it inflates, or implodes. It forgets its context. It begins to consume rather than connect. And so the process must reverse: what inflates must deflate.

In the fiat paradigm, this inflation is literal. More is printed, and ethos is diluted. Savings decay. Meaning erodes. Value is abstracted. The economy becomes bloated with inaudible noise. And like the psyche that refuses to confront its own shadow, it begins to collapse under the weight of its own illusions.

But under Bitcoin, time is honored. Value is preserved. Energy is not abstracted but grounded.

Bitcoin is inherently deflationary—in both economic and spiritual senses. With a fixed supply, it reveals what is truly scarce. Not money, not status—but the finite number of heartbeats we each carry.

To see Bitcoin is to feel that limit in one’s soul. To hold Bitcoin is to feel Time’s weight again. To sense the importance of Bitcoin is to feel the value of preserved, potential energy. It is to confront the reality that what matters cannot be printed, inflated, or faked. In this way, Bitcoin gently confronts the ego—not through punishment, but through clarity.

Deflation, rightly understood, is not collapse—it is refinement. It strips away illusion, bloat, and excess. It restores the clarity of essence.

Spiritually, this is liberation.

---

The Coin of Great Price

There is an ancient parable told by a wise man:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, who, upon finding one of great price, sold all he had and bought it.”

Bitcoin is such a pearl.

But the ledger is more than a chest full of treasure. It is a key to the heart of things.

It is not just software—it is sacrament.

A symbol of what cannot be corrupted. A mirror of divine order etched into code. A map back to the sacred center.

It reflects what endures. It encodes what cannot be falsified. It remembers what we forgot: that Truth, when aligned with form, becomes Light once again.

Its design is not arbitrary. It speaks the language of life itself— 

The elliptic orbits of the planets mirrored in its cryptography,

The logarithmic spiral of the nautilus shell discloses its adoption rate,

The interconnectivity of mycelium in soil reflect the network of nodes in cyberspace, 

A webbed breadth of neurons across synaptic space fires with each new confirmed transaction.

It is geometry in devotion. Stillness in motion.

It is the Logos clothed in protocol.

What this key unlocks is beyond external riches. It is the eternal gold within us.

Clarity. Sovereignty. The unshakeable knowing that what is real cannot be taken. That what is sacred was never for sale.

Bitcoin is not the destination.

It is the Path.

And we—when we are willing to see it—are the Temple it leads back to.

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Reanalysis: Could the Great Pyramid Function as an Ammonia Generator Powered by a 25GW Breeder Reactor?

Introduction

The Great Pyramid of Giza has traditionally been considered a tomb or ceremonial structure. Yet an intriguing alternative hypothesis suggests it could have functioned as a large-scale ammonia generator, powered by a high-energy source, such as a nuclear breeder reactor. This analysis explores the theoretical practicality of powering such a system using a continuous 25-gigawatt (GW) breeder reactor.

The Pyramid as an Ammonia Generator

Producing ammonia (NH₃) from atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) and hydrogen (H₂) requires substantial energy. Modern ammonia production (via the Haber-Bosch process) typically demands high pressure (~150–250 atmospheres) and temperatures (~400–500°C). However, given enough available energy, it is theoretically feasible to synthesize ammonia at lower pressures if catalysts and temperatures are sufficiently high or if alternative electrochemical or plasma-based fixation methods are employed.

Theoretical System Components:

1. High Heat Source (25GW breeder reactor)
   A breeder reactor could consistently generate large amounts of heat. At a steady state of approximately 25GW, this heat source would easily sustain temperatures exceeding the 450°C threshold necessary for ammonia synthesis reactions, particularly if conducted electrochemically or catalytically.

2. Steam and Hydrogen Production
   The intense heat from a breeder reactor can efficiently evaporate water from subterranean channels (such as those historically suggested to exist beneath the pyramid) to form superheated steam. If coupled with high-voltage electrostatic fields (possibly in the millions of volts), steam electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen becomes viable. This high-voltage environment could substantially enhance electrolysis efficiency.

3. Nitrogen Fixation (Ammonia Synthesis)
   With hydrogen readily produced, ammonia generation can proceed. Atmospheric nitrogen, abundant around the pyramid, can combine with the hydrogen generated through electrolysis. Under these conditions, the pyramid's capstone—potentially made from a catalytic metal like osmium, platinum, or gold—could facilitate nitrogen fixation at elevated temperatures.

Power Requirements and Energy Calculations

A thorough calculation of the continuous power requirements to maintain this system follows:

• Estimated Steady-state Power: ~25 GW of continuous thermal power.
• Total Energy Over 10,000 years: """ Energy = 25 GW × 10,000 years × 365.25 days/year × 24 hrs/day × 3600 s/hr ≈ 7.9 × 10²¹ Joules """

Feasibility of a 25GW Breeder Reactor within the Pyramid

A breeder reactor capable of sustaining 25GW thermal power is physically plausible—modern commercial reactors routinely generate 3–4GW thermal, so this is within an achievable engineering scale (though certainly large by current standards).

Fuel Requirements:

• Each kilogram of fissile fuel (e.g., U-233 from Thorium-232) releases ~80 terajoules (TJ) or 8×10¹³ joules.
• Considering reactor efficiency (~35%), one kilogram provides ~2.8×10¹³ joules usable energy: """ Fuel Required = 7.9 × 10²¹ J / 2.8 × 10¹³ J/kg ≈ 280,000 metric tons """
• With a breeding ratio of ~1.3: """ Initial Load = 280,000 tons / 1.3 ≈ 215,000 tons """

Reactor Physical Dimensions (Pebble Bed Design):

• King’s Chamber size: ~318 cubic meters.
• The reactor core would need to be extremely dense and highly efficient. Advanced engineering would be required to concentrate such power in this space, but it is within speculative feasibility.

Steam Generation and Scaling Management

Key methods to mitigate mineral scaling in the system: 1. Natural Limestone Filtration 2. Chemical Additives (e.g., chelating agents, phosphate compounds) 3. Superheating and Electrostatic Ionization 4. Electrostatic Control

Conclusion and Practical Considerations

Yes, the Great Pyramid could theoretically function as an ammonia generator if powered by a 25GW breeder reactor, using: - Thorium or Uranium-based fertile material, - Sustainable steam and scaling management, - High-voltage-enhanced electrolysis and catalytic ammonia synthesis.

While speculative, it is technologically coherent when analyzed through the lens of modern nuclear and chemical engineering.

See also: nostr:naddr1qqxnzde5xymrgvekxycrswfeqy2hwumn8ghj7am0deejucmpd3mxztnyv4mz7q3qc856kwjk524kef97hazw5e9jlkjq4333r6yxh2rtgefpd894ddpsxpqqqp65wun9c08

@ 38e82785:9f8bc340

ct

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Assumptions

| Factor | Assumption | |--------|------------| | CO₂ | Not considered a pollutant or is captured/stored later | | Water Use | Regulated across all sources; cooling towers or dry cooling required | | Compliance Cost | Nuclear no longer burdened by long licensing and construction delays | | Coal Waste | Treated as valuable raw material (e.g., fly ash for cement, gypsum from scrubbers) | | Nuclear Tech | Gen IV SMRs in widespread use (e.g., 50–300 MWe units, modular build, passive safety) | | Grid Role | All three provide baseload or load-following power | | Fuel Pricing | Moderate and stable (no energy crisis or supply chain disruptions) |

---

Performance Comparison

| Category | Coal (IGCC + Scrubbers) | Natural Gas (CCGT) | Nuclear (Gen IV SMRs) | |---------|-----------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------| | Thermal Efficiency | 40–45% | 55–62% | 30–35% | | CAPEX ($/kW) | $3,500–5,000 | $900–1,300 | $4,000–7,000 (modularized) | | O&M Cost ($/MWh) | $30–50 | $10–20 | $10–25 | | Fuel Cost ($/MWh) | $15–25 | $25–35 | $6–10 | | Water Use (gal/MWh) | 300–500 (with cooling towers) | 100–250 | 300–600 | | Air Emissions | Very low (excluding CO₂) | Very low | None | | Waste | Usable (fly ash, FGD gypsum, slag) | Minimal | Compact, long-term storage required | | Ramp/Flexibility | Slow ramp (newer designs better) | Fast ramp | Medium (SMRs better than traditional) | | Footprint (Land & Supply) | Large (mining, transport) | Medium | Small | | Energy Density | Medium | Medium-high | Very high | | Build Time | 4–7 years | 2–4 years | 2–5 years (with factory builds) | | Lifecycle (years) | 40+ | 30+ | 60+ | | Grid Resilience | High | High | Very High (passive safety, long refuel) |

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Strategic Role Summary

1. Coal (Clean & Integrated)

• Strengths: Long-term fuel security; byproduct reuse; high reliability; domestic resource.
• Drawbacks: Still low flexibility; moderate efficiency; large physical/logistical footprint.
• Strategic Role: Best suited for regions with abundant coal and industrial reuse markets.

2. Natural Gas (CCGT)

• Strengths: High efficiency, low CAPEX, grid agility, low emissions.
• Drawbacks: Still fossil-based; dependent on well infrastructure; less long-lived.
• Strategic Role: Excellent transitional and peaking solution; strong complement to renewables.

3. Nuclear (Gen IV SMRs)

• Strengths: Highest energy density; no air emissions or CO₂; long lifespan; modular & scalable.
• Drawbacks: Still needs safe waste handling; high upfront cost; novel tech in deployment stage.
• Strategic Role: Ideal for low-carbon baseload, remote areas, and national strategic assets.

---

Adjusted Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE)

| Source | LCOE ($/MWh) | Notes | |--------|------------------|-------| | Coal (IGCC w/scrubbers) | ~$75–95 | Lower with valuable waste | | Natural Gas (CCGT) | ~$45–70 | Highly competitive if fuel costs are stable | | Gen IV SMRs | ~$65–85 | Assuming factory production and streamlined permitting |

---

Final Verdict (Under Optimized Assumptions)

• Most Economical Short-Term: Natural Gas
• Most Strategic Long-Term: Gen IV SMRs
• Most Viable if Industrial Ecosystem Exists: Clean Coal

All three could coexist in a diversified, stable energy grid: - Coal filling a regional or industrial niche, - Gas providing flexibility and economy, - SMRs ensuring long-term sustainability and energy security.

@ 40b9c85f:5e61b451

Introduction

Data Vending Machines (DVMs) have emerged as a crucial component of the Nostr ecosystem, offering specialized computational services to clients across the network. As defined in NIP-90, DVMs operate on an apparently simple principle: "data in, data out." They provide a marketplace for data processing where users request specific jobs (like text translation, content recommendation, or AI text generation)

While DVMs have gained significant traction, the current specification faces challenges that hinder widespread adoption and consistent implementation. This article explores some ideas on how we can apply the reflection pattern, a well established approach in RPC systems, to address these challenges and improve the DVM ecosystem's clarity, consistency, and usability.

The Current State of DVMs: Challenges and Limitations

The NIP-90 specification provides a broad framework for DVMs, but this flexibility has led to several issues:

1. Inconsistent Implementation

As noted by hzrd149 in "DVMs were a mistake" every DVM implementation tends to expect inputs in slightly different formats, even while ostensibly following the same specification. For example, a translation request DVM might expect an event ID in one particular format, while an LLM service could expect a "prompt" input that's not even specified in NIP-90.

2. Fragmented Specifications

The DVM specification reserves a range of event kinds (5000-6000), each meant for different types of computational jobs. While creating sub-specifications for each job type is being explored as a possible solution for clarity, in a decentralized and permissionless landscape like Nostr, relying solely on specification enforcement won't be effective for creating a healthy ecosystem. A more comprehensible approach is needed that works with, rather than against, the open nature of the protocol.

3. Ambiguous API Interfaces

There's no standardized way for clients to discover what parameters a specific DVM accepts, which are required versus optional, or what output format to expect. This creates uncertainty and forces developers to rely on documentation outside the protocol itself, if such documentation exists at all.

The Reflection Pattern: A Solution from RPC Systems

The reflection pattern in RPC systems offers a compelling solution to many of these challenges. At its core, reflection enables servers to provide metadata about their available services, methods, and data types at runtime, allowing clients to dynamically discover and interact with the server's API.

In established RPC frameworks like gRPC, reflection serves as a self-describing mechanism where services expose their interface definitions and requirements. In MCP reflection is used to expose the capabilities of the server, such as tools, resources, and prompts. Clients can learn about available capabilities without prior knowledge, and systems can adapt to changes without requiring rebuilds or redeployments. This standardized introspection creates a unified way to query service metadata, making tools like grpcurl possible without requiring precompiled stubs.

How Reflection Could Transform the DVM Specification

By incorporating reflection principles into the DVM specification, we could create a more coherent and predictable ecosystem. DVMs already implement some sort of reflection through the use of 'nip90params', which allow clients to discover some parameters, constraints, and features of the DVMs, such as whether they accept encryption, nutzaps, etc. However, this approach could be expanded to provide more comprehensive self-description capabilities.

1. Defined Lifecycle Phases

Similar to the Model Context Protocol (MCP), DVMs could benefit from a clear lifecycle consisting of an initialization phase and an operation phase. During initialization, the client and DVM would negotiate capabilities and exchange metadata, with the DVM providing a JSON schema containing its input requirements. nip-89 (or other) announcements can be used to bootstrap the discovery and negotiation process by providing the input schema directly. Then, during the operation phase, the client would interact with the DVM according to the negotiated schema and parameters.

2. Schema-Based Interactions

Rather than relying on rigid specifications for each job type, DVMs could self-advertise their schemas. This would allow clients to understand which parameters are required versus optional, what type validation should occur for inputs, what output formats to expect, and what payment flows are supported. By internalizing the input schema of the DVMs they wish to consume, clients gain clarity on how to interact effectively.

3. Capability Negotiation

Capability negotiation would enable DVMs to advertise their supported features, such as encryption methods, payment options, or specialized functionalities. This would allow clients to adjust their interaction approach based on the specific capabilities of each DVM they encounter.

Implementation Approach

While building DVMCP, I realized that the RPC reflection pattern used there could be beneficial for constructing DVMs in general. Since DVMs already follow an RPC style for their operation, and reflection is a natural extension of this approach, it could significantly enhance and clarify the DVM specification.

A reflection enhanced DVM protocol could work as follows: 1. Discovery: Clients discover DVMs through existing NIP-89 application handlers, input schemas could also be advertised in nip-89 announcements, making the second step unnecessary. 2. Schema Request: Clients request the DVM's input schema for the specific job type they're interested in 3. Validation: Clients validate their request against the provided schema before submission 4. Operation: The job proceeds through the standard NIP-90 flow, but with clearer expectations on both sides

Parallels with Other Protocols

This approach has proven successful in other contexts. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) implements a similar lifecycle with capability negotiation during initialization, allowing any client to communicate with any server as long as they adhere to the base protocol. MCP and DVM protocols share fundamental similarities, both aim to expose and consume computational resources through a JSON-RPC-like interface, albeit with specific differences.

gRPC's reflection service similarly allows clients to discover service definitions at runtime, enabling generic tools to work with any gRPC service without prior knowledge. In the REST API world, OpenAPI/Swagger specifications document interfaces in a way that makes them discoverable and testable.

DVMs would benefit from adopting these patterns while maintaining the decentralized, permissionless nature of Nostr.

Conclusion

I am not attempting to rewrite the DVM specification; rather, explore some ideas that could help the ecosystem improve incrementally, reducing fragmentation and making the ecosystem more comprehensible. By allowing DVMs to self describe their interfaces, we could maintain the flexibility that makes Nostr powerful while providing the structure needed for interoperability.

For developers building DVM clients or libraries, this approach would simplify consumption by providing clear expectations about inputs and outputs. For DVM operators, it would establish a standard way to communicate their service's requirements without relying on external documentation.

I am currently developing DVMCP following these patterns. Of course, DVMs and MCP servers have different details; MCP includes capabilities such as tools, resources, and prompts on the server side, as well as 'roots' and 'sampling' on the client side, creating a bidirectional way to consume capabilities. In contrast, DVMs typically function similarly to MCP tools, where you call a DVM with an input and receive an output, with each job type representing a different categorization of the work performed.

Without further ado, I hope this article has provided some insight into the potential benefits of applying the reflection pattern to the DVM specification.

@ 6e64b83c:94102ee8

How to Run Your Own Nostr Relay on Android with Cloudflare Domain

Prerequisites

1. Install Citrine on your Android device:
2. Visit https://github.com/greenart7c3/Citrine/releases
3. Download the latest release using:
   • zap.store
   • Obtainium
   • F-Droid
   • Or download the APK directly

4. Note: You may need to enable "Install from Unknown Sources" in your Android settings

5. Domain Requirements:

6. Purchase a domain if you don't have one

7. Transfer your domain to Cloudflare if it's not already there (for free SSL certificates and cloudflared support)

8. Tools to use:

9. nak (the nostr army knife):
   • Download from https://github.com/fiatjaf/nak/releases
   • Installation steps:

   • For Linux/macOS: ```bash # Download the appropriate version for your system wget https://github.com/fiatjaf/nak/releases/latest/download/nak-linux-amd64 # for Linux # or wget https://github.com/fiatjaf/nak/releases/latest/download/nak-darwin-amd64 # for macOS

     # Make it executable chmod +x nak-*

     # Move to a directory in your PATH sudo mv nak-* /usr/local/bin/nak - For Windows:batch # Download the Windows version curl -L -o nak.exe https://github.com/fiatjaf/nak/releases/latest/download/nak-windows-amd64.exe

     # Move to a directory in your PATH (e.g., C:\Windows) move nak.exe C:\Windows\nak.exe - Verify installation:bash nak --version ```

Setting Up Citrine

1. Open the Citrine app
2. Start the server
3. You'll see it running on ws://127.0.0.1:4869 (local network only)
4. Go to settings and paste your npub into "Accept events signed by" inbox and press the + button. This prevents others from publishing events to your personal relay.

Installing Required Tools

1. Install Termux from Google Play Store
2. Open Termux and run:

bash pkg update && pkg install wget wget https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-arm64.deb dpkg -i cloudflared-linux-arm64.deb

Cloudflare Authentication

1. Run the authentication command: bash cloudflared tunnel login
2. Follow the instructions:
3. Copy the provided URL to your browser
4. Log in to your Cloudflare account
5. If the URL expires, copy it again after logging in

Creating the Tunnel

1. Create a new tunnel: bash cloudflared tunnel create <TUNNEL_NAME>
2. Choose any name you prefer for your tunnel

3. Copy the tunnel ID after creating the tunnel

4. Create and configure the tunnel config: bash touch ~/.cloudflared/config.yml nano ~/.cloudflared/config.yml

5. Add this configuration (replace the placeholders with your values): ```yaml tunnel: credentials-file: /data/data/com.termux/files/home/.cloudflared/.json ingress:

6. hostname: nostr.yourdomain.com service: ws://localhost:4869
7. service: http_status:404 ```
8. Note: In nano editor:
   • CTRL+O and Enter to save
   • CTRL+X to exit

9. Note: Check the credentials file path in the logs

10. Validate your configuration: bash cloudflared tunnel validate

11. Start the tunnel: bash cloudflared tunnel run my-relay

Preventing Android from Killing the Tunnel

Run these commands to maintain tunnel stability: bash date && apt install termux-tools && termux-setup-storage && termux-wake-lock echo "nameserver 1.1.1.1" > $PREFIX/etc/resolv.conf

Tip: You can open multiple Termux sessions by swiping from the left edge of the screen while keeping your tunnel process running.

Updating Your Outbox Model Relays

Once your relay is running and accessible via your domain, you'll want to update your relay list in the Nostr network. This ensures other clients know about your relay and can connect to it.

Decoding npub (Public Key)

Private keys (nsec) and public keys (npub) are encoded in bech32 format, which includes: - A prefix (like nsec1, npub1 etc.) - The encoded data - A checksum

This format makes keys: - Easy to distinguish - Hard to copy incorrectly

However, most tools require these keys in hexadecimal (hex) format.

To decode an npub string to its hex format:

bash nak decode nostr:npub1dejts0qlva8mqzjlrxqkc2tmvs2t7elszky5upxaf3jha9qs9m5q605uc4

Change it with your own npub.

bash { "pubkey": "6e64b83c1f674fb00a5f19816c297b6414bf67f015894e04dd4c657e94102ee8" }

Copy the pubkey value in quotes.

Create a kind 10002 event with your relay list:

• Include your new relay with write permissions
• Include other relays you want to read from and write to, omit 3rd parameter to make it both read and write

Example format:

json { "kind": 10002, "tags": [ ["r", "wss://your-relay-domain.com", "write"], ["r", "wss://eden.nostr.land/"], ["r", "wss://nos.lol/"], ["r", "wss://nostr.bitcoiner.social/"], ["r", "wss://nostr.mom/"], ["r", "wss://relay.primal.net/"], ["r", "wss://nostr.wine/", "read"], ["r", "wss://relay.damus.io/"], ["r", "wss://relay.nostr.band/"], ["r", "wss://relay.snort.social/"] ], "content": "" }

Save it to a file called event.json

Note: Add or remove any relays you want. To check your existing 10002 relays: - Visit https://nostr.band/?q=by%3Anpub1dejts0qlva8mqzjlrxqkc2tmvs2t7elszky5upxaf3jha9qs9m5q605uc4+++kind%3A10002 - nostr.band is an indexing service, it probably has your relay list. - Replace npub1xxx in the URL with your own npub - Click "VIEW JSON" from the menu to see the raw event - Or use the nak tool if you know the relays bash nak req -k 10002 -a <your-pubkey> wss://relay1.com wss://relay2.com

Replace `<your-pubkey>` with your public key in hex format (you can get it using `nak decode <your-npub>`)

1. Sign and publish the event:
2. Use a Nostr client that supports kind 10002 events
3. Or use the nak command-line tool: bash nak event --sec ncryptsec1... wss://relay1.com wss://relay2.com $(cat event.json)

Important Security Notes: 1. Never share your nsec (private key) with anyone 2. Consider using NIP-49 encrypted keys for better security 3. Never paste your nsec or private key into the terminal. The command will be saved in your shell history, exposing your private key. To clear the command history: - For bash: use history -c - For zsh: use fc -W to write history to file, then fc -p to read it back - Or manually edit your shell history file (e.g., ~/.zsh_history or ~/.bash_history) 4. if you're using zsh, use fc -p to prevent the next command from being saved to history 5. Or temporarily disable history before running sensitive commands:

bash unset HISTFILE nak key encrypt ... set HISTFILE

How to securely create NIP-49 encypted private key

```bash

Read your private key (input will be hidden)

read -s SECRET

Read your password (input will be hidden)

read -s PASSWORD

encrypt command

echo "$SECRET" | nak key encrypt "$PASSWORD"

copy and paste the ncryptsec1 text from the output

read -s ENCRYPTED nak key decrypt "$ENCRYPTED"

clear variables from memory

unset SECRET PASSWORD ENCRYPTED ```

On a Windows command line, to read from stdin and use the variables in nak commands, you can use a combination of set /p to read input and then use those variables in your command. Here's an example:

```bash @echo off set /p "SECRET=Enter your secret key: " set /p "PASSWORD=Enter your password: "

echo %SECRET%| nak key encrypt %PASSWORD%

:: Clear the sensitive variables set "SECRET=" set "PASSWORD=" ```

If your key starts with ncryptsec1, the nak tool will securely prompt you for a password when using the --sec parameter, unless the command is used with a pipe < > or |.

bash nak event --sec ncryptsec1... wss://relay1.com wss://relay2.com $(cat event.json)

1. Verify the event was published:
2. Check if your relay list is visible on other relays

3. Use the nak tool to fetch your kind 10002 events: bash nak req -k 10002 -a <your-pubkey> wss://relay1.com wss://relay2.com

4. Testing your relay:

5. Try connecting to your relay using different Nostr clients
6. Verify you can both read from and write to your relay
7. Check if events are being properly stored and retrieved
8. Tip: Use multiple Nostr clients to test different aspects of your relay

Note: If anyone in the community has a more efficient method of doing things like updating outbox relays, please share your insights in the comments. Your expertise would be greatly appreciated!

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

EVERY Company ไข่ขาวเชื้อรา ที่รัฐส่งเสริม Unilever อุ้ม และเราถูกคลุมถุงให้กิน

อู๊ว ฉันเกิดมาเป็นไก่ โดนคนเลี้ยงเอาไว้ วันๆไม่ต้องทำอะไร แค่กินแล้วออกไข่ ป๊อกๆๆๆๆๆ กะต๊อก ป๊อกๆๆๆ ป๊อกๆๆๆๆๆ กะต๊อก ป๊อกๆๆๆ เพลงของเป้ อารักษ์ อาจกลายเป็นแค่คำเปรียบเปรย มนุษย์ ที่ถูกริดรอนสิทธิ์ตัวเองลงทุกวันจากนักล่า https://youtu.be/RctpDMoymVw?si=D3jzUXZBmyjxKGpN

โลกยุคใหม่อาจไม่ต้องมีแม่ไก่ แค่มีเชื้อรา กับเทคโนโลยี "precision fermentation" ก็สามารถทำให้ “ไข่” โผล่ออกมาในรูปของผงโปรตีนที่ไม่เคยผ่านตูดอุ่นๆ ไม่เคยมีเสียงกุ๊กๆ และไม่เคยเจอรังเจี๊ยบอีกต่อไป แต่เบื้องหลังของไข่ทดแทนที่ว่า “ก้าวหน้า” นี้ กลับเป็นการเคลื่อนไหวที่เชื่อมโยงรัฐ ธุรกิจยักษ์ และแคมเปญแนว “greenwashing” ได้อย่างแนบเนียนแบบพิมพ์นิยมของโลกอาหารสังเคราะห์ เรื่องราวมันประมาณนี้ครับ

เมื่อไข่เกิดจากเชื้อรา The EVERY Company ซึ่งเดิมชื่อว่า Clara Foods ก่อตั้งขึ้นในปี 2014 โดย Arturo Elizondo และเพื่อนร่วมทีมที่ออกมาจากโครงการ IndieBio ซึ่งเป็น accelerator สำหรับสตาร์ทอัปด้านชีววิทยาสังเคราะห์ที่มีชื่อเสียงใน Silicon Valley ได้ใช้ยีสต์ที่ถูกดัดแปลงพันธุกรรม (GMO yeast) สายพันธุ์ Komagataella phaffii เพื่อให้มันสร้าง “ovalbumin” หรือโปรตีนไข่ขาวขึ้นมาได้ คล้ายการหลอกยีสต์ให้กลายเป็นโรงงานสร้างไข่แบบไม่ต้องมีไก่ กระบวนการหมักนี้คือการจับยีสต์ใส่ถัง เติมน้ำตาล เติมสารอาหาร แล้วรอให้มัน "ผลิต" โปรตีนในห้องแล็บ แล้วก็สกัดออกมา ทำให้บริสุทธิ์ ตากแห้ง แล้วบรรจุใส่ซอง ชูป้าย “animal-free” แปะคำว่า “sustainable” แล้วส่งเข้าสู่ตลาดโปรตีนทดแทน ผลิตภัณฑ์นี้ได้รับการรับรองจาก FDA ว่าเป็น Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)

แต่คำถามคือ… ยีสต์ GMO + กระบวนการหมัก = sustainable จริงหรือเปล่า?

ถึงจะเป็นโปรตีนสังเคราะห์ ที่คนแพ้ไข่ก็ยังแพ้อยู่ดี แม้จะไม่มีสัตว์เกี่ยวข้องเลย แต่ EVERY Egg White ก็ยังคงต้องติดป้าย “Contains Egg” ตามกฎหมาย เพราะโครงสร้างโปรตีนที่ผลิตออกมา "เหมือน" โปรตีนไข่จริงมากจนสามารถกระตุ้นอาการแพ้ในคนที่แพ้ไข่ได้อยู่ดี แปลว่า... เราไม่ได้หลุดพ้นจากปัญหาแพ้อาหารเลย แค่เปลี่ยนแหล่งกำเนิดจากไก่มาเป็นเชื้อรา แต่สิ่งที่น่าคิดคือ นี่แสดงว่าองค์ประกอบของมันเหมือนชนิดที่ว่า สำเนาถูกต้องขนาดคนแพ้ไข่ยังแพ้อยู่ คุณคิดว่าในมุมนี้น่าคิดกว่าไหม???

Back ดีมีกองทัพอุ้ม เงินภาษีหนุน ที่น่าจับตาคือ EVERY ได้รับเงินสนับสนุนกว่า 2 ล้านดอลลาร์จากกระทรวงกลาโหมสหรัฐฯ (DoD) เพื่อศึกษาความเป็นไปได้ในการผลิตโปรตีนในประเทศ ตัวเลขนี้ไม่ใช่เล่น ๆ แปลว่า ภาครัฐกำลังพิจารณาให้ "ไข่จากเชื้อรา" เป็นอาหารแห่งอนาคตของกองทัพ ซึ่งหมายถึงเม็ดเงินระดับพันล้านเหรียญหากแผนนี้เดินหน้า และเมื่อรัฐหนุนขนาดนี้ เทคโนโลยีที่ยังแพงก็จะ “ไม่แพง” อีกต่อไป เพราะเงินภาษีช่วยลดต้นทุนแบบกลาย ๆ เหมือนที่เคยเกิดกับ Beyond Meat หรือ Impossible Foods

เท่านั้นไม่พอครับ ไข่ขาวของท่าน ได้รับการคัดเลือกที่จะจับมือกับ The Vegetarian Butcher บริษัทลูกของ Unilever บริษัทอาหารที่ครองตลาดโลกราวกับเป็นเจ้าของตู้เย็นของประชากรโลก Unilever จะใช้โปรตีนไข่จาก EVERY ใส่ในผลิตภัณฑ์ plant-based meat ที่กำลังไต่ตลาดโลก โดยไม่จำเป็นต้องแจ้งผู้บริโภคว่าโปรตีนนี้มาจากเชื้อรา GMO หรือกระบวนการ biotech ที่ไม่ธรรมดา แม้จะถูกจัดว่าเป็น "non-animal ingredient" หรือ "ไม่ได้มาจากสัตว์โดยตรง" แต่ก็มีสิทธิ์เข้าสู่เมนูมังสวิรัติ วีแกน และอาหารเด็กได้อย่างง่ายดาย เพราะภาพจำที่สื่อมวลชนร่วมกันสร้างขึ้น เพราะไม่มีภาพของ “สัตว์” อยู่ในกระบวนการเลย จึงกลายเป็น “วีแกนได้” ในสายตาคนทั่วไป ทั้งที่ความจริงมันคือเทคโนโลยีชีวภาพระดับลึก ด้วยการใช้คำอย่าง “cruelty-free”, “animal-free”, “sustainable protein”, รวมถึงหน้าตาผลิตภัณฑ์ที่ดูใสสะอาด ไร้กลิ่นอายห้องแล็บ

แม้จะยังไม่มีหลักฐานตรงๆ ว่า EVERY เข้าล็อบบี้รัฐบาลเหมือน Oatly แต่เส้นทางที่เห็นชัดคือความร่วมมือกับองค์กรระดับนโยบาย เช่น Good Food Institute (GFI) และกลุ่มผลักดัน food-tech เพื่อก่อรูปแนวคิดว่า “อาหารที่ไม่ได้มาจากธรรมชาติ” = “อนาคต” และเมื่อแบรนด์เหล่านี้จับมือกับยักษ์ใหญ่ กลายเป็นอาหารในโรงเรียน ทหาร โรงพยาบาล หรือ planet of the future คนทั่วไปก็ไม่มีสิทธิ์เลือกอีกต่อไป เพราะทุกที่ถูกจัดสรรโดยนโยบายที่ใครบางคนได้ตัดสินไปแล้ว

EVERY Company ไม่ได้ขายแค่ไข่สังเคราะห์ แต่ขาย “อนาคตของอาหาร” แบบที่มนุษย์ถูกแยกออกจากธรรมชาติ แล้วพึ่งพาเทคโนโลยีและเงินทุนแทน และในโลกที่รัฐกับบริษัทยักษ์กำลังร่วมมือกันสร้างนิยามใหม่ของคำว่า “โปรตีนดีต่อสิ่งแวดล้อม” เราในฐานะผู้บริโภคควรถามกลับว่า…

ดีต่อใคร? ธรรมชาติ หรือห้องแล็บ? สุขภาพของมนุษย์ หรือผลกำไรของเจ้าของแพลตฟอร์มอาหาร?

***สรุป timeline เบาๆ 2014 – Clara Foods ก่อตั้งในซานฟรานซิสโก โดยมีเป้าหมายผลิต “ไข่โดยไม่ต้องใช้ไก่” ผ่านกระบวนการ fermentation 2015-2019 – รับทุนหลายรอบ รวมถึงจาก Horizons Ventures (ที่ลงทุนใน Impossible Foods), IndieBio, Blue Horizon ฯลฯ 2021 – เปลี่ยนชื่อจาก Clara Foods เป็น The EVERY Company เพื่อสะท้อนเป้าหมายที่กว้างขึ้น: การสร้างโปรตีน “EVERYthing” จากจุลชีพ

ปล. ใครอยากอ่านเอกสาร GRAS ตัวเต็มของ EGGWHITE โหลดได้จากที่นี่ครับ https://www.fda.gov/media/175248/download #pirateketo #กูต้องรู้มั๊ย #ม้วนหางสิลูก #siamstr

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

A follow-up to nostr:naddr1qqgxxwtyxe3kvc3jvvuxywtyxs6rjq3qc856kwjk524kef97hazw5e9jlkjq4333r6yxh2rtgefpd894ddpsxpqqqp65wuaydz8

This whitepaper, a comparison of baseload power options, explores a strategic policy framework to reduce the cost of next-generation nuclear power by aligning Gen IV Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) with national security objectives, public utility management, and a competitive manufacturing ecosystem modeled after the aerospace industry. Under this approach, SMRs could deliver stable, carbon-free power at $40–55/MWh, rivaling the economics of natural gas and renewables.

---

1. Context and Strategic Opportunity

Current Nuclear Cost Challenges

• High capital expenditure ($4,000–$12,000/kW)
• Lengthy permitting and construction timelines (10–15 years)
• Regulatory delays and public opposition
• Customized, one-off reactor designs with no economies of scale

The Promise of SMRs

• Factory-built, modular units
• Lower absolute cost and shorter build time
• Enhanced passive safety
• Scalable deployment

---

2. National Security as a Catalyst

Strategic Benefits

• Energy resilience for critical defense infrastructure
• Off-grid operation and EMP/cyber threat mitigation
• Long-duration fuel cycles reduce logistical risk

Policy Implications

• Streamlined permitting and site access under national defense exemptions
• Budget support via Department of Defense and Department of Energy
• Co-location on military bases and federal sites

---

3. Publicly Chartered Utilities: A New Operating Model

Utility Framework

• Federally chartered, low-margin operator (like TVA or USPS)
• Financially self-sustaining through long-term PPAs
• Focus on reliability, security, and public service over profit

Cost Advantages

• Lower cost of capital through public backing
• Predictable revenue models
• Community trust and stakeholder alignment

---

4. Competitive Manufacturing: The Aviation Analogy

Model Characteristics

• Multiple certified vendors, competing under common safety frameworks
• Factory-scale production and supply chain specialization
• Domestic sourcing for critical components and fuel

Benefits

• Cost reductions from repetition and volume
• Innovation through competition
• Export potential and industrial job creation

---

5. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) Impact

| Cost Lever | Estimated LCOE Reduction | |------------|--------------------------| | Streamlined regulation | -10 to -20% | | Public-charter operation | -5 to -15% | | Factory-built SMRs | -15 to -30% | | Defense market anchor | -10% |

Estimated Resulting LCOE: $40–55/MWh

---

6. Strategic Outcomes

• Nuclear cost competitiveness with gas and renewables
• Decarbonization without reliability sacrifice
• Strengthened national energy resilience
• Industrial and workforce revitalization
• U.S. global leadership in clean, secure nuclear energy

---

7. Recommendations

• Create a public-private chartered SMR utility
• Deploy initial reactors on military and federal lands
• Incentivize competitive SMR manufacturing consortia
• Establish fast-track licensing for Gen IV designs
• Align DoD/DOE energy procurement to SMR adoption

---

Conclusion

This strategy would transform nuclear power from a high-cost, high-risk sector into a mission-driven, economically viable backbone of American energy and defense infrastructure. By treating SMRs as strategic assets, not just energy projects, the U.S. can unlock affordable, scalable, and secure nuclear power for generations to come.

@ 1c19eb1a:e22fb0bc

I am happy to present to you the first full review posted to Nostr Reviews: #Primal for #Android!

Primal has its origins as a micro-blogging, social media client, though it is now expanding its horizons into long-form content. It was first released only as a web client in March of 2023, but has since had a native client released for both iOS and Android. All of Primal's clients recently had an update to Primal 2.0, which included both performance improvements and a number of new features. This review will focus on the Android client specifically, both on phone and tablet.

Since Primal has also added features that are only available to those enrolled in their new premium subscription, it should also be noted that this review will be from the perspective of a free user. This is for two reasons. First, I am using an alternate npub to review the app, and if I were to purchase premium at some time in the future, it would be on my main npub. Second, despite a lot of positive things I have to say about Primal, I am not planning to regularly use any of their apps on my main account for the time being, for reasons that will be discussed later in the review.

The application can be installed through the Google Play Store, nostr:npub10r8xl2njyepcw2zwv3a6dyufj4e4ajx86hz6v4ehu4gnpupxxp7stjt2p8, or by downloading it directly from Primal's GitHub. The full review is current as of Primal Android version 2.0.21. Updates to the review on 4/30/2025 are current as of version 2.2.13.

In the ecosystem of "notes and other stuff," Primal is predominantly in the "notes" category. It is geared toward users who want a social media experience similar to Twitter or Facebook with an infinite scrolling feed of notes to interact with. However, there is some "other stuff" included to complement this primary focus on short and long form notes including a built-in Lightning wallet powered by #Strike, a robust advanced search, and a media-only feed.

Overall Impression

Score: 4.4 / 5 (Updated 4/30/2025)

Primal may well be the most polished UI of any Nostr client native to Android. It is incredibly well designed and thought out, with all of the icons and settings in the places a user would expect to find them. It is also incredibly easy to get started on Nostr via Primal's sign-up flow. The only two things that will be foreign to new users are the lack of any need to set a password or give an email address, and the prompt to optionally set up the wallet.

Complaints prior to the 2.0 update about Primal being slow and clunky should now be completely alleviated. I only experienced quick load times and snappy UI controls with a couple very minor exceptions, or when loading DVM-based feeds, which are outside of Primal's control.

Primal is not, however, a client that I would recommend for the power-user. Control over preferred relays is minimal and does not allow the user to determine which relays they write to and which they only read from. Though you can use your own wallet, it will not appear within the wallet interface, which only works with the custodial wallet from Strike. Moreover, and most eggregiously, the only way for existing users to log in is by pasting their nsec, as Primal does not support either the Android signer or remote signer options for users to protect their private key at this time. This lack of signer support is the primary reason the client received such a low overall score. If even one form of external signer log in is added to Primal, the score will be amended to 4.2 / 5, and if both Android signer and remote signer support is added, it will increase to 4.5.

Update: As of version 2.2.13, Primal now supports the Amber Android signer! One of the most glaring issues with the app has now been remedied and as promised, the overall score above has been increased.

Another downside to Primal is that it still utilizes an outdated direct message specification that leaks metadata that can be readily seen by anyone on the network. While the content of your messages remains encrypted, anyone can see who you are messaging with, and when. This also means that you will not see any DMs from users who are messaging from a client that has moved to the latest, and far more private, messaging spec.

That said, the beautiful thing about Nostr as a protocol is that users are not locked into any particular client. You may find Primal to be a great client for your average #bloomscrolling and zapping memes, but opt for a different client for more advanced uses and for direct messaging.

Features

Primal has a lot of features users would expect from any Nostr client that is focused on short-form notes, but it also packs in a lot of features that set it apart from other clients, and that showcase Primal's obvious prioritization of a top-tier user experience.

Home Feed

By default, the infinitely scrolling Home feed displays notes from those you currently follow in chronological order. This is traditional Nostr at its finest, and made all the more immersive by the choice to have all distracting UI elements quickly hide themselves from view as the you begin to scroll down the feed. They return just as quickly when you begin to scroll back up.

Scrolling the feed is incredibly fast, with no noticeable choppiness and minimal media pop-in if you are on a decent internet connection.

Helpfully, it is easy to get back to the top of the feed whenever there is a new post to be viewed, as a bubble will appear with the profile pictures of the users who have posted since you started scrolling.

Interacting With Notes

Interacting with a note in the feed can be done via the very recognizable icons at the bottom of each post. You can comment, zap, like, repost, and/or bookmark the note.

Notably, tapping on the zap icon will immediately zap the note your default amount of sats, making zapping incredibly fast, especially when using the built-in wallet. Long pressing on the zap icon will open up a menu with a variety of amounts, along with the ability to zap a custom amount. All of these amounts, and the messages that are sent with the zap, can be customized in the application settings.

Users who are familiar with Twitter or Instagram will feel right at home with only having one option for "liking" a post. However, users from Facebook or other Nostr clients may wonder why they don't have more options for reactions. This is one of those things where users who are new to Nostr probably won't notice they are missing out on anything at all, while users familiar with clients like #Amethyst or #noStrudel will miss the ability to react with a 🤙 or a 🫂.

It's a similar story with the bookmark option. While this is a nice bit of feature parity for Twitter users, for those already used to the ability to have multiple customized lists of bookmarks, or at minimum have the ability to separate them into public and private, it may be a disappointment that they have no access to the bookmarks they already built up on other clients. Primal offers only one list of bookmarks for short-form notes and they are all visible to the public. However, you are at least presented with a warning about the public nature of your bookmarks before saving your first one.

Yet, I can't dock the Primal team much for making these design choices, as they are understandable for Primal's goal of being a welcoming client for those coming over to Nostr from centralized platforms. They have optimized for the onboarding of new users, rather than for those who have been around for a while, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Post Creation

Composing posts in Primal is as simple as it gets. Accessed by tapping the obvious circular button with a "+" on it in the lower right of the Home feed, most of what you could need is included in the interface, and nothing you don't.

Your device's default keyboard loads immediately, and the you can start typing away.

There are options for adding images from your gallery, or taking a picture with your camera, both of which will result in the image being uploaded to Primal's media-hosting server. If you prefer to host your media elsewhere, you can simply paste the link to that media into your post.

There is also an @ icon as a tip-off that you can tag other users. Tapping on this simply types "@" into your note and brings up a list of users. All you have to do to narrow down the user you want to tag is continue typing their handle, Nostr address, or paste in their npub.

This can get mixed results in other clients, which sometimes have a hard time finding particular users when typing in their handle, forcing you to have to remember their Nostr address or go hunt down their npub by another means. Not so with Primal, though. I had no issues tagging anyone I wanted by simply typing in their handle.

Of course, when you are tagging someone well known, you may find that there are multiple users posing as that person. Primal helps you out here, though. Usually the top result is the person you want, as Primal places them in order of how many followers they have. This is quite reliable right now, but there is nothing stopping someone from spinning up an army of bots to follow their fake accounts, rendering follower count useless for determining which account is legitimate. It would be nice to see these results ranked by web-of-trust, or at least an indication of how many users you follow who also follow the users listed in the results.

Once you are satisfied with your note, the "Post" button is easy to find in the top right of the screen.

Feed Selector and Marketplace

Primal's Home feed really shines when you open up the feed selection interface, and find that there are a plethora of options available for customizing your view. By default, it only shows four options, but tapping "Edit" opens up a new page of available toggles to add to the feed selector.

The options don't end there, though. Tapping "Add Feed" will open up the feed marketplace, where an ever-growing number of custom feeds can be found, some created by Primal and some created by others. This feed marketplace is available to a few other clients, but none have so closely integrated it with their Home feeds like Primal has.

Unfortunately, as great as these custom feeds are, this was also the feature where I ran into the most bugs while testing out the app.

One of these bugs was while selecting custom feeds. Occasionally, these feed menu screens would become unresponsive and I would be unable to confirm my selection, or even use the back button on my device to back out of the screen. However, I was able to pull the screen down to close it and re-open the menu, and everything would be responsive again.

This only seemed to occur when I spent 30 seconds or more on the same screen, so I imagine that most users won't encounter it much in their regular use.

Another UI bug occurred for me while in the feed marketplace. I could scroll down the list of available feeds, but attempting to scroll back up the feed would often close the interface entirely instead, as though I had pulled the screen down from the top, when I was swiping in the middle of the screen.

The last of these bugs occurred when selecting a long-form "Reads" feed while in the menu for the Home feed. The menu would allow me to add this feed and select it to be displayed, but it would fail to load the feed once selected, stating "There is no content in this feed." Going to a different page within the the app and then going back to the Home tab would automatically remove the long-form feed from view, and reset back to the most recently viewed short-form "Notes" feed, though the long-form feed would still be available to select again. The results were similar when selecting a short-form feed for the Reads feed.

I would suggest that if long-form and short-form feeds are going to be displayed in the same list, and yet not be able to be displayed in the same feed, the application should present an error message when attempting to add a long-form feed for the Home feed or a short-form feed for the Reads feed, and encourage the user add it to the proper feed instead.

Long-Form "Reads" Feed

A brand new feature in Primal 2.0, users can now browse and read long-form content posted to Nostr without having to go to a separate client. Primal now has a dedicated "Reads" feed to browse and interact with these articles.

This feed displays the author and title of each article or blog, along with an image, if available. Quite conveniently, it also lets you know the approximate amount of time it will take to read a given article, so you can decide if you have the time to dive into it now, or come back later.

Noticeably absent from the Reads feed, though, is the ability to compose an article of your own. This is another understandable design choice for a mobile client. Composing a long-form note on a smart-phone screen is not a good time. Better to be done on a larger screen, in a client with a full-featured text editor.

Tapping an article will open up an attractive reading interface, with the ability to bookmark for later. These bookmarks are a separate list from your short-form note bookmarks so you don't have to scroll through a bunch of notes you bookmarked to find the article you told yourself you would read later and it's already been three weeks.

While you can comment on the article or zap it, you will notice that you cannot repost or quote-post it. It's not that you can't do so on Nostr. You absolutely can in other clients. In fact, you can do so on Primal's web client, too. However, Primal on Android does not handle rendering long-form note previews in the Home feed, so they have simply left out the option to share them there. See below for an example of a quote-post of a long-form note in the Primal web client vs the Android client.

Primal Web:

Primal Android:

The Explore Tab

Another unique feature of the Primal client is the Explore tab, indicated by the compass icon. This tab is dedicated to discovering content from outside your current follow list. You can find the feed marketplace here, and add any of the available feeds to your Home or Reads feed selections. You can also find suggested users to follow in the People tab. The Zaps tab will show you who has been sending and receiving large zaps. Make friends with the generous ones!

The Media tab gives you a chronological feed of just media, displayed in a tile view. This can be great when you are looking for users who post dank memes, or incredible photography on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it appears that there is no way to filter this feed for sensitive content, and so you do not have to scroll far before you see pornographic material.

Indeed, it does not appear that filters for sensitive content are available in Primal for any feed. The app is kind enough to give a minimal warning that objectionable content may be present when selecting the "Nostr Firehose" option in your Home feed, with a brief "be careful" in the feed description, but there is not even that much of a warning here for the media-only feed.

The media-only feed doesn't appear to be quite as bad as the Nostr Firehose feed, so there must be some form of filtering already taking place, rather than being a truly global feed of all media. Yet, occasional sensitive content still litters the feed and is unavoidable, even for users who would rather not see it. There are, of course, ways to mute particular users who post such content, if you don't want to see it a second time from the same user, but that is a never-ending game of whack-a-mole, so your only realistic choices in Primal are currently to either avoid the Nostr Firehose and media-only feeds, or determine that you can put up with regularly scrolling past often graphic content.

This is probably the only choice Primal has made that is not friendly to new users. Most clients these days will have some protections in place to hide sensitive content by default, but still allow the user to toggle those protections off if they so choose. Some of them hide posts flagged as sensitive content altogether, others just blur the images unless the user taps to reveal them, and others simply blur all images posted by users you don't follow. If Primal wants to target new users who are accustomed to legacy social media platforms, they really should follow suit.

The final tab is titled "Topics," but it is really just a list of popular hashtags, which appear to be arranged by how often they are being used. This can be good for finding things that other users are interested in talking about, or finding specific content you are interested in.

If you tap on any topic in the list, it will display a feed of notes that include that hashtag. What's better, you can add it as a feed option you can select on your Home feed any time you want to see posts with that tag.

The only suggestion I would make to improve this tab is some indication of why the topics are arranged in the order presented. A simple indicator of the number of posts with that hashtag in the last 24 hours, or whatever the interval is for determining their ranking, would more than suffice.

Even with those few shortcomings, Primal's Explore tab makes the client one of the best options for discovering content on Nostr that you are actually interested in seeing and interacting with.

Built-In Wallet

While this feature is completely optional, the icon to access the wallet is the largest of the icons at the bottom of the screen, making you feel like you are missing out on the most important feature of the app if you don't set it up. I could be critical of this design choice, but in many ways I think it is warranted. The built-in wallet is one of the most unique features that Primal has going for it.

Consider: If you are a new user coming to Nostr, who isn't already a Bitcoiner, and you see that everyone else on the platform is sending and receiving sats for their posts, will you be more likely to go download a separate wallet application or use one that is built-into your client? I would wager the latter option by a long shot. No need to figure out which wallet you should download, whether you should do self-custody or custodial, or make the mistake of choosing a wallet with unexpected setup fees and no Lightning address so you can't even receive zaps to it. nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr often states that he believes more people will be onboarded to Bitcoin through Nostr than by any other means, and by including a wallet into the Primal client, his team has made adopting Bitcoin that much easier for new Nostr users.

Some of us purists may complain that it is custodial and KYC, but that is an unfortunate necessity in order to facilitate onboarding newcoiners to Bitcoin. This is not intended to be a wallet for those of us who have been using Bitcoin and Lightning regularly already. It is meant for those who are not already familiar with Bitcoin to make it as easy as possible to get off zero, and it accomplishes this better than any other wallet I have ever tried.

In large part, this is because the KYC is very light. It does need the user's legal name, a valid email address, date of birth, and country of residence, but that's it! From there, the user can buy Bitcoin directly through the app, but only in the amount of $4.99 at a time. This is because there is a substantial markup on top of the current market price, due to utilizing whatever payment method the user has set up through their Google Play Store. The markup seemed to be about 19% above the current price, since I could purchase 4,143 sats for $4.99 ($120,415 / Bitcoin), when the current price was about $101,500. But the idea here is not for the Primal wallet to be a user's primary method of stacking sats. Rather, it is intended to get them off zero and have a small amount of sats to experience zapping with, and it accomplishes this with less friction than any other method I know.

Moreover, the Primal wallet has the features one would expect from any Lightning wallet. You can send sats to any Nostr user or Lightning address, receive via invoice, or scan to pay an invoice. It even has the ability to receive via on-chain. This means users who don't want to pay the markup from buying through Primal can easily transfer sats they obtained by other means into the Primal wallet for zapping, or for using it as their daily-driver spending wallet.

Speaking of zapping, once the wallet is activated, sending zaps is automatically set to use the wallet, and they are fast. Primal gives you immediate feedback that the zap was sent and the transaction shows in your wallet history typically before you can open the interface. I can confidently say that Primal wallet's integration is the absolute best zapping experience I have seen in any Nostr client.

One thing to note that may not be immediately apparent to new users is they need to add their Lightning address with Primal into their profile details before they can start receiving zaps. So, sending zaps using the wallet is automatic as soon as you activate it, but receiving is not. Ideally, this could be further streamlined, so that Primal automatically adds the Lightning address to the user's profile when the wallet is set up, so long as there is not currently a Lightning address listed.

Of course, if you already have a Lightning wallet, you can connect it to Primal for zapping, too. We will discuss this further in the section dedicated to zap integration.

Advanced Search

Search has always been a tough nut to crack on Nostr, since it is highly dependent on which relays the client is pulling information from. Primal has sought to resolve this issue, among others, by running a caching relay that pulls notes from a number of relays to store them locally, and perform some spam filtering. This allows for much faster retrieval of search results, and also makes their advanced search feature possible.

Advanced search can be accessed from most pages by selecting the magnifying glass icon, and then the icon for more options next to the search bar.

As can be seen in the screenshot below, there are a plethora of filters that can be applied to your search terms.

You can immediately see how this advanced search could be a very powerful tool for not just finding a particular previous note that you are looking for, but for creating your own custom feed of notes. Well, wouldn't you know it, Primal allows you to do just that! This search feature, paired with the other features mentioned above related to finding notes you want to see in your feed, makes Primal hands-down the best client for content discovery.

The only downside as a free user is that some of these search options are locked behind the premium membership. Or else you only get to see a certain number of results of your advanced search before you must be a premium member to see more.

Can My Grandma Use It?

Score: 4.8 / 5 Primal has obviously put a high priority on making their client user-friendly, even for those who have never heard of relays, public/private key cryptography, or Bitcoin. All of that complexity is hidden away. Some of it is available to play around with for the users who care to do so, but it does not at all get in the way of the users who just want to jump in and start posting notes and interacting with other users in a truly open public square.

To begin with, the onboarding experience is incredibly smooth. Tap "Create Account," enter your chosen display name and optional bio information, upload a profile picture, and then choose some topics you are interested in. You are then presented with a preview of your profile, with the ability to add a banner image, if you so choose, and then tap "Create Account Now."

From there you receive confirmation that your account has been created and that your "Nostr key" is available to you in the application settings. No further explanation is given about what this key is for at this point, but the user doesn't really need to know at the moment, either. If they are curious, they will go to the app settings to find out.

At this point, Primal encourages the user to activate Primal Wallet, but also gives the option for the user to do it later.

That's it! The next screen the user sees if they don't opt to set up the wallet is their Home feed with notes listed in chronological order. More impressive, the feed is not empty, because Primal has auto-followed several accounts based on your selected topics.

Now, there has definitely been some legitimate criticism of this practice of following specific accounts based on the topic selection, and I agree. I would much prefer to see Primal follow hashtags based on what was selected, and combine the followed hashtags into a feed titled "My Topics" or something of that nature, and make that the default view when the user finishes onboarding. Following particular users automatically will artificially inflate certain users' exposure, while other users who might be quality follows for that topic aren't seen at all.

The advantage of following particular users over a hashtag, though, is that Primal retains some control over the quality of the posts that new users are exposed to right away. Primal can ensure that new users see people who are actually posting quality photography when they choose it as one of their interests. However, even with that example, I chose photography as one of my interests and while I did get some stunning photography in my Home feed by default based on Primal's chosen follows, I also scrolled through the Photography hashtag for a bit and I really feel like I would have been better served if Primal had simply followed that hashtag rather than a particular set of users.

We've already discussed how simple it is to set up the Primal Wallet. You can see the features section above if you missed it. It is, by far, the most user friendly experience to onboarding onto Lightning and getting a few sats for zapping, and it is the only one I know of that is built directly into a Nostr client. This means new users will have a frictionless introduction to transacting via Lightning, perhaps without even realizing that's what they are doing.

Discovering new content of interest is incredibly intuitive on Primal, and the only thing that new users may struggle with is getting their own notes seen by others. To assist with this, I would suggest Primal encourage users to make their first post to the introductions hashtag and direct any questions to the AskNostr hashtag as part of the onboarding process. This will get them some immediate interactions from other users, and further encouragement to set up their wallet if they haven't already done so.

How do UI look?

Score: 4.9 / 5

Primal is the most stunningly beautiful Nostr client available, in my honest opinion. Despite some of my hangups about certain functionality, the UI alone makes me want to use it.

It is clean, attractive, and intuitive. Everything I needed was easy to find, and nothing felt busy or cluttered. There are only a few minor UI glitches that I ran into while testing the app. Some of them were mentioned in the section of the review detailing the feed selector feature, but a couple others occurred during onboarding.

First, my profile picture was not centered in the preview when I uploaded it. This appears to be because it was a low quality image. Uploading a higher quality photo did not have this result.

The other UI bug was related to text instructions that were cut off, and not able to scroll to see the rest of them. This occurred on a few pages during onboarding, and I expect it was due to the size of my phone screen, since it did not occur when I was on a slightly larger phone or tablet.

Speaking of tablets, Primal Android looks really good on a tablet, too! While the client does not have a landscape mode by default, many Android tablets support forcing apps to open in full-screen landscape mode, with mixed results. However, Primal handles it well. I would still like to see a tablet version developed that takes advantage of the increased screen real estate, but it is certainly a passable option.

At this point, I would say the web client probably has a bit better UI for use on a tablet than the Android client does, but you miss out on using the built-in wallet, which is a major selling point of the app.

This lack of a landscape mode for tablets and the few very minor UI bugs I encountered are the only reason Primal doesn't get a perfect score in this category, because the client is absolutely stunning otherwise, both in light and dark modes. There are also two color schemes available for each.

Log In Options

Score: 4 / 5 (Updated 4/30/2025)

Unfortunately, Primal has not included any options for log in outside of pasting your private key into the application. While this is a very simple way to log in for new users to understand, it is also the least secure means to log into Nostr applications.

This is because, even with the most trustworthy client developer, giving the application access to your private key always has the potential for that private key to somehow be exposed or leaked, and on Nostr there is currently no way to rotate to a different private key and keep your identity and social graph. If someone gets your key, they are you on Nostr for all intents and purposes.

This is not a situation that users should be willing to tolerate from production-release clients at this point. There are much better log in standards that can and should be implemented if you care about your users.

That said, I am happy to report that external signer support is on the roadmap for Primal, as confirmed below:

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No word yet on whether this will be Android signer or remote signer support, or both.

This lack of external signer support is why I absolutely will not use my main npub with Primal for Android. I am happy to use the web client, which supports and encourages logging in with a browser extension, but until the Android client allows users to protect their private key, I cannot recommend it for existing Nostr users.

Update: As of version 2.2.13, all of what I have said above is now obsolete. Primal has added Android signer support, so users can now better protect their nsec by using Amber!

I would still like to see support for remote signers, especially with nstart.me as a recommended Nostr onboarding process and the advent of FROSTR for key management. That said, Android signer support on its own has been a long time coming and is a very welcome addition to the Primal app. Bravo Primal team!

Zap Integration

Score: 4.8 / 5

As mentioned when discussing Primal's built-in wallet feature, zapping in Primal can be the most seamless experience I have ever seen in a Nostr client. Pairing the wallet with the client is absolutely the path forward for Nostr leading the way to Bitcoin adoption.

But what if you already have a Lightning wallet you want to use for zapping? You have a couple options. If it is an Alby wallet or another wallet that supports Nostr Wallet Connect, you can connect it with Primal to use with one-tap zapping.

How your zapping experience goes with this option will vary greatly based on your particular wallet of choice and is beyond the scope of this review. I used this option with a hosted wallet on my Alby Hub and it worked perfectly. Primal gives you immediate feedback that you have zapped, even though the transaction usually takes a few seconds to process and appear in your wallet's history.

The one major downside to using an external wallet is the lack of integration with the wallet interface. This interface currently only works with Primal's wallet, and therefore the most prominent tab in the entire app goes unused when you connect an external wallet.

An ideal improvement would be for the wallet screen to work similar to Alby Go when you have an external wallet connected via Nostr Wallet Connect, allowing the user to have Primal act as their primary mobile Lightning wallet. It could have balance and transaction history displayed, and allow sending and receiving, just like the integrated Primal wallet, but remove the ability to purchase sats directly through the app when using an external wallet.

Content Discovery

Score: 4.8 / 5

Primal is the best client to use if you want to discover new content you are interested in. There is no comparison, with only a few caveats.

First, the content must have been posted to Nostr as either a short-form or long-form note. Primal has a limited ability to display other types of content. For instance, discovering video content or streaming content is lacking.

Second, you must be willing to put up with the fact that Primal lacks a means of filtering sensitive content when you are exploring beyond the bounds of your current followers. This may not be an issue for some, but for others it could be a deal-breaker.

Third, it would be preferable for Primal to follow topics you are interested in when you choose them during onboarding, rather than follow specific npubs. Ideally, create a "My Topics" feed that can be edited by selecting your interests in the Topics section of the Explore tab.

Relay Management

Score: 2.5 / 5

For new users who don't want to mess around with managing relays, Primal is fantastic! There are 7 relays selected by default, in addition to Primal's caching service. For most users who aren't familiar with Nostr's protocol archetecture, they probably won't ever have to change their default relays in order to use the client as they would expect.

However, two of these default relays were consistently unreachable during the week that I tested. These were relay.plebes.fans and remnant.cloud. The first relay seems to be an incorrect URL, as I found nosflare.plebes.fans online and with perfect uptime for the last 12 hours on nostr.watch. I was unable to find remnant.cloud on nostr.watch at all. A third relay was intermittent, sometimes online and reachable, and other times unreachable: v1250.planz.io/nostr. If Primal is going to have default relays, they should ideally be reliable and with accurate URLs.

That said, users can add other relays that they prefer, and remove relays that they no longer want to use. They can even set a different caching service to use with the client, rather than using Primal's.

However, that is the extent of a user's control over their relays. They cannot choose which relays they want to write to and which they want to read from, nor can they set any private relays, outbox or inbox relays, or general relays. Loading the npub I used for this review into another client with full relay management support revealed that the relays selected in Primal are being added to both the user's public outbox relays and public inbox relays, but not to any other relay type, which leads me to believe the caching relay is acting as the client's only general relay and search relay.

One unique and welcomed addition is the "Enhanced Privacy" feature, which is off by default, but which can be toggled on. I am not sure why this is not on by default, though. Perhaps someone from the Primal team can enlighten me on that choice.

By default, when you post to Nostr, all of your outbox relays will see your IP address. If you turn on the Enhanced Privacy mode, only Primal's caching service will see your IP address, because it will post your note to the other relays on your behalf. In this way, the caching service acts similar to a VPN for posting to Nostr, as long as you trust Primal not to log or leak your IP address.

In short, if you use any other Nostr clients at all, do not use Primal for managing your relays.

Media Hosting Options

Score: 4.9 / 5 This is a NEW SECTION of this review, as of version 2.2.13!

Primal has recently added support for the Blossom protocol for media hosting, and has added a new section within their settings for "Media Uploads."

Media hosting is one of the more complicated problems to solve for a decentralized publishing protocol like Nostr. Text-based notes are generally quite small, making them no real burden to store on relays, and a relay can prune old notes as they see fit, knowing that anyone who really cared about those notes has likely archived them elsewhere. Media, on the other hand, can very quickly fill up a server's disk space, and because it is usually addressable via a specific URL, removing it from that location to free up space means it will no longer load for anyone.

Blossom solves this issue by making it easy to run a media server and have the same media mirrored to more than one for redundancy. Since the media is stored with a file name that is a hash of the content itself, if the media is deleted from one server, it can still be found from any other server that has the same file, without any need to update the URL in the Nostr note where it was originally posted.

Prior to this update, Primal only allowed media uploads to their own media server. Now, users can upload to any blossom server, and even choose to have their pictures or videos mirrored additional servers automatically. To my knowledge, no other Nostr client offers this automatic mirroring at the time of upload.

One of my biggest criticisms of Primal was that it had taken a siloed approach by providing a client, a caching relay, a media server, and a wallet all controlled by the same company. The whole point of Nostr is to separate control of all these services to different entities. Now users have more options for separating out their media hosting and their wallet to other providers, at least. I would still like to see other options available for a caching relay, but that relies on someone else being willing to run one, since the software is open for anyone to use. It's just not your average, lightweight relay that any average person can run from home.

Regardless, this update to add custom Blossom servers is a most welcome step in the right direction!

Current Users' Questions

The AskNostr hashtag can be a good indication of the pain points that other users are currently having with a client. Here are some of the most common questions submitted about Primal since the launch of 2.0:

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This was a pretty common question, because users expect that they will be able to create the same type of content that they can consume in a particular client. I can understand why this was left out in a mobile client, but perhaps it should be added in the web client.

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This is a more concerning bug, since it appears some users are experiencing their images being replaced with completely different images. I did not experience anything similar in my testing, though.

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There hasn't been an answer to this, but I have not been able to find a way. It seems search results will always include replies as well as original notes, so a feed made from the search results will as well. Perhaps a filter can be added to the advanced search to exclude replies? There is already a filter to only show replies, but there is no corresponding filter to only show original notes.

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Since both mobile platforms support the wallet, users expect that they will be able to access it in their web client, too. At this time, they cannot. The only way to have seamless zapping in the web client is to use the Alby extension, but there is not a way to connect it to your Primal wallet via Nostr Wallet Connect either. This means users must have a separate wallet for zapping on the web client if they use the Primal Wallet on mobile.

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It seems that Primal is filtering for spam even for profiles you actively follow. Moreover, exactly what the criteria is for being considered spam is currently opaque.

nostr:note1xexnzv0vrmc8svvduurydwmu43w7dftyqmjh4ps98zksr39ln2qswkuced

For those unaware, Blossom is a protocol for hosting media as blobs identified by a hash, allowing them to be located on and displayed from other servers they have been mirrored to when when the target server isn't available. Primal currently runs a Blossom server (blossom.primal.net) so I would expect we see Blossom support in the future.

nostr:note1unugv7s36e2kxl768ykg0qly7czeplp8qnc207k4pj45rexgqv4sue50y6

Currently, Primal on Android only supports uploading photos to your posts. Users must upload any video to some other hosting service and copy/paste a link to the video into their post on Primal. I would not be surprised to see this feature added in the near future, though.

nostr:note10w6538y58dkd9mdrlkfc8ylhnyqutc56ggdw7gk5y7nsp00rdk4q3qgrex

Many Nostr users have more than one npub for various uses. Users would prefer to have a way to quickly switch between accounts than to have to log all the way out and paste their npub for the other account every time they want to use it.

There is good news on this front, though:

nostr:note17xv632yqfz8nx092lj4sxr7drrqfey6e2373ha00qlq8j8qv6jjs36kxlh

Wrap Up

All in all, Primal is an excellent client. It won't be for everyone, but that's one of the strengths of Nostr as a protocol. You can choose to use the client that best fits your own needs, and supplement with other clients and tools as necessary.

There are a couple glaring issues I have with Primal that prevent me from using it on my main npub, but it is also an ever-improving client, that already has me hopeful for those issues to be resolved in a future release.

So, what should I review next? Another Android client, such as #Amethyst or #Voyage? Maybe an "other stuff" app, like #Wavlake or #Fountain? Please leave your suggestions in the comments.

I hope this review was valuable to you! If it was, please consider letting me know just how valuable by zapping me some sats and reposting it out to your follows.

Thank you for reading!

PV 🤙

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

The United States is on the cusp of a historic technological renaissance, often referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Artificial intelligence, automation, advanced robotics, quantum computing, biotechnology, and clean manufacturing are converging into a seismic shift that will redefine how we live, work, and relate to one another. But there's a critical catch: this transformation depends entirely on the availability of stable, abundant, and inexpensive electricity.

Why Electricity is the Keystone of Innovation

Let’s start with something basic but often overlooked. Every industrial revolution has had an energy driver:

• The First rode the steam engine, powered by coal.
• The Second was electrified through centralized power plants.
• The Third harnessed computing and the internet.
• The Fourth will demand energy on a scale and reliability never seen before.

Imagine a city where thousands of small factories run 24/7 with robotics and AI doing precision manufacturing. Imagine a national network of autonomous vehicles, delivery drones, urban vertical farms, and high-bandwidth communication systems. All of this requires uninterrupted and inexpensive power.

Without it? Costs balloon. Innovation stalls. Investment leaves. And America risks becoming a second-tier economic power in a multipolar world.

So here’s the thesis: If we want to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we must first lead in energy. And nuclear — specifically Gen IV Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) — must be part of that leadership.

---

The Nuclear Case: Clean, Scalable, Strategic

Let’s debunk the myth: nuclear is not the boogeyman of the 1970s. It’s one of the safest, cleanest, and most energy-dense sources we have.

But traditional nuclear has problems:

• Too expensive to build.
• Too long to license.
• Too bespoke and complex.

Enter Gen IV SMRs:

• Factory-built and transportable.
• Passively safe with walk-away safety designs.
• Scalable in 50–300 MWe increments.
• Ideal for remote areas, industrial parks, and military bases.

But even SMRs will struggle under the current regulatory, economic, and manufacturing ecosystem. To unlock their potential, we need a new national approach.

---

The Argument for National Strategy

Let’s paint a vision:

SMRs deployed at military bases across the country, secured by trained personnel, powering critical infrastructure, and feeding clean, carbon-free power back into surrounding communities.

SMRs operated by public chartered utilities—not for Wall Street profits, but for stability, security, and public good.

SMRs manufactured by a competitive ecosystem of certified vendors, just like aircraft or medical devices, with standard parts and rapid regulatory approval.

This isn't science fiction. It's a plausible, powerful model. Here’s how we do it.

---

Step 1: Treat SMRs as a National Security Asset

Why does the Department of Defense spend billions to secure oil convoys and build fuel depots across the world, but not invest in nuclear microgrids that would make forward bases self-sufficient for decades?

Nuclear power is inherently a strategic asset:

• Immune to price shocks.
• Hard to sabotage.
• Decades of stable power from a small footprint.

It’s time to reframe SMRs from an energy project to a national security platform. That changes everything.

---

Step 2: Create Public-Chartered Operating Companies

We don’t need another corporate monopoly or Wall Street scheme. Instead, let’s charter SMR utilities the way we chartered the TVA or the Postal Service:

• Low-margin, mission-oriented.
• Publicly accountable.
• Able to sign long-term contracts with DOD, DOE, or regional utilities.

These organizations won’t chase quarterly profits. They’ll chase uptime, grid stability, and national resilience.

---

Step 3: Build a Competitive SMR Industry Like Aerospace

Imagine multiple manufacturers building SMRs to common, certified standards. Components sourced from a wide supplier base. Designs evolving year over year, with upgrades like software and avionics do.

This is how we build:

• Safer reactors
• Cheaper units
• Modular designs
• A real export industry

Airplanes are safe, affordable, and efficient because of scale and standardization. We can do the same with reactors.

---

Step 4: Anchor SMRs to the Coming Fourth Industrial Revolution

AI, robotics, and distributed manufacturing don’t need fossil fuels. They need cheap, clean, continuous electricity.

• AI datacenters
• Robotic agriculture
• Carbon-free steel and cement
• Direct air capture
• Electric industrial transport

SMRs enable this future. And they decentralize power, both literally and economically. That means jobs in every region, not just coastal tech hubs.

---

Step 5: Pair Energy Sovereignty with Economic Reform

Here’s the big leap: what if this new energy architecture was tied to a transparent, auditable, and sovereign monetary system?

• Public utilities priced in a new digital dollar.
• Trade policy balanced by low-carbon energy exports.
• Public accounting verified with open ledgers.

This is not just national security. It’s monetary resilience.

The world is moving to multi-polar trade systems. Energy exports and energy reliability will define economic influence. If America leads with SMRs, we lead the conversation.

---

Conclusion: A Moral and Strategic Imperative

We can either:

• Let outdated fears and bureaucracy stall the future, or...
• Build the infrastructure for clean, secure, and sovereign prosperity.

We have the designs.
We have the talent.
We have the need.

What we need now is will.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will either be powered by us—or by someone else. Let’s make sure America leads. And let’s do it with SMRs, public charter, competitive industry, and national purpose.

It’s time.

---

This is a call to engineers, legislators, veterans, economists, and every American who believes in building again. SMRs are not just about power. They are about sovereignty, security, and shared prosperity.

---

Further reading:

nostr:naddr1qqgrjv33xenx2drpve3kxvrp8quxgqgcwaehxw309anxjmr5v4ezumn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tczyrq7n2e62632km9yh6l5f6nykt76gzkxxy0gs6agddr9y95uk445xqcyqqq823cdzc99s

@ ee6ea13a:959b6e74

Chef's notes

You can cook this in one pan on the stove. I use a cast iron pan, but you can make it in a wok or any deep pan.

I serve mine over rice, which I make in a rice cooker. If you have a fancy one, you might have a setting for sticky or scorched rice, so give one of those a try.

To plate this, I scoop rice into a bowl, and then turn it upside-down to give it a dome shape, then spoon the curry on top of it.

Serve with chopped cilantro and lime wedges.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 20
• 🍳 Cook time: 20
• 🍽️ Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2" pieces
• 2 tablespoons coconut or avocado oil
• 1 cup white or yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 cup red bell pepper, sliced or diced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small (4oz) jar of Thai red curry paste
• 1 can (13oz) unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 cup carrots, shredded or julienned
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Once hot, add onions and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes, or until onions are softened, stirring often.
2. Add the red curry paste, garlic, ginger, and coriander. Cook about 1 minute, or until fragrant, stirring often.
3. Add coconut milk, brown sugar, soy sauce, and chicken. Stir, bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 7 minutes, occasionally stirring.
4. Add carrots and red bell peppers, and simmer 5-7 more minutes, until sauce slightly thickens and chicken is cooked through.
5. Remove from heat, and stir in the lime zest, and half of the lime juice.
6. Serve over rice, topped with cilantro, and add more lime juice if you like extra citrus.

@ f32184ee:6d1c17bf

Ads Fueling Freedom

Ross Ulbricht’s "Decentralize Social Media" painted a picture of a user-centric, decentralized future that transcended the limitations of platforms like the tech giants of today. Though focused on social media, his concept provided a blueprint for decentralized content systems writ large. The PROMO Protocol, designed by NextBlock while participating in Sovereign Engineering, embodies this blueprint in the realm of advertising, leveraging Nostr and Bitcoin’s Lightning Network to give individuals control, foster a multi-provider ecosystem, and ensure secure value exchange. In this way, Ulbricht’s 2021 vision can be seen as a prescient prediction of the PROMO Protocol’s structure. This is a testament to the enduring power of his ideas, now finding form in NextBlock’s innovative approach.

[Current Platform-Centric Paradigm, source: Ross Ulbricht's Decentralize Social Media]

Ulbricht’s Vision: A Decentralized Social Protocol

In his 2021 Medium article Ulbricht proposed a revolutionary vision for a decentralized social protocol (DSP) to address the inherent flaws of centralized social media platforms, such as privacy violations and inconsistent content moderation. Writing from prison, Ulbricht argued that decentralization could empower users by giving them control over their own content and the value they create, while replacing single, monolithic platforms with a competitive ecosystem of interface providers, content servers, and advertisers. Though his focus was on social media, Ulbricht’s ideas laid a conceptual foundation that strikingly predicts the structure of NextBlock’s PROMO Protocol, a decentralized advertising system built on the Nostr protocol.

[A Decentralized Social Protocol (DSP), source: Ross Ulbricht's Decentralize Social Media]

Ulbricht’s Principles

Ulbricht’s article outlines several key principles for his DSP: * User Control: Users should own their content and dictate how their data and creations generate value, rather than being subject to the whims of centralized corporations. * Decentralized Infrastructure: Instead of a single platform, multiple interface providers, content hosts, and advertisers interoperate, fostering competition and resilience. * Privacy and Autonomy: Decentralized solutions for profile management, hosting, and interactions would protect user privacy and reduce reliance on unaccountable intermediaries. * Value Creation: Users, not platforms, should capture the economic benefits of their contributions, supported by decentralized mechanisms for transactions.

These ideas were forward-thinking in 2021, envisioning a shift away from the centralized giants dominating social media at the time. While Ulbricht didn’t specifically address advertising protocols, his framework for decentralization and user empowerment extends naturally to other domains, like NextBlock’s open-source offering: the PROMO Protocol.

NextBlock’s Implementation of PROMO Protocol

The PROMO Protocol powers NextBlock's Billboard app, a decentralized advertising protocol built on Nostr, a simple, open protocol for decentralized communication. The PROMO Protocol reimagines advertising by: * Empowering People: Individuals set their own ad prices (e.g., 500 sats/minute), giving them direct control over how their attention or space is monetized. * Marketplace Dynamics: Advertisers set budgets and maximum bids, competing within a decentralized system where a 20% service fee ensures operational sustainability. * Open-Source Flexibility: As an open-source protocol, it allows multiple developers to create interfaces or apps on top of it, avoiding the single-platform bottleneck Ulbricht critiqued. * Secure Payments: Using Strike Integration with Bitcoin Lightning Network, NextBlock enables bot-resistant and intermediary-free transactions, aligning value transfer with each person's control.

This structure decentralizes advertising in a way that mirrors Ulbricht’s broader vision for social systems, with aligned principles showing a specific use case: monetizing attention on Nostr.

Aligned Principles

Ulbricht’s 2021 article didn’t explicitly predict the PROMO Protocol, but its foundational concepts align remarkably well with NextBlock's implementation the protocol’s design: * Autonomy Over Value: Ulbricht argued that users should control their content and its economic benefits. In the PROMO Protocol, people dictate ad pricing, directly capturing the value of their participation. Whether it’s their time, influence, or digital space, rather than ceding it to a centralized ad network. * Ecosystem of Providers: Ulbricht envisioned multiple providers replacing a single platform. The PROMO Protocol’s open-source nature invites a similar diversity: anyone can build interfaces or tools on top of it, creating a competitive, decentralized advertising ecosystem rather than a walled garden. * Decentralized Transactions: Ulbricht’s DSP implied decentralized mechanisms for value exchange. NextBlock delivers this through the Bitcoin Lightning Network, ensuring that payments for ads are secure, instantaneous and final, a practical realization of Ulbricht’s call for user-controlled value flows. * Privacy and Control: While Ulbricht emphasized privacy in social interactions, the PROMO Protocol is public by default. Individuals are fully aware of all data that they generate since all Nostr messages are signed. All participants interact directly via Nostr.

[Blueprint Match, source NextBlock]

---

Who We Are

NextBlock is a US-based new media company reimagining digital ads for a decentralized future. Our founders, software and strategy experts, were hobbyist podcasters struggling to promote their work online without gaming the system. That sparked an idea: using new tech like Nostr and Bitcoin to build a decentralized attention market for people who value control and businesses seeking real connections.

Our first product, Billboard, is launching this June.

Open for All

Our model’s open-source! Check out the PROMO Protocol, built for promotion and attention trading. Anyone can join this decentralized ad network. Run your own billboard or use ours. This is a growing ecosystem for a new ad economy.

Our Vision

NextBlock wants to help build a new decentralized internet. Our revolutionary and transparent business model will bring honest revenue to companies hosting valuable digital spaces. Together, we will discover what our attention is really worth.

Read our Manifesto to learn more.

NextBlock is registered in Texas, USA.

@ 5df413d4:2add4f5b

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

Markdown: Syntax

• Overview
  • Philosophy
  • Inline HTML
  • Automatic Escaping for Special Characters
• Block Elements
  • Paragraphs and Line Breaks
  • Headers
  • Blockquotes
  • Lists
  • Code Blocks
  • Horizontal Rules
• Span Elements
  • Links
  • Emphasis
  • Code
  • Images
• Miscellaneous
  • Backslash Escapes
  • Automatic Links

Note: This document is itself written using Markdown; you can see the source for it by adding '.text' to the URL.

---

Overview

Philosophy

Markdown is intended to be as easy-to-read and easy-to-write as is feasible.

Readability, however, is emphasized above all else. A Markdown-formatted document should be publishable as-is, as plain text, without looking like it's been marked up with tags or formatting instructions. While Markdown's syntax has been influenced by several existing text-to-HTML filters -- including Setext, atx, Textile, reStructuredText, Grutatext, and EtText -- the single biggest source of inspiration for Markdown's syntax is the format of plain text email.

Block Elements

Paragraphs and Line Breaks

A paragraph is simply one or more consecutive lines of text, separated by one or more blank lines. (A blank line is any line that looks like a blank line -- a line containing nothing but spaces or tabs is considered blank.) Normal paragraphs should not be indented with spaces or tabs.

The implication of the "one or more consecutive lines of text" rule is that Markdown supports "hard-wrapped" text paragraphs. This differs significantly from most other text-to-HTML formatters (including Movable Type's "Convert Line Breaks" option) which translate every line break character in a paragraph into a <br /> tag.

When you do want to insert a <br /> break tag using Markdown, you end a line with two or more spaces, then type return.

Headers

Markdown supports two styles of headers, [Setext] [1] and [atx] [2].

Optionally, you may "close" atx-style headers. This is purely cosmetic -- you can use this if you think it looks better. The closing hashes don't even need to match the number of hashes used to open the header. (The number of opening hashes determines the header level.)

Blockquotes

Markdown uses email-style > characters for blockquoting. If you're familiar with quoting passages of text in an email message, then you know how to create a blockquote in Markdown. It looks best if you hard wrap the text and put a > before every line:

This is a blockquote with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.

Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

Markdown allows you to be lazy and only put the > before the first line of a hard-wrapped paragraph:

This is a blockquote with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.

Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

Blockquotes can be nested (i.e. a blockquote-in-a-blockquote) by adding additional levels of >:

This is the first level of quoting.

This is nested blockquote.

Back to the first level.

Blockquotes can contain other Markdown elements, including headers, lists, and code blocks:

This is a header.

1. This is the first list item.
2. This is the second list item.

Here's some example code:

return shell_exec("echo $input | $markdown_script");

Any decent text editor should make email-style quoting easy. For example, with BBEdit, you can make a selection and choose Increase Quote Level from the Text menu.

Lists

Markdown supports ordered (numbered) and unordered (bulleted) lists.

Unordered lists use asterisks, pluses, and hyphens -- interchangably -- as list markers:

• Red
• Green
• Blue

is equivalent to:

• Red
• Green
• Blue

and:

• Red
• Green
• Blue

Ordered lists use numbers followed by periods:

1. Bird
2. McHale
3. Parish

It's important to note that the actual numbers you use to mark the list have no effect on the HTML output Markdown produces. The HTML Markdown produces from the above list is:

If you instead wrote the list in Markdown like this:

1. Bird
2. McHale
3. Parish

or even:

1. Bird
2. McHale
3. Parish

you'd get the exact same HTML output. The point is, if you want to, you can use ordinal numbers in your ordered Markdown lists, so that the numbers in your source match the numbers in your published HTML. But if you want to be lazy, you don't have to.

To make lists look nice, you can wrap items with hanging indents:

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.
• Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

But if you want to be lazy, you don't have to:

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus. Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus.
• Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

List items may consist of multiple paragraphs. Each subsequent paragraph in a list item must be indented by either 4 spaces or one tab:

1. This is a list item with two paragraphs. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam hendrerit mi posuere lectus.

   Vestibulum enim wisi, viverra nec, fringilla in, laoreet vitae, risus. Donec sit amet nisl. Aliquam semper ipsum sit amet velit.

2. Suspendisse id sem consectetuer libero luctus adipiscing.

It looks nice if you indent every line of the subsequent paragraphs, but here again, Markdown will allow you to be lazy:

• This is a list item with two paragraphs.

  This is the second paragraph in the list item. You're only required to indent the first line. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.

• Another item in the same list.

To put a blockquote within a list item, the blockquote's > delimiters need to be indented:

• A list item with a blockquote:

  This is a blockquote inside a list item.

To put a code block within a list item, the code block needs to be indented twice -- 8 spaces or two tabs:

• A list item with a code block:

  <code goes here>
  

Code Blocks

Pre-formatted code blocks are used for writing about programming or markup source code. Rather than forming normal paragraphs, the lines of a code block are interpreted literally. Markdown wraps a code block in both <pre> and <code> tags.

To produce a code block in Markdown, simply indent every line of the block by at least 4 spaces or 1 tab.

This is a normal paragraph:

This is a code block.

Here is an example of AppleScript:

tell application "Foo"
    beep
end tell

A code block continues until it reaches a line that is not indented (or the end of the article).

Within a code block, ampersands (&) and angle brackets (< and >) are automatically converted into HTML entities. This makes it very easy to include example HTML source code using Markdown -- just paste it and indent it, and Markdown will handle the hassle of encoding the ampersands and angle brackets. For example, this:

<div class="footer">
    &copy; 2004 Foo Corporation
</div>

Regular Markdown syntax is not processed within code blocks. E.g., asterisks are just literal asterisks within a code block. This means it's also easy to use Markdown to write about Markdown's own syntax.

tell application "Foo" beep end tell

Span Elements

Links

Markdown supports two style of links: inline and reference.

In both styles, the link text is delimited by [square brackets].

To create an inline link, use a set of regular parentheses immediately after the link text's closing square bracket. Inside the parentheses, put the URL where you want the link to point, along with an optional title for the link, surrounded in quotes. For example:

This is an example inline link.

This link has no title attribute.

Emphasis

Markdown treats asterisks (*) and underscores (_) as indicators of emphasis. Text wrapped with one * or _ will be wrapped with an HTML <em> tag; double *'s or _'s will be wrapped with an HTML <strong> tag. E.g., this input:

single asterisks

single underscores

double asterisks

double underscores

Code

To indicate a span of code, wrap it with backtick quotes (`). Unlike a pre-formatted code block, a code span indicates code within a normal paragraph. For example:

Use the printf() function.

@ bc52210b:20bfc6de

---

Imagine a world where clean, safe, and efficient nuclear power can be delivered to any corner of the globe, powering everything from small villages to bustling cities. This vision is becoming a reality with the development of nuclear modular plants—compact, portable nuclear reactors that can be shipped in standard containers and set up quickly to provide reliable energy. These innovative power sources use fission—the process of splitting atomic nuclei to release energy, the same fundamental principle that powers traditional nuclear plants—but with a twist: they utilize thorium as fuel and a molten salt system for cooling and fuel delivery. This combination offers a host of benefits that could revolutionize how we think about nuclear energy.

Portability and Deployment

One of the most significant advantages of these nuclear modular plants is their portability. Designed to fit within standard shipping containers, these reactors can be transported by truck, ship, or even air to virtually any location. This makes them ideal for remote communities, disaster relief efforts, or military operations where traditional power infrastructure is lacking or damaged. Setting up a conventional power plant typically takes years, but these modular units can be operational in a matter of weeks, providing a rapid solution to energy needs.

Safety Features

Safety is a paramount concern in nuclear energy, and modular thorium molten salt reactors (MSRs) offer several inherent safety advantages. Unlike traditional reactors that use water under high pressure, MSRs operate at atmospheric pressure, eliminating the risk of pressure-related accidents. The fuel is dissolved in the molten salt, which means there's no solid fuel that could melt down. If the reactor overheats, the salt expands, naturally slowing the fission reaction—a built-in safety mechanism. Additionally, thorium-based fuels produce less long-lived radioactive waste, reducing the long-term environmental impact.

Efficiency and Abundance

Thorium is a more abundant resource than uranium, with estimates suggesting it is three to four times more plentiful in the Earth's crust. This abundance makes thorium a sustainable fuel choice for the future. Moreover, MSRs can operate at higher temperatures than traditional reactors, leading to greater thermal efficiency. This means more electricity can be generated from the same amount of fuel, making the energy production process more efficient and cost-effective in the long run.

Scalability

The modular design of these reactors allows for scalability to meet varying power demands. A single unit might power a small community, while multiple units can be combined to serve larger towns or cities. This flexibility is particularly useful for growing populations or regions with fluctuating energy needs. As demand increases, additional modules can be added without the need for extensive new infrastructure.

Cost-Effectiveness

While the initial investment in nuclear modular plants may be significant, the long-term operational costs can be lower than traditional power sources. The high efficiency of MSRs means less fuel is needed over time, and the reduced waste production lowers disposal costs. Additionally, the ability to mass-produce these modular units could drive down manufacturing costs, making nuclear power more accessible and affordable.

Environmental Impact

Nuclear power is already one of the cleanest energy sources in terms of carbon emissions, and thorium MSRs take this a step further. By producing less long-lived waste and utilizing a more abundant fuel, these reactors offer a more sustainable path for nuclear energy. Furthermore, their ability to provide reliable baseload power can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels, contributing to global efforts to combat climate change.

Challenges and Considerations

Despite these benefits, there are challenges to overcome before nuclear modular plants can be widely deployed. The technology for thorium MSRs is still in the developmental stage, with ongoing research needed to address issues such as material corrosion and fuel processing. Regulatory frameworks will also need to adapt to this new type of reactor, and public perception of nuclear energy remains a hurdle in many regions. However, with continued investment and innovation, these obstacles can be addressed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, nuclear modular plants using thorium and molten salt systems represent a promising advancement in nuclear technology. Their portability, safety features, efficiency, scalability, and environmental benefits make them an attractive option for meeting the world's growing energy needs. While challenges remain, the potential of these reactors to provide clean, reliable power to communities around the globe is undeniable. As research and development continue, we may soon see a new era of nuclear energy that is safer, more efficient, and more accessible than ever before.

@ a53364ff:e6ba5513

About

Bitcoin Core is an open source project which maintains and releases Bitcoin client software called “Bitcoin Core”.

It is a direct descendant of the original Bitcoin software client released by Satoshi Nakamoto after he published the famous Bitcoin whitepaper.

Bitcoin Core consists of both “full-node” software for fully validating the blockchain as well as a bitcoin wallet. The project also currently maintains related software such as the cryptography library libsecp256k1 and others located at GitHub.

Anyone can contribute to Bitcoin Core.

Team

The Bitcoin Core project has a large open source developer community with many casual contributors to the codebase. There are many more who contribute research, peer review, testing, documentation, and translation.

Maintainers

Project maintainers have commit access and are responsible for merging patches from contributors. They perform a janitorial role merging patches that the team agrees should be merged. They also act as a final check to ensure that patches are safe and in line with the project goals. The maintainers’ role is by agreement of project contributors.

Contributors

Everyone is free to propose code changes and to test, review and comment on open Pull Requests. Anyone who contributes code, review, test, translation or documentation to the Bitcoin Core project is considered a contributor. The release notes for each Bitcoin Core software release contain a credits section to recognize all those who have contributed to the project over the previous release cycle. A list of code contributors can be found on Github.

@ e0e92e54:d630dfaa

The Leadership Lesson I Learned at the Repair Shop

Today was a reminder of "Who You Know" actually matters.

Our van has been acting up as of late. Front-end noise. My guess? CV joint or bushings.

Not that I’m a mechanic though—my dad took the hammer away from me when I was 12, and now all "my" tools have flowers printed on them or Pink handles...

Yesterday it become apparent to my wife that "sooner rather than later" was optimal.

So this morning she took it to a repair shop where we know the owners.

You may have guessed by now that I’m no car repair guy. It’s just not my strength and I’m ok with that! And even though it’s not my strength, I’m smart enough to know enough about vehicles to be dangerous…

And I’m sure just like you, I hate being ripped off. So last year, we both decided she would handle repair duties—I just get too fired up by most the personnel that work there whom won’t shoot straight with you.

So this morning my wife takes our van in. She sees the owner and next thing my wife knows, the owner’s wife (my wife’s friend) is texting to go get coffee while they take care of the van.

Before the two ladies took off, my wife was told "we'll need all day as one step of it is a 4-hour job just to get to the part that needs to be replaced..."

And the estimate? Half the parts were warrantied out and the labor is lower than we expected it to be.

Fast forward, coffee having been drank… nearly 4 hours on the dot, we get a call “your van is ready!”

My wife didn't stand there haggling the price for parts and labor.

Nope…here’s the real deal:

1. Leadership = Relationships
2. You can’t have too many

Granted, quality is better than quantity in everything I can think of, and that is true for relationships as well...

And while there are varying degrees or depths of relationships. The best ones go both ways.

We didn’t expect a deal because we were at our friend’s shop. We went because we trust them.

That’s it.

Any other expectation other than a transparent and truthful transaction would be manipulating and exploiting the relationship…the exchange would fall into the purely transactional at best and be parasitic at worst!

The Bigger Lesson

Here’s the kicker:

This isn’t about vans or a repair shop. It’s about leading.

Theodore Roosevelt nailed it: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Trust comes from relationships.

Relationships begin with who you know…And making who you know matter.

In other words, the relevance of the relationship is critical.

Your Move

Next time you dodge a call—or skip an event—pause.

Kill that thought…Or at least its tire marks. 😁

Realize that relationships fuel your business, your life, and your impact.

Because leadership? It’s relationships.

====

💡Who’s one person you can invest in today? A teammate? A client? A mechanic? 😉

🔹 Drop your answer below 👇 Or hit me up—book a Discovery Call. Let’s make your leadership thrive.

---

Jason Ansley* is the founder of Above The Line Leader*, where he provides tailored leadership support and operational expertise to help business owners, entrepreneurs, and leaders thrive— without sacrificing your faith, family, or future.

*Want to strengthen your leadership and enhance operational excellence? Connect with Jason at https://abovethelineleader.com/#your-leadership-journey

*📌 This article first appeared on NOSTR. You can also find more Business Leadership Articles and content at: 👉 https://abovethelineleader.com/business-leadership-articles

@ 9bde4214:06ca052b

"It's gonna be permissionless or hell."

Gigi and gzuuus are vibing towards dystopia.

Books & articles mentioned:

• AI 2027
• DVMs were a mistake
• Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Takedown by Laila michelwait
• The Ultimate Resource by Julian L. Simon
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
• Momo by Michael Ende

In this dialogue:

• Pablo's Roo Setup
• Tech Hype Cycles
• AI 2027
• Prompt injection and other attacks
• Goose and DVMCP
• Cursor vs Roo Code
• Staying in control thanks to Amber and signing delegation
• Is YOLO mode here to stay?
• What agents to trust?
• What MCP tools to trust?
• What code snippets to trust?
• Everyone will run into the issues of trust and micropayments
• Nostr solves Web of Trust & micropayments natively
• Minimalistic & open usually wins
• DVMCP exists thanks to Totem
• Relays as Tamagochis
• Agents aren't nostr experts, at least not right now
• Fix a mistake once & it's fixed forever
• Giving long-term memory to LLMs
• RAG Databases signed by domain experts
• Human-agent hybrids & Chess
• Nostr beating heart
• Pluggable context & experts
• "You never need an API key for anything"
• Sats and social signaling
• Difficulty-adjusted PoW as a rare-limiting mechanism
• Certificate authorities and centralization
• No solutions to policing speech!
• OAuth and how it centralized
• Login with nostr
• Closed vs open-source models
• Tiny models vs large models
• The minions protocol (Stanford paper)
• Generalist models vs specialized models
• Local compute & encrypted queries
• Blinded compute
• "In the eyes of the state, agents aren't people"
• Agents need identity and money; nostr provides both
• "It's gonna be permissionless or hell"
• We already have marketplaces for MCP stuff, code snippets, and other things
• Most great stuff came from marketplaces (browsers, games, etc)
• Zapstore shows that this is already working
• At scale, central control never works. There's plenty scams and viruses in the app stores.
• Using nostr to archive your user-generated content
• HAVEN, blossom, novia
• The switcharoo from advertisements to training data
• What is Truth?
• What is Real?
• "We're vibing into dystopia"
• Who should be the arbiter of Truth?
• First Amendment & why the Logos is sacred
• Silicon Valley AI bros arrogantly dismiss wisdom and philosophy
• Suicide rates & the meaning crisis
• Are LLMs symbiotic or parasitic?
• The Amish got it right
• Are we gonna make it?
• Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Takedown by Laila michelwait
• Harry Potter dementors & Momo's time thieves
• Facebook & Google as non-human (superhuman) agents
• Zapping as a conscious action
• Privacy and the internet
• Plausible deniability thanks to generative models
• Google glasses, glassholes, and Meta's Ray Ben's
• People crave realness
• Bitcoin is the realest money we ever had
• Nostr allows for real and honest expression
• How do we find out what's real?
• Constraints, policing, and chilling effects
• Jesus' plans for DVMCP
• Hzrd's article on how DVMs are broken (DVMs were a mistake)
• Don't believe the hype
• DVMs pre-date MCP tools
• Data Vending Machines were supposed to be stupid: put coin in, get stuff out.
• Self-healing vibe-coding
• IP addresses as scarce assets
• Atomic swaps and the ASS protocol
• More marketplaces, less silos
• The intensity of #SovEng and the last 6 weeks
• If you can vibe-code everything, why build anything?
• Time, the ultimate resource
• What are the LLMs allowed to think?
• Natural language interfaces are inherently dialogical
• Sovereign Engineering is dialogical too

@ c8adf82a:7265ee75

What is knowledge? Why do we need it?

Since we were small, our parents/guardian put us in school, worked their asses off to give us elective lessons, some get help until college, some even after college and after professional work. Why is this intelligence thing so sought after?

When you were born, you mostly just accepted what your parents said, they say go to school - you go to school, they say go learn the piano - you learn the piano. Of course with a lot of questions and denials, but you do it because you know your parents are doing it for your own good. You can feel the love so you disregard the 'why' and go on with faith

Everything starts with why, and for most people maybe the purpose of knowledge is to be smarter, to know more, just because. But for me this sounds utterly useless. One day I will die next to a man with half a brain and we would feel the same exact thing on the ground. Literally being smarter at the end does not matter at all

However, I am not saying to just be lazy and foolish. For me the purpose of knowledge is action. The more you learn, the more you know what to do, the more you can be sure you are doing the right thing, the more you can make progress on your own being, etc etc

Now, how can you properly learn? Imagine a water bottle. The water bottle's sole purpose is to contain water, but you cannot fill in the water bottle before you open the cap. To learn properly, make sure you open the cap and let all that water pour into you

If you are reading this, you are alive. Don't waste your time doing useless stuff and start to make a difference in your life

Seize the day

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

I. Introduction

The phenomenon known as "speaking in tongues" has long been interpreted as either the miraculous ability to speak foreign languages or utter mysterious syllables by divine power. However, a re-examination of scriptural and apostolic texts suggests a deeper, spiritual interpretation: that "tongues" refers not to foreign speech but to the utterance of divine truths so profound that they are incomprehensible to most unless illuminated by the Spirit.

This treatise explores that interpretation in light of the writings of Paul, Peter, John, and the early Apostolic Fathers. We seek not to diminish the miraculous but to reveal the deeper purpose of spiritual utterance: the revelation of divine knowledge that transcends rational comprehension.

II. The Nature of Tongues as Spiritual Utterance

Tongues are best understood as Spirit-inspired expressions of divine truth—utterances that do not conform to human categories of knowledge or language. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14:2, "He who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit."

Such mysteries are not unintelligible in a chaotic sense but are veiled truths that require spiritual discernment. The speaker becomes a vessel of revelation. Without interpretation, the truth remains hidden, just as a parable remains a riddle to those without ears to hear.

III. Paul and the Hidden Wisdom of God

In his epistles, Paul often distinguishes between surface knowledge and spiritual wisdom. In 1 Corinthians 2:6-7, he writes:

"We speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age... but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages."

Tongues, then, are one vehicle by which such hidden wisdom is spoken. The gift of interpretation is not mere translation but the Spirit-led unveiling of meaning. Hence, Paul prioritizes intelligibility not to invalidate tongues, but to encourage the edification that comes when deep truth is revealed and understood (1 Cor. 14:19).

IV. Peter at Pentecost: Many Tongues, One Spirit

At Pentecost (Acts 2), each listener hears the apostles speak "in his own language"—but what they hear are "the mighty works of God." Rather than focusing on the mechanics of speech, the emphasis is on understanding. It was not merely a linguistic miracle but a revelatory one: divine truth reaching every heart in a way that transcended cultural and rational barriers.

V. John and the Prophetic Language of Revelation

The apostle John writes in symbols, visions, and layered meanings. Revelation is full of "tongues" in this spiritual sense—utterances that reveal while concealing. His Gospel presents the Spirit as the "Spirit of truth" who "will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). This guiding is not logical deduction but illumination.

VI. The Apostolic Fathers on Inspired Speech

The Didache, an early Christian manual, warns that not everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit is truly inspired. This aligns with a view of tongues as spiritual utterance—deep truth that must be tested by its fruits and conformity to the ways of the Lord.

Polycarp and Ignatius do not emphasize miraculous speech, but their prayers and exhortations show a triadic awareness of Father, Son, and Spirit, and a reverence for spiritual knowledge passed through inspiration and faithful transmission.

VII. Interpretation: The Gift of Spiritual Discernment

In this model, the interpreter of tongues is not a linguist but a spiritual discerner. As Joseph interpreted dreams in Egypt, so the interpreter makes the spiritual intelligible. This gift is not external translation but inward revelation—an unveiling of what the Spirit has spoken.

VIII. Conclusion: Tongues as a Veil and a Revelation

The true gift of tongues lies not in speech but in meaning—in truth spoken from a higher realm that must be spiritually discerned. It is a veil that conceals the holy from the profane, and a revelation to those led by the Spirit of truth.

Thus, we do not reject the miraculous, but recognize that the greatest miracle is understanding—when divine mysteries, spoken in spiritual tongue, are made known to the heart by the Spirit.

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 2:7)

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Redistributing Git with Nostr

Every time someone tries to "decentralize" Git -- like many projects tried in the past to do it with BitTorrent, IPFS, ScuttleButt or custom p2p protocols -- there is always a lurking comment: "but Git is already distributed!", and then the discussion proceeds to mention some facts about how Git supports multiple remotes and its magic syncing and merging abilities and so on.

Turns out all that is true, Git is indeed all that powerful, and yet GitHub is the big central hub that hosts basically all Git repositories in the giant world of open-source. There are some crazy people that host their stuff elsewhere, but these projects end up not being found by many people, and even when they do they suffer from lack of contributions.

Because everybody has a GitHub account it's easy to open a pull request to a repository of a project you're using if it's on GitHub (to be fair I think it's very annoying to have to clone the repository, then add it as a remote locally, push to it, then go on the web UI and click to open a pull request, then that cloned repository lurks forever in your profile unless you go through 16 screens to delete it -- but people in general seem to think it's easy).

It's much harder to do it on some random other server where some project might be hosted, because now you have to add 4 more even more annoying steps: create an account; pick a password; confirm an email address; setup SSH keys for pushing. (And I'm not even mentioning the basic impossibility of offering push access to external unknown contributors to people who want to host their own simple homemade Git server.)

At this point some may argue that we could all have accounts on GitLab, or Codeberg or wherever else, then those steps are removed. Besides not being a practical strategy this pseudo solution misses the point of being decentralized (or distributed, who knows) entirely: it's far from the ideal to force everybody to have the double of account management and SSH setup work in order to have the open-source world controlled by two shady companies instead of one.

What we want is to give every person the opportunity to host their own Git server without being ostracized. at the same time we must recognize that most people won't want to host their own servers (not even most open-source programmers!) and give everybody the ability to host their stuff on multi-tenant servers (such as GitHub) too. Importantly, though, if we allow for a random person to have a standalone Git server on a standalone server they host themselves on their wood cabin that also means any new hosting company can show up and start offering Git hosting, with or without new cool features, charging high or low or zero, and be immediately competing against GitHub or GitLab, i.e. we must remove the network-effect centralization pressure.

External contributions

The first problem we have to solve is: how can Bob contribute to Alice's repository without having an account on Alice's server?

SourceHut has reminded GitHub users that Git has always had this (for most) arcane git send-email command that is the original way to send patches, using an once-open protocol.

Turns out Nostr acts as a quite powerful email replacement and can be used to send text content just like email, therefore patches are a very good fit for Nostr event contents.

Once you get used to it and the proper UIs (or CLIs) are built sending and applying patches to and from others becomes a much easier flow than the intense clickops mixed with terminal copypasting that is interacting with GitHub (you have to clone the repository on GitHub, then update the remote URL in your local directory, then create a branch and then go back and turn that branch into a Pull Request, it's quite tiresome) that many people already dislike so much they went out of their way to build many GitHub CLI tools just so they could comment on issues and approve pull requests from their terminal.

Replacing GitHub features

Aside from being the "hub" that people use to send patches to other people's code (because no one can do the email flow anymore, justifiably), GitHub also has 3 other big features that are not directly related to Git, but that make its network-effect harder to overcome. Luckily Nostr can be used to create a new environment in which these same features are implemented in a more decentralized and healthy way.

Issues: bug reports, feature requests and general discussions

Since the "Issues" GitHub feature is just a bunch of text comments it should be very obvious that Nostr is a perfect fit for it.

I will not even mention the fact that Nostr is much better at threading comments than GitHub (which doesn't do it at all), which can generate much more productive and organized discussions (and you can opt out if you want).

Search

I use GitHub search all the time to find libraries and projects that may do something that I need, and it returns good results almost always. So if people migrated out to other code hosting providers wouldn't we lose it?

The fact is that even though we think everybody is on GitHub that is a globalist falsehood. Some projects are not on GitHub, and if we use only GitHub for search those will be missed. So even if we didn't have a Nostr Git alternative it would still be necessary to create a search engine that incorporated GitLab, Codeberg, SourceHut and whatnot.

Turns out on Nostr we can make that quite easy by not forcing anyone to integrate custom APIs or hardcoding Git provider URLs: each repository can make itself available by publishing an "announcement" event with a brief description and one or more Git URLs. That makes it easy for a search engine to index them -- and even automatically download the code and index the code (or index just README files or whatever) without a centralized platform ever having to be involved.

The relays where such announcements will be available play a role, of course, but that isn't a bad role: each announcement can be in multiple relays known for storing "public good" projects, some relays may curate only projects known to be very good according to some standards, other relays may allow any kind of garbage, which wouldn't make them good for a search engine to rely upon, but would still be useful in case one knows the exact thing (and from whom) they're searching for (the same is valid for all Nostr content, by the way, and that's where it's censorship-resistance comes from).

Continuous integration

GitHub Actions are a very hardly subsidized free-compute-for-all-paid-by-Microsoft feature, but one that isn't hard to replace at all. In fact there exists today many companies offering the same kind of service out there -- although they are mostly targeting businesses and not open-source projects, before GitHub Actions was introduced there were also many that were heavily used by open-source projects.

One problem is that these services are still heavily tied to GitHub today, they require a GitHub login, sometimes BitBucket and GitLab and whatnot, and do not allow one to paste an arbitrary Git server URL, but that isn't a thing that is very hard to change anyway, or to start from scratch. All we need are services that offer the CI/CD flows, perhaps using the same framework of GitHub Actions (although I would prefer to not use that messy garbage), and charge some few satoshis for it.

It may be the case that all the current services only support the big Git hosting platforms because they rely on their proprietary APIs, most notably the webhooks dispatched when a repository is updated, to trigger the jobs. It doesn't have to be said that Nostr can also solve that problem very easily.

@ a39d19ec:3d88f61e

Die Debatte um Migration, Grenzsicherung und Abschiebungen wird in Deutschland meist emotional geführt. Wer fordert, dass illegale Einwanderer abgeschoben werden, sieht sich nicht selten dem Vorwurf des Rassismus ausgesetzt. Doch dieser Vorwurf ist nicht nur sachlich unbegründet, sondern verkehrt die Realität ins Gegenteil: Tatsächlich sind es gerade diejenigen, die hinter jeder Forderung nach Rechtssicherheit eine rassistische Motivation vermuten, die selbst in erster Linie nach Hautfarbe, Herkunft oder Nationalität urteilen.

Das Recht steht über Emotionen

Deutschland ist ein Rechtsstaat. Das bedeutet, dass Regeln nicht nach Bauchgefühl oder politischer Stimmungslage ausgelegt werden können, sondern auf klaren gesetzlichen Grundlagen beruhen müssen. Einer dieser Grundsätze ist in Artikel 16a des Grundgesetzes verankert. Dort heißt es:

„Auf Absatz 1 [Asylrecht] kann sich nicht berufen, wer aus einem Mitgliedstaat der Europäischen Gemeinschaften oder aus einem anderen Drittstaat einreist, in dem die Anwendung des Abkommens über die Rechtsstellung der Flüchtlinge und der Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention sichergestellt ist.“

Das bedeutet, dass jeder, der über sichere Drittstaaten nach Deutschland einreist, keinen Anspruch auf Asyl hat. Wer dennoch bleibt, hält sich illegal im Land auf und unterliegt den geltenden Regelungen zur Rückführung. Die Forderung nach Abschiebungen ist daher nichts anderes als die Forderung nach der Einhaltung von Recht und Gesetz.

Die Umkehrung des Rassismusbegriffs

Wer einerseits behauptet, dass das deutsche Asyl- und Aufenthaltsrecht strikt durchgesetzt werden soll, und andererseits nicht nach Herkunft oder Hautfarbe unterscheidet, handelt wertneutral. Diejenigen jedoch, die in einer solchen Forderung nach Rechtsstaatlichkeit einen rassistischen Unterton sehen, projizieren ihre eigenen Denkmuster auf andere: Sie unterstellen, dass die Debatte ausschließlich entlang ethnischer, rassistischer oder nationaler Kriterien geführt wird – und genau das ist eine rassistische Denkweise.

Jemand, der illegale Einwanderung kritisiert, tut dies nicht, weil ihn die Herkunft der Menschen interessiert, sondern weil er den Rechtsstaat respektiert. Hingegen erkennt jemand, der hinter dieser Kritik Rassismus wittert, offenbar in erster Linie die „Rasse“ oder Herkunft der betreffenden Personen und reduziert sie darauf.

Finanzielle Belastung statt ideologischer Debatte

Neben der rechtlichen gibt es auch eine ökonomische Komponente. Der deutsche Wohlfahrtsstaat basiert auf einem Solidarprinzip: Die Bürger zahlen in das System ein, um sich gegenseitig in schwierigen Zeiten zu unterstützen. Dieser Wohlstand wurde über Generationen hinweg von denjenigen erarbeitet, die hier seit langem leben. Die Priorität liegt daher darauf, die vorhandenen Mittel zuerst unter denjenigen zu verteilen, die durch Steuern, Sozialabgaben und Arbeit zum Erhalt dieses Systems beitragen – nicht unter denen, die sich durch illegale Einreise und fehlende wirtschaftliche Eigenleistung in das System begeben.

Das ist keine ideologische Frage, sondern eine rein wirtschaftliche Abwägung. Ein Sozialsystem kann nur dann nachhaltig funktionieren, wenn es nicht unbegrenzt belastet wird. Würde Deutschland keine klaren Regeln zur Einwanderung und Abschiebung haben, würde dies unweigerlich zur Überlastung des Sozialstaates führen – mit negativen Konsequenzen für alle.

Sozialpatriotismus

Ein weiterer wichtiger Aspekt ist der Schutz der Arbeitsleistung jener Generationen, die Deutschland nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg mühsam wieder aufgebaut haben. Während oft betont wird, dass die Deutschen moralisch kein Erbe aus der Zeit vor 1945 beanspruchen dürfen – außer der Verantwortung für den Holocaust –, ist es umso bedeutsamer, das neue Erbe nach 1945 zu respektieren, das auf Fleiß, Disziplin und harter Arbeit beruht. Der Wiederaufbau war eine kollektive Leistung deutscher Menschen, deren Früchte nicht bedenkenlos verteilt werden dürfen, sondern vorrangig denjenigen zugutekommen sollten, die dieses Fundament mitgeschaffen oder es über Generationen mitgetragen haben.

Rechtstaatlichkeit ist nicht verhandelbar

Wer sich für eine konsequente Abschiebepraxis ausspricht, tut dies nicht aus rassistischen Motiven, sondern aus Respekt vor der Rechtsstaatlichkeit und den wirtschaftlichen Grundlagen des Landes. Der Vorwurf des Rassismus in diesem Kontext ist daher nicht nur falsch, sondern entlarvt eine selektive Wahrnehmung nach rassistischen Merkmalen bei denjenigen, die ihn erheben.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Image Toolbox (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app and navigate to the Tools tab
3. Choose Cipher from the tool list
4. Pick any file from your device storage
5. Keep Encryption toggle selected
6. Enter a password in the Key field
7. Keep default AES/GCM/NoPadding algorithm
8. Tap the Encrypt button and save your encrypted file
9. If you want to decrypt the file just repeat the previous steps but choose Decryption instead of Encryption in step 5

@ 2fdae362:c9999539

The architecture you choose for your embedded firmware has long-lasting consequences. It impacts how quickly you can add features, how easily your team can debug and maintain the system, and how confidently you can scale. While main loops and real-time operating systems (RTOS) are common, a third option — the state machine kernel — often delivers the most value in modern embedded development. At Wolff Electronic Design, we’ve used this approach for over 15 years to build scalable, maintainable, and reliable systems across a wide range of industries.

Every embedded system starts with one big decision: how will the firmware be structured?
Many teams default to the familiar—using a simple main loop or adopting a RTOS. But those approaches can introduce unnecessary complexity or long-term maintenance headaches. A third option, often overlooked, is using a state machine kernel—an event-driven framework designed for reactive, real-time systems. Below, we compare the three options head-to-head to help you choose the right architecture for your next project.

Comparison Chart

| Approach | Description | Pros | Cons | Best For | |-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------| | Main Loop | A single, continuous while-loop calling functions in sequence | Simple to implement, low memory usage | Hard to scale, difficult to manage timing and state | Small, simple devices | | RTOS | Multi-threaded system with scheduler, tasks, and preemption | Good for multitasking, robust toolchain support | Thread overhead, complex debugging, race conditions | Systems with multiple async tasks | | State Machine Kernel | Event-driven system with structured state transitions, run in a single thread | Easy to debug, deterministic behavior, scalable and modular | Learning curve, may need rethinking architecture | Reactive systems, clean architecture |

Why the State Machine Kernel Wins

Promotes Innovation Without Chaos

With clear, hierarchical state transitions, your codebase becomes modular and self-documenting — making it easier to prototype, iterate, and innovate without fear of breaking hidden dependencies or triggering bugs.

Prevents Hidden Complexity

Unlike RTOSes, where tasks run in parallel and can create race conditions or timing bugs, state machines run cooperatively in a single-threaded model. This eliminates deadlocks, stack overflows, and debugging nightmares that come with thread-based systems.

Scales Without Becoming Fragile

As features and states are added, the system remains predictable. You don’t have to untangle spaghetti logic or rework your entire loop to support new behaviors — you just add new events and state transitions.

Improves Maintainability and Handoff

Because logic is encapsulated in individual states with defined transitions, the code is easier to understand, test, and maintain. This lowers the cost of onboarding new developers or revisiting the system years later.

---

At Wolff Electronic Design, we’ve worked with every kind of firmware structure over the past 15+ years. Our go-to for complex embedded systems? A state machine kernel. It gives our clients the flexibility of RTOS-level structure without the bugs, complexity, or overhead. Whether you’re developing restaurant equipment or industrial control systems, this architecture offers a better path forward: clean, maintainable, and built to last.

Learn more about our capabilities here.

design, #methodologies, #quantumleaps, #statemachines

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Introduction

Nutsax is a capability-based access control system for Nostr relays, designed to provide flexible, privacy-preserving rate limiting, permissioning, and operation-scoped token redemption.

At its core, Nutsax introduces:

• Blind-signed tokens, issued by relays, for specific operation types.
• Token redemption as part of Nostr event publishing or interactions.
• Encrypted token storage using existing Nostr direct message infrastructure, allowing portable, persistent, and private storage of these tokens — the Nutsax.

This mechanism augments the existing Nostr protocol without disrupting adoption, requiring no changes to NIP-01 for clients or relays that don’t opt into the system.

Motivation

Nostr relays currently have limited tools for abuse prevention and access control. Options like IP banning, whitelisting, or monetized access are coarse and often centralized.

Nutsax introduces:

• Fine-grained, operation-specific access control using cryptographic tokens.
• Blind signature protocols to issue tokens anonymously, preserving user privacy.
• A native way to store and recover tokens using Nostr’s encrypted event system.

This allows relays to offer:

• Optional access policies (e.g., “3 posts per hour unless you redeem a token”)
• Paid or invite-based features (e.g., long-term subscriptions, advanced filters)
• Temporary elevation of privileges (e.g., bypass slow mode for one message)

All without requiring accounts, emails, or linking identity beyond the user’s npub.

Core Components

1. Operation Tokens

Tokens are blind-signed blobs issued by the relay, scoped to a specific operation type (e.g., "write", "filter-subscribe", "broadcast").

• Issued anonymously: using a blind signature protocol.
• Validated on redemption: at message submission or interaction time.
• Optional and redeemable: the relay decides when to enforce token redemption.

Each token encodes:

• Operation type (string)
• Relay ID (to scope the token)
• Expiration (optional)
• Usage count or burn-on-use flag
• Random nonce (blindness)

Example (before blinding):

json { "relay": "wss://relay.example", "operation": "write", "expires": 1720000000, "nonce": "b2a8c3..." }

This is then blinded and signed by the relay.

2. Token Redemption

Clients include tokens when submitting events or requests to the relay.

Token included via event tag:

json ["token", "<base64-encoded-token>", "write"]

Redemption can happen:

• Inline with any event (kind 1, etc.)
• As a standalone event (e.g., ephemeral kind 20000)
• During session initiation (optional AUTH extension)

The relay validates the token:

• Is it well-formed?
• Is it valid for this relay and operation?
• Is it unexpired?
• Has it been used already? (for burn-on-use)

If valid, the relay accepts the event or upgrades the rate/permission scope.

3. Nutsax: Private Token Storage on Nostr

Tokens are stored securely in the client’s Nutsax, a persistent, private archive built on Nostr’s encrypted event system.

Each token is stored in a kind 4 or kind 44/24 event, encrypted with the client’s own npub.

Example:

json { "kind": 4, "tags": [ ["p", "<your npub>"], ["token-type", "write"], ["relay", "wss://relay.example"] ], "content": "<encrypted token blob>", "created_at": 1234567890 }

This allows clients to:

• Persist tokens across restarts or device changes.
• Restore tokens after reinstalling or reauthenticating.
• Port tokens between devices.

All without exposing the tokens to the public or requiring external storage infrastructure.

Client Lifecycle

1. Requesting Tokens

• Client authenticates to relay (e.g., via NIP-42).
• Requests blind-signed tokens:
• Sends blinded token requests.
• Receives blind signatures.
• Unblinds and verifies.

2. Storing Tokens

• Each token is encrypted to the user’s own npub.
• Stored as a DM (kind 4 or compatible encrypted event).
• Optional tagging for organization.

3. Redeeming Tokens

• When performing a token-gated operation (e.g., posting to a limited relay), client includes the appropriate token in the event.
• Relay validates and logs/consumes the token.

4. Restoring the Nutsax

• On device reinstallation or session reset, the client:
• Reconnects to relays.
• Scans encrypted DMs.
• Decrypts and reimports available tokens.

Privacy Model

• Relays issuing tokens do not know which tokens were redeemed (blind signing).
• Tokens do not encode sender identity unless the client opts to do so.
• Only the recipient (npub) can decrypt their Nutsax.
• Redemption is pseudonymous — tied to a key, not to external identity.

Optional Enhancements

• Token index tag: to allow fast search and categorization.
• Multiple token types: read, write, boost, subscribe, etc.
• Token delegation: future support for transferring tokens via encrypted DM to another npub.
• Token revocation: relays can publish blacklists or expiration feeds if needed.

Compatibility

• Fully compatible with NIP-01, NIP-04 (encrypted DMs), and NIP-42 (authentication).
• Non-disruptive: relays and clients can ignore tokens if not supported.
• Ideal for layering on top of existing infrastructure and monetization strategies.

Conclusion

Nutsax offers a privacy-respecting, decentralized way to manage access and rate limits in the Nostr ecosystem. With blind-signed, operation-specific tokens and encrypted, persistent storage using native Nostr mechanisms, it gives relays and clients new powers without sacrificing Nostr’s core principles: simplicity, openness, and cryptographic self-sovereignty.

@ b7cf9f42:ecb93e78

Der Verstand im Fluss der Information

Das Informationszeitalter ist wie ein monströser Fluss, der unseren Verstand umgibt

Fundament erbauen

Der Verstand kann sich eine Insel in diesem Fluss bauen. Dabei können wir eine eigene Insel erbauen oder eine bestehende insel anvisieren um stabilität zu finden

Je robuster das Baumaterial, desto standhafter unsere Insel. (Stärke der Argumente, Qualität des Informationsgehalts, Verständlichkeit der Information)

Je grossflächiger die Insel, desto mehr Menschen haben Platz (Reichweite).

Je höher wir die Insel bauen, desto sicherer ist sie bei einem Anstieg des Informationsflusses (Diversität der Interesse und Kompetenzen der Inselbewohner).

Robustes Baumaterial

Primäre Wahrnehmung (robuster):

Realität -> meine Sinne -> meine Meinung/Interpretation

Sekundäre Wahrnehmung (weniger Robust):

Realität -> Sinne eines anderen -> dessen Meinung/Interpretation -> dessen Kommunikation -> meine Sinne -> meine Meinung/Interpretation

Wie kann ich zur Insel beitragen?

Ich investiere meine Zeit, um zu lernen. Ich bin bestrebt, Ideen zu verstehen, um sicherzugehen, dass ich robustes Baumaterial verwende.

Ich teile vermehrt Informationen, welche ich verstehe, damit auch meine Mitbewohner der Insel mit robustem Material die Insel vergrössern können. So können wir mehr Platz schaffen, wo Treibende Halt finden können.

Was könnte diese Insel sein?

• Freie Wissenschaft
• Freie Software
• Regeln
• Funktionierende Justiz
• Werkzeug
• und vieles weiteres

@ dd664d5e:5633d319

Men tend to find women attractive, that remind them of the average women they already know, but with more-averaged features. The mid of mids is kween.👸

But, in contradiction to that, they won't consider her highly attractive, unless she has some spectacular, unusual feature. They'll sacrifice some averageness to acquire that novelty. This is why wealthy men (who tend to be highly intelligent -- and therefore particularly inclined to crave novelty because they are easily bored) -- are more likely to have striking-looking wives and girlfriends, rather than conventionally-attractive ones. They are also more-likely to cross ethnic and racial lines, when dating.

Men also seem to each be particularly attracted to specific facial expressions or mimics, which might be an intelligence-similarity test, as persons with higher intelligence tend to have a more-expressive mimic. So, people with similar expressions tend to be on the same wavelength. Facial expessions also give men some sense of perception into womens' inner life, which they otherwise find inscrutable.

Hair color is a big deal (logic says: always go blonde), as is breast-size (bigger is better), and WHR (smaller is better).

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Report of how the money Jack donated to the cause in December 2022 has been misused so far.

Bounties given

March 2025

• Dhalsim: 1,110,540 - Work on Nostr wiki data processing

February 2025

• BOUNTY* NullKotlinDev: 950,480 - Twine RSS reader Nostr integration
• Dhalsim: 2,094,584 - Work on Hypothes.is Nostr fork
• Constant, Biz and J: 11,700,588 - Nostr Special Forces

January 2025

• Constant, Biz and J: 11,610,987 - Nostr Special Forces
• BOUNTY* NullKotlinDev: 843,840 - Feeder RSS reader Nostr integration
• BOUNTY* NullKotlinDev: 797,500 - ReadYou RSS reader Nostr integration

December 2024

• BOUNTY* tijl: 1,679,500 - Nostr integration into RSS readers yarr and miniflux
• Constant, Biz and J: 10,736,166 - Nostr Special Forces
• Thereza: 1,020,000 - Podcast outreach initiative

November 2024

• Constant, Biz and J: 5,422,464 - Nostr Special Forces

October 2024

• Nostrdam: 300,000 - hackathon prize
• Svetski: 5,000,000 - Latin America Nostr events contribution
• Quentin: 5,000,000 - nostrcheck.me

June 2024

• Darashi: 5,000,000 - maintaining nos.today, searchnos, search.nos.today and other experiments
• Toshiya: 5,000,000 - keeping the NIPs repo clean and other stuff

May 2024

• James: 3,500,000 - https://github.com/jamesmagoo/nostr-writer
• Yakihonne: 5,000,000 - spreading the word in Asia
• Dashu: 9,000,000 - https://github.com/haorendashu/nostrmo

February 2024

• Viktor: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/viktorvsk/saltivka and https://github.com/viktorvsk/knowstr
• Eric T: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/tcheeric/nostr-java
• Semisol: 5,000,000 - https://relay.noswhere.com/ and https://hist.nostr.land relays
• Sebastian: 5,000,000 - Drupal stuff and nostr-php work
• tijl: 5,000,000 - Cloudron, Yunohost and Fraidycat attempts
• Null Kotlin Dev: 5,000,000 - AntennaPod attempt

December 2023

• hzrd: 5,000,000 - Nostrudel
• awayuki: 5,000,000 - NOSTOPUS illustrations
• bera: 5,000,000 - getwired.app
• Chris: 5,000,000 - resolvr.io
• NoGood: 10,000,000 - nostrexplained.com stories

October 2023

• SnowCait: 5,000,000 - https://nostter.vercel.app/ and other tools
• Shaun: 10,000,000 - https://yakihonne.com/, events and work on Nostr awareness
• Derek Ross: 10,000,000 - spreading the word around the world
• fmar: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/frnandu/yana
• The Nostr Report: 2,500,000 - curating stuff
• james magoo: 2,500,000 - the Obsidian plugin: https://github.com/jamesmagoo/nostr-writer

August 2023

• Paul Miller: 5,000,000 - JS libraries and cryptography-related work
• BOUNTY tijl: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/github-tijlxyz/wikinostr
• gzuus: 5,000,000 - https://nostree.me/

July 2023

• syusui-s: 5,000,000 - rabbit, a tweetdeck-like Nostr client: https://syusui-s.github.io/rabbit/
• kojira: 5,000,000 - Nostr fanzine, Nostr discussion groups in Japan, hardware experiments
• darashi: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/darashi/nos.today, https://github.com/darashi/searchnos, https://github.com/darashi/murasaki
• jeff g: 5,000,000 - https://nostr.how and https://listr.lol, plus other contributions
• cloud fodder: 5,000,000 - https://nostr1.com (open-source)
• utxo.one: 5,000,000 - https://relaying.io (open-source)
• Max DeMarco: 10,269,507 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-jiiepOrE
• BOUNTY optout21: 1,000,000 - https://github.com/optout21/nip41-proto0 (proposed nip41 CLI)
• BOUNTY Leo: 1,000,000 - https://github.com/leo-lox/camelus (an old relay thing I forgot exactly)

June 2023

• BOUNTY: Sepher: 2,000,000 - a webapp for making lists of anything: https://pinstr.app/
• BOUNTY: Kieran: 10,000,000 - implement gossip algorithm on Snort, implement all the other nice things: manual relay selection, following hints etc.
• Mattn: 5,000,000 - a myriad of projects and contributions to Nostr projects: https://github.com/search?q=owner%3Amattn+nostr&type=code
• BOUNTY: lynn: 2,000,000 - a simple and clean git nostr CLI written in Go, compatible with William's original git-nostr-tools; and implement threaded comments on https://github.com/fiatjaf/nocomment.
• Jack Chakany: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/jacany/nblog
• BOUNTY: Dan: 2,000,000 - https://metadata.nostr.com/

April 2023

• BOUNTY: Blake Jakopovic: 590,000 - event deleter tool, NIP dependency organization
• BOUNTY: koalasat: 1,000,000 - display relays
• BOUNTY: Mike Dilger: 4,000,000 - display relays, follow event hints (Gossip)
• BOUNTY: kaiwolfram: 5,000,000 - display relays, follow event hints, choose relays to publish (Nozzle)
• Daniele Tonon: 3,000,000 - Gossip
• bu5hm4nn: 3,000,000 - Gossip
• BOUNTY: hodlbod: 4,000,000 - display relays, follow event hints

March 2023

• Doug Hoyte: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/hoytech/strfry
• Alex Gleason: 5,000,000 sats - https://gitlab.com/soapbox-pub/mostr
• verbiricha: 5,000,000 sats - https://badges.page/, https://habla.news/
• talvasconcelos: 5,000,000 sats - https://migrate.nostr.com, https://read.nostr.com, https://write.nostr.com/
• BOUNTY: Gossip model: 5,000,000 - https://camelus.app/
• BOUNTY: Gossip model: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/kaiwolfram/Nozzle
• BOUNTY: Bounty Manager: 5,000,000 - https://nostrbounties.com/

February 2023

• styppo: 5,000,000 sats - https://hamstr.to/
• sandwich: 5,000,000 sats - https://nostr.watch/
• BOUNTY: Relay-centric client designs: 5,000,000 sats https://bountsr.org/design/2023/01/26/relay-based-design.html
• BOUNTY: Gossip model on https://coracle.social/: 5,000,000 sats
• Nostrovia Podcast: 3,000,000 sats - https://nostrovia.org/
• BOUNTY: Nostr-Desk / Monstr: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/alemmens/monstr
• Mike Dilger: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/mikedilger/gossip

January 2023

• ismyhc: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/Galaxoid-Labs/Seer
• Martti Malmi: 5,000,000 sats - https://iris.to/
• Carlos Autonomous: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/BrightonBTC/bija
• Koala Sat: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/KoalaSat/nostros
• Vitor Pamplona: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/vitorpamplona/amethyst
• Cameri: 5,000,000 - https://github.com/Cameri/nostream

December 2022

• William Casarin: 7 BTC - splitting the fund
• pseudozach: 5,000,000 sats - https://nostr.directory/
• Sondre Bjellas: 5,000,000 sats - https://notes.blockcore.net/
• Null Dev: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/KotlinGeekDev/Nosky
• Blake Jakopovic: 5,000,000 sats - https://github.com/blakejakopovic/nostcat, https://github.com/blakejakopovic/nostreq and https://github.com/blakejakopovic/NostrEventPlayground

@ 4ba8e86d:89d32de4

Tutorial feito por nostr:nostr:npub1rc56x0ek0dd303eph523g3chm0wmrs5wdk6vs0ehd0m5fn8t7y4sqra3tk poste original abaixo:

Parte 1 : http://xh6liiypqffzwnu5734ucwps37tn2g6npthvugz3gdoqpikujju525yd.onion/263585/tutorial-debloat-de-celulares-android-via-adb-parte-1

Parte 2 : http://xh6liiypqffzwnu5734ucwps37tn2g6npthvugz3gdoqpikujju525yd.onion/index.php/263586/tutorial-debloat-de-celulares-android-via-adb-parte-2

Quando o assunto é privacidade em celulares, uma das medidas comumente mencionadas é a remoção de bloatwares do dispositivo, também chamado de debloat. O meio mais eficiente para isso sem dúvidas é a troca de sistema operacional. Custom Rom’s como LineageOS, GrapheneOS, Iodé, CalyxOS, etc, já são bastante enxutos nesse quesito, principalmente quanto não é instalado os G-Apps com o sistema. No entanto, essa prática pode acabar resultando em problemas indesejados como a perca de funções do dispositivo, e até mesmo incompatibilidade com apps bancários, tornando este método mais atrativo para quem possui mais de um dispositivo e separando um apenas para privacidade.   Pensando nisso, pessoas que possuem apenas um único dispositivo móvel, que são necessitadas desses apps ou funções, mas, ao mesmo tempo, tem essa visão em prol da privacidade, buscam por um meio-termo entre manter a Stock rom, e não ter seus dados coletados por esses bloatwares. Felizmente, a remoção de bloatwares é possível e pode ser realizada via root, ou mais da maneira que este artigo irá tratar, via adb.

O que são bloatwares?

Bloatware é a junção das palavras bloat (inchar) + software (programa), ou seja, um bloatware é basicamente um programa inútil ou facilmente substituível — colocado em seu dispositivo previamente pela fabricante e operadora — que está no seu dispositivo apenas ocupando espaço de armazenamento, consumindo memória RAM e pior, coletando seus dados e enviando para servidores externos, além de serem mais pontos de vulnerabilidades.

O que é o adb?

O Android Debug Brigde, ou apenas adb, é uma ferramenta que se utiliza das permissões de usuário shell e permite o envio de comandos vindo de um computador para um dispositivo Android exigindo apenas que a depuração USB esteja ativa, mas também pode ser usada diretamente no celular a partir do Android 11, com o uso do Termux e a depuração sem fio (ou depuração wifi). A ferramenta funciona normalmente em dispositivos sem root, e também funciona caso o celular esteja em Recovery Mode.

Requisitos:

Para computadores:

• Depuração USB ativa no celular; • Computador com adb; • Cabo USB;

Para celulares:

• Depuração sem fio (ou depuração wifi) ativa no celular; • Termux; • Android 11 ou superior;

Para ambos:

• Firewall NetGuard instalado e configurado no celular; • Lista de bloatwares para seu dispositivo;

Ativação de depuração:

Para ativar a Depuração USB em seu dispositivo, pesquise como ativar as opções de desenvolvedor de seu dispositivo, e lá ative a depuração. No caso da depuração sem fio, sua ativação irá ser necessária apenas no momento que for conectar o dispositivo ao Termux.

Instalação e configuração do NetGuard

O NetGuard pode ser instalado através da própria Google Play Store, mas de preferência instale pela F-Droid ou Github para evitar telemetria.

F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.faircode.netguard/

Github: https://github.com/M66B/NetGuard/releases

Após instalado, configure da seguinte maneira:

Configurações → padrões (lista branca/negra) → ative as 3 primeiras opções (bloquear wifi, bloquear dados móveis e aplicar regras ‘quando tela estiver ligada’);

Configurações → opções avançadas → ative as duas primeiras (administrar aplicativos do sistema e registrar acesso a internet);

Com isso, todos os apps estarão sendo bloqueados de acessar a internet, seja por wifi ou dados móveis, e na página principal do app basta permitir o acesso a rede para os apps que você vai usar (se necessário). Permita que o app rode em segundo plano sem restrição da otimização de bateria, assim quando o celular ligar, ele já estará ativo.

Lista de bloatwares

Nem todos os bloatwares são genéricos, haverá bloatwares diferentes conforme a marca, modelo, versão do Android, e até mesmo região.

Para obter uma lista de bloatwares de seu dispositivo, caso seu aparelho já possua um tempo de existência, você encontrará listas prontas facilmente apenas pesquisando por elas. Supondo que temos um Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus em mãos, basta pesquisar em seu motor de busca por:

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus bloatware list

Provavelmente essas listas já terão inclusas todos os bloatwares das mais diversas regiões, lhe poupando o trabalho de buscar por alguma lista mais específica.

Caso seu aparelho seja muito recente, e/ou não encontre uma lista pronta de bloatwares, devo dizer que você acaba de pegar em merda, pois é chato para um caralho pesquisar por cada aplicação para saber sua função, se é essencial para o sistema ou se é facilmente substituível.

De antemão já aviso, que mais para frente, caso vossa gostosura remova um desses aplicativos que era essencial para o sistema sem saber, vai acabar resultando na perda de alguma função importante, ou pior, ao reiniciar o aparelho o sistema pode estar quebrado, lhe obrigando a seguir com uma formatação, e repetir todo o processo novamente.

Download do adb em computadores

Para usar a ferramenta do adb em computadores, basta baixar o pacote chamado SDK platform-tools, disponível através deste link: https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools. Por ele, você consegue o download para Windows, Mac e Linux.

Uma vez baixado, basta extrair o arquivo zipado, contendo dentro dele uma pasta chamada platform-tools que basta ser aberta no terminal para se usar o adb.

Download do adb em celulares com Termux.

Para usar a ferramenta do adb diretamente no celular, antes temos que baixar o app Termux, que é um emulador de terminal linux, e já possui o adb em seu repositório. Você encontra o app na Google Play Store, mas novamente recomendo baixar pela F-Droid ou diretamente no Github do projeto.

F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.termux/

Github: https://github.com/termux/termux-app/releases

Processo de debloat

Antes de iniciarmos, é importante deixar claro que não é para você sair removendo todos os bloatwares de cara sem mais nem menos, afinal alguns deles precisam antes ser substituídos, podem ser essenciais para você para alguma atividade ou função, ou até mesmo são insubstituíveis.

Alguns exemplos de bloatwares que a substituição é necessária antes da remoção, é o Launcher, afinal, é a interface gráfica do sistema, e o teclado, que sem ele só é possível digitar com teclado externo. O Launcher e teclado podem ser substituídos por quaisquer outros, minha recomendação pessoal é por aqueles que respeitam sua privacidade, como Pie Launcher e Simple Laucher, enquanto o teclado pelo OpenBoard e FlorisBoard, todos open-source e disponíveis da F-Droid.

Identifique entre a lista de bloatwares, quais você gosta, precisa ou prefere não substituir, de maneira alguma você é obrigado a remover todos os bloatwares possíveis, modifique seu sistema a seu bel-prazer. O NetGuard lista todos os apps do celular com o nome do pacote, com isso você pode filtrar bem qual deles não remover.

Um exemplo claro de bloatware insubstituível e, portanto, não pode ser removido, é o com.android.mtp, um protocolo onde sua função é auxiliar a comunicação do dispositivo com um computador via USB, mas por algum motivo, tem acesso a rede e se comunica frequentemente com servidores externos. Para esses casos, e melhor solução mesmo é bloquear o acesso a rede desses bloatwares com o NetGuard.

MTP tentando comunicação com servidores externos:

Executando o adb shell

No computador

Faça backup de todos os seus arquivos importantes para algum armazenamento externo, e formate seu celular com o hard reset. Após a formatação, e a ativação da depuração USB, conecte seu aparelho e o pc com o auxílio de um cabo USB. Muito provavelmente seu dispositivo irá apenas começar a carregar, por isso permita a transferência de dados, para que o computador consiga se comunicar normalmente com o celular.

Já no pc, abra a pasta platform-tools dentro do terminal, e execute o seguinte comando:

./adb start-server

O resultado deve ser:

daemon not running; starting now at tcp:5037 daemon started successfully

E caso não apareça nada, execute:

./adb kill-server

E inicie novamente.

Com o adb conectado ao celular, execute:

./adb shell

Para poder executar comandos diretamente para o dispositivo. No meu caso, meu celular é um Redmi Note 8 Pro, codinome Begonia.

Logo o resultado deve ser:

begonia:/ $

Caso ocorra algum erro do tipo:

adb: device unauthorized. This adb server’s $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set Try ‘adb kill-server’ if that seems wrong. Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.

Verifique no celular se apareceu alguma confirmação para autorizar a depuração USB, caso sim, autorize e tente novamente. Caso não apareça nada, execute o kill-server e repita o processo.

No celular

Após realizar o mesmo processo de backup e hard reset citado anteriormente, instale o Termux e, com ele iniciado, execute o comando:

pkg install android-tools

Quando surgir a mensagem “Do you want to continue? [Y/n]”, basta dar enter novamente que já aceita e finaliza a instalação

Agora, vá até as opções de desenvolvedor, e ative a depuração sem fio. Dentro das opções da depuração sem fio, terá uma opção de emparelhamento do dispositivo com um código, que irá informar para você um código em emparelhamento, com um endereço IP e porta, que será usado para a conexão com o Termux.

Para facilitar o processo, recomendo que abra tanto as configurações quanto o Termux ao mesmo tempo, e divida a tela com os dois app’s, como da maneira a seguir:

Para parear o Termux com o dispositivo, não é necessário digitar o ip informado, basta trocar por “localhost”, já a porta e o código de emparelhamento, deve ser digitado exatamente como informado. Execute:

adb pair localhost:porta CódigoDeEmparelhamento

De acordo com a imagem mostrada anteriormente, o comando ficaria “adb pair localhost:41255 757495”.

Com o dispositivo emparelhado com o Termux, agora basta conectar para conseguir executar os comandos, para isso execute:

adb connect localhost:porta

Obs: a porta que você deve informar neste comando não é a mesma informada com o código de emparelhamento, e sim a informada na tela principal da depuração sem fio.

Pronto! Termux e adb conectado com sucesso ao dispositivo, agora basta executar normalmente o adb shell:

adb shell

Remoção na prática Com o adb shell executado, você está pronto para remover os bloatwares. No meu caso, irei mostrar apenas a remoção de um app (Google Maps), já que o comando é o mesmo para qualquer outro, mudando apenas o nome do pacote.

Dentro do NetGuard, verificando as informações do Google Maps:

Podemos ver que mesmo fora de uso, e com a localização do dispositivo desativado, o app está tentando loucamente se comunicar com servidores externos, e informar sabe-se lá que peste. Mas sem novidades até aqui, o mais importante é que podemos ver que o nome do pacote do Google Maps é com.google.android.apps.maps, e para o remover do celular, basta executar:

pm uninstall –user 0 com.google.android.apps.maps

E pronto, bloatware removido! Agora basta repetir o processo para o resto dos bloatwares, trocando apenas o nome do pacote.

Para acelerar o processo, você pode já criar uma lista do bloco de notas com os comandos, e quando colar no terminal, irá executar um atrás do outro.

Exemplo de lista:

Caso a donzela tenha removido alguma coisa sem querer, também é possível recuperar o pacote com o comando:

cmd package install-existing nome.do.pacote

Pós-debloat

Após limpar o máximo possível o seu sistema, reinicie o aparelho, caso entre no como recovery e não seja possível dar reboot, significa que você removeu algum app “essencial” para o sistema, e terá que formatar o aparelho e repetir toda a remoção novamente, desta vez removendo poucos bloatwares de uma vez, e reiniciando o aparelho até descobrir qual deles não pode ser removido. Sim, dá trabalho… quem mandou querer privacidade?

Caso o aparelho reinicie normalmente após a remoção, parabéns, agora basta usar seu celular como bem entender! Mantenha o NetGuard sempre executando e os bloatwares que não foram possíveis remover não irão se comunicar com servidores externos, passe a usar apps open source da F-Droid e instale outros apps através da Aurora Store ao invés da Google Play Store.

Referências: Caso você seja um Australopithecus e tenha achado este guia difícil, eis uma videoaula (3:14:40) do Anderson do canal Ciberdef, realizando todo o processo: http://odysee.com/@zai:5/Como-remover-at%C3%A9-200-APLICATIVOS-que-colocam-a-sua-PRIVACIDADE-E-SEGURAN%C3%87A-em-risco.:4?lid=6d50f40314eee7e2f218536d9e5d300290931d23

Pdf’s do Anderson citados na videoaula: créditos ao anon6837264 http://eternalcbrzpicytj4zyguygpmkjlkddxob7tptlr25cdipe5svyqoqd.onion/file/3863a834d29285d397b73a4af6fb1bbe67c888d72d30/t-05e63192d02ffd.pdf

Processo de instalação do Termux e adb no celular: https://youtu.be/APolZrPHSms

@ 8fb140b4:f948000c

As many of you know, https://nostr.build has recently launched a new compatibility layer for the Blossom protocol blossom.band. You can find all the details about what it supports and its limitations by visiting the URL.

I wanted to cover some of the technical details about how it works here. One key difference you may notice is that the service acts as a linker, redirecting requests for the media hash to the actual source of the media—specifically, the nostr.build URL. This allows us to maintain a unified CDN cache and ensure that your media is served as quickly as possible.

Another difference is that each uploaded media/blob is served under its own subdomain (e.g., npub1[...].blossom.band), ensuring that your association with the blob is controlled by you. If you decide to delete the media for any reason, we ensure that the link is broken, even if someone else has duplicated it using the same hash.

To comply with the Blossom protocol, we also link the same hash under the main (apex) domain (blossom.band) and collect all associations under it. This ensures that Blossom clients can fetch media based on users’ Blossom server settings. If you are the sole owner of the hash and there are no duplicates, deleting the media removes the link from the main domain as well.

Lastly, in line with our mission to protect users’ privacy, we reject any media that contains private metadata (such as GPS coordinates, user comments, or camera serial numbers) or strip it if you use the /media/ endpoint for upload.

As always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

@ 46fcbe30:6bd8ce4d

MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION

SUBJECT: Meeting with Russian President Yeltsin

PARTICIPANTS: - U.S. - President Clinton - Secretary Albright - National Security Advisor Berger - Deputy National Security Advisor Steinberg - Ambassador Sestanovich - Carlos Pascual

• Russia
• Russian President Yeltsin
• Foreign Minister Ivanov
• Kremlin Foreign Policy Advisor Prihodko
• Defense Minister Sergeyev
• Interpreter: Peter Afansenko
• Notetaker: Carlos Pascual

DATE, TIME AND PLACE: November 19, 1999, 10:45 a.m. - 11:40 a.m. Istanbul, Turkey

President Yeltsin: We are in neutral territory here. I welcome you.

The President: Neither of us has a stake here. It's good to see you.

President Yeltsin: Well, Bill, what about those camps here in Turkey that are preparing troops to go into Chechnya? Aren't you in charge of those? I have the details. Minister Ivanov, give me the map. I want to show you where the mercenaries are being trained and then being sent into Chechnya. They are armed to the teeth. (Note: Yeltsin pulls out map of Turkey and circulates it.) Bill, this is your fault. I told Demirel yesterday that I will send the head of the SRV tomorrow and we will show him where the camps are located. These are not state-sanctioned camps. They are sponsored by NGOs and religious organizations. But let me tell you if this were in Russia and there were but one camp, I would throw them all out and put the bandits in the electric chair.

The President: Perhaps Demirel could help you.

President Yeltsin: Well, he ought to. Tomorrow after I get back, I will send the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service here. Bill, did you hurt your leg?

The President: Yes, but it is not bad.

President Yeltsin: When one leg of the President hurts, that is a bad thing.

The President: It lets me know I am alive.

President Yeltsin: I know we are not upset at each other. We were just throwing some jabs. I'm still waiting for you to visit. Bill. I've said to you come to visit in May, then June, then July and then August. Now it's past October and you're still not there.

The President: You're right, Boris, I owe you a visit.

President Yeltsin: Last time I went to the U.S., Bill.

The President: Well, I better set it up. I'll look at the calendar and find a time that's good for you and me.

President Yeltsin: Call me and tell me the month and date. Unless I have another visit, I will do the maximum amount I can to do everything around your schedule. The main things I have are to go to China and India.

The President: Boris, we still have lots to do together.

President Yeltsin: You heard my statement on nuclear arms and on banning nuclear tests. I just signed a law on ratification of a new agreement on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Isn't that right, Minister Ivanov?

Minister Ivanov: You signed the documents that sent the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the Duma for review.

President Yeltsin: Well, in any case, I still approved it.

The President: Maybe I can get the Congress to agree still. They kept the Treaty even after they rejected it. So perhaps, there is still a chance.

President Yeltsin: Or perhaps it's just the bureaucrats working and they haven't had a chance to send it back to you yet. I'm upset that you signed the law to change the ABM Treaty.

The President: I signed no such law. People in Congress don't like the ABM Treaty. If Congress had its way, they would undermine the treaty. I'm trying to uphold it. But we need a national missile defense to protect against rogue states. We can't have a national missile defense that works without changing the ABM Treaty. But I want to do this cooperatively. I want to persuade you that this is good for both of us. The primary purpose is to protect against terrorists and rogue states. It would be ineffective against Russia. The system we're looking at would operate against just 20 missiles. And, Boris I want to figure out how to share the benefits. For all I know, in twenty years terrorists could have access to nuclear weapons. I know your people don't agree with me, but I'm not trying to overthrow the ABM Treaty. We're still trying to discover what's technically possible with national missile defense, but there are people in America who want to throw over the ABM Treaty. I have made no decisions yet.

President Yeltsin: Bill, Bill. I got your note. It went into all these things in incredible detail. I read it and I was satisfied. I've not yet ceased to believe in you. I ask you one thing. Just give Europe to Russia. The U.S. is not in Europe. Europe should be the business of Europeans. Russia is half European and half Asian.

The President: So you want Asia too?

President Yeltsin: Sure, sure. Bill. Eventually, we will have to agree on all of this.

The President: I don't think the Europeans would like this very much.

President Yeltsin: Not all. But I am a European. I live in Moscow. Moscow is in Europe and I like it. You can take all the other states and provide security to them. I will take Europe and provide them security. Well, not I. Russia will. We will end this conflict in Chechnya. I didn't say all the things I was thinking (in his speech). I listened to you carefully. I took a break just beforehand. Then I listened to you from beginning to end. I can even repeat what you said. Bill, I'm serious. Give Europe to Europe itself. Europe never felt as close to Russia as it does now. We have no difference of opinion with Europe, except maybe on Afganistan and Pakistan—which, by the way, is training Chechens. These are bandits, headhunters and killers. They're raping American women. They're cutting off ears and other parts of their hostages. We're fighting these types of terrorists. Let's not accuse Russia that we are too rough with these kinds of people. There are only two options: kill them or put them on trial. There's no third option, but we can put them on trial, and sentence them to 20-25 years. How many Americans, French, British and Germans have I freed that were there in Chechnya under the OSCE? The Chechen killers don't like the language of the OSCE. Here's my Minister of Defense. Stand up. We have not lost one soldier down there. Tell them.

Minister Sergeyev: We did not lose one soldier in Gudermes.

President Yeltsin: You see, Gudermes was cleansed without one military or civilian killed. We killed 200 bandits. The Minister of Defense is fulfilling the plan as I have said it should be. He's doing this thoughtfully. The soldiers only ask: don't stop the campaign. I promised these guys—I told every soldier, marshal and general—I will bring the campaign to fruition. We have these Chechens under lock and key. We have the key. They can't get in, they can't get out. Except maybe through Georgia; that's Shevardnadze's big mistake. And through Azerbaijan; that's Aliyev's mistake. They're shuttling in under the name of Islam. We're for freedom of religion, but not for fundamentalist Islam. These extremists are against you and against me.

We have the power in Russia to protect all of Europe, including those with missiles. We'll make all the appropriate treaties with China. We're not going to provide nuclear weapons to India. If we give them submarines, it will be only conventional diesel submarines, not nuclear. They would be from the 935 generation. You're going in that direction too. I'm thinking about your proposal—well, what your armed forces are doing—getting rid of fissile materials, particularly plutonium. We should just get rid of it. As soon as it's there, people start thinking of how to make bombs. Look, Russia has the power and intellect to know what to do with Europe. If Ivanov stays here, he will initial the CFE Treaty and I'll sign it under him. But under the OSCE Charter, there is one thing I cannot agree—which is that, based on humanitarian causes, one state can interfere in the affairs of another state.

National Security Advisor Berger: Mr. President, there's nothing in the Charter on one state's interference in the affairs of another.

Secretary Albright: That's right. What the Charter says is that affairs within a state will affect the other states around it.

President Yeltsin: Russia agrees to take out its property and equipment from Georgia in accordance with the new CFE Treaty. I have a statement on this. (looking toward Ivanov) Give it to me. I signed it today. Actually, it was late last night. I like to work late.

The President: Me, too.

President Yeltsin: I know you like to work late, Bill. When you call me, I calculate the time and I tell myself it's 4 a.m. and he's calling me. It lets you cleanse your brain and you feel great. I am not criticizing you, Bill. The President should be encouraged to work hard.

The President: So, we will get an agreement on CFE.

President Yeltsin: Yes.

The President: That's very important, seven years. We've worked on this for a long time.

President Yeltsin: Look, Ivanov has lost the statement in his own bag. He can't find the paper in his own bag. On the Charter, we have to look at it from the beginning. The Charter's ready. However, when states begin to tie in the Charter with the final declaration that has wording unacceptable to us, that's when we'll say no. And responsibility for this will fall fully on the West. (Looking at Ivanov) Give me this thing. It is written on paper. Bill. I am ready to sign it. It is a declaration about what we're talking about.

Secretary Albright: Some states want to record in the declaration your willingness to have an OSCE mission.

President Yeltsin: No, not at all. We will finish this with our own forces. Chechnya is the business of the internal affairs of Russia. We have to decide what to do. After we cleansed Gudermes, the muslim mufti came and asked for help, said I hate Basayev and he should be banned. These are the kinds of leaders we will put forward. I have thought this through carefully.

The President: On the Chechen problem. I have been less critical than others. Even today, I asked the others how they would deal with this if it were their country. This is a political issue. It may be the best thing for you within Russia to tell the Europeans to go to hell. But the best thing for your relations with Europe for the long term is to figure out the policy that you want to have with Europe and to keep that in mind as you deal with Chechnya.

President Yeltsin: (Gets up rapidly) Bill, the meeting is up. We said 20 minutes and it has now been more than 35 minutes.

The President: That's fine. We can say the meeting is over.

President Yeltsin: This meeting has gone on too long. You should come to visit, Bill.

The President: Who will win the election?

President Yeltsin: Putin, of course. He will be the successor to Boris Yeltsin. He's a democrat, and he knows the West.

The President: He's very smart.

President Yeltsin: He's tough. He has an internal ramrod. He's tough internally, and I will do everything possible for him to win—legally, of course. And he will win. You'll do business together. He will continue the Yeltsin line on democracy and economics and widen Russia's contacts. He has the energy and the brains to succeed. Thank you, Bill.

The President: Thank you, Boris. It was good to see you.

End of Conversation

@ 3ffac3a6:2d656657

🔧 Infrastructure Overview

• Hardware: Raspberry Pi 5 with PCIe NVMe HAT and 2TB NVMe SSD
• Filesystem: ZFS with separate datasets for each service
• Networking: Docker bridge networks for service segmentation
• Privacy: Tor and I2P routing for anonymous communication
• Public Access: Cloudflare Tunnel to securely expose LNbits

📊 Architecture Diagram

🛠️ Setup Steps

1. Prepare the System

• Install Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)
• Set up ZFS on the NVMe disk
• Create a ZFS dataset for each service (e.g., bitcoin, lnd, rtl, lnbits, tor-data)
• Install Docker and Docker Compose

2. Create Shared Docker Network and Privacy Layers

Create a shared Docker bridge network: bash docker network create \ --driver=bridge \ --subnet=192.168.100.0/24 \ bitcoin-net

Note: Connect bitcoind, lnd, rtl, internal lnbits, tor, and i2p to this bitcoin-net network.

Tor

• Run Tor in a container
• Configure it to expose LND's gRPC and REST ports via hidden services: HiddenServicePort 10009 192.168.100.31:10009 HiddenServicePort 8080 192.168.100.31:8080
• Set correct permissions: bash sudo chown -R 102:102 /zfs/datasets/tor-data

I2P

• Run I2P in a container with SAM and SOCKS proxies
• Update bitcoin.conf: i2psam=192.168.100.20:7656 i2pacceptincoming=1

3. Set Up Bitcoin Core

• Create a bitcoin.conf with Tor/I2P/proxy settings and ZMQ enabled
• Sync the blockchain in a container using its ZFS dataset

4. Set Up LND

• Configure lnd.conf to connect to bitcoind and use Tor: ```ini [Bitcoind] bitcoind.rpchost=bitcoin:8332 bitcoind.rpcuser=bitcoin bitcoind.rpcpass=very-hard-password bitcoind.zmqpubrawblock=tcp://bitcoin:28332 bitcoind.zmqpubrawtx=tcp://bitcoin:28333

[Application Options] externalip=xxxxxxxx.onion `` - Don’t expose gRPC or REST ports publicly - Mount the ZFS dataset at/root/.lnd` - Optionally enable Watchtower

5. Set Up RTL

• Mount RTL-Config.json and data volumes
• Expose RTL's web interface locally: ```yaml ports:
  • "3000:3000" ```

6. Set Up Internal LNbits

• Connect the LNbits container to bitcoin-net
• Mount the data directory and LND cert/macaroons (read-only)
• Expose the LNbits UI on the local network: ```yaml ports:
  • "5000:5000" ```
• In the web UI, configure the funding source to point to the LND REST .onion address and paste the hex macaroon
• Create and fund a wallet, and copy its Admin Key for external use

7. Set Up External LNbits + Cloudflare Tunnel

• Run another LNbits container on a separate Docker network
• Access the internal LNbits via the host IP and port 5000
• Use the Admin Key from the internal wallet to configure funding
• In the Cloudflare Zero Trust dashboard:
• Create a tunnel
• Select Docker, copy the --token command
• Add to Docker Compose: yaml command: tunnel --no-autoupdate run --token eyJ...your_token...

💾 Backup Strategy

• Bitcoin Core: hourly ZFS snapshots, retained for 6 hours
• Other Services: hourly snapshots with remote .tar.gz backups
• Retention: 7d hourly, 30d daily, 12mo weekly, monthly forever
• Back up ZFS snapshots to avoid inconsistencies

🔐 Security Isolation Benefits

This architecture isolates services by scope and function:

• Internal traffic stays on bitcoin-net
• Sensitive APIs (gRPC, REST) are reachable only via Tor
• Public access is controlled by Cloudflare Tunnel

Extra Security: Host the public LNbits on a separate machine (e.g., hardened VPS) with strict firewall rules:

• Allow only Cloudflare egress
• Allow ingress from your local IP
• Allow outbound access to internal LNbits (port 5000)

Use WireGuard VPN to secure the connection between external and internal LNbits:

• Ensures encrypted communication
• Restricts access to authenticated VPN peers
• Keeps the internal interface isolated from the public internet

✅ Final Notes

• Internal services communicate over bitcoin-net
• LND interfaces are accessed via Tor only
• LNbits and RTL UIs are locally accessible
• Cloudflare Tunnel secures external access to LNbits

Monitor system health using monit, watchtower, or Prometheus.

Create all configuration files manually (bitcoin.conf, lnd.conf, RTL-Config.json), and keep credentials secure. Test every component locally before exposing it externally.

⚡

@ 401014b3:59d5476b

And here's what it said.

And for what it's worth, I actually think ChatGPT nailed it.

Thoughts?

1. Andy Reid – Kansas City Chiefs Andy Reid remains the gold standard among NFL head coaches. With three Super Bowl titles in the past six seasons and a career record of 273-146-1 (.651), Reid's offensive innovation and leadership continue to set him apart. ​

2. Sean McVay – Los Angeles Rams Sean McVay has revitalized the Rams since taking over in 2017, leading them to two Super Bowl appearances and maintaining only one losing season in eight years. His ability to adapt and keep the team competitive has solidified his status as one of the league's elite coaches. ​

3. John Harbaugh – Baltimore Ravens John Harbaugh's tenure with the Ravens has been marked by consistent success, including a Super Bowl victory in 2012 and multiple double-digit win seasons. His leadership and adaptability have kept Baltimore as a perennial contender. ​

4. Nick Sirianni – Philadelphia Eagles Nick Sirianni has quickly risen through the ranks, boasting a .706 regular-season winning percentage and leading the Eagles to two Super Bowl appearances, including one victory. His emphasis on player morale and adaptability have been key to Philadelphia's recent success. ​

5. Dan Campbell – Detroit Lions Dan Campbell has transformed the Lions into a formidable team, improving their record each season and instilling a culture of toughness and resilience. Despite a disappointing playoff exit in 2024, Campbell's impact on the franchise is undeniable.

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/967880

@ 3c389c8f:7a2eff7f

Sharing a Note on Nostr:

🔁Yeah, it probably seems obvious. No need to dwell for long, but this is another function that goes by half a dozen different names. Repost, renote, retweet, boost, bump, the ubiquitous little repeat button... It's all the same. It doesn't matter what its called, the feature lets you push notes you may find valuable, to the people who follow you. Additionally you also have the "Quote" option if you would like to add your own remarks or context. Both of these features are supported by most Nostr microblogging clients and some specialty clients, though some have chosen to exclude one or the other to adhere to a set of guiding principles aimed at helping users to enjoy a healthier social media experience.

Similar to a quote, you also have the option to copy NoteIDs to paste in other places. They will look like: nevent..., naddr..., or some other possibly foreign looking string prefixed with 'n' and in some cases the may be preceded by 'nostr:'. These are handy when you'd like to use a note for some other purpose beyond a quote. Perhaps you would like to quote it in a Nostr article or blog entry, or you would like to create a note focusing on a series of notes. Many clients offer easy access to these handy nostr links. If you're finding that the one you are using, does not, then simply hop to another. This is one of the amazing yet simple uses of Nostr's unique identity and contact list ownership.

Sharing Note and Profile Links Off of Nostr:

This is where things get really interesting. If you try to send these 'n' prefixed Nostr links to someone, they will receive that random string and have no clue what to do with it. To solve this, some clever minds came up with njump.me. Just visit that URL and tack your 'n' prefixed event to the end, and boom! you have a link you can send to anyone. Many apps have integrated this feature into their interface to make it easy and convenient to send awesome Nostr content to anyone anywhere, and they can choose which Nostr app they want to use to engage with it right in the landing. Some Nostr clients have traditional link sharing, as well, so you can share links right to the app that you use.

Helping Your Friends to Get Started:

We've touched on this a lot in previous posts but in case you missed it: nstart.me hubstr.org nosta.me These are all great options to onboarding your friends in a way that allows for them to explore Nostr right out of the gate. You always have the option of creating a keypair in nearly every app around, too. This is easier for some people, depending on how much they want to learn right away, or how they may be using Nostr.

There's some cool new tools coming out to help even more with getting your friends set up to use Nostr to its fullest capacity. Follow packs, trust attestations, and suggested app packs are all things we look forward to diving into more deeply in the near future. Please keep an eye out if your interested in reading the Spatia Nostra

@ e968e50b:db2a803a

Has anyone developed a lightning wallet using a raspberry pi or something like that? This would be a device that could fit in your pocket with a small screen and QR scanner for people that can't afford or don't want to carry a smart phone. It would use wifi or something like that. Is this too much of a security headache? Can it be done easily with any wallet's current software?

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/967863

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Introduction

Throughout human history, the pyramids of Egypt have fascinated scholars, archaeologists, and engineers alike. Traditionally thought of as tombs for pharaohs or religious monuments, alternative theories have speculated that the pyramids may have served advanced technological functions. One such hypothesis suggests that the pyramids acted as large-scale nitrogen fertilizer generators, designed to transform arid desert landscapes into fertile land.

This paper explores the feasibility of such a system by examining how a pyramid could integrate thermal convection, electrolysis, and a self-regulating breeder reactor to sustain nitrogen fixation processes. We will calculate the total power requirements and estimate the longevity of a breeder reactor housed within the structure.

The Pyramid’s Function as a Nitrogen Fertilizer Generator

The hypothesized system involves several key processes:

• Heat and Convection: A fissile material core located in the King's Chamber would generate heat, creating convection currents throughout the pyramid.
• Electrolysis and Hydrogen Production: Water sourced from subterranean channels would undergo electrolysis, splitting into hydrogen and oxygen due to electrical and thermal energy.
• Nitrogen Fixation: The generated hydrogen would react with atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) to produce ammonia (NH₃), a vital component of nitrogen-based fertilizers.

Power Requirements for Continuous Operation

To maintain the pyramid’s core at approximately 450°C, sufficient to drive nitrogen fixation, we estimate a steady-state power requirement of 23.9 gigawatts (GW).

Total Energy Required Over 10,000 Years

Given continuous operation over 10,000 years, the total energy demand can be calculated as:

[ \text{Total time} = 10,000 \times 365.25 \times 24 \times 3600 \text{ seconds} ]

[ \text{Total time} = 3.16 \times 10^{11} \text{ seconds} ]

[ \text{Total energy} = 23.9 \text{ GW} \times 3.16 \times 10^{11} \text{ s} ]

[ \approx 7.55 \times 10^{21} \text{ J} ]

Using a Self-Regulating Breeder Reactor

A breeder reactor could sustain this power requirement by generating more fissile material than it consumes. This reduces the need for frequent refueling.

Pebble Bed Reactor Design

• Self-Regulation: The reactor would use passive cooling and fuel expansion to self-regulate temperature.
• Breeding Process: The reactor would convert thorium-232 into uranium-233, creating a sustainable fuel cycle.

Fissile Material Requirements

Each kilogram of fissile material releases approximately 80 terajoules (TJ) (or 8 × 10^{13} J/kg). Given a 35% efficiency rate, the usable energy per kilogram is:

[ \text{Usable energy per kg} = 8 \times 10^{13} \times 0.35 = 2.8 \times 10^{13} \text{ J/kg} ]

[ \text{Fissile material required} = \frac{7.55 \times 10^{21}}{2.8 \times 10^{13}} ]

[ \approx 2.7 \times 10^{8} \text{ kg} = 270,000 \text{ tons} ]

Impact of a Breeding Ratio

If the reactor operates at a breeding ratio of 1.3, the total fissile material requirement would be reduced to:

[ \frac{270,000}{1.3} \approx 208,000 \text{ tons} ]

Reactor Size and Fuel Replenishment

Assuming a pebble bed reactor housed in the King’s Chamber (~318 cubic meters), the fuel cycle could be sustained with minimal refueling. With a breeding ratio of 1.3, the reactor could theoretically operate for 10,000 years with occasional replenishment of lost material due to inefficiencies.

Managing Scaling in the Steam Generation System

To ensure long-term efficiency, the water supply must be conditioned to prevent mineral scaling. Several strategies could be implemented:

1. Natural Water Softening Using Limestone

• Passing river water through limestone beds could help precipitate out calcium bicarbonate, reducing hardness before entering the steam system.

2. Chemical Additives for Scaling Prevention

• Chelating Agents: Compounds such as citric acid or tannins could be introduced to bind calcium and magnesium ions.
• Phosphate Compounds: These interfere with crystal formation, preventing scale adhesion.

3. Superheating and Pre-Evaporation

• Pre-Evaporation: Water exposed to extreme heat before entering the system would allow minerals to precipitate out before reaching the reactor.
• Superheated Steam: Ensuring only pure vapor enters the steam cycle would prevent mineral buildup.
• Electrolysis of Superheated Steam: Using multi-million volt electrostatic fields to ionize and separate minerals before they enter the steam system.

4. Electrostatic Control for Scaling Mitigation

• The pyramid’s hypothesized high-voltage environment could ionize water molecules, helping to prevent mineral deposits.

Conclusion

If the Great Pyramid were designed as a self-regulating nitrogen fertilizer generator, it would require a continuous 23.9 GW energy supply, which could be met by a breeder reactor housed within its core. With a breeding ratio of 1.3, an initial load of 208,000 tons of fissile material would sustain operations for 10,000 years with minimal refueling.

Additionally, advanced water treatment techniques, including limestone filtration, chemical additives, and electrostatic control, could ensure long-term efficiency by mitigating scaling issues.

While this remains a speculative hypothesis, it presents a fascinating intersection of energy production, water treatment, and environmental engineering as a means to terraform the ancient world.

@ 9bde4214:06ca052b

"With the shift towards this multi-agent collaboration and orchestration world, you need a neutral substrate that has money/identity/cryptography and web-of-trust baked in, to make everything work."

Pablo & Gigi are getting high on glue.

Books & articles mentioned:

• Saving beauty by Byung-Chul Han
• LLMs as a tool for thought by Amelia Wattenberger

In this dialogue:

• vibeline & vibeline-ui
• LLMs as tools, and how to use them
• Vervaeke: AI thresholds & the path we must take
• Hallucinations and grounding in reality
• GPL, LLMs, and open-source licensing
• Pablo's multi-agent Roo setup
• Are we going to make programmers obsolete?
• "When it works it's amazing"
• Hiring & training agents
• Agents creating RAG databases of NIPs
• Different models and their context windows
• Generalists vs specialists
• "Write drunk, edit sober"
• DVMCP.fun
• Recklessness and destruction of vibe-coding
• Sharing secrets with agents & LLMs
• The "no API key" advantage of nostr
• What data to trust? And how does nostr help?
• Identity, web of trust, and signing data
• How to fight AI slop
• Marketplaces of code snippets
• Restricting agents with expert knowledge
• Trusted sources without a central repository
• Zapstore as the prime example
• "How do you fight off re-inventing GitHub?"
• Using large context windows to help with refactoring
• Code snippets for Olas, NDK, NIP-60, and more
• Using MCP as the base
• Using nostr as the underlying substrate
• Nostr as the glue & the discovery layer
• Why is this important?
• Why is this exciting?
• "With the shift towards this multi-agent collaboration and orchestration world, you need a neutral substrate that has money/identity/cryptography and web-of-trust baked in, to make everything work."
• How to single-shot nostr applications
• "Go and create this app"
• The agent has money, because of NIP-60/61
• PayPerQ
• Anthropic and the genius of mcp-tools
• Agents zapping & giving SkyNet more money
• Are we going to run the mints?
• Are agents going to run the mints?
• How can we best explain this to our bubble?
• Let alone to people outside of our bubble?
• Building pipelines of multiple agents
• LLM chains & piped Unix tools
• OpenAI vs Anthropic
• Genius models without tools vs midwit models with tools
• Re-thinking software development
• LLMs allow you to tackle bigger problems
• Increased speed is a paradigm shift
• Generalists vs specialists, left brain vs right brain
• Nostr as the home for specialists
• fiatjaf publishing snippets (reluctantly)
• fiatjaf's blossom implementation
• Thinking with LLMs
• The tension of specialization VS generalization
• How the publishing world changed
• Stupid faces on YouTube thumbnails
• Gaming the algorithm
• Will AI slop destroy the attention economy?
• Recency bias & hiding publication dates
• Undoing platform conditioning as a success metric
• Craving realness in a fake attention world
• The theater of the attention economy
• What TikTok got "right"
• Porn, FoodPorn, EarthPorn, etc.
• Porn vs Beauty
• Smoothness and awe
• "Beauty is an angel that could kill you in an instant (but decides not to)."
• The success of Joe Rogan & long-form conversations
• Smoothness fatigue & how our feeds numb us
• Nostr & touching grass
• How movement changes conversations
• LangChain & DVMs
• Central models vs marketplaces
• Going from assembly to high-level to conceptual
• Natural language VS programming languages
• Pablo's code snippets
• Writing documentation for LLMs
• Shared concepts, shared language, and forks
• Vibe-forking open-source software
• Spotting vibe-coded interfaces
• Visualizing nostr data in a 3D world
• Tweets, blog posts, and podcasts
• Vibe-producing blog posts from conversations
• Tweets are excellent for discovery
• Adding context to tweets (long-form posts, podcasts, etc)
• Removing the character limit was a mistake
• "Everyone's attention span is rekt"
• "There is no meaning without friction"
• "Nothing worth having ever comes easy"
• Being okay with doing the hard thing
• Growth hacks & engagement bait
• TikTok, theater, and showing faces and emotions
• The 1% rule: 99% of internet users are Lurkers
• "We are socially malnourished"
• Web-of-trust and zaps bring realness
• The semantic web does NOT fix this LLMs might
• "You can not model the world perfectly"
• Hallucination as a requirement for creativity

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

Introduction

Since the mid-1990s, American media has fractured into two distinct and increasingly isolated ecosystems, each with its own Overton window of acceptable discourse. Once upon a time, Americans of different political leanings shared a common set of facts, even if they interpreted them differently. Today, they don’t even agree on what the facts are—or who has the authority to define them.

This divide stems from a deeper philosophical rift in how each side determines truth and legitimacy. The institutional left derives its authority from the expert class—academics, think tanks, scientific consensus, and mainstream media. The populist right, on the other hand, finds its authority in traditional belief systems—religion, historical precedent, and what many call "common sense." As these two moral and epistemological frameworks drift further apart, the result is not just political division but the emergence of two separate cultural nations sharing the same geographic space.

The Battle of Epistemologies: Experts vs. Tradition

The left-leaning camp sees scientific consensus, peer-reviewed research, and institutional expertise as the gold standard of truth. Universities, media organizations, and policy think tanks function as arbiters of knowledge, shaping the moral and political beliefs of those who trust them. From this perspective, governance should be guided by data-driven decisions, often favoring progressive change and bureaucratic administration over democratic populism.

The right-leaning camp is skeptical of these institutions, viewing them as ideologically captured and detached from real-world concerns. Instead, they look to religion, historical wisdom, and traditional social structures as more reliable sources of truth. To them, the "expert class" is not an impartial source of knowledge but a self-reinforcing elite that justifies its own power while dismissing dissenters as uneducated or morally deficient.

This fundamental disagreement over the source of moral and factual authority means that political debates today are rarely about policy alone. They are battles over legitimacy itself. One side sees resistance to climate policies as "anti-science," while the other sees aggressive climate mandates as an elite power grab. One side views traditional gender roles as oppressive, while the other sees rapid changes in gender norms as unnatural and destabilizing. Each group believes the other is not just wrong, but dangerous.

The Consequences of Non-Overlapping Overton Windows

As these worldviews diverge, so do their respective Overton windows—the range of ideas considered acceptable for public discourse. There is little overlap left. What is considered self-evident truth in one camp is often seen as heresy or misinformation in the other. The result is:

• Epistemic Closure – Each side has its own trusted media sources, and cross-exposure is minimal. The left dismisses right-wing media as conspiracy-driven, while the right views mainstream media as corrupt propaganda. Both believe the other is being systematically misled.
• Moralization of Politics – Since truth itself is contested, policy debates become existential battles. Disagreements over issues like immigration, education, or healthcare are no longer just about governance but about moral purity versus moral corruption.
• Cultural and Political Balkanization – Without a shared understanding of reality, compromise becomes impossible. Americans increasingly consume separate news, live in ideologically homogeneous communities, and even speak different political languages.

Conclusion: Two Nations on One Land

A country can survive disagreements, but can it survive when its people no longer share a common source of truth? Historically, such deep societal fractures have led to secession, authoritarianism, or violent conflict. The United States has managed to avoid these extremes so far, but the trendline is clear: as long as each camp continues reinforcing its own epistemology while rejecting the other's as illegitimate, the divide will only grow.

The question is no longer whether America is divided—it is whether these two cultures can continue to coexist under a single political system. Can anything bridge the gap between institutional authority and traditional wisdom? Or are we witnessing the slow but inevitable unraveling of a once-unified nation into two separate moral and epistemic realities?

@ ed5774ac:45611c5c

April 20, 2020: The day I saw my so-called friends expose themselves as gutless, brain-dead sheep.

On that day, I shared a video exposing the damning history of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's vaccine campaigns in Africa and the developing world. As Gates was on every TV screen, shilling COVID jabs that didn’t even exist, I called out his blatant financial conflict of interest and pointed out the obvious in my facebook post: "Finally someone is able to explain why Bill Gates runs from TV to TV to promote vaccination. Not surprisingly, it's all about money again…" - referencing his substantial investments in vaccine technology, including BioNTech's mRNA platform that would later produce the COVID vaccines and generate massive profits for his so-called philanthropic foundation.

The conflict of interest was undeniable. I genuinely believed anyone capable of basic critical thinking would at least pause to consider these glaring financial motives. But what followed was a masterclass in human stupidity.

My facebook post from 20 April 2020:

Not only was I branded a 'conspiracy theorist' for daring to question the billionaire who stood to make a fortune off the very vaccines he was shilling, but the brain-dead, logic-free bullshit vomited by the people around me was beyond pathetic. These barely literate morons couldn’t spell "Pfizer" without auto-correct, yet they mindlessly swallowed and repeated every lie the media and government force-fed them, branding anything that cracked their fragile reality as "conspiracy theory." Big Pharma’s rap sheet—fraud, deadly cover-ups, billions in fines—could fill libraries, yet these obedient sheep didn’t bother to open a single book or read a single study before screaming their ignorance, desperate to virtue-signal their obedience. Then, like spineless lab rats, they lined up for an experimental jab rushed to the market in months, too dumb to care that proper vaccine development takes a decade.

The pathetic part is that these idiots spend hours obsessing over reviews for their useless purchases like shoes or socks, but won’t spare 60 seconds to research the experimental cocktail being injected into their veins—or even glance at the FDA’s own damning safety reports. Those same obedient sheep would read every Yelp review for a fucking coffee shop but won't spend five minutes looking up Pfizer's criminal fraud settlements. They would demand absolute obedience to ‘The Science™’—while being unable to define mRNA, explain lipid nanoparticles, or justify why trials were still running as they queued up like cattle for their jab. If they had two brain cells to rub together or spent 30 minutes actually researching, they'd know, but no—they'd rather suck down the narrative like good little slaves, too dumb to question, too weak to think.

Worst of all, they became the system’s attack dogs—not just swallowing the poison, but forcing it down others’ throats. This wasn’t ignorance. It was betrayal. They mutated into medical brownshirts, destroying lives to virtue-signal their obedience—even as their own children’s hearts swelled with inflammation.

One conversation still haunts me to this day—a masterclass in wealth-worship delusion. A close friend, as a response to my facebook post, insisted that Gates’ assumed reading list magically awards him vaccine expertise, while dismissing his billion-dollar investments in the same products as ‘no conflict of interest.’ Worse, he argued that Gates’s $5–10 billion pandemic windfall was ‘deserved.’

This exchange crystallizes civilization’s intellectual surrender: reason discarded with religious fervor, replaced by blind faith in corporate propaganda.

The comment of a friend on my facebook post that still haunts me to this day:

Walking Away from the Herd

After a period of anger and disillusionment, I made a decision: I would no longer waste energy arguing with people who refused to think for themselves. If my circle couldn’t even ask basic questions—like why an untested medical intervention was being pushed with unprecedented urgency—then I needed a new community.

Fortunately, I already knew where to look. For three years, I had been involved in Bitcoin, a space where skepticism wasn’t just tolerated—it was demanded. Here, I’d met some of the most principled and independent thinkers I’d ever encountered. These were people who understood the corrupting influence of centralized power—whether in money, media, or politics—and who valued sovereignty, skepticism, and integrity. Instead of blind trust, bitcoiners practiced relentless verification. And instead of empty rhetoric, they lived by a simple creed: Don’t trust. Verify.

It wasn’t just a philosophy. It was a lifeline. So I chose my side and I walked away from the herd.

Finding My Tribe

Over the next four years, I immersed myself in Bitcoin conferences, meetups, and spaces where ideas were tested, not parroted. Here, I encountered extraordinary people: not only did they share my skepticism toward broken systems, but they challenged me to sharpen it.

No longer adrift in a sea of mindless conformity, I’d found a crew of thinkers who cut through the noise. They saw clearly what most ignored—that at the core of society’s collapse lay broken money, the silent tax on time, freedom, and truth itself. But unlike the complainers I’d left behind, these people built. They coded. They wrote. They risked careers and reputations to expose the rot. Some faced censorship; others, mockery. All understood the stakes.

These weren’t keyboard philosophers. They were modern-day Cassandras, warning of inflation’s theft, the Fed’s lies, and the coming dollar collapse—not for clout, but because they refused to kneel to a dying regime. And in their defiance, I found something rare: a tribe that didn’t just believe in a freer future. They were engineering it.

April 20, 2024: No more herd. No more lies. Only proof-of-work.

On April 20, 2024, exactly four years after my last Facebook post, the one that severed my ties to the herd for good—I stood in front of Warsaw’s iconic Palace of Culture and Science, surrounded by 400 bitcoiners who felt like family. We were there to celebrate Bitcoin’s fourth halving, but it was more than a protocol milestone. It was a reunion of sovereign individuals. Some faces I’d known since the early days; others, I’d met only hours before. We bonded instantly—heated debates, roaring laughter, zero filters on truths or on so called conspiracy theories.

As the countdown to the halving began, it hit me: This was the antithesis of the hollow world I’d left behind. No performative outrage, no coerced consensus—just a room of unyielding minds who’d traded the illusion of safety for the grit of truth. Four years prior, I’d been alone in my resistance. Now, I raised my glass among my people - those who had seen the system's lies and chosen freedom instead. Each had their own story of awakening, their own battles fought, but here we shared the same hard-won truth.

The energy wasn’t just electric. It was alive—the kind that emerges when free people build rather than beg. For the first time, I didn’t just belong. I was home. And in that moment, the halving’s ticking clock mirrored my own journey: cyclical, predictable in its scarcity, revolutionary in its consequences. Four years had burned away the old world. What remained was stronger.

No Regrets

Leaving the herd wasn’t a choice—it was evolution. My soul shouted: "I’d rather stand alone than kneel with the masses!". The Bitcoin community became more than family; they’re living proof that the world still produces warriors, not sheep. Here, among those who forge truth, I found something extinct elsewhere: hope that burns brighter with every halving, every block, every defiant mind that joins the fight.

Change doesn’t come from the crowd. It starts when one person stops applauding.

Today, I stand exactly where I always wanted to be—shoulder-to-shoulder with my true family: the rebels, the builders, the ungovernable. Together, we’re building the decentralized future.

@ 4ba8e86d:89d32de4

Seu teclado não deve se conectar à internet. Privacidade em primeiro lugar. Sempre. Estamos desenvolvendo um teclado moderno que respeita totalmente sua privacidade e segurança. O FUTO Keyboard é 100% offline e 100% privado, oferecendo todos os recursos essenciais que você espera de um teclado atual — incluindo digitação por deslizamento, entrada de voz offline, correção automática inteligente, temas personalizáveis e sugestões preditivas de texto. Nosso objetivo é simples: criar um teclado eficiente e funcional, sem comprometer a privacidade do usuário. Este projeto é um fork do LatinIME, o teclado open-source oficial do Android.

Atenção: o FUTO Keyboard está atualmente em fase alfa. Está trabalhando para torná-lo estável e confiável, mas durante esse período você pode encontrar bugs, travamentos ou recursos ainda não implementados.

Configurações

Idiomas e Modelos – Adicione novos idiomas, dicionários, modelos de entrada de voz, transformadores e layouts associados.

Linguagens e Modelos

O menu no qual você adiciona novos idiomas, bem como dicionários, modelos de entrada de voz, modelos de transformadores e layouts associados a eles.

Adicionar idioma.

Alguns idiomas exigem o download de um dicionário. Se você também quiser um modelo de entrada de voz para um idioma específico, precisará baixá-lo também. Cada idioma já possui uma seleção de layouts de teclado associados; você pode escolher qual(is) layout(s) deseja adicionar ao adicionar o idioma. https://video.nostr.build/c775288b7a8ee8d75816af0c7a25f2aa0b4ecc99973fd442b2badc308fa38109.mp4

Mudar idioma.

Existem duas maneiras de alternar o idioma. A primeira é pressionando o ícone do globo na Barra de Ações, localizada próximo ao canto superior esquerdo do teclado. A segunda é pressionando longamente ou deslizando a barra de espaço; você pode personalizar o comportamento de troca de idioma da barra de espaço acessando Configurações -> Teclado e Digitação -> Teclas de Pressão Longa e Barra de Espaço -> Comportamento da Barra de Espaço . Você também pode atribuir o ícone do globo como a Tecla de Ação para que fique ao lado da barra de espaço, que pode ser acessada no menu Todas as Ações pressionando a tecla de reticências (...) no canto superior esquerdo do teclado e, em seguida, acessando Editar Ações. https://video.nostr.build/ed6f7f63a9c203cd59f46419ef54a4b8b442f070f802a688ca7d682bd6811bcb.mp4

Adicionar dicionário.

Alguns idiomas têm um dicionário integrado, mas a maioria não. Se o idioma que você está instalando não tiver um dicionário integrado, você pode iniciar a instalação em nosso site acessando Idiomas e Modelos -> Dicionário (no idioma que você está instalando) -> Explorar -> Baixar (em nosso site). https://video.nostr.build/3b1e09289953b658a9cef33c41bd711095556bc48290cb2ed066d4d0a5186371.mp4

Habilitar digitação multilíngue.

Você pode habilitar a digitação multilíngue para um ou mais idiomas acessando Idiomas e modelos e marcando a caixa Digitação multilíngue no(s) idioma(s) para os quais deseja habilitar a digitação multilíngue. https://video.nostr.build/29f683410626219499787bd63058d159719553f8e33a9f3c659c51c375a682fb.mp4

Criar layout personalizado.

Se desejar criar seu próprio layout personalizado para um idioma específico, você pode fazê-lo ativando Configurações do Desenvolvedor -> Layouts Personalizados -> Criar novo layout . Mais informações sobre layouts personalizados podem ser encontradas https://github.com/futo-org/futo-keyboard-layouts . A personalização das configurações de pressionamento longo tecla por tecla ainda não é suportada, mas está em processo de implementação. https://video.nostr.build/b5993090e28794d0305424dd352ca83760bb87002c57930e80513de5917fad8d.mp4

Teclado e Digitação – Personalize o comportamento das teclas, o tamanho do teclado e outras preferências de digitação.

Previsão de texto.

O menu no qual você define suas preferências para correção automática e sugestões personalizadas. Modelo de Linguagem do Transformador Você pode fazer com que o teclado preveja a próxima palavra que você digitará ou faça correções automáticas mais inteligentes, que usam um modelo de linguagem Transformer pré-treinado com base em conjuntos de dados disponíveis publicamente, ativando o Transformer LM . Observação: atualmente, isso funciona apenas em inglês, mas estamos trabalhando para torná-lo compatível com outros idiomas. Ajuste fino do transformador Você pode fazer com que o teclado memorize o que você digita e quais sugestões você seleciona, o que treina o modelo de idioma (enquanto o telefone estiver inativo) para prever quais palavras sugerir e corrigir automaticamente enquanto você digita, ativando o ajuste fino do Transformer . Observação: este é o seu modelo de idioma pessoal e o FUTO não visualiza nem armazena nenhum dos seus dados. https://video.nostr.build/688354a63bdc48a9dd3f8605854b5631ac011009c6105f93cfa0b52b46bc40d3.mp4

Previsão de texto.

O menu no qual você define suas preferências para correção automática e sugestões personalizadas. Modelo de Linguagem do Transformador Você pode fazer com que o teclado preveja a próxima palavra que você digitará ou faça correções automáticas mais inteligentes, que usam um modelo de linguagem Transformer pré-treinado com base em conjuntos de dados disponíveis publicamente, ativando o Transformer LM . Observação: atualmente, isso funciona apenas em inglês, mas estamos trabalhando para torná-lo compatível com outros idiomas.

Ajuste fino do transformador.

Você pode fazer com que o teclado memorize o que você digita e quais sugestões você seleciona, o que treina o modelo de idioma (enquanto o telefone estiver inativo) para prever quais palavras sugerir e corrigir automaticamente enquanto você digita, ativando o ajuste fino do Transformer . Observação: este é o seu modelo de idioma pessoal e o FUTO não visualiza nem armazena nenhum dos seus dados.

Força do Modelo de Linguagem do Transformador.

Você pode fazer com que a correção automática se comporte mais como o teclado AOSP ou mais como a rede neural acessando Parâmetros avançados -> Intensidade do LM do transformador e arrastando o controle deslizante para um valor menor (o que tornará o comportamento da correção automática mais parecido com o teclado AOSP) ou um valor maior (o que tornará a correção automática mais dependente da rede neural). Limiar de correção automática Você pode alterar o limite da correção automática para que ela ocorra com mais ou menos frequência acessando Parâmetros avançados -> Limite de correção automática e arrastando o controle deslizante para um valor menor (o que fará com que a correção automática ocorra com mais frequência, mas também corrija erros com mais frequência) ou um valor maior (o que fará com que a correção automática ocorra com menos frequência, mas também corrija erros com menos frequência). https://video.nostr.build/ea9c100081acfcab60343c494a91f789ef8143c92343522ec34c714913631cf7.mp4

Lista negra de palavras.

Você pode colocar sugestões de palavras na lista negra, o que impedirá que o teclado continue sugerindo palavras na lista negra, acessando Sugestões na lista negra e adicionando as palavras que você gostaria de colocar na lista negra.

Palavras ofensivas.

Você pode bloquear palavras ofensivas, como palavrões comuns, acessando Sugestões na Lista Negra e marcando a opção Bloquear Palavras Ofensivas . Observação: a opção Bloquear Palavras Ofensivas está ativada por padrão. https://video.nostr.build/ee72f3940b9789bbea222c95ee74d646aae1a0f3bf658ef8114c6f7942bb50f5.mp4

Correção automática.

Você pode ativar a capacidade de corrigir automaticamente palavras digitadas incorretamente ao pressionar a barra de espaço ou digitar pontuação ativando a Correção automática.

Sugestões de correção.

Você pode ativar a capacidade de exibir palavras sugeridas enquanto digita marcando a opção Mostrar sugestões de correção.

Sugestões de palavras.

Você pode ativar a capacidade de aprender com suas comunicações e dados digitados para melhorar as sugestões ativando as Sugestões personalizadas . Observação: desativar as Sugestões personalizadas também desativa o ajuste fino do Transformer. https://video.nostr.build/2c22d109b9192eac8fe4533b3f8e3e1b5896dfd043817bd460c48a5b989b7a2f.mp4

Entrada de Voz – Configure a entrada de voz offline, incluindo a duração e a conversão de fala em texto.

Entrada de voz.

O menu no qual você define suas preferências de entrada de voz, como duração da entrada e configurações de conversão de fala em texto. Entrada de voz integrada Você pode desabilitar a entrada de voz integrada do teclado e, em vez disso, usar o provedor de entrada de voz de um aplicativo externo desativando a opção Desabilitar entrada de voz integrada. https://video.nostr.build/68916e5b338a9f999f45aa1828a6e05ccbf8def46da9516c0f516b40ca8c827b.mp4

Sons de indicação.

Você pode habilitar a capacidade de reproduzir sons ao iniciar e cancelar a entrada de voz ativando Sons de indicação. https://video.nostr.build/7f5fb6a6173c4db18945e138146fe65444e40953d85cee1f09c1a21d236d21f5.mp4

Progresso Detalhado.

Você pode habilitar a capacidade de exibir informações detalhadas, como indicar que o microfone está sendo usado, ativando Progresso detalhado. https://video.nostr.build/8ac2bb6bdd6e7f8bd4b45da423e782c152a2b4320f2e090cbb99fd5c78e8f44f.mp4

Microfone Bluetooth.

Você pode fazer com que a entrada de voz prefira automaticamente seu microfone Bluetooth em vez do microfone integrado, ativando Preferir microfone Bluetooth. https://video.nostr.build/c11404aa6fec2dda71ceb3aaee916c6761b3015fef9575a352de66b7310dad07.mp4

Foco de áudio.

Você pode fazer com que a entrada de voz pause automaticamente vídeos ou músicas quando ela estiver ativada, ativando o Foco de Áudio. https://video.nostr.build/4ac82af53298733d0c5013ef28befb8b2adeb4a4949604308317e124b6431d40.mp4

Supressão de Símbolos.

Por padrão, a entrada de voz transcreve apenas texto básico e pontuação. Você pode desativar a opção "Suprimir símbolos" para liberar a entrada de voz da transcrição de caracteres especiais (por exemplo, @, $ ou %). Observação: Isso não afeta a forma como a entrada de voz interpreta palavras literais (por exemplo, "vírgula", "ponto final"). https://video.nostr.build/10de49c5a9e35508caa14b66da28fae991a5ac8eabad9b086959fba18c07f8f3.mp4

Entrada de voz de formato longo.

Você pode desativar o limite padrão de 30 segundos para entrada de voz ativando a opção Entrada de voz longa . Observação: a qualidade da saída pode ser prejudicada com entradas longas. https://video.nostr.build/f438ee7a42939a5a3e6d6c4471905f836f038495eb3a00b39d9996d0e552c200.mp4

Parada automática em silêncio.

Você pode fazer com que a entrada de voz pare automaticamente quando o silêncio for detectado, ativando a opção Parar automaticamente ao silenciar . Observação: se houver muito ruído de fundo, pode ser necessário interromper manualmente a entrada de voz. Ative também a entrada de voz longa para evitar a interrupção após 30 segundos. https://video.nostr.build/056567696d513add63f6dd254c0a3001530917e05e792de80c12796d43958671.mp4

Dicionário Pessoal – Adicione palavras personalizadas para que o teclado aprenda e sugira com mais precisão.

Dicionário Pessoal.

O menu no qual você cria seu dicionário pessoal de palavras que o teclado irá lembrar e sugerir. Adicionar ao dicionário Você pode adicionar uma palavra ou frase ao seu dicionário pessoal pressionando o ícone de adição na tela "Dicionário pessoal" . Você também pode criar um atalho para ela no campo "Atalho" ao adicionar a palavra ou frase. https://video.nostr.build/dec41c666b9f2276cc20d9096e3a9b542b570afd1f679d8d0e8c43c8ea46bfcb.mp4

Excluir do dicionário.

Você pode excluir uma palavra ou frase do seu dicionário pessoal clicando nessa palavra ou frase e clicando no ícone de lixeira no canto superior direito. https://video.nostr.build/aca25643b5c7ead4c5d522709af4bc337911e49c4743b97dc75f6b877449143e.mp4

Tema – Escolha entre os temas disponíveis ou personalize a aparência do teclado conforme seu gosto.

Tema.

O menu no qual você seleciona seu tema preferido para o teclado. Alterar tema Você pode escolher entre uma variedade de temas para o teclado, incluindo Modo Escuro, Modo Claro, Automático Dinâmico, Escuro Dinâmico, Claro Dinâmico, Material AOSP Escuro, Material AOSP Claro, Roxo Escuro AMOLED, Girassol, Queda de Neve, Cinza Aço, Esmeralda, Algodão Doce, Luz do Mar Profundo, Escuro do Mar Profundo, Gradiente 1, Tema FUTO VI ou Tema Construção . A possibilidade de personalizar seu tema será disponibilizada em breve. https://video.nostr.build/90c8de72f08cb0d8c40ac2fba2fd39451ff63ec1592ddd2629d0891c104bc61e.mp4

Fronteiras Principais.

Você pode habilitar as bordas das teclas rolando para baixo até o final e ativando Bordas das teclas . https://video.nostr.build/fa2087d68ce3fb2d3adb84cc2ec19c4d5383beb8823a4b6d1d85378ab3507ab1.mp4

Site oficial https://keyboard.futo.org/

Baixar no fdroid. https://app.futo.org/fdroid/repo/

Para instalar através do Obtainium , basta ir em Adicionar Aplicativo e colar esta URL do repositório:  https://github.com/futo-org/android-keyboard

A adição pode demorar um pouco dependendo da velocidade da sua internet, pois o APK precisa ser baixado.

@ 291c75d9:37f1bfbe

In 1727, a 21-year-old Benjamin Franklin gathered a dozen men in Philadelphia for a bold experiment in intellectual and civic growth. Every Friday night, this group—known as the Junto, from the Spanish juntar ("to join")—met in a tavern or private home to discuss "Morals, Politics, or Natural Philosophy (science)." Far from a casual social club, the Junto was a secret society dedicated to mutual improvement, respectful discourse, and community betterment. What began as a small gathering of tradesmen and thinkers would leave a lasting mark on Franklin’s life and colonial America.

Printers are educated in the belief that when men differ in opinion, both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public, and that when Truth and Error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter.

- Benjamin Franklin

The Junto operated under a clear set of rules, detailed by Franklin in his Autobiography:

"The rules that I drew up required that every member, in his turn, should produce one or more queries on any point of Morals, Politics, or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss’d by the company; and once in three months produce and read an essay of his own writing, on any subject he pleased. Our debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute, or desire of victory; and, to prevent warmth [heatedness], all expressions of positiveness in opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties [monetary fines]."

These guidelines emphasized collaboration over competition. Members were expected to contribute questions or essays, sparking discussions that prioritized truth over ego. To keep debates civil, the group even imposed small fines for overly assertive or contradictory behavior—a practical nudge toward humility and open-mindedness. (Yes, I believe that is an ass tax!)

Rather than admitting new members, Franklin encouraged existing ones to form their own discussion groups. This created a decentralized network of groups ("private relays," as I think of them), echoing the structure of modern platforms like NOSTR—while preserving the Junto’s exclusivity and privacy.

From the beginning, they made it a rule to keep these meetings secret, without applications or admittance of new members. Instead, Franklin encouraged members to form their own groups—in a way acting as private relays of sorts. (I say "private" because they continued to keep the Junto secret, even with these new groups.)

Membership: A Diverse Circle United by Values

The Junto’s twelve founding members came from varied walks of life—printers, surveyors, shoemakers, and clerks—yet shared a commitment to self-improvement. Franklin, though the youngest (around 21 when the group formed), led the Junto with a vision of collective growth. To join, candidates faced a simple vetting process, answering four key questions:

1. Have you any particular disrespect for any present members? Answer: I have not.
2. Do you sincerely declare that you love mankind in general, of what profession or religion soever? Answer: I do.
3. Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of worship? Answer: No.
4. Do you love truth for truth’s sake, and will you endeavor impartially to find and receive it yourself and communicate it to others? Answer: Yes.

These criteria reveal the Junto’s core values: respect, tolerance, and an unwavering pursuit of truth. They ensured that members brought not just intellect but also character to the table—placing dialogue as the priority.

One should also note the inspiration from the "Dry Club" of John Locke, William Popple, and Benjamin Furly in the 1690s. They too required affirmation to:

1. Whether he loves all men, of what profession or religion soever?
2. Whether he thinks no person ought to be harmed in his body, name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of worship?
3. Whether he loves and seeks truth for truth’s sake; and will endeavor impartially to find and receive it himself, and to communicate it to others?

And they agreed: "That no person or opinion be unhandsomely reflected on; but every member behave himself with all the temper, judgment, modesty, and discretion he is master of."

The Discussions: 24 Questions to Spark Insight

Franklin crafted a list of 24 questions to guide the Junto’s conversations, ranging from personal anecdotes to civic concerns. These prompts showcase the group’s intellectual breadth. Here are some of my favorites:

Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in his business lately, and what have you heard of the cause?

Have you lately heard of any citizen’s thriving well, and by what means?

Do you know of any fellow citizen who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise and imitation?

Do you think of anything at present in which the Junto may be serviceable to mankind, their country, friends, or themselves?

Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, which it would be proper to move the legislature for an amendment?

Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?

(Read them all here.)

Note the keen attention to success and failure, and the reflection on both. Attention was often placed on the community and individual improvement beyond the members of the group. These questions encouraged members to share knowledge, reflect on virtues and vices, and propose solutions to real-world problems. The result? Discussions that didn’t just end at the tavern door but inspired tangible community improvements.

The Junto’s Legacy: America’s First Lending Library

One of the Junto’s most enduring contributions to Philadelphia—and indeed, to the American colonies—was the creation of the first lending library in 1731. Born from the group’s commitment to mutual improvement and knowledge-sharing, this library became a cornerstone of public education and intellectual life in the community.

The idea for the library emerged naturally from the Junto’s discussions. Members, who came from diverse backgrounds but shared a passion for learning, recognized that their own access to books was often limited and costly—and they referred to them often. To address this, they proposed pooling their personal collections to create a shared resource. This collaborative effort allowed them—and eventually the broader public—to access a wider range of books than any individual could afford alone.

The library operated on a simple yet revolutionary principle: knowledge should be available to all, regardless of wealth or status. By creating a lending system, the Junto democratized access to information, fostering a culture of self-education and curiosity. This was especially significant at a time when books were scarce and formal education was not universally accessible.

The success of the Junto’s library inspired similar initiatives across the colonies, laying the groundwork for the public library system we know today. It also reflected the group’s broader mission: to serve not just its members but the entire community. The library became a symbol of the Junto’s belief in the power of education to uplift individuals and society alike.

With roots extending back to the founding of the Society in 1743, the Library of the American Philosophical Society houses over thirteen million manuscripts, 350,000 volumes and bound periodicals, 250,000 images, and thousands of hours of audiotape. The Library’s holdings make it one of the premier institutions for documenting the history of the American Revolution and Founding, the study of natural history in the 18th and 19th centuries, the study of evolution and genetics, quantum mechanics, and the development of cultural anthropology, among others.

The American Philosophical Society Library continues today. I hope to visit it myself in the future.

Freedom, for Community

Comparing the Junto to Nostr shows how the tools of community and debate evolve with time. Both prove that people crave spaces to connect, share, and grow—whether in a colonial tavern or a digital relay. Yet their differences reveal trade-offs: the Junto’s structure offered depth and focus but capped its reach, while Nostr’s openness promises scale at the cost of order.

In a sense, Nostr feels like the Junto’s modern echo—faster, bigger, and unbound by gates or rules. Franklin might admire its ambition, even if he’d raise an eyebrow at its messiness. For us, the comparison underscores a timeless truth: no matter the medium, the drive to seek truth and build community endures.

---

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1771–1790, pub. 1791)

http://www.benjamin-franklin-history.org/junto-club/

Benjamin Franklin, Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces, ed. Benjamin Vaughan (London: 1779), pp. 533–536.

"Rules of a Society" in The Remains of John Locke, Esq. (1714), p. 113

npubpro

@ 5f078e90:b2bacaa3

Petal's Glow

In a quiet meadow, pink flower blooms named Petal danced under moonlight. Their delicate petals glowed, guiding a weary firefly home. Grateful, the firefly wove light patterns, telling their tale. By dawn, bees hummed Petal’s story, spreading it across the valley. The blooms stood prouder, their rosy hue a symbol of gentle hope.

This is 334 characters, some md, bidirectional-bridge.js used.

@ 5f078e90:b2bacaa3

Cactus story

In a sun-scorched desert, a lone cactus named Sage stood tall. Each dawn, she whispered to the wind, sharing tales of ancient rains. One night, a lost coyote curled beneath her spines, seeking shade. Sage offered her last drops of water, saved from a rare storm. Grateful, the coyote sang her story to the stars, and Sage’s legend grew, a beacon of kindness in the arid wild.

This test is between 300 and 500 characters long, started on Nostr to test the bidirectional-bridge script.

It has a bit of markdown included.

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

🩸
The world won’t stop and wait for you to recover.

Do your duty regardless of how you feel. That’s the only guarantee you’ll end the day alright.

You’ve heard it before: “The worst workout is the one you didn’t do.” Sometimes you don’t feel like going to the gym. You start bargaining with laziness: “I didn’t sleep well… maybe I should skip today.” But then you go anyway, committing only to the bare minimum your energy allows. And once you start, your body outperforms your mind’s assumptions—it turns out to be one of the best workouts you’ve had in a long time. The feeling of following through, of winning a battle you were losing, gives you the confidence to own the rest of your day. You finally feel good.

And that wouldn’t have happened if you stayed home waiting to feel better. Guilt would’ve joined forces with discouragement, and you’d be crushed by melancholy in a victim mindset. That loss would bleed into the rest of your week, conditioning your mind: because you didn’t spend your energy on the workout, you’d stay up late, wake up worse, and while waiting to feel “ready,” you’d lose a habit that took months of effort to build.

When in doubt, just do your duty. Stick to the plan. Don’t negotiate with your feelings—outsmart them. “Just one page today,” and you’ll end up reading ten. “Only the easy tasks,” and you’ll gain momentum to conquer the hard ones. Laziness is a serpent—you win when you make no deals with it.

A close friend once told me that when he was at his limit during a second job shift, he’d open a picture on his phone—of a fridge or a stove he needed to buy for his home—and that image gave him strength to stay awake. That moment stuck with me forever.

Do you really think the world will have the same mercy on you that you have on yourself? Don’t be surprised when it doesn’t spare you. Move forward even while stitching your wounds: “If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never do anything.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4)

Thank you for reading, my friend!

If this message resonated with you, consider leaving your "🥃" as a token of appreciation.

A toast to our family!

@ c48e29f0:26e14c11

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE AND UNITED STATES DIGITAL ASSET STOCKPILE EXECUTIVE ORDER March 6, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Background.

Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin protocol permanently caps the total supply of bitcoin (BTC) at 21 million coins, and has never been hacked. As a result of its scarcity and security, Bitcoin is often referred to as “digital gold”. Because there is a fixed supply of BTC, there is a strategic advantage to being among the first nations to create a strategic bitcoin reserve. The United States Government currently holds a significant amount of BTC, but has not implemented a policy to maximize BTC’s strategic position as a unique store of value in the global financial system. Just as it is in our country’s interest to thoughtfully manage national ownership and control of any other resource, our Nation must harness, not limit, the power of digital assets for our prosperity.

Sec. 2. Policy.

It is the policy of the United States to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. It is further the policy of the United States to establish a United States Digital Asset Stockpile that can serve as a secure account for orderly and strategic management of the United States’ other digital asset holdings.

Sec. 3. Creation and Administration of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile.

(a) The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an office to administer and maintain control of custodial accounts collectively known as the “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” capitalized with all BTC held by the Department of the Treasury that was finally forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings or in satisfaction of any civil money penalty imposed by any executive department or agency (agency) and that is not needed to satisfy requirements under 31 U.S.C. 9705 or released pursuant to subsection (d) of this section (Government BTC). Within 30 days of the date of this order, each agency shall review its authorities to transfer any Government BTC held by it to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and shall submit a report reflecting the result of that review to the Secretary of the Treasury. Government BTC deposited into the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve shall not be sold and shall be maintained as reserve assets of the United States utilized to meet governmental objectives in accordance with applicable law.

(b) The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an office to administer and maintain control of custodial accounts collectively known as the “United States Digital Asset Stockpile,” capitalized with all digital assets owned by the Department of the Treasury, other than BTC, that were finally forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings and that are not needed to satisfy requirements under 31 U.S.C. 9705 or released pursuant to subsection (d) of this section (Stockpile Assets). Within 30 days of the date of this order, each agency shall review its authorities to transfer any Stockpile Assets held by it to the United States Digital Asset Stockpile and shall submit a report reflecting the result of that review to the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury shall determine strategies for responsible stewardship of the United States Digital Asset Stockpile in accordance with applicable law.

(c) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall develop strategies for acquiring additional Government BTC provided that such strategies are budget neutral and do not impose incremental costs on United States taxpayers. However, the United States Government shall not acquire additional Stockpile Assets other than in connection with criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings or in satisfaction of any civil money penalty imposed by any agency without further executive or legislative action.

(d) “Government Digital Assets” means all Government BTC and all Stockpile Assets. The head of each agency shall not sell or otherwise dispose of any Government Digital Assets, except in connection with the Secretary of the Treasury’s exercise of his lawful authority and responsible stewardship of the United States Digital Asset Stockpile pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, or pursuant to an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, as required by law, or in cases where the Attorney General or other relevant agency head determines that the Government Digital Assets (or the proceeds from the sale or disposition thereof) can and should: (i) be returned to identifiable and verifiable victims of crime; (ii) be used for law enforcement operations;
(iii) be equitably shared with State and local law enforcement partners; or (iv) be released to satisfy requirements under 31 U.S.C. 9705, 28 U.S.C. 524(c), 18 U.S.C. 981, or 21 U.S.C. 881.

(e) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deliver an evaluation of the legal and investment considerations for establishing and managing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile going forward, including the accounts in which the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile should be located and the need for any legislation to operationalize any aspect of this order or the proper management and administration of such accounts.

Sec. 4. Accounting.

Within 30 days of the date of this order, the head of each agency shall provide the Secretary of the Treasury and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets with a full accounting of all Government Digital Assets in such agency’s possession, including any information regarding the custodial accounts in which such Government Digital Assets are currently held that would be necessary to facilitate a transfer of the Government Digital Assets to the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve or the United States Digital Asset Stockpile. If such agency holds no Government Digital Assets, such agency shall confirm such fact to the Secretary of the Treasury and the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets within 30 days of the date of this order.

Sec. 5. General Provisions.

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE, March 6, 2025

@ c1e9ab3a:9cb56b43

The financial system has long relied on traditional banking methods, but emerging technologies like Bitcoin and Nostr are paving the way for a new era of financial interactions.

Secure Savings with Bitcoin:

Bitcoin wallets can act as secure savings accounts, offering users control and ownership over their funds without relying on third parties.

Instant Settlements with the Lightning Network:

The Lightning Network can replace traditional settlement systems, such as ACH or wire transfers, by enabling instant, low-cost transactions.

Face-to-Face Transactions with Ecash:

Ecash could offer a fee-free option for smaller, everyday transactions, complementing the Lightning Network for larger payments.

Automated Billing with Nostr Wallet Connect:

Nostr Wallet Connect could revolutionize automated billing, allowing users to set payment limits and offering more control over subscriptions and recurring expenses.

Conclusion:

Combining Bitcoin and Nostr technologies could create a more efficient, user-centric financial system that empowers individuals and businesses alike.

@ f839fb67:5c930939

Relays

| Name | Address | Price (Sats/Year) | Status | | - | - | - | - | | stephen's aegis relay | wss://paid.relay.vanderwarker.family | 42069 | | | stephen's Outbox | wss://relay.vanderwarker.family | Just Me | | | stephen's Inbox | wss://haven.vanderwarker.family/inbox | WoT | | | stephen's DMs | wss://haven.vanderwarker.family/chat | WoT | | | VFam Data Relay | wss://data.relay.vanderwarker.family | 0 | | | VFam Bots Relay | wss://skeme.vanderwarker.family | Invite | | | VFGroups (NIP29) | wss://groups.vanderwarker.family | 0 | | | [TOR] My Phone Relay | ws://naswsosuewqxyf7ov7gr7igc4tq2rbtqoxxirwyhkbuns4lwc3iowwid.onion | 0 | Meh... |

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My Pubkeys

| Name | hex | nprofile | | - | - | - | | Main | f839fb6714598a7233d09dbd42af82cc9781d0faa57474f1841af90b5c930939 | nostr:nprofile1qqs0sw0mvu29nznjx0gfm02z47pve9up6ra22ar57xzp47gttjfsjwgpramhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3us9mapfx | | Vanity (Backup) | 82f21be67353c0d68438003fe6e56a35e2a57c49e0899b368b5ca7aa8dde7c23 | nostr:nprofile1qqsg9usmuee48sxkssuqq0lxu44rtc4903y7pzvmx694efa23h08cgcpramhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3ussel49x | | VFStore | 6416f1e658ba00d42107b05ad9bf485c7e46698217e0c19f0dc2e125de3af0d0 | nostr:nprofile1qqsxg9h3uevt5qx5yyrmqkkehay9cljxdxpp0cxpnuxu9cf9mca0p5qpramhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3usaa8plu | | NostrSMS | 9be1b8315248eeb20f9d9ab2717d1750e4f27489eab1fa531d679dadd34c2f8d | nostr:nprofile1qqsfhcdcx9fy3m4jp7we4vn305t4pe8jwjy74v062vwk08dd6dxzlrgpramhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3us595d45 |

Bots

Unlocks Bot

Hex: 2e941ad17144e0a04d1b8c21c4a0dbc3fbcbb9d08ae622b5f9c85341fac7c2d0
nprofile:
nostr:nprofile1qqsza9q669c5fc9qf5dccgwy5rdu877th8gg4e3zkhuus56pltru95qpramhxue69uhhx6m9d4jjuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3ust4kvak
Latest Data:
nostr:naddr1qq882mnvda3kkttrda6kuar9wgq37amnwvaz7tmnddjk6efwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyqhfgxk3w9zwpgzdrwxzr39qm0plhjae6z9wvg44l8y9xs06clpdqqcyqqq823cgnl9u5

Step Counter

Hex: 9223d2faeb95853b4d224a184c69e1df16648d35067a88cdf947c631b57e3de7
nprofile: nostr:nprofile1qqsfyg7jlt4etpfmf53y5xzvd8sa79ny356sv75gehu50333k4lrmecpramhxue69uhhx6m9d4jjuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3ustswp3w
Latest Data:
nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzpy3r6tawh9v98dxjyjscf357rhckvjxn2pn63rxlj37xxx6hu008qys8wumn8ghj7umtv4kk2tnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jtcqp3ehgets943k7atww3jhyn39gff

RCTGuest

Hex: 373904615c781e46bf5bf87b4126c8a568a05393b1b840b1a2a3234d20affa0c
nprofile: nostr:nprofile1qqsrwwgyv9w8s8jxhadls76pymy2269q2wfmrwzqkx32xg6dyzhl5rqpramhxue69uhhx6m9d4jjuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3usy92jlx

Now Playing

Hex: 8096ed6ba1f21a3713bd47a503ee377b0ce2f187b3e5a3ae909a25b84901018b
nprofile: nostr:nprofile1qqsgp9hddwslyx3hzw750fgracmhkr8z7xrm8edr46gf5fdcfyqsrzcpramhxue69uhhx6m9d4jjuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3uspk5v4w
Latest Data:
nostr:naddr1qq9kummh94cxccted9hxwqglwaehxw309aekketdv5h8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0ypzpqyka446rus6xufm63a9q0hrw7cvutcc0vl95whfpx39hpyszqvtqvzqqqr4gupdk2hd

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NIP-29 Groups

See here

• Minecraft Group Chat
• nostr:naddr1qqrxvc33xpnxxqfqwaehxw309anhymm4wpejuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3usygrzymrpd2wz8ularp06y8ad5dgaddlumyt7tfzqge3vc97sgsarjvpsgqqqnpvqazypfd
• VFNet Group Chat
• nostr:naddr1qqrrwvfjx9jxzqfqwaehxw309anhymm4wpejuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3usygrzymrpd2wz8ularp06y8ad5dgaddlumyt7tfzqge3vc97sgsarjvpsgqqqnpvq08hx48

"Nostrified Websites"

[D] = Saves darkmode preferences over nostr
[A] = Auth over nostr
[B] = Beta (software)
[z] = zap enabled

• [DABz] Main Site
• [DAB] Contact Site
• [DAB] PGP Site
• [DAB] VFCA Site

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Other Services (Hosted code)

• Blossom
  
• NostrCheck
  

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Emojis Packs

• Minecraft
• nostr:naddr1qqy566twv43hyctxwsq37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyrurn7m8z3vc5u3n6zwm6s40stxf0qwsl2jhga83ssd0jz6ujvynjqcyqqq82nsd0k5wp
• AIM
• nostr:naddr1qqxxz6tdv4kk7arfvdhkuucpramhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuanpdejx2unhv9exketj9enxzmtfd3usyg8c88akw9ze3fer85yah4p2lqkvj7qap749w360rpq6ly94eycf8ypsgqqqw48qe0j2yk
• Blobs
• nostr:naddr1qqz5ymr0vfesz8mhwden5te0wfjkccte9emxzmnyv4e8wctjddjhytnxv9kkjmreqgs0sw0mvu29nznjx0gfm02z47pve9up6ra22ar57xzp47gttjfsjwgrqsqqqa2wek4ukj
• FavEmojis
• nostr:naddr1qqy5vctkg4kk76nfwvq37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyrurn7m8z3vc5u3n6zwm6s40stxf0qwsl2jhga83ssd0jz6ujvynjqcyqqq82nsf7sdwt
• Modern Family
• nostr:naddr1qqx56mmyv4exugzxv9kkjmreqy0hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jq3qlqulkec5tx98yv7snk759tuzejtcr5865468fuvyrtuskhynpyusxpqqqp65ujlj36n
• nostriches (Amethyst collection)
• nostr:naddr1qq9xummnw3exjcmgv4esz8mhwden5te0wfjkccte9emxzmnyv4e8wctjddjhytnxv9kkjmreqgs0sw0mvu29nznjx0gfm02z47pve9up6ra22ar57xzp47gttjfsjwgrqsqqqa2w2sqg6w
• Pepe
• nostr:naddr1qqz9qetsv5q37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyrurn7m8z3vc5u3n6zwm6s40stxf0qwsl2jhga83ssd0jz6ujvynjqcyqqq82ns85f6x7
• Minecraft Font
• nostr:naddr1qq8y66twv43hyctxwssyvmmwwsq37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyrurn7m8z3vc5u3n6zwm6s40stxf0qwsl2jhga83ssd0jz6ujvynjqcyqqq82nsmzftgr
• Archer Font
• nostr:naddr1qq95zunrdpjhygzxdah8gqglwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0ypzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqvzqqqr4fclkyxsh
• SMB Font
• nostr:naddr1qqv4xatsv4ezqntpwf5k7gzzwfhhg6r9wfejq3n0de6qz8mhwden5te0wfjkccte9emxzmnyv4e8wctjddjhytnxv9kkjmreqgs0sw0mvu29nznjx0gfm02z47pve9up6ra22ar57xzp47gttjfsjwgrqsqqqa2w0wqpuk

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Git Over Nostr

• NostrSMS
• nostr:naddr1qqyxummnw3e8xmtnqy0hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jqfrwaehxw309amk7apwwfjkccte9emxzmnyv4e8wctjddjhytnxv9kkjmreqyj8wumn8ghj7urpd9jzuun9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jqg5waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t0qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqgs0sw0mvu29nznjx0gfm02z47pve9up6ra22ar57xzp47gttjfsjwgrqsqqqaueqp0epk
• nip51backup
• nostr:naddr1qq9ku6tsx5ckyctrdd6hqqglwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0yqjxamnwvaz7tmhda6zuun9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jqfywaehxw309acxz6ty9eex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0yq3gamnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwv3sk6atn9e5k7qgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcq3qlqulkec5tx98yv7snk759tuzejtcr5865468fuvyrtuskhynpyusxpqqqpmej4gtqs6
• bukkitstr
• nostr:naddr1qqykyattdd5hgum5wgq37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gpydmhxue69uhhwmm59eex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0yqjgamnwvaz7tmsv95kgtnjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dspzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqvzqqqrhnyf6g0n2

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Market Places

Please use Nostr Market or somthing simular, to view.

• VFStore
• nostr:naddr1qqjx2v34xe3kxvpn95cnqven956rwvpc95unscn9943kxet98q6nxde58p3ryqglwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0yqjvamnwvaz7tmgv9mx2m3wweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7f0da6hgcn00qqjgamnwvaz7tmsv95kgtnjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gpydmhxue69uhhwmm59eex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0ypzqeqk78n93wsq6sss0vz6mxl5shr7ge5cy9lqcx0smshpyh0r4uxsqvzqqqr4gvlfm7gu

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Badges

Created

• paidrelayvf
• nostr:naddr1qq9hqctfv3ex2mrp09mxvqglwaehxw309aex2mrp0yh8vctwv3jhyampwf4k2u3wvesk66tv0ypzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqvzqqqr48y85v3u3
• iPow
• nostr:naddr1qqzxj5r02uq37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyrurn7m8z3vc5u3n6zwm6s40stxf0qwsl2jhga83ssd0jz6ujvynjqcyqqq82wgg02u0r
• codmaster
• nostr:naddr1qqykxmmyd4shxar9wgq37amnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwweskuer9wfmkzuntv4ezuenpd45kc7gzyrurn7m8z3vc5u3n6zwm6s40stxf0qwsl2jhga83ssd0jz6ujvynjqcyqqq82wgk3gm4g
• iMine
• nostr:naddr1qqzkjntfdejsz8mhwden5te0wfjkccte9emxzmnyv4e8wctjddjhytnxv9kkjmreqgs0sw0mvu29nznjx0gfm02z47pve9up6ra22ar57xzp47gttjfsjwgrqsqqqafed5s4x5

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Clients I Use

• Amethyst
• nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3cx5urqv3nxymngdphqgsyvrp9u6p0mfur9dfdru3d853tx9mdjuhkphxuxgfwmryja7zsvhqrqsqqql8kavfpw3
• noStrudel
• nostr:naddr1qqxnzd3cxccrvd34xser2dpkqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hsygpxdq27pjfppharynrvhg6h8v2taeya5ssf49zkl9yyu5gxe4qg55psgqqq0nmq5mza9n
• nostrsms
• nostr:naddr1qq9rzdejxcunxde4xymqz8mhwden5te0wfjkccte9emxzmnyv4e8wctjddjhytnxv9kkjmreqgsfhcdcx9fy3m4jp7we4vn305t4pe8jwjy74v062vwk08dd6dxzlrgrqsqqql8kjn33qm

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Lists

• Bluesky
  • nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4xqpzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jtcqqapxcat9wd4hj0ah0jw
• Fediverse
  • nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4xqpzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jtcqp9rx2erfwejhyum9j4g0xh
• Fediverse_Bots
  • nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4xqpzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jtcqperx2erfwejhyum9tapx7arnfcpdzh
• My Bots
  • nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4xqpzp7peldn3gkv2wgeap8dag2hc9nyhs8g04ft5wnccgxhepdwfxzfeqys8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnkv9hxgetjwashy6m9wghxvctdd9k8jtcqz4uh5jnpwscyss24fpkxw4fewafk566twa2q8f6fyk

@ b99efe77:f3de3616

🚦Traffic Light Control System🚦

This Petri net represents a traffic control protocol ensuring that two traffic lights alternate safely and are never both green at the same time.

petrinet ;start () -> greenLight1 redLight2 ;toRed1 greenLight1 -> queue redLight1 ;toGreen2 redLight2 queue -> greenLight2 ;toGreen1 queue redLight1 -> greenLight1 ;toRed2 greenLight2 -> redLight2 queue ;stop redLight1 queue redLight2 -> ()

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

My friend, let yourself be deluded for a moment, and reality will see to it that your fantasy is shattered—like a hammer crushing marble. The real world grants no mercy; it will relentlessly tear down your aspirations, casting them into the abyss of disillusionment and burying your dreams under the unbearable weight of your own expectations. It’s an inescapable fate—but the outcome is still in your hands: perish at the bottom like a wretch or turn the pit into a trench.

Davvero, everyone must eventually face something that breaks them. It is in devastation that man discovers what he is made of, and in the silence of defeat that he hears the finest advice. Yet the weak would rather embrace the convenient lie of self-pity, blaming life for failures that are, in truth, the result of their own negligence and cowardly choices. If you hide behind excuses because you fear the painful truth, know this: the responsibility has always been yours.

Ascolta bene! Just remain steadfast, even when everything feels like an endless maze. The difficulties you face today—those you believe you’ll never overcome—will one day seem insignificant under the light of time and experience. Tomorrow, you’ll look back and laugh at yourself for ever letting these storms seem so overwhelming.

Now, it’s up to you to fight your own battle—for the evil day spares no one. Don’t let yourself be paralyzed by shock or bow before adversity. Be strong and of good courage—not as one who waits for relief, but as one prepared to face the inevitable and turn pain into glory.

Thank you for reading, my friend!

If this message resonated with you, consider leaving your "🥃" as a token of appreciation.

A toast to our family!

@ b99efe77:f3de3616

🚦Traffic Light Control System🚦

This Petri net represents a traffic control protocol ensuring that two traffic lights alternate safely and are never both green at the same time.

petrinet ;start () -> greenLight1 redLight2 ;toRed1 greenLight1 -> queue redLight1 ;toGreen2 redLight2 queue -> greenLight2 ;toGreen1 queue redLight1 -> greenLight1 ;toRed2 greenLight2 -> redLight2 queue ;stop redLight1 queue redLight2 -> ()

@ c8383d81:f9139549

Project is still in early stages but now it is split into 2 different domain entities. 
Everything is opened sourced under one github https://github.com/Nsite-Info

So what’s new ?

Project #1 https://Nsite.info

A basic website with main info regarding what an Nsite is how it works and a list of tools and repo’s you can use to start building and debugging.
99% Finished, needs some extra translations and the Nsite Debugger can use a small upgrade.



Project #2 https://Nsite.cloud

This project isn’t finished, it currently is at a 40% finished stage. This contains the Nsite Gateway for all sites (still a work in progress) and the final stage the Nsite editor & template deployment.

If you are interested in Nsite’s join: 

https://chachi.chat/groups.hzrd149.com/e23891

Big thanks to nostr:npub1elta7cneng3w8p9y4dw633qzdjr4kyvaparuyuttyrx6e8xp7xnq32cume nostr:npub1ye5ptcxfyyxl5vjvdjar2ua3f0hynkjzpx552mu5snj3qmx5pzjscpknpr nostr:npub1klr0dy2ul2dx9llk58czvpx73rprcmrvd5dc7ck8esg8f8es06qs427gxc for all the tooling & code.

!(image)[https://i.nostr.build/AkUvk7R2h9cVEMLB.png]

@ 3ffac3a6:2d656657

🏅 Como Criar um Badge Épico no Nostr com nak + badges.page

Requisitos:

• Ter o nak instalado (https://github.com/fiatjaf/nak)
• Ter uma chave privada Nostr (nsec...)
• Acesso ao site https://badges.page
• Um relay ativo (ex: wss://relay.primal.net)

---

🔧 Passo 1 — Criar o badge em badges.page

1. Acesse o site https://badges.page

2. Clique em "New Badge" no canto superior direito
   

3. Preencha os campos:

4. Nome (ex: Teste Épico)
5. Descrição

6. Imagem e thumbnail

7. Após criar, você será redirecionado para a página do badge.

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🔍 Passo 2 — Copiar o naddr do badge

Na barra de endereços, copie o identificador que aparece após /a/ — este é o naddr do seu badge.

Exemplo: nostr:naddr1qq94getnw3jj63tsd93k7q3q8lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vetsxpqqqp6njkq3sd0

Copie: naddr1qq94getnw3jj63tsd93k7q3q8lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vetsxpqqqp6njkq3sd0

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🧠 Passo 3 — Decodificar o naddr com nak

Abra seu terminal (ou Cygwin no Windows) e rode:

bash nak decode naddr1qq94getnw3jj63tsd93k7q3q8lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vetsxpqqqp6njkq3sd0

Você verá algo assim:

json { "pubkey": "3ffac3a6c859eaaa8cdddb2c7002a6e10b33efeb92d025b14ead6f8a2d656657", "kind": 30009, "identifier": "Teste-Epico" }

Grave o campo "identifier" — nesse caso: Teste-Epico

---

🛰️ Passo 4 — Consultar o evento no relay

Agora vamos pegar o evento do badge no relay:

bash nak req -d "Teste-Epico" wss://relay.primal.net

Você verá o conteúdo completo do evento do badge, algo assim:

json { "kind": 30009, "tags": [["d", "Teste-Epico"], ["name", "Teste Épico"], ...] }

---

💥 Passo 5 — Minerar o evento como "épico" (PoW 31)

Agora vem a mágica: minerar com proof-of-work (PoW 31) para que o badge seja classificado como épico!

bash nak req -d "Teste-Epico" wss://relay.primal.net | nak event --pow 31 --sec nsec1SEU_NSEC_AQUI wss://relay.primal.net wss://nos.lol wss://relay.damus.io

Esse comando: - Resgata o evento original - Gera um novo com PoW de dificuldade 31 - Assina com sua chave privada nsec - E publica nos relays wss://relay.primal.net, wss://nos.lol e wss://relay.damus.io

⚠️ Substitua nsec1SEU_NSEC_AQUI pela sua chave privada Nostr.

---

✅ Resultado

Se tudo der certo, o badge será atualizado com um evento de PoW mais alto e aparecerá como "Epic" no site!

@ b99efe77:f3de3616

🚦Traffic Light Control System🚦

This Petri net represents a traffic control protocol ensuring that two traffic lights alternate safely and are never both green at the same time.

petrinet ;start () -> greenLight1 redLight2 ;toRed1 greenLight1 -> queue redLight1 ;toGreen2 redLight2 queue -> greenLight2 ;toGreen1 queue redLight1 -> greenLight1 ;toRed2 greenLight2 -> redLight2 queue ;stop redLight1 queue redLight2 -> ()

@ 59b96df8:b208bd59

Nostr is a decentralized protocol designed to be censorship-resistant.
However, this resilience can sometimes make data synchronization between relays more difficult—though not impossible.

In my opinion, Nostr still lacks a few key features to ensure consistent and reliable operation, especially regarding data versioning.

Profile Versions

When I log in to a new Nostr client using my private key, I might end up with an outdated version of my profile, depending on how the client is built or configured.

Why does this happen?
The client fetches my profile data (kind:0 - NIP 1) from its own list of selected relays.
If I didn’t publish the latest version of my profile on those specific relays, the client will only display an older version.

Relay List Metadata

The same issue occurs with the relay list metadata (kind:10002 - NIP 65).
When switching to a new client, it's common that my configured relay list isn't properly carried over because it also depends on where the data is fetched.

Protocol Change Proposal

I believe the protocol should evolve, specifically regarding how kind:0 (user metadata) and kind:10002 (relay list metadata) events are distributed to relays.

Relays should be able to build a list of public relays automatically (via autodiscovery), and forward all received kind:0 and kind:10002 events to every relay in that list.

This would create a ripple effect:

``` Relay A relay list: [Relay B, Relay C]
Relay B relay list: [Relay A, Relay C]
Relay C relay list: [Relay A, Relay B]

User A sends kind:0 to Relay A
→ Relay A forwards kind:0 to Relay B
→ Relay A forwards kind:0 to Relay C
→ Relay B forwards kind:0 to Relay A
→ Relay B forwards kind:0 to Relay C → Relay A forwards kind:0 to Relay B
→ etc. ```

Solution: Event Encapsulation

To avoid infinite replication loops, the solution could be to wrap the user’s signed event inside a new event signed by the relay, using a dedicated kind (e.g., kind:9999).

When Relay B receives a kind:9999 event from Relay A, it extracts the original event, checks whether it already exists or if a newer version is present. If not, it adds the event to its database.

Here is an example of such encapsulated data:

json { "content": "{\"content\":\"{\\\"lud16\\\":\\\"dolu@npub.cash\\\",\\\"name\\\":\\\"dolu\\\",\\\"nip05\\\":\\\"dolu@dolu.dev\\\",\\\"picture\\\":\\\"!(image)[!(image)[https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1577320325158682626/igGerO9A_400x400.jpg]]\\\",\\\"pubkey\\\":\\\"59b96df8d8b5e66b3b95a3e1ba159750a6edd69bcbba1857aeb652a5b208bd59\\\",\\\"npub\\\":\\\"npub1txukm7xckhnxkwu450sm59vh2znwm45mewaps4awkef2tvsgh4vsf7phrl\\\",\\\"created_at\\\":1688312044}\",\"created_at\":1728233747,\"id\":\"afc3629314aad00f8786af97877115de30c184a25a48440a480bff590a0f9ba8\",\"kind\":0,\"pubkey\":\"59b96df8d8b5e66b3b95a3e1ba159750a6edd69bcbba1857aeb652a5b208bd59\",\"sig\":\"989b250f7fd5d4cfc9a6ee567594c81ee0a91f972e76b61332005fb02aa1343854104fdbcb6c4f77ae8896acd886ab4188043c383e32a6bba509fd78fedb984a\",\"tags\":[]}", "created_at": 1746036589, "id": "efe7fa5844c5c4428fb06d1657bf663d8b256b60c793b5a2c5a426ec773c745c", "kind": 9999, "pubkey": "79be667ef9dcbbac55a06295ce870b07029bfcdb2dce28d959f2815b16f81798", "sig": "219f8bc840d12969ceb0093fb62f314a1f2e19a0cbe3e34b481bdfdf82d8238e1f00362791d17801548839f511533461f10dd45cd0aa4e264d71db6844f5e97c", "tags": [] }

@ 5a261a61:2ebd4480

What a day yesterday!

I had a really big backlog of both work and non-work things to clean up. But I was getting a little frisky because my health finally gave me some energy to be in the mood for intimacy after the illness-filled week had forced libido debt on me. I decided to cheat it out and just take care of myself quickly. Horny thoughts won over, and I got at least e-stim induced ass slaps to make it more enjoyable. Quick clean up and everything seemed ok...until it wasn't.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully as I worked through my backlog, but things took a turn in the early afternoon. I had to go pickup kids, and I just missed Her between the doors, only managed to get a fast kiss. A little bummed from the work issues and failed expectations of having a few minutes together, I got on my way.

Then it hit me—the most serious case of blue balls I had in a long time. First came panic. I was getting to the age when unusual symptoms raise concerns—cancer comes first to mind, as insufficient release wasn't my typical problem. So I called Her. I explained what was happening and expressed hope for some alone time. Unfortunately, that seemed impossible with our evening schedule: kids at home, Her online meeting, and my standing gamenight with the boys. These game sessions are our sacred ritual—a preserved piece of pre-kids sanity that we all protect in our calendars. Not something I wanted to disturb.

Her reassurance was brief but unusualy promising: "Don't worry, I get this."

Evening came, and just as I predicted, there was ZERO time for shenanigans while we took care of the kids. But once we put them to bed (I drew straw for early sleeper), with parental duties complete, I headed downstairs to prepare for my gaming session. Headset on, I greeted my fellows and started playing.

Not five minutes later, She opened the door with lube in one hand, fleshlight in the other, and an expecting smile on Her face. Definitely unexpected. I excused myself from the game, muted mic, but She stopped me.

"There will be nothing if you won't play," She said. She just motioned me to take my pants off. And off to play I was. Not an easy feat considering I twisted my body sideways so She could access anything She wanted while I still reached keyboard and mouse.

She slowly started touching me and observing my reactions, but quickly changed to using Her mouth. Getting a blowjob while semihard was always so strange. The semi part didn't last long though...

As things intensified, She was satisfied with my erection and got the fleshlight ready. It was a new toy for us, and it was Her first time using it on me all by Herself (usually She prefers watching me use toys). She applied an abundance of lube that lasted the entire encounter and beyond.

Shifting into a rhythm, She started pumping slowly but clearly enjoyed my reactions when She unexpectedly sped up, forcing me to mute the mic. I knew I wouldn't last long. When She needed to fix Her hair, I gentlemanly offered to hold the fleshlight, having one hand still available for gaming. She misunderstood, thinking I was taking over completely, which initially disappointed me.

To my surprise, She began taking Her shirt off the shoulders, offering me a pornhub-esque view. To clearly indicate that finish time had arrived, She moved Her lubed hand teasingly toward my anal. She understood precisely my contradictory preferences—my desire to be thoroughly clean before such play versus my complete inability to resist Her when aroused. That final move did it—I muted the mic just in time to vocally express how good She made me feel.

Quick clean up, kiss on the forehead, and a wish for me to have a good game session followed. The urge to abandon the game and cuddle with Her was powerful, but She stopped me. She had more work to complete on Her todo list than just me.

Had a glass, had a blast; overall, a night well spent I would say.

@ 866e0139:6a9334e5

Autor: Ulrike Guérot. Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Sie finden alle Texte der Friedenstaube und weitere Texte zum Thema Frieden hier.**

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Die neuesten Artikel der Friedenstaube gibt es jetzt auch im eigenen Friedenstaube-Telegram-Kanal.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KarwcXKmD3E

Liebe Freunde und Bekannte,

liebe Friedensbewegte,

liebe Dresdener, Dresden ist ja auch eine kriegsgeplagte Stadt,

dies ist meine dritte Rede auf einer Friedensdemonstration innerhalb von nur gut einem halben Jahr: München im September, München im Februar, Dresden im April. Und der Krieg rückt immer näher! Wer sich den „Operationsplan Deutschland über die zivil-militärische Kooperation als wesentlicher Bestandteil der Kriegsführung“ anschaut, dem kann nur schlecht werden zu sehen, wie weit die Kriegsvorbereitungen schon gediehen sind. 

Doch bevor ich darauf eingehe, möchte ich mich als erstes distanzieren von dem wieder einmal erbärmlichen Framing dieser Demo als Querfront oder Schwurblerdemo. Durch dieses Framing wurde diese Demo vom Dresdener Marktplatz auf den Postplatz verwiesen, wurden wir geschmäht und wurde die Stadtverwaltung Dresden dazu gebracht, eine „genehmere“ Demo auf dem Marktplatz zuzulassen! Es wäre schön, wenn wir alle - alle! - solche Framings weglassen würden und uns als Friedensbewegte die Hand reichen! Der Frieden im eigenen Haus ist die Voraussetzung für unsere Friedensarbeit. Der Streit in unserem Haus nutzt nur denen, die den Krieg wollen und uns spalten!

Ich möchte hier noch einmal klarstellen, von welcher Position aus ich hier und heute wiederholt auf einer Bühne spreche: Ich spreche als engagierte Bürgerin der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Ich spreche als Europäerin, die lange Jahre in und an dem einstigen Friedensprojekt EU gearbeitet hat. Ich spreche als Enkelin von zwei Großvätern. Der eine ist im Krieg gefallen, der andere kam ohne Beine zurück. Ich spreche als Tochter einer Mutter, die 1945, als 6-Jährige, unter traumatischen Umständen aus Schlesien vertrieben wurde, nach Delitzsch in Sachsen übrigens. Ich spreche als Mutter von zwei Söhnen, 33 und 31 Jahre, von denen ich nicht möchte, dass sie in einen Krieg müssen. Von dieser, und nur dieser Position aus spreche ich heute zu Ihnen und von keiner anderen! Ich bin nicht rechts, ich bin keine Schwurblerin, ich bin nicht radikal, ich bin keine Querfront.

Als Bürgerin wünsche ich mir – nein, verlange ich! – dass die Bundesrepublik Deutschland sich an ihre gesetzlichen Grundlagen und Vertragstexte hält. Das sind namentlich: Die Friedensklausel des Grundgesetzes aus Art. 125 und 126 GG, dass von deutschem Boden nie wieder Krieg ausgeht. Und der Zwei-plus-Vier-Vertrag, in dem Deutschland 1990 unterschrieben hat, dass es nie an einem bewaffneten Konflikt gegen Russland teilnimmt. Ich schäme mich dafür, dass mein Land dabei ist, vertragsbrüchig zu werden. Ich bitte Friedrich Merz, den designierten Bundeskanzler, keinen Vertragsbruch durch die Lieferung von Taurus-Raketen zu begehen!

Ich bitte ferner darum, dass sich dieses Land an seine didaktischen Vorgaben für Schulen hält, die im immer noch geltenden „Beutelsbacher Konsens“ aus den 1970er Jahren festgelegt wurden. In diesem steht in Artikel I. ein Überwältigungsverbot: „Es ist nicht erlaubt, den Schüler – mit welchen Mitteln auch immer – im Sinne erwünschter Meinungen zu überrumpeln und damit an der Gewinnung eines selbständigen Urteils zu hindern.“ Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es nicht erlaubt, Soldaten oder Gefreite in Schulen zu schicken und für die Bundeswehr zu werben. Vielmehr wäre es geboten, unsere Kinder über Art. 125 & 126 GG und die Friedenspflicht des Landes und seine Geschichte mit Blick auf Russland aufzuklären.

Als Europäerin wünsche ich mir, dass wir die europäische Hymne, Beethovens 9. Sinfonie, ernst nehmen, deren Text da lautet: Alle Menschen werden Brüder. Alle Menschen werden Brüder. Alle! Dazu gehören auch die Russen und natürlich auch die Ukrainer! 

Als Europäerin, die in den 1990er Jahren für den großartigen EU-Kommissionspräsidenten Jacques Delors gearbeitet hat, Katholik, Sozialist und Gewerkschafter, wünsche ich mir, dass wir das Versprechen, #Europa ist nie wieder Krieg, ernst nehmen. Wir haben es 70 Jahre lang auf diesem Kontinent erzählt. Die Lügen und die Propaganda, mit der jetzt die Kriegsnotwendigkeit gegen Russland herbeigeredet wird, sind unerträglich. Die EU, Friedensnobelpreisträgerin von 2012, ist dabei – oder hat schon – ihr Ansehen in der Welt verloren. Es ist eine politische Tragödie! Neben ihrem Ansehen ist die EU jetzt dabei, das zivilisatorische Erbe Europas zu verspielen, die civilité européenne, wie der französische Historiker und Marxist, Étienne Balibar es nennt. 

Ein Element dieses historischen Erbes ist es, dass uns in Europa eint, dass wir über Jahrhunderte alle zugleich Täter und Opfer gewesen sind. Ce que nous partageons, c’est ce que nous étions tous bourreaux et victimes. So schreibt es der französische Literat Laurent Gaudet in seinem europäischen Epos, L’Europe. Une Banquet des Peuples von 2016.

Das heißt, dass niemand in Europa, niemand – auch die Esten nicht! – das Recht hat, vorgängige Traumata, die die baltischen Staaten unbestrittenermaßen mit Stalin-Russland gehabt haben, zu verabsolutieren, auf die gesamte EU zu übertragen, die EU damit zu blockieren und die Politikgestaltung der EU einseitig auf einen Kriegskurs gegen Russland auszurichten. Ich wende mich mit dieser Feststellung direkt an Kaja Kalles, die Hohe Beauftragte für Sicherheits- und Außenpolitik der EU und hoffe, dass sie diese Rede hört und das Epos von Laurent Gaudet liest.

Es gibt keinen gerechten Krieg! Krieg ist immer nur Leid. In Straßburg, dem Sitz des Europäischen Parlaments, steht auf dem Place de la République eine Statue, eine Frau, die Republik. Sie hält in jedem Arm einen Sohn, einen Elsässer und einen Franzosen, die aus dem Krieg kommen. In der Darstellung der Bronzefigur haben die beiden Soldaten-Männer ihre Uniformen schon ausgezogen und werden von Madame la République gehalten und getröstet. An diesem Denkmal sollten sich alle Abgeordnete des Straßburger Europaparlamentes am 9. Mai versammeln. Ich zitiere noch einmal Cicero: Der ungerechteste Friede ist besser als der gerechteste Krieg. Für den Vortrag dieses Zitats eines der größten Staatsdenker des antiken Roms in einer Fernsehsendung bin ich 2022 mit einem Shitstorm überzogen worden. Allein das ist Ausdruck des Verfalls unserer Diskussionskultur in unfassbarem Ausmaß, ganz besonders in Deutschland.

Als Europäerin verlange ich die Überwindung unserer kognitiven Dissonanz. Wenn schon die New York Times am 27. März 2025 ein 27-seitiges Dossier veröffentlicht, das nicht nur belegt, was man eigentlich schon weiß, aber bisher nicht sagen durfte, nämlich, dass der ukrainisch-russische Krieg ein eindeutiger Stellvertreter-Krieg der USA ist, in der die Ukraine auf monströseste Weise instrumentalisiert wurde – was das Dossier der NYT unumwunden zugibt! – wäre es an der Zeit, die eindeutige Schuldzuweisung an Russland für den Krieg zurückzuziehen und die gezielt verbreitete Russophobie in Europa zu beenden. Anstatt dass – wofür es leider viele Verdachtsmomente gibt – die EU die Friedensverhandlungen in Saudi-Arabien nach Strich und Faden torpediert. 

Der französische Philosoph Luc Ferry hat vor ein paar Tagen im prime time französischen Fernsehen ganz klar gesagt, dass der Krieg 2014 nach der Instrumentalisierung des Maidan durch die USA von der West-Ukraine ausging, dass Zelensky diesen Krieg wollte und – mit amerikanischer Rückendeckung – provoziert hat, dass Putin nicht Hitler ist und dass die einzigen mit faschistoiden Tendenzen in der ukrainischen Regierung sitzen. Ich wünschte mir, ein solches Statement wäre auch im Deutschen Fernsehen möglich und danke Richard David Precht, dass er, der noch in den Öffentlich-Rechtlichen Rundfunk vorgelassen wird, an dieser Stelle versucht, etwas Vernunft in die Debatte zu bringen.

Auch ist es gerade als Europäerin nicht hinzunehmen, dass russische Diplomaten von den Feierlichkeiten am 8. Mai 2025 ausgeschlossen werden sollen, ausgerechnet 80 Jahre nach Ende des II. Weltkrieges. Nicht nur sind Feierlichkeiten genau dazu da, sich die Hand zu reichen und den Frieden zu feiern. Doch gerade vor dem Hintergrund von 27 Millionen gefallenen sowjetischen Soldaten ist die Zurückweisung der Russen von den Feierlichkeiten geradezu eklatante Geschichtsvergessenheit.

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Der Völkerbund hat 1925 die Frage erörtert, warum der I. Weltkrieg noch so lange gedauert hat, obgleich er militärisch bereits 1916 nach Eröffnung des Zweifrontenkrieges zu Lasten des Deutschen Reiches entschieden war. Wir erinnern uns: Für die Niederlage wurden mit der Dolchstoßlegende die jüdischen, kommunistischen und sozialistischen Pazifisten verantwortlich gemacht. Richtig ist, so der Bericht des Völkerbundes von 1925, dass allein die Rüstungsindustrie dafür gesorgt hat, dass der militärisch eigentlich schon entschiedene Krieg noch zwei weitere Jahre als Materialabnutzungs- und Stellungskrieg weiterbetrieben wurde, nur, damit noch ein bisschen Geld verdient werden konnte. Genauso scheint es heute zu sein. Der Krieg ist militärisch entschieden. Er kann und muss sofort beendet werden, und das passiert lediglich deswegen nicht, weil der Westen seine Niederlage nicht zugeben kann. Hochmut aber kommt vor dem Fall, und es darf nicht sein, dass für europäischen Hochmut jeden Tag rund 2000 ukrainische oder russische Soldaten und viele Zivilisten sterben. Die offenbare europäische Absicht, den Krieg jetzt einzufrieren, nur, um ihn 2029/ 2030 wieder zu entfachen, wenn Europa dann besser aufgerüstet ist, ist nur noch zynisch.

Als Kriegsenkelin von Kriegsversehrten, Tochter einer Flüchtlingsmutter und Mutter von zwei Söhnen, deren französischer Urgroßvater 6 Jahre in deutscher Kriegsgefangenschaft war, wünsche ich mir schließlich und zum Abschluss, dass wir die Kraft haben werden, wenn dieser Wahnsinn, den man den europäischen Bürgern gerade aufbürdet, vorbei sein wird, ein neues europäisches Projekt zu erdenken und zu erbauen, in dem Europa politisch geeint ist und es bleibt, aber dezentral, regional, subsidiär, friedlich und neutral gestaltet wird. Also ein Europa jenseits der Strukturen der EU, das bereit ist, die Pax Americana zu überwinden, aus der NATO auszutreten und der multipolaren Welt seine Hand auszustrecken! Unser Europa ist postimperial, postkolonial, groß, vielfältig und friedfertig!

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Ulrike Guérot, Jg. 1964, ist europäische Professorin, Publizistin und Bestsellerautorin. Seit rund 30 Jahren beschäftigt sie sich in europäischen Think Tanks und Universitäten in Paris, Brüssel, London, Washington, New York, Wien und Berlin mit Fragen der europäischen Demokratie sowie mit der Rolle Europas in der Welt. Ulrike Guérot ist seit März 2014 Gründerin und Direktorin des European Democracy Lab e.V., Berlin und initiierte im März 2023 das European Citizens Radio, das auf Spotify zu finden ist. Zuletzt erschien von ihr „Über Halford J. Mackinders Heartland-Theorie, Der geografische Drehpunkt der Geschichte“ (Westend, 2024). Mehr Infos zur Autorin hier.

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Durante décadas, ouvimos que o Brasil era o "país do futuro". Uma terra rica, com imenso potencial humano e natural, destinada a se tornar uma grande potência e referência para o mundo. Essa ideia, repetida em discursos políticos e publicações internacionais, alimentou gerações com esperança. Mas o tempo passou — e esse futuro promissor parece nunca chegar.

Na prática, o que vemos é um ciclo de promessas não cumpridas, problemas sociais profundos e um povo muitas vezes desiludido. Apesar do potencial imenso, o Brasil enfrenta barreiras estruturais e culturais que dificultam seu pleno desenvolvimento. E é justamente sobre isso que precisamos refletir.

A raiz dos nossos desafios

Não há como ter jeito sem que haja um enfrentamento com seriedade aos problemas que estão na base da nossa sociedade. Um dos maiores entraves é a precariedade da educação, tanto no acesso quanto na qualidade. Em muitas regiões, o estudo ainda é visto como perda de tempo, algo que não contribui para o sustento imediato da família. Mesmo com incentivos governamentais, o desempenho das escolas é baixo. Em vez de formar cidadãos críticos e profissionais capacitados, muitas vezes vemos instituições focadas em ideologias ou agendas desconectadas da realidade do aluno.

Outro ponto sensível é a estrutura familiar. Em áreas onde faltam referências morais, espirituais e sociais, o ambiente familiar pode se tornar disfuncional, com casos extremos de abusos e ausência total de valores básicos. Nesses contextos, a ausência de instituições que promovem virtudes e limites — como a Igreja, por exemplo — faz diferença. Não se trata de impor uma religião, mas de reconhecer o papel histórico que a fé teve (e ainda tem) na construção de uma base ética e civilizatória.

A falta de valores basilares e estrutura para a promoção da relações em sociedade, faz do ambiente escolar um local sem propósito, onde são depositados crianças para serem expostas a um convívio forçado com estranhos sem nenhum preparo familiar, e sendo muitas vezes subentendido pelos profissionais educadores como dever da família, no entanto tal estrutura foi corrompida e devido o combate a religião pelos veículos midiáticos.

O papel da cultura e da moralidade

A cultura brasileira também tem sido afetada por uma inversão de valores. Virtudes como honestidade, humildade e dedicação são muitas vezes vistas com desdém, enquanto comportamentos imprudentes e hedonistas são exaltados. Essa distorção enfraquece a sociedade e prejudica qualquer tentativa de avanço coletivo.

A elite intelectual e política, por sua vez, parece muitas vezes mais preocupada com interesses próprios do que com o bem comum. Muitos aderem a ideias que, em vez de promover a soberania e a autonomia nacional, aprofundam nossa dependência e fragilidade como país.

Existe saída?

Sim, existe. Mas não será simples — e muito menos rápida. O Brasil precisa de uma mudança profunda de mentalidade. Isso inclui:

Resgatar o valor da família e da formação moral;

Investir de verdade em uma educação que liberte, que forme e que inspire;

Incentivar a produção científica e tecnológica local;

Valorizar o trabalho árduo, a persistência e o compromisso com a verdade.

Também é preciso reconhecer que o desenvolvimento de uma nação não é apenas econômico, mas também espiritual e cultural. Mesmo que você não seja religioso, é possível entender que a construção de uma sociedade mais justa exige princípios, virtudes e limites. Sem isso, qualquer progresso será frágil e passageiro.

O Brasil tem jeito? Sim. Mas depende de nós — da nossa capacidade de enxergar com coragem onde estamos falhando, e da nossa disposição para agir com sabedoria, verdade e esperança.