@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Safe Bits & Self Custody Tips

The journey of onboarding a user and create a bitcoin multiSig setup begins far before opening a desktop like Bitcoin Safe (BS) or any other similar application. Bitcoin Safe seems designed for families and people that want to start exploring and learning about multiSig setup. The need for such application and use of it could go much further, defining best practices for private organizations that aim to custody bitcoin in a private and anonymous way, following and enjoy the values and standards bitcoin has been built for.

Intro

Organizations and small private groups like families, family offices and solopreneurs operating on a bitcoin standard will have the need to keep track of transactions and categorize them to keep the books in order. A part of our efforts will be spent ensuring accessibility standards are in place for everyone to use Bitcoin Safe with comfort and safety.

We aim with this project to bring together the three Designathon ideas below: - Bitcoin Safe: improve its overall design and usability. - No User Left Behind: improve Bitcoin Safe accessibility. - Self-custody guidelines for organizations: How Bitcoin Safe can be used by private organization following best self-custody practices.

We are already halfway of the first week, and here below the progress made so far.

Designing an icon Set for Bitcoin Safe

One of the noticeable things when using BS is the inconsistency of the icons, not just in colors and shapes, but also the way are used. The desktop app try to have a clean design that incorporate with all OS (Win, macOS, Linux) and for this reason it's hard to define when a system default icon need to be used or if a custom one can be applied instead. The use of QT Ui framework for python apps help to respond to these questions. It also incorporates and brig up dome default settings that aren't easily overwritten.

Here below you can see the current version of BS:

Defining a more strict color palette for Bitcoin Safe was the first thing!

How much the icons affect accessibility? How they can help users to reach the right functionality? I took the challenge and, with PenPot.app, redesigned the icons based on the grid defined in the https://bitcoinicons.com/ and proposing the implementation of it to have a cleaner and more consistent look'n feel, at least for the icons now.

What's next

I personally look forward to seeing these icons implemented soon in Bitcoin Safe interface. In the meantime, we'll focus on delivering an accessibility audit and evaluate options to see how BS could be used by private organizations aiming to become financially sovereign with self-custody or more complex bitcoin multiSig setups.

One of the greatest innovations BS is bringing to us is the ability to sync the multiSig wallets, including PBST, Categories and labels, through the nostr decentralized protocol, making current key custodial services somehow obsolete. Second-coolest feature that this nostr implementation brings is the ability to have a build-in private chat that connect and enable the various signers of a multiSig to communicate and sign transactions remotely. Where have you seen something like this before?

Categories UX and redesign is also considered in this project. We'll try to understand how to better serve this functionality to you, the user, really soon.

Stay tuned!

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/974488

@ c230edd3:8ad4a712

Chef's notes

Wildly enough, this is delicious. It's sweet and savory.

(I copied this recipe off of a commercial cheese maker's site, just FYI)

I hadn't fully froze the ice cream when I took the picture shown. This is fresh out of the churner.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 15 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 30 min
• 🍽️ Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 12 oz blue cheese
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 c sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 qt heavy cream
• 3/4 c chopped dark chocolate

Directions

1. Put the blue cheese, lemon juice, sugar, and salt into a bowl
2. Bring heavy cream to a boil, stirring occasionally
3. Pour heavy cream over the blue cheese mix and stir until melted
4. Pour into prepared ice cream maker, follow unit instructions
5. Add dark chocolate halfway through the churning cycle
6. Freeze until firm. Enjoy.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Pequenos problemas que o Estado cria para a sociedade e que não são sempre lembrados

- **vale-transporte**: transferir o custo com o transporte do funcionário para um terceiro o estimula a morar longe de onde trabalha, já que morar perto é normalmente mais caro e a economia com transporte é inexistente.
- **atestado médico**: o direito a faltar o trabalho com atestado médico cria a exigência desse atestado para todas as situações, substituindo o livre acordo entre patrão e empregado e sobrecarregando os médicos e postos de saúde com visitas desnecessárias de assalariados resfriados.
- **prisões**: com dinheiro mal-administrado, burocracia e péssima alocação de recursos -- problemas que empresas privadas em competição (ou mesmo sem qualquer competição) saberiam resolver muito melhor -- o Estado fica sem presídios, com os poucos existentes entupidos, muito acima de sua alocação máxima, e com isto, segundo a bizarra corrente de responsabilidades que culpa o juiz que condenou o criminoso por sua morte na cadeia, juízes deixam de condenar à prisão os bandidos, soltando-os na rua.
- **justiça**: entrar com processos é grátis e isto faz proliferar a atividade dos advogados que se dedicam a criar problemas judiciais onde não seria necessário e a entupir os tribunais, impedindo-os de fazer o que mais deveriam fazer.
- **justiça**: como a justiça só obedece às leis e ignora acordos pessoais, escritos ou não, as pessoas não fazem acordos, recorrem sempre à justiça estatal, e entopem-na de assuntos que seriam muito melhor resolvidos entre vizinhos.
- **leis civis**: as leis criadas pelos parlamentares ignoram os costumes da sociedade e são um incentivo a que as pessoas não respeitem nem criem normas sociais -- que seriam maneiras mais rápidas, baratas e satisfatórias de resolver problemas.
- **leis de trãnsito**: quanto mais leis de trânsito, mais serviço de fiscalização são delegados aos policiais, que deixam de combater crimes por isto (afinal de contas, eles não querem de fato arriscar suas vidas combatendo o crime, a fiscalização é uma excelente desculpa para se esquivarem a esta responsabilidade).
- **financiamento educacional**: é uma espécie de subsídio às faculdades privadas que faz com que se criem cursos e mais cursos que são cada vez menos recheados de algum conhecimento ou técnica útil e cada vez mais inúteis.
- **leis de tombamento**: são um incentivo a que o dono de qualquer área ou construção "histórica" destrua todo e qualquer vestígio de história que houver nele antes que as autoridades descubram, o que poderia não acontecer se ele pudesse, por exemplo, usar, mostrar e se beneficiar da história daquele local sem correr o risco de perder, de fato, a sua propriedade.
- **zoneamento urbano**: torna as cidades mais espalhadas, criando uma necessidade gigantesca de carros, ônibus e outros meios de transporte para as pessoas se locomoverem das zonas de moradia para as zonas de trabalho.
- **zoneamento urbano**: faz com que as pessoas percam horas no trânsito todos os dias, o que é, além de um desperdício, um atentado contra a sua saúde, que estaria muito melhor servida numa caminhada diária entre a casa e o trabalho.
- **zoneamento urbano**: torna ruas e as casas menos seguras criando zonas enormes, tanto de residências quanto de indústrias, onde não há movimento de gente alguma.
- **escola obrigatória + currículo escolar nacional**: emburrece todas as crianças.
- **leis contra trabalho infantil**: tira das crianças a oportunidade de aprender ofícios úteis e levar um dinheiro para ajudar a família.
- **licitações**: como não existem os critérios do mercado para decidir qual é o melhor prestador de serviço, criam-se comissões de pessoas que vão decidir coisas. isto incentiva os prestadores de serviço que estão concorrendo na licitação a tentar comprar os membros dessas comissões. isto, fora a corrupção, gera problemas reais: __(i)__ a escolha dos serviços acaba sendo a pior possível, já que a empresa prestadora que vence está claramente mais dedicada a comprar comissões do que a fazer um bom trabalho (este problema afeta tantas áreas, desde a construção de estradas até a qualidade da merenda escolar, que é impossível listar aqui); __(ii)__ o processo corruptor acaba, no longo prazo, eliminando as empresas que prestavam e deixando para competir apenas as corruptas, e a qualidade tende a piorar progressivamente.
- **cartéis**: o Estado em geral cria e depois fica refém de vários grupos de interesse. o caso dos taxistas contra o Uber é o que está na moda hoje (e o que mostra como os Estados se comportam da mesma forma no mundo todo).
- **multas**: quando algum indivíduo ou empresa comete uma fraude financeira, ou causa algum dano material involuntário, as vítimas do caso são as pessoas que sofreram o dano ou perderam dinheiro, mas o Estado tem sempre leis que prevêem multas para os responsáveis. A justiça estatal é sempre muito rígida e rápida na aplicação dessas multas, mas relapsa e vaga no que diz respeito à indenização das vítimas. O que em geral acontece é que o Estado aplica uma enorme multa ao responsável pelo mal, retirando deste os recursos que dispunha para indenizar as vítimas, e se retira do caso, deixando estas desamparadas.
- **desapropriação**: o Estado pode pegar qualquer propriedade de qualquer pessoa mediante uma indenização que é necessariamente inferior ao valor da propriedade para o seu presente dono (caso contrário ele a teria vendido voluntariamente).
- **seguro-desemprego**: se há, por exemplo, um prazo mínimo de 1 ano para o sujeito ter direito a receber seguro-desemprego, isto o incentiva a planejar ficar apenas 1 ano em cada emprego (ano este que será sucedido por um período de desemprego remunerado), matando todas as possibilidades de aprendizado ou aquisição de experiência naquela empresa específica ou ascensão hierárquica.
- **previdência**: a previdência social tem todos os defeitos de cálculo do mundo, e não importa muito ela ser uma forma horrível de poupar dinheiro, porque ela tem garantias bizarras de longevidade fornecidas pelo Estado, além de ser compulsória. Isso serve para criar no imaginário geral a idéia da __aposentadoria__, uma época mágica em que todos os dias serão finais de semana. A idéia da aposentadoria influencia o sujeito a não se preocupar em ter um emprego que faça sentido, mas sim em ter um trabalho qualquer, que o permita se aposentar.
- **regulamentação impossível**: milhares de coisas são proibidas, há regulamentações sobre os aspectos mais mínimos de cada empreendimento ou construção ou espaço. se todas essas regulamentações fossem exigidas não haveria condições de produção e todos morreriam. portanto, elas não são exigidas. porém, o Estado, ou um agente individual imbuído do poder estatal pode, se desejar, exigi-las todas de um cidadão inimigo seu. qualquer pessoa pode viver a vida inteira sem cumprir nem 10% das regulamentações estatais, mas viverá também todo esse tempo com medo de se tornar um alvo de sua exigência, num estado de terror psicológico.
- **perversão de critérios**: para muitas coisas sobre as quais a sociedade normalmente chegaria a um valor ou comportamento "razoável" espontaneamente, o Estado dita regras. estas regras muitas vezes não são obrigatórias, são mais "sugestões" ou limites, como o salário mínimo, ou as 44 horas semanais de trabalho. a sociedade, porém, passa a usar esses valores como se fossem o normal. são raras, por exemplo, as ofertas de emprego que fogem à regra das 44h semanais.
- **inflação**: subir os preços é difícil e constrangedor para as empresas, pedir aumento de salário é difícil e constrangedor para o funcionário. a inflação força as pessoas a fazer isso, mas o aumento não é automático, como alguns economistas podem pensar (enquanto alguns outros ficam muito satisfeitos de que esse processo seja demorado e difícil).
- **inflação**: a inflação destrói a capacidade das pessoas de julgar preços entre concorrentes usando a própria memória.
- **inflação**: a inflação destrói os cálculos de lucro/prejuízo das empresas e prejudica enormemente as decisões empresariais que seriam baseadas neles.
- **inflação**: a inflação redistribui a riqueza dos mais pobres e mais afastados do sistema financeiro para os mais ricos, os bancos e as megaempresas.
- **inflação**: a inflação estimula o endividamento e o consumismo.
- **lixo:** ao prover coleta e armazenamento de lixo "grátis para todos" o Estado incentiva a criação de lixo. se tivessem que pagar para que recolhessem o seu lixo, as pessoas (e conseqüentemente as empresas) se empenhariam mais em produzir coisas usando menos plástico, menos embalagens, menos sacolas.
- **leis contra crimes financeiros:** ao criar legislação para dificultar acesso ao sistema financeiro por parte de criminosos a dificuldade e os custos para acesso a esse mesmo sistema pelas pessoas de bem cresce absurdamente, levando a um percentual enorme de gente incapaz de usá-lo, para detrimento de todos -- e no final das contas os grandes criminosos ainda conseguem burlar tudo.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

As estrelas

As estrelas são buracos nas esferas celestiais, buracos através dos quais nos é permitido ver a brilhante luz dos céus.

(Rome, a série.)

@ 87f5e1d9:e251d8f4

Losing access to your cryptocurrency can feel like losing a part of your future. Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, a damaged seed backup, or a simple mistake in a transfer, the stress can be overwhelming. Fortunately, cryptrecver.com is here to assist! With our expert-led recovery services, you can safely and swiftly reclaim your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Why Trust Crypt Recver? 🤝 🛠️ Expert Recovery Solutions At Crypt Recver, we specialize in addressing complex wallet-related issues. Our skilled engineers have the tools and expertise to handle:

Partially lost or forgotten seed phrases Extracting funds from outdated or invalid wallet addresses Recovering data from damaged hardware wallets Restoring coins from old or unsupported wallet formats You’re not just getting a service; you’re gaining a partner in your cryptocurrency journey.

🚀 Fast and Efficient Recovery We understand that time is crucial in crypto recovery. Our optimized systems enable you to regain access to your funds quickly, focusing on speed without compromising security. With a success rate of over 90%, you can rely on us to act swiftly on your behalf.

🔒 Privacy is Our Priority Your confidentiality is essential. Every recovery session is conducted with the utmost care, ensuring all processes are encrypted and confidential. You can rest assured that your sensitive information remains private.

💻 Advanced Technology Our proprietary tools and brute-force optimization techniques maximize recovery efficiency. Regardless of how challenging your case may be, our technology is designed to give you the best chance at retrieving your crypto.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈 Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We help recover lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases. Transaction Recovery: Mistakes happen — whether it’s an incorrect wallet address or a lost password, let us manage the recovery. Cold Wallet Restoration: If your cold wallet is failing, we can safely extract your assets and migrate them into a secure new wallet. Private Key Generation: Lost your private key? Our experts can help you regain control using advanced methods while ensuring your privacy. ⚠️ What We Don’t Do While we can handle many scenarios, some limitations exist. For instance, we cannot recover funds stored in custodial wallets or cases where there is a complete loss of four or more seed words without partial information available. We are transparent about what’s possible, so you know what to expect

Don’t Let Lost Crypto Hold You Back! Did you know that between 3 to 3.4 million BTC — nearly 20% of the total supply — are estimated to be permanently lost? Don’t become part of that statistic! Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, sending funds to the wrong address, or damaged drives, we can help you navigate these challenges

🛡️ Real-Time Dust Attack Protection Our services extend beyond recovery. We offer dust attack protection, keeping your activity anonymous and your funds secure, shielding your identity from unwanted tracking, ransomware, and phishing attempts.

🎉 Start Your Recovery Journey Today! Ready to reclaim your lost crypto? Don’t wait until it’s too late! 👉 cryptrecver.com

📞 Need Immediate Assistance? Connect with Us! For real-time support or questions, reach out to our dedicated team on: ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Crypt Recver is your trusted partner in cryptocurrency recovery. Let us turn your challenges into victories. Don’t hesitate — your crypto future starts now! 🚀✨

Act fast and secure your digital assets with cryptrecver.com.Losing access to your cryptocurrency can feel like losing a part of your future. Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, a damaged seed backup, or a simple mistake in a transfer, the stress can be overwhelming. Fortunately, cryptrecver.com is here to assist! With our expert-led recovery services, you can safely and swiftly reclaim your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

# Why Trust Crypt Recver? 🤝

🛠️ Expert Recovery Solutions\ At Crypt Recver, we specialize in addressing complex wallet-related issues. Our skilled engineers have the tools and expertise to handle:

• Partially lost or forgotten seed phrases
• Extracting funds from outdated or invalid wallet addresses
• Recovering data from damaged hardware wallets
• Restoring coins from old or unsupported wallet formats

You’re not just getting a service; you’re gaining a partner in your cryptocurrency journey.

🚀 Fast and Efficient Recovery\ We understand that time is crucial in crypto recovery. Our optimized systems enable you to regain access to your funds quickly, focusing on speed without compromising security. With a success rate of over 90%, you can rely on us to act swiftly on your behalf.

🔒 Privacy is Our Priority\ Your confidentiality is essential. Every recovery session is conducted with the utmost care, ensuring all processes are encrypted and confidential. You can rest assured that your sensitive information remains private.

💻 Advanced Technology\ Our proprietary tools and brute-force optimization techniques maximize recovery efficiency. Regardless of how challenging your case may be, our technology is designed to give you the best chance at retrieving your crypto.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We help recover lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistakes happen — whether it’s an incorrect wallet address or a lost password, let us manage the recovery.
• Cold Wallet Restoration: If your cold wallet is failing, we can safely extract your assets and migrate them into a secure new wallet.
• Private Key Generation: Lost your private key? Our experts can help you regain control using advanced methods while ensuring your privacy.

⚠️ What We Don’t Do\ While we can handle many scenarios, some limitations exist. For instance, we cannot recover funds stored in custodial wallets or cases where there is a complete loss of four or more seed words without partial information available. We are transparent about what’s possible, so you know what to expect

# Don’t Let Lost Crypto Hold You Back!

Did you know that between 3 to 3.4 million BTC — nearly 20% of the total supply — are estimated to be permanently lost? Don’t become part of that statistic! Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, sending funds to the wrong address, or damaged drives, we can help you navigate these challenges

🛡️ Real-Time Dust Attack Protection\ Our services extend beyond recovery. We offer dust attack protection, keeping your activity anonymous and your funds secure, shielding your identity from unwanted tracking, ransomware, and phishing attempts.

🎉 Start Your Recovery Journey Today!\ Ready to reclaim your lost crypto? Don’t wait until it’s too late!\ 👉 cryptrecver.com

📞 Need Immediate Assistance? Connect with Us!\ For real-time support or questions, reach out to our dedicated team on:\ ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver\ 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Crypt Recver is your trusted partner in cryptocurrency recovery. Let us turn your challenges into victories. Don’t hesitate — your crypto future starts now! 🚀✨

Act fast and secure your digital assets with cryptrecver.com.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Welcome back to our weekly JABBB, Just Another Bitcoin Bubble Boom, a comics and meme contest crafted for you, creative stackers!

If you'd like to learn more, check our welcome post here.

---

This week sticker: Bitcoin Sir

You can download the source file directly from the HereComesBitcoin website in SVG and PNG. Use this sticker around SN with the code ![](https://m.stacker.news/71417)

The task

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

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

---

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

Submit each proposal on the relative thread, bounties will be distributed when enough participants submit options.

PS: you can now use HereComesBitcoin stickers to use on Stacker.News

₿e creative, have fun! :D

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/974483

@ c230edd3:8ad4a712

Chef's notes

I found this recipe a couple years ago and have been addicted to it since. Its incredibly easy, and cheap to prep. Freeze the sausage in flat, single serving portions. That way it can be cooked from frozen for a fast, flavorful, and healthy lunch or dinner. I took inspiration from the video that contained this recipe, and almost always pan fry the frozen sausage with some baby broccoli. The steam cooks the broccoli and the fats from the sausage help it to sear, while infusing the vibrant flavors. Serve with some rice, if desired. I often use serrano peppers, due to limited produce availability. They work well for a little heat and nice flavor that is not overpowering.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 25 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 15 min (only needed if cooking at time of prep)
• 🍽️ Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 4 lbs ground pork
• 12-15 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 Thai or Serrano peppers, rough chopped
• 1/4 c. lime juice
• 4 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 c. chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Portion and freeze, as desired.
3. Sautè frozen portions in hot frying pan, with broccoli or other fresh veggies.
4. Serve with rice or alone.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Wild parrots tend to fly in flocks, but when kept as single pets, they may become lonely and bored https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHcAOlamgDc

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-taught-pet-parrots-to-video-call-each-other-and-the-birds-loved-it-180982041/

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/973639

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install VLC Media Player
2. Open the app, navigate to More and tap New Stream
3. Enter https://iptv-org.github.io/iptv/index.m3u in the network address field and tap the arrow
4. Enjoy the global IPTV channel playlist

🔗️ Here is the stream URL as plain text: https://iptv-org.github.io/iptv/index.m3u

ℹ️ For playlists of specific countries, categories, or languages, visit IPTV-Org and see the Playlists section

ℹ️ You can find an overview of all available IPTV channels per country here

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Your device, your data. TRMNL's architecture prevents outsiders (including us) from accessing your local network. TRMNAL achieve this through 1 way communication between client and server, versus the other way around. Learn more.

Learn more at https://usetrmnl.com/

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/973632

@ 00000001:b0c77eb9

مواقع التواصل الإجتماعي العامة هي التي تتحكم بك، تتحكم بك بفرض أجندتها وتجبرك على اتباعها وتحظر وتحذف كل ما يخالفها، وحرية التعبير تنحصر في أجندتها تلك!

وخوارزمياتها الخبيثة التي لا حاجة لها، تعرض لك مايريدون منك أن تراه وتحجب ما لا يريدونك أن تراه.

في نوستر انت المتحكم، انت الذي تحدد من تتابع و انت الذي تحدد المرحلات التي تنشر منشوراتك بها.

نوستر لامركزي، بمعنى عدم وجود سلطة تتحكم ببياناتك، بياناتك موجودة في المرحلات، ولا احد يستطيع حذفها او تعديلها او حظر ظهورها.

و هذا لا ينطبق فقط على مواقع التواصل الإجتماعي العامة، بل ينطبق أيضاً على الـfediverse، في الـfediverse انت لست حر، انت تتبع الخادم الذي تستخدمه ويستطيع هذا الخادم حظر ما لا يريد ظهوره لك، لأنك لا تتواصل مع بقية الخوادم بنفسك، بل خادمك من يقوم بذلك بالنيابة عنك.

وحتى إذا كنت تمتلك خادم في شبكة الـfediverse، إذا خالفت اجندة بقية الخوادم ونظرتهم عن حرية الرأي و التعبير سوف يندرج خادمك في القائمة السوداء fediblock ولن يتمكن خادمك من التواصل مع بقية خوادم الشبكة، ستكون محصوراً بالخوادم الأخرى المحظورة كخادمك، بالتالي انت في الشبكة الأخرى من الـfediverse!

نعم، يوجد شبكتان في الكون الفدرالي fediverse شبكة الصالحين التابعين للأجندة الغربية وشبكة الطالحين الذين لا يتبعون لها، إذا تم إدراج خادمك في قائمة fediblock سوف تذهب للشبكة الأخرى!

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Jofer

Jofer era um jogador diferente. À primeira vista não, parecia igual, um volante combativo, perseguia os atacantes adversários implacavelmente, um bom jogador. Mas não era essa a característica que diferenciava Jofer. Jofer era, digamos, um chutador.

Começou numa semifinal de um torneio de juniores. O time de Jofer precisava do empate e estava sofrendo uma baita pressão do adversário, mas o jogo estava 1 a 1 e parecia que ia ficar assim mesmo, daquele jeito futebolístico que parece, parece mesmo. Só que aos 46 do segundo tempo tomaram um gol espírita, Ruizinho do outro time saiu correndo pela esquerda e, mesmo sendo canhoto, foi cortando para o meio, os zagueiros meio que achando que já tinha acabado mesmo, devia ter só mais aquele lance, o árbitro tinha dado dois minutos, Ruizinho chutou, marcou e o goleiro, que só pulou depois que já tinha visto que não ia ter jeito, ficou xingando.

A bola saiu do meio e tocaram para Jofer, ninguém nem veio marcá-lo, o outro time já estava comemorando, e com razão, o juiz estava de sacanagem em fazer o jogo continuar, já estava tudo acabado mesmo. Mas não, estava certo, mais um minuto de acréscimo, justo. Em um minuto dá pra fazer um gol. Mas como? Jofer pensou nas partidas da NBA em que com alguns centésimos de segundo faltando o armador jogava de qualquer jeito para a cesta e às vezes acertava. De trás do meio de campo, será? Não vou ter nem força pra fazer chegar no gol. Vou virar piada, melhor tocar pro Fumaça ali do lado e a gente perde sem essa humilhação no final. Mas, poxa, e daí? Vou tentar mesmo assim, qualquer coisa eu falo que foi um lançamento e daqui a uns dias todo mundo esquece. Olhou para o próprio pé, virou ele de ladinho, pra fora e depois pra dentro (bom, se eu pegar daqui, direitinho, quem sabe?), jogou a bola pro lado e bateu. A bola subiu escandalosamente, muito alta mesmo, deve ter subido uns 200 metros. Jofer não tinha como ter a menor noção. Depois foi descendo, o goleirão voltando correndo para debaixo da trave e olhando pra bola, foi chegando e pulando já só pra acompanhar, para ver, dependurado no travessão, a bola sair ainda bem alta, ela bateu na rede lateral interna antes de bater no chão, quicar violentamente e estufar a rede no alto do lado direito de quem olhava.

Mas isso tudo foi sonho do Jofer. Sonhou acordado, numa noite em que demorou pra dormir, deitado na sua cama. Ficou pensando se não seria fácil, se ele treinasse bastante, acertar o gol bem de longe, tipo no sonho, e se não dava pra fazer gol assim. No dia seguinte perguntou a Brunildinho, o treinador de goleiros. Era difícil defender essas bolas, ainda mais se elas subissem muito, o goleiro ficava sem perspectiva, o vento alterava a trajetória a cada instante, tinha efeito, ela cairia rápido, mas claro que não valia à pena treinar isso, a chance de acertar o gol era minúscula. Mas Jofer só ia tentar depois que treinasse bastante e comprovasse o que na sua imaginação parecia uma excelente idéia.

Começou a treinar todos os dias. Primeiro escondido, por vergonha dos colegas, chegava um pouco antes e ficava lá, chutando do círculo central. Ao menor sinal de gente se aproximando, parava e ia catar as bolas. Depois, quando começou a acertar, perdeu a vergonha. O pessoal do clube todo achava engraçado quando via Jofer treinando e depois ouvia a explicação da boca de alguém, ninguém levava muito a sério, mas também não achava de todo ridículo. O pessoal ria, mas no fundo torcia praquilo dar certo, mesmo.

Aconteceu que num jogo que não valia muita coisa, empatezinho feio, aos 40 do segundo tempo, a marcação dos adversários já não estava mais pressionando, todo mundo contente com o empate e com vontade de parar de jogar já, o Henrique, meia-esquerdo, humilde, mas ainda assim um pouco intimidante para Jofer (jogava demais), tocou pra ele. Vai lá, tenta sua loucura aí. Assumiu a responsabilidade do nosso volante introspectivo. Seria mais verossímil se Jofer tivesse errado, primeira vez que tentou, restava muito tempo ainda pra ele ter a chance de ser herói, ninguém acerta de primeira, mas ele acertou. Quase como no sonho, Lucas, o goleiro, não esperava, depois que viu o lance, riu-se, adiantou-se para pegar a bola que ele julgava que quicaria na área, mas ela foi mais pra frente, mais e mais, daí Lucas já estava correndo, só que começou a pensar que ela ia pra fora, e ele ia só se dependurar no travessão e fazer seu papel de estar na bola. Acabou que por conta daquele gol eles terminaram em segundo no grupo daquele torneiozinho, ao invés de terceiro, e não fez diferença nenhuma.

@ 91bea5cd:1df4451c

Básico

bash lsblk # Lista todos os diretorios montados.

Para criar o sistema de arquivos:

bash mkfs.btrfs -L "ThePool" -f /dev/sdx

Criando um subvolume:

bash btrfs subvolume create SubVol

Montando Sistema de Arquivos:

bash mount -o compress=zlib,subvol=SubVol,autodefrag /dev/sdx /mnt

Lista os discos formatados no diretório:

bash btrfs filesystem show /mnt

Adiciona novo disco ao subvolume:

bash btrfs device add -f /dev/sdy /mnt

Lista novamente os discos do subvolume:

bash btrfs filesystem show /mnt

Exibe uso dos discos do subvolume:

bash btrfs filesystem df /mnt

Balancea os dados entre os discos sobre raid1:

bash btrfs filesystem balance start -dconvert=raid1 -mconvert=raid1 /mnt

Scrub é uma passagem por todos os dados e metadados do sistema de arquivos e verifica as somas de verificação. Se uma cópia válida estiver disponível (perfis de grupo de blocos replicados), a danificada será reparada. Todas as cópias dos perfis replicados são validadas.

iniciar o processo de depuração :

bash btrfs scrub start /mnt

ver o status do processo de depuração Btrfs em execução:

bash btrfs scrub status /mnt

ver o status do scrub Btrfs para cada um dos dispositivos

bash btrfs scrub status -d / data btrfs scrub cancel / data

Para retomar o processo de depuração do Btrfs que você cancelou ou pausou:

btrfs scrub resume / data

Listando os subvolumes:

bash btrfs subvolume list /Reports

Criando um instantâneo dos subvolumes:

Aqui, estamos criando um instantâneo de leitura e gravação chamado snap de marketing do subvolume de marketing.

bash btrfs subvolume snapshot /Reports/marketing /Reports/marketing-snap

Além disso, você pode criar um instantâneo somente leitura usando o sinalizador -r conforme mostrado. O marketing-rosnap é um instantâneo somente leitura do subvolume de marketing

bash btrfs subvolume snapshot -r /Reports/marketing /Reports/marketing-rosnap

Forçar a sincronização do sistema de arquivos usando o utilitário 'sync'

Para forçar a sincronização do sistema de arquivos, invoque a opção de sincronização conforme mostrado. Observe que o sistema de arquivos já deve estar montado para que o processo de sincronização continue com sucesso.

bash btrfs filsystem sync /Reports

Para excluir o dispositivo do sistema de arquivos, use o comando device delete conforme mostrado.

bash btrfs device delete /dev/sdc /Reports

Para sondar o status de um scrub, use o comando scrub status com a opção -dR .

bash btrfs scrub status -dR / Relatórios

Para cancelar a execução do scrub, use o comando scrub cancel .

bash $ sudo btrfs scrub cancel / Reports

Para retomar ou continuar com uma depuração interrompida anteriormente, execute o comando de cancelamento de depuração

bash sudo btrfs scrub resume /Reports

mostra o uso do dispositivo de armazenamento:

btrfs filesystem usage /data

Para distribuir os dados, metadados e dados do sistema em todos os dispositivos de armazenamento do RAID (incluindo o dispositivo de armazenamento recém-adicionado) montados no diretório /data , execute o seguinte comando:

sudo btrfs balance start --full-balance /data

Pode demorar um pouco para espalhar os dados, metadados e dados do sistema em todos os dispositivos de armazenamento do RAID se ele contiver muitos dados.

Opções importantes de montagem Btrfs

Nesta seção, vou explicar algumas das importantes opções de montagem do Btrfs. Então vamos começar.

As opções de montagem Btrfs mais importantes são:

**1. acl e noacl

**ACL gerencia permissões de usuários e grupos para os arquivos/diretórios do sistema de arquivos Btrfs.

A opção de montagem acl Btrfs habilita ACL. Para desabilitar a ACL, você pode usar a opção de montagem noacl .

Por padrão, a ACL está habilitada. Portanto, o sistema de arquivos Btrfs usa a opção de montagem acl por padrão.

**2. autodefrag e noautodefrag

**Desfragmentar um sistema de arquivos Btrfs melhorará o desempenho do sistema de arquivos reduzindo a fragmentação de dados.

A opção de montagem autodefrag permite a desfragmentação automática do sistema de arquivos Btrfs.

A opção de montagem noautodefrag desativa a desfragmentação automática do sistema de arquivos Btrfs.

Por padrão, a desfragmentação automática está desabilitada. Portanto, o sistema de arquivos Btrfs usa a opção de montagem noautodefrag por padrão.

**3. compactar e compactar-forçar

**Controla a compactação de dados no nível do sistema de arquivos do sistema de arquivos Btrfs.

A opção compactar compacta apenas os arquivos que valem a pena compactar (se compactar o arquivo economizar espaço em disco).

A opção compress-force compacta todos os arquivos do sistema de arquivos Btrfs, mesmo que a compactação do arquivo aumente seu tamanho.

O sistema de arquivos Btrfs suporta muitos algoritmos de compactação e cada um dos algoritmos de compactação possui diferentes níveis de compactação.

Os algoritmos de compactação suportados pelo Btrfs são: lzo , zlib (nível 1 a 9) e zstd (nível 1 a 15).

Você pode especificar qual algoritmo de compactação usar para o sistema de arquivos Btrfs com uma das seguintes opções de montagem:

• compress=algoritmo:nível
• compress-force=algoritmo:nível

Para obter mais informações, consulte meu artigo Como habilitar a compactação do sistema de arquivos Btrfs .

**4. subvol e subvolid

**Estas opções de montagem são usadas para montar separadamente um subvolume específico de um sistema de arquivos Btrfs.

A opção de montagem subvol é usada para montar o subvolume de um sistema de arquivos Btrfs usando seu caminho relativo.

A opção de montagem subvolid é usada para montar o subvolume de um sistema de arquivos Btrfs usando o ID do subvolume.

Para obter mais informações, consulte meu artigo Como criar e montar subvolumes Btrfs .

**5. dispositivo

A opção de montagem de dispositivo** é usada no sistema de arquivos Btrfs de vários dispositivos ou RAID Btrfs.

Em alguns casos, o sistema operacional pode falhar ao detectar os dispositivos de armazenamento usados em um sistema de arquivos Btrfs de vários dispositivos ou RAID Btrfs. Nesses casos, você pode usar a opção de montagem do dispositivo para especificar os dispositivos que deseja usar para o sistema de arquivos de vários dispositivos Btrfs ou RAID.

Você pode usar a opção de montagem de dispositivo várias vezes para carregar diferentes dispositivos de armazenamento para o sistema de arquivos de vários dispositivos Btrfs ou RAID.

Você pode usar o nome do dispositivo (ou seja, sdb , sdc ) ou UUID , UUID_SUB ou PARTUUID do dispositivo de armazenamento com a opção de montagem do dispositivo para identificar o dispositivo de armazenamento.

Por exemplo,

• dispositivo=/dev/sdb
• dispositivo=/dev/sdb,dispositivo=/dev/sdc
• dispositivo=UUID_SUB=490a263d-eb9a-4558-931e-998d4d080c5d
• device=UUID_SUB=490a263d-eb9a-4558-931e-998d4d080c5d,device=UUID_SUB=f7ce4875-0874-436a-b47d-3edef66d3424

**6. degraded

A opção de montagem degradada** permite que um RAID Btrfs seja montado com menos dispositivos de armazenamento do que o perfil RAID requer.

Por exemplo, o perfil raid1 requer a presença de 2 dispositivos de armazenamento. Se um dos dispositivos de armazenamento não estiver disponível em qualquer caso, você usa a opção de montagem degradada para montar o RAID mesmo que 1 de 2 dispositivos de armazenamento esteja disponível.

**7. commit

A opção commit** mount é usada para definir o intervalo (em segundos) dentro do qual os dados serão gravados no dispositivo de armazenamento.

O padrão é definido como 30 segundos.

Para definir o intervalo de confirmação para 15 segundos, você pode usar a opção de montagem commit=15 (digamos).

**8. ssd e nossd

A opção de montagem ssd** informa ao sistema de arquivos Btrfs que o sistema de arquivos está usando um dispositivo de armazenamento SSD, e o sistema de arquivos Btrfs faz a otimização SSD necessária.

A opção de montagem nossd desativa a otimização do SSD.

O sistema de arquivos Btrfs detecta automaticamente se um SSD é usado para o sistema de arquivos Btrfs. Se um SSD for usado, a opção de montagem de SSD será habilitada. Caso contrário, a opção de montagem nossd é habilitada.

**9. ssd_spread e nossd_spread

A opção de montagem ssd_spread** tenta alocar grandes blocos contínuos de espaço não utilizado do SSD. Esse recurso melhora o desempenho de SSDs de baixo custo (baratos).

A opção de montagem nossd_spread desativa o recurso ssd_spread .

O sistema de arquivos Btrfs detecta automaticamente se um SSD é usado para o sistema de arquivos Btrfs. Se um SSD for usado, a opção de montagem ssd_spread será habilitada. Caso contrário, a opção de montagem nossd_spread é habilitada.

**10. descarte e nodiscard

Se você estiver usando um SSD que suporte TRIM enfileirado assíncrono (SATA rev3.1), a opção de montagem de descarte** permitirá o descarte de blocos de arquivos liberados. Isso melhorará o desempenho do SSD.

Se o SSD não suportar TRIM enfileirado assíncrono, a opção de montagem de descarte prejudicará o desempenho do SSD. Nesse caso, a opção de montagem nodiscard deve ser usada.

Por padrão, a opção de montagem nodiscard é usada.

**11. norecovery

Se a opção de montagem norecovery** for usada, o sistema de arquivos Btrfs não tentará executar a operação de recuperação de dados no momento da montagem.

**12. usebackuproot e nousebackuproot

Se a opção de montagem usebackuproot for usada, o sistema de arquivos Btrfs tentará recuperar qualquer raiz de árvore ruim/corrompida no momento da montagem. O sistema de arquivos Btrfs pode armazenar várias raízes de árvore no sistema de arquivos. A opção de montagem usebackuproot** procurará uma boa raiz de árvore e usará a primeira boa que encontrar.

A opção de montagem nousebackuproot não verificará ou recuperará raízes de árvore inválidas/corrompidas no momento da montagem. Este é o comportamento padrão do sistema de arquivos Btrfs.

**13. space_cache, space_cache=version, nospace_cache e clear_cache

A opção de montagem space_cache** é usada para controlar o cache de espaço livre. O cache de espaço livre é usado para melhorar o desempenho da leitura do espaço livre do grupo de blocos do sistema de arquivos Btrfs na memória (RAM).

O sistema de arquivos Btrfs suporta 2 versões do cache de espaço livre: v1 (padrão) e v2

O mecanismo de cache de espaço livre v2 melhora o desempenho de sistemas de arquivos grandes (tamanho de vários terabytes).

Você pode usar a opção de montagem space_cache=v1 para definir a v1 do cache de espaço livre e a opção de montagem space_cache=v2 para definir a v2 do cache de espaço livre.

A opção de montagem clear_cache é usada para limpar o cache de espaço livre.

Quando o cache de espaço livre v2 é criado, o cache deve ser limpo para criar um cache de espaço livre v1 .

Portanto, para usar o cache de espaço livre v1 após a criação do cache de espaço livre v2 , as opções de montagem clear_cache e space_cache=v1 devem ser combinadas: clear_cache,space_cache=v1

A opção de montagem nospace_cache é usada para desabilitar o cache de espaço livre.

Para desabilitar o cache de espaço livre após a criação do cache v1 ou v2 , as opções de montagem nospace_cache e clear_cache devem ser combinadas: clear_cache,nosapce_cache

**14. skip_balance

Por padrão, a operação de balanceamento interrompida/pausada de um sistema de arquivos Btrfs de vários dispositivos ou RAID Btrfs será retomada automaticamente assim que o sistema de arquivos Btrfs for montado. Para desabilitar a retomada automática da operação de equilíbrio interrompido/pausado em um sistema de arquivos Btrfs de vários dispositivos ou RAID Btrfs, você pode usar a opção de montagem skip_balance .**

**15. datacow e nodatacow

A opção datacow** mount habilita o recurso Copy-on-Write (CoW) do sistema de arquivos Btrfs. É o comportamento padrão.

Se você deseja desabilitar o recurso Copy-on-Write (CoW) do sistema de arquivos Btrfs para os arquivos recém-criados, monte o sistema de arquivos Btrfs com a opção de montagem nodatacow .

**16. datasum e nodatasum

A opção datasum** mount habilita a soma de verificação de dados para arquivos recém-criados do sistema de arquivos Btrfs. Este é o comportamento padrão.

Se você não quiser que o sistema de arquivos Btrfs faça a soma de verificação dos dados dos arquivos recém-criados, monte o sistema de arquivos Btrfs com a opção de montagem nodatasum .

Perfis Btrfs

Um perfil Btrfs é usado para informar ao sistema de arquivos Btrfs quantas cópias dos dados/metadados devem ser mantidas e quais níveis de RAID devem ser usados para os dados/metadados. O sistema de arquivos Btrfs contém muitos perfis. Entendê-los o ajudará a configurar um RAID Btrfs da maneira que você deseja.

Os perfis Btrfs disponíveis são os seguintes:

single : Se o perfil único for usado para os dados/metadados, apenas uma cópia dos dados/metadados será armazenada no sistema de arquivos, mesmo se você adicionar vários dispositivos de armazenamento ao sistema de arquivos. Assim, 100% do espaço em disco de cada um dos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos pode ser utilizado.

dup : Se o perfil dup for usado para os dados/metadados, cada um dos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos manterá duas cópias dos dados/metadados. Assim, 50% do espaço em disco de cada um dos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos pode ser utilizado.

raid0 : No perfil raid0 , os dados/metadados serão divididos igualmente em todos os dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos. Nesta configuração, não haverá dados/metadados redundantes (duplicados). Assim, 100% do espaço em disco de cada um dos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos pode ser usado. Se, em qualquer caso, um dos dispositivos de armazenamento falhar, todo o sistema de arquivos será corrompido. Você precisará de pelo menos dois dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid0 .

raid1 : No perfil raid1 , duas cópias dos dados/metadados serão armazenadas nos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos. Nesta configuração, a matriz RAID pode sobreviver a uma falha de unidade. Mas você pode usar apenas 50% do espaço total em disco. Você precisará de pelo menos dois dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid1 .

raid1c3 : No perfil raid1c3 , três cópias dos dados/metadados serão armazenadas nos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos. Nesta configuração, a matriz RAID pode sobreviver a duas falhas de unidade, mas você pode usar apenas 33% do espaço total em disco. Você precisará de pelo menos três dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid1c3 .

raid1c4 : No perfil raid1c4 , quatro cópias dos dados/metadados serão armazenadas nos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos. Nesta configuração, a matriz RAID pode sobreviver a três falhas de unidade, mas você pode usar apenas 25% do espaço total em disco. Você precisará de pelo menos quatro dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid1c4 .

raid10 : No perfil raid10 , duas cópias dos dados/metadados serão armazenadas nos dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos, como no perfil raid1 . Além disso, os dados/metadados serão divididos entre os dispositivos de armazenamento, como no perfil raid0 .

O perfil raid10 é um híbrido dos perfis raid1 e raid0 . Alguns dos dispositivos de armazenamento formam arrays raid1 e alguns desses arrays raid1 são usados para formar um array raid0 . Em uma configuração raid10 , o sistema de arquivos pode sobreviver a uma única falha de unidade em cada uma das matrizes raid1 .

Você pode usar 50% do espaço total em disco na configuração raid10 . Você precisará de pelo menos quatro dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid10 .

raid5 : No perfil raid5 , uma cópia dos dados/metadados será dividida entre os dispositivos de armazenamento. Uma única paridade será calculada e distribuída entre os dispositivos de armazenamento do array RAID.

Em uma configuração raid5 , o sistema de arquivos pode sobreviver a uma única falha de unidade. Se uma unidade falhar, você pode adicionar uma nova unidade ao sistema de arquivos e os dados perdidos serão calculados a partir da paridade distribuída das unidades em execução.

Você pode usar 1 00x(N-1)/N % do total de espaços em disco na configuração raid5 . Aqui, N é o número de dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos. Você precisará de pelo menos três dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid5 .

raid6 : No perfil raid6 , uma cópia dos dados/metadados será dividida entre os dispositivos de armazenamento. Duas paridades serão calculadas e distribuídas entre os dispositivos de armazenamento do array RAID.

Em uma configuração raid6 , o sistema de arquivos pode sobreviver a duas falhas de unidade ao mesmo tempo. Se uma unidade falhar, você poderá adicionar uma nova unidade ao sistema de arquivos e os dados perdidos serão calculados a partir das duas paridades distribuídas das unidades em execução.

Você pode usar 100x(N-2)/N % do espaço total em disco na configuração raid6 . Aqui, N é o número de dispositivos de armazenamento adicionados ao sistema de arquivos. Você precisará de pelo menos quatro dispositivos de armazenamento para configurar o sistema de arquivos Btrfs no perfil raid6 .

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Here’s Sean Voisen writing about how programming is a feeling:

For those of us who enjoy programming, there is a deep satisfaction that comes from solving problems through well-written code, a kind of ineffable joy found in the elegant expression of a system through our favorite syntax. It is akin to the same satisfaction a craftsperson might find at the end of the day after toiling away on well-made piece of furniture, the culmination of small dopamine hits that come from sweating the details on something and getting them just right. Maybe nobody will notice those details, but it doesn’t matter. We care, we notice, we get joy from the aesthetics of the craft.

This got me thinking about the idea of satisfaction in craft. Where does it come from?

Continue Reading https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2025/craft-and-satisfaction/

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/973628

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

trustedcoin

A lightningd plugin that replaces a bitcoind node with trusted public explorers. Great so one can run a c-lightning node on a VPS without having to bother with an expensive bitcoind.

It uses multiple explorers and alternates between them, parses blocks and compares them with block hashes taken from other explorers so if someone is trying to trick you at least your node will crash instead of assuming all is fine.

It is used on @lntxbot and Etleneum.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/trustedcoin

See also

• Sparko

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

CryptPad

Collaboration and privacy. Yes, you can have both Flagship instance of CryptPad, the end-to-end encrypted and open-source collaboration suite. Cloud administered by the CryptPad development team. https://cryptpad.fr/

ONLYOFFICE DocSpace

Document collaboration made simpler. Easily collaborate with customizable rooms. Edit any content you have. Work faster using AI assistants. Protect your sensitive business data. Download or try STARTUP Cloud (Limited-time offer) FREE https://www.onlyoffice.com/

SeaFile

A new way to organize your files Beyond just syncing and sharing files, Seafile lets you add custom file properties and organize your files in different views. With AI-powered automation for generating properties, Seafile offers a smarter, more efficient way to manage your files. Try it Now, Free for up to 3 users https://seafile.com/

SandStorm

An open source platform for self-hosting web apps Self-host web-based productivity apps easily and securely. Sandstorm is an open source project built by a community of volunteers with the goal of making it really easy to run open source web applications. Try the Demo or Signup Free https://alpha.sandstorm.io/apps

NextCloud Hub

A new generation of online collaboration that puts you in control. Nextcloud offers a modern, on premise content collaboration platform with real-time document editing, video chat & groupware on mobile, desktop and web. Sign up for a free Nextcloud account https://nextcloud.com/sign-up/

LinShare

True Open Source Secure File Sharing Solution We are committed to providing a reliable Open Source file-sharing solution, expertly designed to meet the highest standards of diverse industries, such as government and finance Try the Demo https://linshare.app/

Twake Drive

The open-source alternative to Google Drive. Privacy-First Open Source Workplace. Twake workplace open source business. Improve your effeciency with truly Open Source, all-in-one digital suite. Enhance the security in every aspect of your professional and private life. Sign up https://sign-up.twake.app/

SpaceDrive

One Explorer. All Your Files. Unify files from all your devices and clouds into a single, easy-to-use explorer. Designed for creators, hoarders and the painfully disorganized. Download desktop app (mobile coming soon) https://www.spacedrive.com/

ente

Safe Home for your photos Store, share, and discover your memories with end-to-end encryption. End-to-end encryption, durable storage and simple sharing. Packed with these and much more into our beautiful open source apps. Get started https://web.ente.io

fileStash

Turn your FTP server into... Filestash is the enterprise-grade file manager connecting your storage with your identity provider and authorisations. Try the demo https://demo.filestash.app

STORJ

Disruptively fast.‍ Globally secure. S3-compatible distributed cloud services that make the most demanding workflows fast and affordable. Fast track your journey toward high performance cloud services. Storj pricing is consistent and competitive in meeting or exceeding your cloud services needs. Give the products a try to experience the benefits of the distributed cloud. Get Started https://www.storj.io/get-started

FireFile

The open‑source alternative to Dropbox. Firefiles lets you setup a cloud drive with the backend of your choice and lets you seamlessly manage your files across multiple providers. It revolutionizes cloud storage management by offering a unified platform for all your storage needs. Sign up Free https://beta.firefiles.app

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/973626

@ 6fc114c7:8f4b1405

In the realm of cryptocurrency, the stakes are incredibly high, and losing access to your digital assets can be a daunting experience. But don’t worry — cryptrecver.com is here to transform that nightmare into a reality! With expert-led recovery services and leading-edge technology, Crypt Recver specializes in helping you regain access to your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Why Choose Crypt Recver? 🤔 🔑 Expertise You Can Trust At Crypt Recver, we blend advanced technology with skilled engineers who have a solid track record in crypto recovery. Whether you’ve forgotten your passwords, lost your private keys, or encountered issues with damaged hardware wallets, our team is ready to assist.

⚡ Fast Recovery Process Time is crucial when recovering lost funds. Crypt Recver’s systems are designed for speed, enabling quick recoveries — allowing you to return to what matters most: trading and investing.

🎯 High Success Rate With a success rate exceeding 90%, our recovery team has aided numerous clients in regaining access to their lost assets. We grasp the complexities of cryptocurrency and are committed to providing effective solutions.

🛡️ Confidential & Secure Your privacy is paramount. All recovery sessions at Crypt Recver are encrypted and completely confidential. You can trust us with your information, knowing we uphold the highest security standards.

🔧 Advanced Recovery Tools We employ proprietary tools and techniques to tackle complex recovery scenarios, from retrieving corrupted wallets to restoring coins from invalid addresses. No matter the challenge, we have a solution.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈 Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We can assist in recovering lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases. Transaction Recovery: Mistaken transfers, lost passwords, or missing transaction records — let us help you reclaim your funds! Cold Wallet Restoration: Did your cold wallet fail? We specialize in safely extracting assets. Private Key Generation: Forgotten your private key? We can help you generate new keys linked to your funds without compromising security. Don’t Let Lost Crypto Ruin Your Day! 🕒 With an estimated 3 to 3.4 million BTC lost forever, it’s essential to act quickly when facing access issues. Whether you’ve been affected by a dust attack or simply forgotten your key, Crypt Recver provides the support you need to reclaim your digital assets.

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Trust Crypt Recver for the best crypto recovery service — get back to trading with confidence! 💪In the realm of cryptocurrency, the stakes are incredibly high, and losing access to your digital assets can be a daunting experience. But don’t worry — cryptrecver.com is here to transform that nightmare into a reality! With expert-led recovery services and leading-edge technology, Crypt Recver specializes in helping you regain access to your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

# Why Choose Crypt Recver? 🤔

🔑 Expertise You Can Trust\ At Crypt Recver, we blend advanced technology with skilled engineers who have a solid track record in crypto recovery. Whether you’ve forgotten your passwords, lost your private keys, or encountered issues with damaged hardware wallets, our team is ready to assist.

⚡ Fast Recovery Process\ Time is crucial when recovering lost funds. Crypt Recver’s systems are designed for speed, enabling quick recoveries — allowing you to return to what matters most: trading and investing.

🎯 High Success Rate\ With a success rate exceeding 90%, our recovery team has aided numerous clients in regaining access to their lost assets. We grasp the complexities of cryptocurrency and are committed to providing effective solutions.

🛡️ Confidential & Secure\ Your privacy is paramount. All recovery sessions at Crypt Recver are encrypted and completely confidential. You can trust us with your information, knowing we uphold the highest security standards.

🔧 Advanced Recovery Tools\ We employ proprietary tools and techniques to tackle complex recovery scenarios, from retrieving corrupted wallets to restoring coins from invalid addresses. No matter the challenge, we have a solution.

# Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We can assist in recovering lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistaken transfers, lost passwords, or missing transaction records — let us help you reclaim your funds!
• Cold Wallet Restoration: Did your cold wallet fail? We specialize in safely extracting assets.
• Private Key Generation: Forgotten your private key? We can help you generate new keys linked to your funds without compromising security.

Don’t Let Lost Crypto Ruin Your Day! 🕒

With an estimated 3 to 3.4 million BTC lost forever, it’s essential to act quickly when facing access issues. Whether you’ve been affected by a dust attack or simply forgotten your key, Crypt Recver provides the support you need to reclaim your digital assets.

🚀 Start Your Recovery Now!\ Ready to retrieve your cryptocurrency? Don’t let uncertainty hold you back!\ 👉 Request Wallet Recovery Help Today!cryptrecver.com

Need Immediate Assistance? 📞

For quick queries or support, connect with us on:\ ✉️ Telegram: t.me/crypptrcver\ 💬 WhatsApp: +1(941)317–1821

Trust Crypt Recver for the best crypto recovery service — get back to trading with confidence! 💪

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Album art didn’t always exist. In the early 1900s, recorded music was still a novelty, overshadowed by sales of sheet music. Early vinyl records were vastly different from what we think of today: discs were sold individually and could only hold up to four minutes of music per side. Sometimes, only one side of the record was used. One of the most popular records of 1910, for example, was “Come, Josephine, in My Flying Machine”: it clocked in at two minutes and 39 seconds.

The invention of album art can get lost in the story of technological mastery. But among all the factors that contributed to the rise of recorded music, it stands as one of the few that was wholly driven by creators themselves. Album art — first as marketing material, then as pure creative expression — turned an audio-only medium into a multi-sensory experience.

This is the story of the people who made music visible.

Continue reading

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/972642

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Lagoa Santa: como chegar -- partindo da rodoviária de Belo Horizonte

Ao descer de seu ônibus na rodoviária de Belo Horizonte às 4 e pouco da manhã, darás de frente para um caubói que toma cerveja em seus trajes típicos em um bar no setor mesmo de desembarque. Suba a escada à direita que dá no estacionamento da rodoviária. Vire à esquerda e caminhe por mais ou menos 400 metros, atravessando uma área onde pessoas suspeitas -- mas provavelmente dormindo em pé -- lhe observam, e então uma pracinha ocupada por um clã de mendigos. Ao avistar um enorme obelisco no meio de um cruzamento de duas avenidas, vire à esquerda e caminhe por mais 400 metros. Você verá uma enorme, antiga e bela estação com uma praça em frente, com belas fontes aqüáticas. Corra dali e dirija-se a um pedaço de rua à direita dessa praça. Um velho palco de antigos carnavais estará colocado mais ou menos no meio da simpática ruazinha de parelepípedos: é onde você pegará seu próximo ônibus.

Para entrar na estação é necessário ter um cartão com créditos recarregáveis. Um viajante prudente deixa sempre um pouco de créditos em seu cartão a fim de evitar filas e outros problemas de indisponibilidade quando chega cansado de viagem, com pressa ou em horários incomuns. Esse tipo de pessoa perceberá que foi totalmente ludibriado ao perceber que que os créditos do seu cartão, abastecido quando de sua última vinda a Belo Horizonte, há três meses, pereceram de prazo de validade e foram absorvidos pelos cofre públicos. Terá, portanto, que comprar mais créditos. O guichê onde os cartões são abastecidos abre às 5h, mas não se espante caso ele não tenha sido aberto ainda quando o primeiro ônibus chegar, às 5h10.

Com alguma sorte, um jovem de moletom, autorizado por dois ou três fiscais do sistema de ônibus que conversam alegremente, será o operador da catraca. Ele deixa entrar sem pagar os bêbados, os malandros, os pivetes. Bastante empático e perceptivo do desespero dos outros, esse bom rapaz provavelmente também lhe deixará entrar sem pagar.

Uma vez dentro do ônibus, não se intimide com os gritalhões e valentões que, ofendidíssimos com o motorista por ele ter parado nas estações, depois dos ônibus anteriores terem ignorado esses excelsos passageiros que nelas aguardavam, vão aos berros tirar satisfação.

O ponto final do ônibus, 40 minutos depois, é o terminal Morro Alto. Lá você verá, se procurar bem entre vários ônibus e pessoas que despertam a sua mais honesta suspeita, um veículo escuro, apagado, numerado 5882 e que abrigará em seu interior um motorista e um cobrador que descansam o sono dos justos.

Aguarde na porta por mais uns vinte minutos até que, repentinamente desperto, o motorista ligue o ônibus, abra as portas e já comece, de leve, a arrancar. Entre correndo, mas espere mais um tempo, enquanto as pessoas que têm o cartão carregado passem e peguem os melhores lugares, até que o cobrador acorde e resolva te cobrar a passagem nesse velho meio de pagamento, outrora o mais líqüído, o dinheiro.

Este último ônibus deverá levar-lhe, enfim, a Lagoa Santa.

@ 460c25e6:ef85065c

If you don't know where your posts are, you might as well just stay in the centralized Twitter. You either take control of your relay lists, or they will control you. Amethyst offers several lists of relays for our users. We are going to go one by one to help clarify what they are and which options are best for each one.

Public Home/Outbox Relays

Home relays store all YOUR content: all your posts, likes, replies, lists, etc. It's your home. Amethyst will send your posts here first. Your followers will use these relays to get new posts from you. So, if you don't have anything there, they will not receive your updates.

Home relays must allow queries from anyone, ideally without the need to authenticate. They can limit writes to paid users without affecting anyone's experience.

This list should have a maximum of 3 relays. More than that will only make your followers waste their mobile data getting your posts. Keep it simple. Out of the 3 relays, I recommend: - 1 large public, international relay: nos.lol, nostr.mom, relay.damus.io, etc. - 1 personal relay to store a copy of all your content in a place no one can delete. Go to relay.tools and never be censored again. - 1 really fast relay located in your country: paid options like http://nostr.wine are great

Do not include relays that block users from seeing posts in this list. If you do, no one will see your posts.

Public Inbox Relays

This relay type receives all replies, comments, likes, and zaps to your posts. If you are not getting notifications or you don't see replies from your friends, it is likely because you don't have the right setup here. If you are getting too much spam in your replies, it's probably because your inbox relays are not protecting you enough. Paid relays can filter inbox spam out.

Inbox relays must allow anyone to write into them. It's the opposite of the outbox relay. They can limit who can download the posts to their paid subscribers without affecting anyone's experience.

This list should have a maximum of 3 relays as well. Again, keep it small. More than that will just make you spend more of your data plan downloading the same notifications from all these different servers. Out of the 3 relays, I recommend: - 1 large public, international relay: nos.lol, nostr.mom, relay.damus.io, etc. - 1 personal relay to store a copy of your notifications, invites, cashu tokens and zaps. - 1 really fast relay located in your country: go to nostr.watch and find relays in your country

Terrible options include: - nostr.wine should not be here. - filter.nostr.wine should not be here. - inbox.nostr.wine should not be here.

DM Inbox Relays

These are the relays used to receive DMs and private content. Others will use these relays to send DMs to you. If you don't have it setup, you will miss DMs. DM Inbox relays should accept any message from anyone, but only allow you to download them.

Generally speaking, you only need 3 for reliability. One of them should be a personal relay to make sure you have a copy of all your messages. The others can be open if you want push notifications or closed if you want full privacy.

Good options are: - inbox.nostr.wine and auth.nostr1.com: anyone can send messages and only you can download. Not even our push notification server has access to them to notify you. - a personal relay to make sure no one can censor you. Advanced settings on personal relays can also store your DMs privately. Talk to your relay operator for more details. - a public relay if you want DM notifications from our servers.

Make sure to add at least one public relay if you want to see DM notifications.

Private Home Relays

Private Relays are for things no one should see, like your drafts, lists, app settings, bookmarks etc. Ideally, these relays are either local or require authentication before posting AND downloading each user\'s content. There are no dedicated relays for this category yet, so I would use a local relay like Citrine on Android and a personal relay on relay.tools.

Keep in mind that if you choose a local relay only, a client on the desktop might not be able to see the drafts from clients on mobile and vice versa.

Search relays:

This is the list of relays to use on Amethyst's search and user tagging with @. Tagging and searching will not work if there is nothing here.. This option requires NIP-50 compliance from each relay. Hit the Default button to use all available options on existence today: - nostr.wine - relay.nostr.band - relay.noswhere.com

Local Relays:

This is your local storage. Everything will load faster if it comes from this relay. You should install Citrine on Android and write ws://localhost:4869 in this option.

General Relays:

This section contains the default relays used to download content from your follows. Notice how you can activate and deactivate the Home, Messages (old-style DMs), Chat (public chats), and Global options in each.

Keep 5-6 large relays on this list and activate them for as many categories (Home, Messages (old-style DMs), Chat, and Global) as possible.

Amethyst will provide additional recommendations to this list from your follows with information on which of your follows might need the additional relay in your list. Add them if you feel like you are missing their posts or if it is just taking too long to load them.

My setup

Here's what I use: 1. Go to relay.tools and create a relay for yourself. 2. Go to nostr.wine and pay for their subscription. 3. Go to inbox.nostr.wine and pay for their subscription. 4. Go to nostr.watch and find a good relay in your country. 5. Download Citrine to your phone.

Then, on your relay lists, put:

Public Home/Outbox Relays: - nostr.wine - nos.lol or an in-country relay. - .nostr1.com

Public Inbox Relays - nos.lol or an in-country relay - .nostr1.com

DM Inbox Relays - inbox.nostr.wine - .nostr1.com

Private Home Relays - ws://localhost:4869 (Citrine) - .nostr1.com (if you want)

Search Relays - nostr.wine - relay.nostr.band - relay.noswhere.com

Local Relays - ws://localhost:4869 (Citrine)

General Relays - nos.lol - relay.damus.io - relay.primal.net - nostr.mom

And a few of the recommended relays from Amethyst.

Final Considerations

Remember, relays can see what your Nostr client is requesting and downloading at all times. They can track what you see and see what you like. They can sell that information to the highest bidder, they can delete your content or content that a sponsor asked them to delete (like a negative review for instance) and they can censor you in any way they see fit. Before using any random free relay out there, make sure you trust its operator and you know its terms of service and privacy policies.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

I don’t like garlic. It’s not a dislike for the taste in the moment, so much as an extreme dislike for the way it stays with you—sometimes for days—after a particularly garlicky meal.

Interestingly enough, both of my brothers love garlic. They roast it by itself and keep it at the ready so they can have a very strong garlic profile in their cooking. When I prepare a dish, I don’t even see garlic on the ingredient list. I’ve cut it out of my life so completely that my brain genuinely skips over it in recipes. While my brothers are looking for ways to sneak garlic into everything they make, I’m subconsciously avoiding it altogether.

A few years back, when I was digging intensely into how design systems mature, I stumbled on the concept of a design system origin story. There are two extreme origin stories and an infinite number of possibilities between. On one hand you have the grassroots system, where individuals working on digital products are simply trying to solve their own daily problems. They’re frustrated with having to go cut and paste elements from past designs or with recreating the same layouts over and over, so they start to work more systematically. On the other hand, you have the top down system, where leadership is directing teams to take a more systematic approach, often forming a small partially dedicated core team to tackle some centralized assets and guidelines for all to follow. The influences in those early days bias a design system in interesting and impactful ways.

We’ve established that there are a few types of bias that are either intentionally or unintentionally embedded into our design systems. Acknowledging this is a great first step. But, what’s the impact of this? Does it matter?

I believe there are a few impacts design system biases, but there’s one that stands out. The bias in your design system makes some individuals feel the system is meant for them and others feel it’s not. This is a problem because, a design system cannot live up to it’s expected value until it is broadly in use. If individuals feel your design system is not for them, the won’t use it. And, as you know, it doesn’t matter how good your design system is if nobody is using it.

Continue reading

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/972641

@ d61f3bc5:0da6ef4a

I remember the first gathering of Nostr devs two years ago in Costa Rica. We were all psyched because Nostr appeared to solve the problem of self-sovereign online identity and decentralized publishing. The protocol seemed well-suited for textual content, but it wasn't really designed to handle binary files, like images or video.

The Problem

When I publish a note that contains an image link, the note itself is resilient thanks to Nostr, but if the hosting service disappears or takes my image down, my note will be broken forever. We need a way to publish binary data without relying on a single hosting provider.

We were discussing how there really was no reliable solution to this problem even outside of Nostr. Peer-to-peer attempts like IPFS simply didn't work; they were hopelessly slow and unreliable in practice. Torrents worked for popular files like movies, but couldn't be relied on for general file hosting.

Awesome Blossom

A year later, I attended the Sovereign Engineering demo day in Madeira, organized by Pablo and Gigi. Many projects were presented over a three hour demo session that day, but one really stood out for me.

Introduced by hzrd149 and Stu Bowman, Blossom blew my mind because it showed how we can solve complex problems easily by simply relying on the fact that Nostr exists. Having an open user directory, with the corresponding social graph and web of trust is an incredible building block.

Since we can easily look up any user on Nostr and read their profile metadata, we can just get them to simply tell us where their files are stored. This, combined with hash-based addressing (borrowed from IPFS), is all we need to solve our problem.

How Blossom Works

The Blossom protocol (Blobs Stored Simply on Mediaservers) is formally defined in a series of BUDs (Blossom Upgrade Documents). Yes, Blossom is the most well-branded protocol in the history of protocols. Feel free to refer to the spec for details, but I will provide a high level explanation here.

The main idea behind Blossom can be summarized in three points:

1. Users specify which media server(s) they use via their public Blossom settings published on Nostr;
2. All files are uniquely addressable via hashes;
3. If an app fails to load a file from the original URL, it simply goes to get it from the server(s) specified in the user's Blossom settings.

Just like Nostr itself, the Blossom protocol is dead-simple and it works!

Let's use this image as an example:

If you look at the URL for this image, you will notice that it looks like this:

blossom.primal.net/c1aa63f983a44185d039092912bfb7f33adcf63ed3cae371ebe6905da5f688d0.jpg

All Blossom URLs follow this format:

[server]/[file-hash].[extension]

The file hash is important because it uniquely identifies the file in question. Apps can use it to verify that the file they received is exactly the file they requested. It also gives us the ability to reliably get the same file from a different server.

Nostr users declare which media server(s) they use by publishing their Blossom settings. If I store my files on Server A, and they get removed, I can simply upload them to Server B, update my public Blossom settings, and all Blossom-capable apps will be able to find them at the new location. All my existing notes will continue to display media content without any issues.

Blossom Mirroring

Let's face it, re-uploading files to another server after they got removed from the original server is not the best user experience. Most people wouldn't have the backups of all the files, and/or the desire to do this work.

This is where Blossom's mirroring feature comes handy. In addition to the primary media server, a Blossom user can set one one or more mirror servers. Under this setup, every time a file is uploaded to the primary server the Nostr app issues a mirror request to the primary server, directing it to copy the file to all the specified mirrors. This way there is always a copy of all content on multiple servers and in case the primary becomes unavailable, Blossom-capable apps will automatically start loading from the mirror.

Mirrors are really easy to setup (you can do it in two clicks in Primal) and this arrangement ensures robust media handling without any central points of failure. Note that you can use professional media hosting services side by side with self-hosted backup servers that anyone can run at home.

Using Blossom Within Primal

Blossom is natively integrated into the entire Primal stack and enabled by default. If you are using Primal 2.2 or later, you don't need to do anything to enable Blossom, all your media uploads are blossoming already.

To enhance user privacy, all Primal apps use the "/media" endpoint per BUD-05, which strips all metadata from uploaded files before they are saved and optionally mirrored to other Blossom servers, per user settings. You can use any Blossom server as your primary media server in Primal, as well as setup any number of mirrors:

## Conclusion

For such a simple protocol, Blossom gives us three major benefits:

1. Verifiable authenticity. All Nostr notes are always signed by the note author. With Blossom, the signed note includes a unique hash for each referenced media file, making it impossible to falsify.
2. File hosting redundancy. Having multiple live copies of referenced media files (via Blossom mirroring) greatly increases the resiliency of media content published on Nostr.
3. Censorship resistance. Blossom enables us to seamlessly switch media hosting providers in case of censorship.

Thanks for reading; and enjoy! 🌸

@ 1c19eb1a:e22fb0bc

If you haven't noticed already, #Nostr is a little different from what most people are used to. One of the ways this is felt most acutely is with media hosting. Users are accustomed to uploading their images and videos directly through the app they are posting from. Many Nostr apps provide that same experience nowadays, but it wasn't always the case.

Just a couple years ago, users had to find somewhere to host their media separately, and then copy and paste the URL into their note whenever they wanted to share their cat pictures. One of the first, if not the first, media hosting services specifically intended for Nostr was nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7, which will be the service we are reviewing today.

Like our previous review of Amber, Nostr.Build is a service for users to pair with other Nostr apps. You won't generally use nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7 by itself. Rather, you'll use it to host that incredible shot you want to post to #Olas, or to host screenshots for your long-form tutorial about setting up Nostr Wallet Connect that you'll be posting from #Habla.news, or for hosting a hilarious video of your cat falling asleep to nostr:npub1cj8znuztfqkvq89pl8hceph0svvvqk0qay6nydgk9uyq7fhpfsgsqwrz4u's voice and taking a tumble off of his favorite perch that you want to share on #Damus. However, there are some features within Nostr.Build that you may want to check out quite apart from using it with any other Nostr app.

Overall Impression

Score: 4.8 / 5

I have been impressed by Nostr.Build for some time now, but they have pulled out all the stops in their latest update, increasing their maximum file size for free accounts to 100MB, integrating the #Blossom protocol, adding the ability to share directly to Nostr from within your dashboard, and more integrations with other Nostr apps than ever before. Nostr.Build is simply a pleasure to use, whether through their web interface, or through another Nostr app that integrates with them.

With the ability to easily organize your media, view statistics, browse the media gallery of free uploads, metadata removal for increased privacy, and AI image generation, Nostr.Build is not simply a media hosting service, it is a full-fledged media management platform. Its robust features keep it well ahead of other Nostr-focused media hosting options available, and a particularly strong option for those using Blossom and wanting redundancy and reliable uptime for their media.

As much as I enjoy using the web interface, though, where Nostr.Build really shines is their integrations with other Nostr apps. These integrations allow users to have the same experience they are accustomed to from centralized social platforms of uploading their media from within the same app they are using to share it. No copy/pasting a URL from one app to another. In fact, many users may not realize they have been using Nostr.Build in their client of choice, simply because it is the default option for media hosting for many Nostr apps.

This has the added benefit to client developers that they can provide this experience to their users without having to run media hosting infrastructure on top of trying to build their app. The separation of relays, clients, and media hosting between different entities, while keeping a similar experience to centralized platforms where a single company controls all three, is critical to Nostr adoption.

Features

Nostr.Build has a plethora of features beyond simply hosting your media. Let's take a look!

AI Image Generation

Do you need a quick title image for a long-form article? How about inspiration for a logo or art piece? Nostr.Build's AI Studio has you covered.

They have provided a few different models based on the plan you purchase, beginning with the Professional plan, which includes SDXL-Lightning and Stable Diffusion 1. Upgrading to the Creator plan will give you access to all Pro Stable Diffusion models and unlimited use of the Flux.1 model, which is the same core model used for Grok2 images.

I personally have a Professional account, so I haven't had a chance to try out Flux.1, but I have used Stable Diffusion extensively for creating character art for #NostrHeroes characters, such as these:

Nothing too spectacular when compared with some of the newer models out there, and there is no image-to-image support (yet), but more than adequate for casual image generation needs. Moreover, it is far more than what one would expect from a simple media-hosting service.

Admittedly, I am also no expert at coaxing AI models to produce anything remarkable so your results may vary. Either way, image generation is a welcome tool to have available without needing to go to an outside service unless you require something very specific.

Upload Limits

The maximum file size limits on Nostr.Build have been getting progressively larger, even for their free service. As I recall, it was a mere 21MB limit per file just a few months ago, which is fine for image files, but is quickly exceeded with videos. Then they increased their limits to 50MB per file, and as of recent updates it has been increased once more to a whopping 100MB per file... for free! This is more than adequate for most uses.

However, free users' images, GIFs, and videos are automatically viewable via Nostr.Build's free media gallery. This is something to particularly bear in mind when uploading images you intend to share via direct message. Though your DMs are encrypted, the images uploaded to Nostr.Build are not, and if you don't have a paid account, they will be viewable to the all paid users in the free media gallery. If you want to upload images that will not be viewable unless you actively share them, you must have a paid account.

Paid accounts have no file size limit, but they do have a total storage limit. I could not find anything about total storage limits for free accounts, but Professional tier will give you 25GB, Creator 50GB, and Advanced 250GB. Uploads to paid accounts are not visible in the free media gallery, so only those you give the link to will be able to access your content.

Media Types

Many file types are supported by Nostr.Built, even for free users, including:

• Image: .jpg, .png, .gif
• Video: .mov, mp4
• Audio: mp3, .wav

Upgrading to the Professional plan will add .pdf and .svg to the list of permitted file types, and upgrading to Creator or above will add .zip files, as well.

I believe other common file types are also supported, but these are the only ones specifically mentioned on the site.

Free Media Gallery

The free media gallery is an interesting little feature that Nostr.Build has available to paid accounts. Free users can get a preview, such as the one below, but only paid users can browse through the millions of uploads made by free users.

Apart from being amusing to browse through the things people have been uploading, I am unsure of how useful this particular feature is. No indication is given as to who uploaded the media, and it is limited compared to media feeds in other Nostr apps in two important ways. First, it only shows media uploaded to Nostr.Build, while other media-focused Nostr apps, such as Slidestr, Lumina, or even Primal will show media posted by all Nostr users. Second, Nostr.Build's gallery doesn't show all uploads to Nostr.Build, but only uploads from those without a paid account, further limiting the scope of whose uploads are seen.

Paid users have the advantage of being able to upload media that is not viewable to anyone unless they intentionally share the link somewhere. Free users, on the other hand, must be aware that their uploads are viewable by any paid users, whether they shared the link anywhere or not.

One incident I had while testing out another app required me to reach out to Nostr.Build support to request deletion of an image. It had some of my personal information in it, and had been uploaded to Nostr.Build and sent to me via DM. The sender assumed that since it was being sent via DM, no one else would be able to see the image, but because he was not a paid user of Nostr.Build, the image was included in the Free Media Gallery for any paid user to see. Not ideal, but the folks at Nostr.Build were quick to get it deleted for me.

In short, I have mixed feelings about this particular feature.

Blossom

Blossom is a media storage and retrieval protocol built for Nostr, but usable with any application that needs to access media via the web, and Nostr.Build has recently added support for Blossom uploads via their Blossom server: blossom.band

I will likely be adding a Nostrversity article going over Blossom in detail in the near future, but here's the basics of what it makes possible:

First, easy integration for media uploading from your favorite Nostr apps. Amethyst, Coracle, Primal and others have added Blossom upload support, so you just have to hop into your settings and add Nostr.Build's Blossom server address to start using it as your media host. No need to go to a separate app to upload your media and copy/paste the URL into your Nostr note!

Second, your media in Blossom is content addressable. This means it is named based on a hash of its actual data. Because of this, you can verify that the media has not been altered or replaced by your media host. If the hash doesn't match the data, it won't be loaded by the Nostr client, so you never have to worry about the image in your note being replaced by a different image by your media host.

Finally, because your media is addressable by its content, you can save the same media to multiple hosts, and if one of them goes down, Nostr apps can fetch your media from other hosts, just like they can do with your notes by fetching them from different relays if one relay you write to is down. This makes your images and videos much harder to censor, since you would need to be banned by multiple Blossom servers for your media to no longer be accessible.

If you would like to upload media to more than one Blossom server at the same time, your options are currently to use Primal and ensure that your settings have "Enable media mirrors" toggled on, or to use Bouquet. Hopefully we will see this option added to more Nostr apps in the near future.

Metadata Stripping

For files uploaded via Nostr.Build's dashboard, location metadata is removed upon upload. This is to protect user privacy, since this data could be used to reveal your home address if it is left attached to images posted publicly on Nostr.

When uploading via Blossom, media containing location metadata will be rejected. The user will be required to remove the metadata before they can upload the media.

No KYC and No Ads Policy

The only form of identification needed to use Nostr.Build is your Nostr identity. Every upload is tied to your npub, but no name, date of birth, email, or other identifying information is required. This is made possible because Nostr.Build only accepts Bitcoin as payment for their accounts, and no KYC is required to make Bitcoin transactions via Lightning.

Additionally, Nostr.Build is philosophically opposed to targeted advertising, so they have a policy that they will never use ads on their hosting service.

Client Integrations

Even before Blossom, Nostr.Build had many Nostr clients that used it as the default media hosting service, allowing users to upload directly within the app. This has only expanded now that Nostr.Build has added Blossom.

A very non-exhaustive list of clients that integrate with Nostr.Build is listed on their site, and includes Damus, Amethyst, Nostrudel, Snort, Iris, Coracle, Flycat, and Yakihonne. Additional apps that support Nostr.Build via Blossom include Primal and Flotilla. Some of these integrations support both Blossom and NIP-96 options for uploading media, such as Amethyst, while others only support one or the other.

I would not be surprised to see more and more Nostr apps move to integrating Blossom and phasing out NIP-96 support. Either way, though, Nostr.Build currently supports both, and is therefore an excellent hosting option if you want to use it with a wide range of Nostr apps.

Media Statistics

For those with a paid account, Nostr.Build provides information about how often each of your uploads has been requested and viewed within a given time period.

This can be valuable information for content creators, so they can determine what content is resonating with their audience, and what times of day their posts get the most views.

This information can currently be viewed for a maximum period of three months prior to the current date, and as short a period as just the past hour.

Can My Grandma Use It?

Score: 4.7 / 5

Nostr.Build is incredibly easy to use if you have a paid account, or if you are a free user uploading to Nostr.Build through a client that integrates with them by default. Previous frictions encountered by free users trying to upload large files should now be few and far between, thanks to the generous 100MB size limit.

Where things may be a bit more involved is when users are trying to set up media hosting on Nostr apps that don't use Nostr.Build by default. Exactly where in the settings the user must go to set this up, and whether to use the Blossom or NIP-96 address may not be immediately apparent, and requires an understanding of the difference that the user may not possess. This is not the fault of Nostr.Built, though, and I have not taken it into consideration in the scoring. Each individual Nostr app's settings should be as easy to understand as possible.

Another point of friction may come from free users who want to upload directly through the Nostr.Build site, instead of via another Nostr app. This used to be possible without logging in, but in an effort to ensure the service was used for Nostr, and not for general media hosting, Nostr.Build added the requirement to log in.

Thankfully, there are plenty of login options, including npub and password, browser extension (NIP-07), and even via a one-time-code sent to you via Nostr DM. However, if you don't have a paid account already, logging in will prompt you to upgrade. It seems that uploading directly via the website has been removed for free users entirely. You can only upload via another Nostr app if you don't have a paid account. This may lead to confusion for users who don't want to pay for an account, since it isn't made apparent anywhere that uploading through the website isn't an option for them.

Additionally, I would like to see the addresses for the Blossom server and for NIP-96 uploads (unless they are being phased out) added to the main page somewhere. Even selecting the "Blossom" page from the site navigation doesn't make clear what needs to be done to utilize the service. Something as simple as, "To use Nostr.Build with your favorite Blossom compatible Nostr apps, just add https://blossom.band as your media host in the app settings," would be enough to point users in the right direction.

For those who do have paid accounts, the dashboard is easy to navigate and organize your media.

By default, all uploads are added to the Main Folder. Users can leave them there, or they can easily create new folders and drag and drop media to organize it.

Every image has a copy/paste clipboard icon for ready access to copy the media URL for inclusion into a Nostr note.

Additionally, Nostr.Build allows users to share their uploaded media to Nostr directly from the dashboard. Bear in mind, though, this is published to a set of popular relays, without taking into account the user's preferred write relays.

The section just below the user's profile information gives an at-a-glance view of important information, such as how much of the user's allotted storage has been used, how many AI Studio credits are available, how many days are left before their paid account must be renewed, and how many files from three major categories — GIFs, images, and videos — have been uploaded.

Uploading directly to the dashboard is also incredibly easy. You can simply drag and drop files into the upload pane, or browse for them. If you have a URL for the media you want to upload, you can even paste it to import from another website or Blossom server.

Anything I could think of that I might want to do in the interface was intuitive to find, well labeled, or had common and easily identified icons.

How do UI look?

Score: 4.7 / 5

I would describe Nostr.Build's UI as clean and utilitarian, which is what one would expect from a media hosting service. Nothing too flashy. Just what you need and nothing you don't.

We certainly like our purple color-schemes on Nostr, and Nostr.Build leans into that with white text on shades of purple backgrounds, along with occasional color-popping accents. If a Nostr client had made the same color choices, I might be a bit more critical, but it works in an app that users won't be spending a ton of time in, except while managing their media, or using the AI Studio to generate some images.

UI elements such as buttons, active folder indicators, and icons all maintain an attractive, and simple design, with rounded corners wherever appropriate. Nothing looks too busy or overbearing, and the spacing between image previews in the folder view is just right.

Font remains consistent throughout the interface, with no jarring changes, and bold text, in white or another contrasting color, is used appropriately to draw attention, while subdued text is rendered in a light purple to blend more with the background, while remaining readable.

As such, the UI is attractive, without being particularly breathtaking. Nothing to complain about, but also nothing to write home about.

Log In Options

Score: 4.8 / 5

As mentioned previously, Nostr.Build provides three ways a user can log in.

The first should be very familiar for any Nostr user who frequents web clients, and that is by use of a browser extension (NIP-07), such as Alby, Nos2x, or Gooti. Note, this will also work if you are on Android and using KeyChat's browser, which has a NIP-07 signer built in.

Next is the legacy login method for Nostr.Build that they have used since the service first launched, which is via npub and password. This should serve to remind you that even though Nostr.Build supports Nostr login, and can post your images to Nostr for you, it's really just a centralized media hosting service. Just like you wouldn't use only one Nostr relay, you should not use just one media host. Mirror your media to other Blossom servers.

Most intriguing, and one I had not seen used before, is the option to use your npub and have a one-time-code sent to you via Nostr DM. I tested this method out and it worked flawlessly. It is unfortunately using the old NIP-04 DM spec, though, so any clients that have deprecated these DMs will not work for receiving the code. We're in a strange place with Nostr DMs currently, with some clients deprecating NIP-04 DMs in favor of NIP-17, others that still only support NIP-04, and a few that support both. If you don't see the DM in your client of choice, hop over to Primal and check your DMs there in the "other" tab.

Since Nostr.Build is supporting Nostr login, I would like to see them add remote signer (NIP-46) login alongside browser extension login to round out the options expected from a Nostr web app.

Feature Set

Score: 4.8 / 5

The features provided by Nostr.Build all work as expected and provide a lot of value to the user. With only one exception, all of the features make sense for a media hosting and management service to provide, and they are adding more features all the time.

Users not only get a reliable hosting service, with excellent uptime for their media, but they get integrations with most Nostr clients I can think of, Blossom protocol support, media organization and statistics, posting media to Nostr from within the dashboard, metadata stripping for enhanced privacy, a wide range of supported file types, and an AI image generation studio! What's more, there are additional features already on the roadmap, including traditional and AI image editing, additional plan options, expandable storage, and video transcoding for optimized playback. Nostr.Build is just getting started and they already offer more than most media hosting services out there, intended for Nostr or otherwise.

The one feature I am still not sold on is the "Free Media Gallery." The name is misleading. The gallery itself is not free. You must have a paid account to access more than a preview of it. Rather, it displays media uploaded by free users, regardless of whether they uploaded that media to send via DM, or uploaded it but decided not to share it out, or uploaded it to post it only within a private group on Flotilla, or uploaded it and only sent the note with the image link to a private relay.

Moreover, if I want to see media that has been shared on Nostr, there are plenty of ways I can do so that I can be confident only include media users intended to be publicly viewable. This feature from Nostr.Build, if it is kept at all, should have some way of ensuring the gallery only includes images that were shared on public relays.

Pricing

Score: 5 / 5

The pricing structure for Nostr.Build is exceptionally reasonable when compared with other services.

The Professional plan, which is their lowest paid tier, is just 69,000 sats a year. At current price, that translates to around $70 for the year, and Nostr.Build has been known to lower their pricing as Bitcoin goes up. Users can also get a 10% or 20% discount if they buy 2 or 3 years at a time, compensating for the fact that Bitcoin tends to go up year over year.

For that cost, users get 25GB of storage, unlimited file size for uploads within that storage cap, and access to all of Nostr.Build's features mentioned in this review, with the exception of their highest end AI models and storage of certain file types.

If I were to set up my own VPS to host a Blossom server with comparable storage, I would be paying around $14 a month before the cost of the domain, and it would be anything but plug and play. Even then, all I would have is storage. I would be missing out on all of the other features Nostr.Build has out of the box for less than half the price.

The Creator plan is close to double the cost at 120,000 sats, or about $120, a year. However, you aren't just getting double the storage space at 50GB; you are also getting double the AI credits, access to the higher tier AI models, S3 backup for all of your media, and your own Creator page you can share out with your media available for others to browse in one location.

The Advanced plan doesn't add a lot of extra features for more than double the price of the Creator plan, but it MASSIVELY increases your storage limit by 5x to a total of 250GB. Comparable storage space on a VPS to run your own Blossom server would be about $100 a month and Nostr.Build is offering it for about $250 (250,000 sats) for a whole year! If you really need to host that much media, it's hard to beat this price. The plan also comes with a Nostr.Build NIP-05 address, if you need one.

Now, the argument can be made, "But it's priced in sats, and that means in four years I will have spent many times that dollar amount on their service, possibly making it more expensive than other services priced in fiat." While that is true, it also doesn't take opportunity cost into account. Every dollar you spend on something other than Bitcoin is a missed opportunity to have bought Bitcoin with it. There's not really any difference between spending $70 in fiat to buy a hosting plan vs spending 69,000 sats, because you could have used that same $70 to buy Bitcoin instead, so you are losing out on that increase in purchasing power either way.

Not to mention, you can just buy the sats with your fiat and send it to Nostr.Build, so you would effectively be buying your plan with fiat, and they would be receiving sats.

I think Satellite.earth is still technically less expensive at just $0.05 per GB per month, which comes to $15 a year for the same 25GB of Nostr.Build's professional plan. However, all you get is media hosting. You miss out on all of the other features provided by Nostr.Build. And if you are uploading files of 100MB or less... Well, free with Nostr.Build is still cheaper than $0.5 per GB.

Wrap Up

All of the above comes together to make Nostr.Build a versatile and full-featured media hosting and management service at an affordable price point for their paid accounts, but with no need to pay at all if you just want a place to upload photos, GIFs, memes, and even some videos, so long as the file size stays under 100MB. Whether you want to use Nostr.Build as your primary media host, or as just one redundancy in your Blossom set up, they have you covered and I encourage you to check them out!

For the next review, I would like to go with another client, this time for the web, and the two options I am debating between are Coracle.social and Jumble.social. Let me know in the comments which you would like to see!

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Programming quibbles

• About CouchDB
• my personal approach on using let, const and var in javascript
• A crappy course on torrents
• Multi-service Graph Reputation protocol
• The monolithic approach to CouchDB views
• My stupid introduction to Haskell
• The unit test bubble
• There's a problem with using Git concepts for everything
• On the state of programs and browsers
• Rust's .into() is a strictly bad thing

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

For the last couple of weeks, I've been dealing with the fallout of upgrading a web application to Svelte 5. Complaints about framework churn and migration annoyances aside, I've run into some interesting issues with the migration. So far, I haven't seen many other people register the same issues, so I thought it might be constructive for me to articulate them myself.

I'll try not to complain too much in this post, since I'm grateful for the many years of Svelte 3/4 I've enjoyed. But I don't think I'll be choosing Svelte for any new projects going forward. I hope my reflections here will be useful to others as well.

If you're interested in reproductions for the issues I mention here, you can find them below.

• Can't save state to indexeddb
• Component unmount results in undefined variables in closures

The Need for Speed

To start with, let me just quickly acknowledge what the Svelte team is trying to do. It seems like most of the substantial changes in version 5 are built around "deep reactivity", which allows for more granular reactivity, leading to better performance. Performance is good, and the Svelte team has always excelled at reconciling performance with DX.

In previous versions of Svelte, the main way this was achieved was with the Svelte compiler. There were many ancillary techniques involved in improving performance, but having a framework compile step gave the Svelte team a lot of leeway for rearranging things under the hood without making developers learn new concepts. This is what made Svelte so original in the beginning.

At the same time, it resulted in an even more opaque framework than usual, making it harder for developers to debug more complex issues. To make matters worse, the compiler had bugs, resulting in errors which could only be fixed by blindly refactoring the problem component. This happened to me personally at least half a dozen times, and is what ultimately pushed me to migrate to Svelte 5.

Nevertheless, I always felt it was an acceptable trade-off for speed and productivity. Sure, sometimes I had to delete my project and port it to a fresh repository every so often, but the framework was truly a pleasure to use.

Svelte is not Javascript

Svelte 5 doubled down on this tradeoff — which makes sense, because it's what sets the framework apart. The difference this time is that the abstraction/performance tradeoff did not stay in compiler land, but intruded into runtime in two important ways:

• The use of proxies to support deep reactivity
• Implicit component lifecycle state

Both of these changes improved performance and made the API for developers look slicker. What's not to like? Unfortunately, both of these features are classic examples of a leaky abstraction, and ultimately make things more complex for developers, not less.

Proxies are not objects

The use of proxies seems to have allowed the Svelte team to squeeze a little more performance out of the framework, without asking developers to do any extra work. Threading state through multiple levels of components without provoking unnecessary re-renders in frameworks like React is an infamously difficult chore.

Svelte's compiler avoided some of the pitfalls associated with virtual DOM diffing solutions, but evidently there was still enough of a performance gain to be had to justify the introduction of proxies. The Svelte team also seems to argue that their introduction represents an improvement in developer experience:

we... can maximise both efficiency and ergonomics.

Here's the problem: Svelte 5 looks simpler, but actually introduces more abstractions.

Using proxies to monitor array methods (for example) is appealing because it allows developers to forget all the goofy heuristics involved with making sure state was reactive and just push to the array. I can't count how many times I've written value = value to trigger reactivity in svelte 4.

In Svelte 4, developers had to understand how the Svelte compiler worked. The compiler, being a leaky abstraction, forced its users to know that assignment was how you signaled reactivity. In svelte 5, developers can just "forget" about the compiler!

Except they can't. All the introduction of new abstractions really accomplishes is the introduction of more complex heuristics that developers have to keep in their heads in order to get the compiler to act the way they want it to.

In fact, this is why after years of using Svelte, I found myself using Svelte stores more and more often, and reactive declarations less. The reason being that Svelte stores are just javascript. Calling update on a store is simple, and being able to reference them with a $ was just a nice bonus — nothing to remember, and if I mess up the compiler yells at me.

Proxies introduce a similar problem to reactive declarations, which is that they look like one thing but act like another on the edges.

When I started using Svelte 5, everything worked great — until I tried to save a proxy to indexeddb, at which point I got a DataCloneError. To make matters worse, it's impossible to reliably tell if something is a Proxy without try/catching a structured clone, which is a performance-intensive operation.

This forces the developer to remember what is and what isn't a Proxy, calling $state.snapshot every time they pass a proxy to a context that doesn't expect or know about them. This obviates all the nice abstractions they gave us in the first place.

Components are not functions

The reason virtual DOM took off way back in 2013 was the ability to model your application as composed functions, each of which takes data and spits out HTML. Svelte retained this paradigm, using a compiler to sidestep the inefficiencies of virtual DOM and the complexities of lifecycle methods.

In Svelte 5, component lifecycles are back, react-hooks style.

In React, hooks are an abstraction that allows developers to avoid writing all the stateful code associated with component lifecycle methods. Modern React tutorials universally recommend using hooks instead, which rely on the framework invisibly synchronizing state with the render tree.

While this does result in cleaner code, it also requires developers to tread carefully to avoid breaking the assumptions surrounding hooks. Just try accessing state in a setTimeout and you'll see what I mean.

Svelte 4 had a few gotchas like this — for example, async code that interacts with a component's DOM elements has to keep track of whether the component is unmounted. This is pretty similar to the kind of pattern you'd see in old React components that relied on lifecycle methods.

It seems to me that Svelte 5 has gone the React 16 route by adding implicit state related to component lifecycles in order to coordinate state changes and effects.

For example, here is an excerpt from the documentation for $effect:

You can place $effect anywhere, not just at the top level of a component, as long as it is called during component initialization (or while a parent effect is active). It is then tied to the lifecycle of the component (or parent effect) and will therefore destroy itself when the component unmounts (or the parent effect is destroyed).

That's very complex! In order to use $effect... effectively (sorry), developers have to understand how state changes are tracked. The documentation for component lifecycles claims:

In Svelte 5, the component lifecycle consists of only two parts: Its creation and its destruction. Everything in-between — when certain state is updated — is not related to the component as a whole; only the parts that need to react to the state change are notified. This is because under the hood the smallest unit of change is actually not a component, it’s the (render) effects that the component sets up upon component initialization. Consequently, there’s no such thing as a “before update”/"after update” hook.

But then goes on to introduce the idea of tick in conjunction with $effect.pre. This section explains that "tick returns a promise that resolves once any pending state changes have been applied, or in the next microtask if there are none."

I'm sure there's some mental model that justifies this, but I don't think the claim that a component's lifecycle is only comprised of mount/unmount is really helpful when an addendum about state changes has to come right afterward.

The place where this really bit me, and which is the motivation for this blog post, is when state gets coupled to a component's lifecycle, even when the state is passed to another function that doesn't know anything about svelte.

In my application, I manage modal dialogs by storing the component I want to render alongside its props in a store and rendering it in the layout.svelte of my application. This store is also synchronized with browser history so that the back button works to close them. Sometimes, it's useful to pass a callback to one of these modals, binding caller-specific functionality to the child component:

javascript const {value} = $props() const callback = () => console.log(value) const openModal = () => pushModal(MyModal, {callback})

This is a fundamental pattern in javascript. Passing a callback is just one of those things you do.

Unfortunately, if the above code lives in a modal dialog itself, the caller component gets unmounted before the callback gets called. In Svelte 4, this worked fine, but in Svelte 5 value gets updated to undefined when the component gets unmounted. Here's a minimal reproduction.

This is only one example, but it seems clear to me that any prop that is closed over by a callback function that lives longer than its component will be undefined when I want to use it — with no reassignment existing in lexical scope. It seems that the reason this happens is that the props "belong" to the parent component, and are accessed via getters so that the parent can revoke access when it unmounts.

I don't know why this is necessary, but I assume there's a good engineering reason for it. The problem is, this just isn't how javascript works. Svelte is essentially attempting to re-invent garbage collection around component lifecycles, which breaks the assumption every javascript developer has that variables don't simply disappear without an explicit reassignment. It should be safe to pass stuff around and let the garbage collector do its job.

Conclusion

Easy things are nice, but as Rich Hickey says, easy things are not always simple. And like Joel Spolsky, I don't like being surprised. Svelte has always been full of magic, but with the latest release I think the cognitive overhead of reciting incantations has finally outweighed the power it confers.

My point in this post is not to dunk on the Svelte team. I know lots of people like Svelte 5 (and react hooks). The point I'm trying to make is that there is a tradeoff between doing things on the user's behalf, and giving the user agency. Good software is built on understanding, not cleverness.

I also think this is an important lesson to remember as AI-assisted coding becomes increasingly popular. Don't choose tools that alienate you from your work. Choose tools that leverage the wisdom you've already accumulated, and which help you to cultivate a deeper understanding of the discipline.

Thank you to Rich Harris and team for many years of pleasant development. I hope that (if you read this) it's not so full of inaccuracies as to be unhelpful as user feedback.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

The European Accessibility Act is coming, now is a great time for accessibility trainings!. In my Accessibility for Designer workshop, you will learn how to design accessible mockups that prevent issues in visual design, interactions, navigation, and content. You will be able to spot problems early, fix them in your designs, and communicate accessibility clearly with your team. This is a practical workshop with hands-on exercises, not just theory. You’ll actively apply accessibility principles to real design scenarios and mockups. And will get access to my accessibility resources: checklists, annotation kits and more.

When? 4 sessions of 2 hours + Q and As, on: - Mon, June 16, - Tue, June 17, Mon, - June 23 and Tue, - June 24. 9:30 – 12:00 PM PT or 18:30 – 21:00 CET

Register with 15% discount ($255) https://ti.to/smashingmagazine/online-workshops-2022/with/87vynaoqc0/discount/welcometomyworkshop

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/971772

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Crabtree's Framework for Evaluating Human-Centered Research

Picture this: You've spent three weeks conducting qualitative research for a finance app redesign. You carefully recruited 12 participants, conducted in-depth interviews, and identified patterns around financial anxiety and decision paralysis. You're excited to present your findings when the inevitable happens:

"But are these results statistically significant?"

"Just 12 people? How can we make decisions that affect thousands of users based on conversations with just 12 people?"

As UX professionals, we regularly face stakeholders who evaluate our qualitative research using criteria designed for quantitative methods... This misalignment undermines the unique value qualitative research brings to product development.

Continue reading https://uxpsychology.substack.com/p/beyond-numbers-how-to-properly-evaluate

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/971767

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

trackingco.de

Setting up Google Analytics for a bunch of very small projects was a big hassle for me, the bureaucracy involved in creating Google Analytics projects/pages/websites involved something like 4 or 5 forms, and then I always got confused when I went to browse the most simple stats (pageviews, sessions, referrers), and the page was slow to open, had more information than was needed or desirable and so on. And finally there was always a ton of referrer spam (people who used the referrer tracking function of Google Analytics to insert their own sites there somehow and get me to click them).

Then I tried to use the only alternative that existed at the time: gaug.es, but although it was better it wasn't as better as it could be. I wanted a very minimalistic thing. And it was too expensive (for my standards).

So I wrote my own, in React, specifically aimed to people who have a lot of small websites they wanted to track, using Bulma for the styles, react-dnd to make nice reorderable cards with the information and the most efficient scheme for storing the smallest amount of data possible in the database (first CouchDB, then migrated to Postgres later) while still providing session tracking and an optional way to assign points to each action a visitor may perform in a website.

At its height I personally used it with more than 20 projects. There were some other users, but the only one that actually used it besides me was https://eternum.io/ (although I didn't charge them).

I set up a very low pricing range and tried to market it in all the usual "hacker" sites, but never get any attention. At its last days I started pricing it in Bitcoin, but it made no difference.

Then all of a sudden about 5 different "minimalistic" website tracking and tools very similar to trackingco.de began to show up on Hacker News and they got a ton of interest and users. They weren't better than trackingco.de as far as I know. It was frustrating.

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/trackingco.de

See also

• microanalytics

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

rosetta.alhur.es

A service that grabs code samples from two chosen languages on RosettaCode and displays them side-by-side.

The code-fetching is done in real time and snippet-by-snippet (there is also a prefetch of which snippets are available in each language, so we only compare apples to apples).

This was my first Golang web application if I remember correctly.

• https://rosetta.alhur.es/
• https://github.com/fiatjaf/rosetta.alhur.es

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Du bist recht appetitlich oben anzuschauen, \ doch unten hin die Bestie macht mir Grauen. \ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wie wenig bekömmlich sogenannte «Ultra-Processed Foods» wie Fertiggerichte, abgepackte Snacks oder Softdrinks sind, hat kürzlich eine neue Studie untersucht. Derweil kann Fleisch auch wegen des Einsatzes antimikrobieller Mittel in der Massentierhaltung ein Problem darstellen. Internationale Bemühungen, diesen Gebrauch zu reduzieren, um die Antibiotikaresistenz bei Menschen einzudämmen, sind nun möglicherweise gefährdet.

Leider ist Politik oft mindestens genauso unappetitlich und ungesund wie diverse Lebensmittel. Die «Corona-Zeit» und ihre Auswirkungen sind ein beredtes Beispiel. Der Thüringer Landtag diskutiert gerade den Entwurf eines «Coronamaßnahmen-Unrechtsbereinigungsgesetzes» und das kanadische Gesundheitsministerium versucht, tausende Entschädigungsanträge wegen Impfnebenwirkungen mit dem Budget von 75 Millionen Dollar unter einen Hut zu bekommen. In den USA soll die Zulassung von Covid-«Impfstoffen» überdacht werden, während man sich mit China um die Herkunft des Virus streitet.

Wo Corona-Verbrecher von Medien und Justiz gedeckt werden, verfolgt man Aufklärer und Aufdecker mit aller Härte. Der Anwalt und Mitbegründer des Corona-Ausschusses Reiner Fuellmich, der seit Oktober 2023 in Untersuchungshaft sitzt, wurde letzte Woche zu drei Jahren und neun Monaten verurteilt – wegen Veruntreuung. Am Mittwoch teilte der von vielen Impfschadensprozessen bekannte Anwalt Tobias Ulbrich mit, dass er vom Staatsschutz verfolgt wird und sich daher künftig nicht mehr öffentlich äußern werde.

Von der kommenden deutschen Bundesregierung aus Wählerbetrügern, Transatlantikern, Corona-Hardlinern und Russenhassern kann unmöglich eine Verbesserung erwartet werden. Nina Warken beispielsweise, die das Ressort Gesundheit übernehmen soll, diffamierte Maßnahmenkritiker als «Coronaleugner» und forderte eine Impfpflicht, da die wundersamen Injektionen angeblich «nachweislich helfen». Laut dem designierten Außenminister Johann Wadephul wird Russland «für uns immer der Feind» bleiben. Deswegen will er die Ukraine «nicht verlieren lassen» und sieht die Bevölkerung hinter sich, solange nicht deutsche Soldaten dort sterben könnten.

Eine wichtige Personalie ist auch die des künftigen Regierungssprechers. Wenngleich Hebestreit an Arroganz schwer zu überbieten sein wird, dürfte sich die Art der Kommunikation mit Stefan Kornelius in der Sache kaum ändern. Der Politikchef der Süddeutschen Zeitung «prägte den Meinungsjournalismus der SZ» und schrieb «in dieser Rolle auch für die Titel der Tamedia». Allerdings ist, anders als noch vor zehn Jahren, die Einbindung von Journalisten in Thinktanks wie die Deutsche Atlantische Gesellschaft (DAG) ja heute eher eine Empfehlung als ein Problem.

Ungesund ist definitiv auch die totale Digitalisierung, nicht nur im Gesundheitswesen. Lauterbachs Abschiedsgeschenk, die «abgesicherte» elektronische Patientenakte (ePA) ist völlig überraschenderweise direkt nach dem Bundesstart erneut gehackt worden. Norbert Häring kommentiert angesichts der Datenlecks, wer die ePA nicht abwähle, könne seine Gesundheitsdaten ebensogut auf Facebook posten.

Dass die staatlichen Kontrolleure so wenig auf freie Software und dezentrale Lösungen setzen, verdeutlicht die eigentlichen Intentionen hinter der Digitalisierungswut. Um Sicherheit und Souveränität geht es ihnen jedenfalls nicht – sonst gäbe es zum Beispiel mehr Unterstützung für Bitcoin und für Initiativen wie die der Spar-Supermärkte in der Schweiz.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

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Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 34f1ddab:2ca0cf7c

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Act fast and secure your digital assets with cryptrecver.com.Losing access to your cryptocurrency can feel like losing a part of your future. Whether it’s due to a forgotten password, a damaged seed backup, or a simple mistake in a transfer, the stress can be overwhelming. Fortunately, cryptrecver.com is here to assist! With our expert-led recovery services, you can safely and swiftly reclaim your lost Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

# Why Trust Crypt Recver? 🤝

🛠️ Expert Recovery Solutions\ At Crypt Recver, we specialize in addressing complex wallet-related issues. Our skilled engineers have the tools and expertise to handle:

• Partially lost or forgotten seed phrases
• Extracting funds from outdated or invalid wallet addresses
• Recovering data from damaged hardware wallets
• Restoring coins from old or unsupported wallet formats

You’re not just getting a service; you’re gaining a partner in your cryptocurrency journey.

🚀 Fast and Efficient Recovery\ We understand that time is crucial in crypto recovery. Our optimized systems enable you to regain access to your funds quickly, focusing on speed without compromising security. With a success rate of over 90%, you can rely on us to act swiftly on your behalf.

🔒 Privacy is Our Priority\ Your confidentiality is essential. Every recovery session is conducted with the utmost care, ensuring all processes are encrypted and confidential. You can rest assured that your sensitive information remains private.

💻 Advanced Technology\ Our proprietary tools and brute-force optimization techniques maximize recovery efficiency. Regardless of how challenging your case may be, our technology is designed to give you the best chance at retrieving your crypto.

Our Recovery Services Include: 📈

• Bitcoin Recovery: Lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? We help recover lost wallets, private keys, and passphrases.
• Transaction Recovery: Mistakes happen — whether it’s an incorrect wallet address or a lost password, let us manage the recovery.
• Cold Wallet Restoration: If your cold wallet is failing, we can safely extract your assets and migrate them into a secure new wallet.
• Private Key Generation: Lost your private key? Our experts can help you regain control using advanced methods while ensuring your privacy.

⚠️ What We Don’t Do\ While we can handle many scenarios, some limitations exist. For instance, we cannot recover funds stored in custodial wallets or cases where there is a complete loss of four or more seed words without partial information available. We are transparent about what’s possible, so you know what to expect

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@ bbef5093:71228592

Google három fejlett atomerőmű-fejlesztését finanszírozza

A Google megállapodást kötött az amerikai Elementl Power nevű nukleáris projektfejlesztő céggel, hogy legalább három, egyenként 600 MW kapacitású fejlett atomerőmű fejlesztését finanszírozza az Egyesült Államokban. Ezek a projektek a Google és más nagy technológiai cégek növekvő energiaigényét szolgálják ki, különösen az adatközpontok és a mesterséges intelligencia (AI) miatt[7][10][19][16]. A Google a fejlesztés korai szakaszában biztosít tőkét, a projektek befejezése után pedig lehetősége lesz az ott termelt villamos energia megvásárlására. A pontos helyszíneket és a megállapodás pénzügyi részleteit egyelőre nem hozták nyilvánosságra[10][19][16].

A Google célja, hogy működését 24/7, azaz folyamatosan elérhető, szén-dioxid-mentes energiával lássa el, és ezzel hozzájáruljon az elektromos hálózatok stabilitásához is[10][19][6]. Az Elementl Power technológia-semleges, vagyis még nem döntötték el, milyen típusú reaktort használnak, hanem a fejlesztésben legelőrébb járó technológiát választják majd a kivitelezés idején[10][19][16].

Big Tech és az atomenergia: trendek

A Google mellett más nagy technológiai cégek, például a Microsoft, az Amazon és az Oracle is elkötelezettek az atomenergia mellett, hogy adatközpontjaik számára megbízható, alacsony szén-dioxid-kibocsátású áramot biztosítsanak[15][11][20]. A Google például a Kairos Power nevű céggel is együttműködik kis moduláris reaktorok (SMR) fejlesztésében, amelyek első példányai 2030 körül állhatnak üzembe[1][2][3][17][8]. Az SMR-ek előnye, hogy gyorsabban és olcsóbban telepíthetők, mint a hagyományos nagy atomerőművek, és rugalmasabban illeszthetők az energiaigényekhez[2][3][1].

Pallas kutatóreaktor Hollandiában

Hollandiában befejezték az új Pallas kutatóreaktor alapozását és munkagödrét, ami jelentős mérföldkő a projektben. A reaktor az orvosi radioizotópok előállításában játszik majd kulcsszerepet, több millió beteg ellátását biztosítva világszerte, főként daganatos és szív-érrendszeri betegségek diagnosztikájában és terápiájában. A Pallas reaktor a jelenlegi, 1961 óta működő High-Flux Reactort (HFR) fogja felváltani[forrás: eredeti szöveg].

Finn SMR fejlesztés: demonstrációs üzem

A finn Steady Energy vállalat nem-nukleáris demonstrációs üzemet épít a helsinki Salmisaari B széntüzelésű erőmű helyén, hogy bemutassa LDR-50 típusú kis moduláris reaktorának (SMR) alkalmasságát távhőtermelésre. A projekt célja, hogy a fosszilis energiahordozókat alacsony kibocsátású technológiával váltsa fel a városi távhőrendszerekben[forrás: eredeti szöveg].

Urán és nukleáris üzemanyag: amerikai fejlesztések

Az amerikai Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) és a Radiant Industries megállapodást kötött amerikai eredetű urán szállításáról, hogy támogassák a Radiant Kaleidos mikroraktorok elterjedését. Ezek a mikroraktorok 1 MW teljesítményűek, szállíthatók, és 2028-tól kezdődhet a kereskedelmi alkalmazásuk[forrás: eredeti szöveg].

A Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) Észak-Karolinában megkezdte a harmadik generációs, lézeralapú Silex urándúsítási technológia demonstrációs tesztjeit. Ez a technológia nagyobb hatékonyságot, alacsonyabb költségeket és rugalmasabb üzemanyaggyártást ígér a jövő atomerőművei számára. A GLE célja, hogy 2028-tól kereskedelmi üzembe helyezze az új dúsítóüzemet Kentuckyban[forrás: eredeti szöveg].

Egyéb hírek röviden

• Az Egyesült Államokban befejezték az ITER szupra­vezető mágnesének utolsó moduljának tesztelését, amely kulcsfontosságú a franciaországi fúziós kísérleti reaktorban.
• Ausztráliában a nukleáris energia bevezetését szorgalmazza egy lobbicsoport, bár jelenleg törvény tiltja az atomerőművek építését.
• Csehországban, a Dukovany atomerőmű bővítésével kapcsolatos szerződéseket írtak alá dél-koreai cégekkel, egy francia bírósági tiltás ellenére.
• 2025 júniusában Zágrábban rendezik meg a European Nuclear Young Generation Forumot, amely a fiatal nukleáris szakemberek legnagyobb európai találkozója lesz[forrás: eredeti szöveg].

---

Hivatkozások:[1][2][3][7][10][16][19] – Google és nukleáris projektek[15][11][20] – Big Tech trendek
További részletek a többi témáról az eredeti szövegben találhatók.

Hivatkozások: [1] A Google 7 atomreaktor megépítését támogatja az MI ... - itbusiness https://itbusiness.hu/technology/aktualis-lapszam/strategy/google-reaktor/ [2] Google új generációs atomreaktorokból vásárol áramot - DinaMix https://dinamix.hu/google-uj-generacios-atomreaktorokbol-vasarol-aramot/ [3] A Google moduláris atomreaktorokat vásárol a saját energiaellátására https://gyartastrend.hu/cikk/a-google-modularis-atomreaktorokat-vasarol-a-sajat-energiaellatasara [4] Az atom vonzza a befektetőket - Atombiztos Blog https://www.atombiztos.org/2025/05/05/az-atom-vonzza-a-befektetoket/125967/ [5] Máris trükköznek az AI-óriások, csak több áramuk legyen https://www.szabadeuropa.hu/a/maris-trukkoznek-az-ai-oriasok-csak-tobb-aramuk-legyen/33167550.html [6] 24/7 Clean Energy – Data Centers - Google https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/cleanenergy/ [7] Google agrees to fund three US nuclear power plants https://business.inquirer.net/524307/google-agrees-to-fund-three-us-nuclear-power-plants [8] Atomreaktorok építését rendelte meg a Google - Telex https://telex.hu/gazdasag/2024/10/14/google-kairos-atomeromu [9] Operating sustainably - Google Data Centers https://datacenters.google/operating-sustainably [10] Google To Commit Funding For Three Advanced Nuclear Power ... https://www.nucnet.org/news/google-to-commit-funding-for-three-advanced-nuclear-power-projects-5-4-2025 [11] Az atomenergia mellett tette le a voksát több technológiai óriás https://www.vg.hu/nemzetkozi-gazdasag/2025/03/atomenergia-technologiai-orias [12] 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Explained - Eavor Technologies https://eavor.com/blog/24-7-carbon-free-energy-explained/ [13] Google agrees to fund the development of three new nuclear sites https://www.reddit.com/r/nuclear/comments/1kh2s7t/google_agrees_to_fund_the_development_of_three/ [14] Téma: Új atomerőművet építtet magának a Google - PC Fórum https://pcforum.hu/tarsalgo/154783/uj-atomeromuvet-epittet-maganak-a-google-nem-is-egyet-hanem-mindjart-harmat [15] Big Tech has cozied up to nuclear energy - The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/5/24261405/google-microsoft-amazon-tech-data-center-nuclear-energy [16] Google to back development of 3 nuclear sites on data center push https://nypost.com/2025/05/07/business/google-to-back-development-of-3-nuclear-sites-on-data-center-push/ [17] Moduláris atomreaktorokból vásárol energiát a Google - HWSW https://www.hwsw.hu/hirek/68282/google-kairospower-atomreaktor-energia-aram.html [18] What is 24/7 carbon-free energy? - Baseload Capital https://www.baseloadcap.com/what-is-24-7-carbon-free-energy/ [19] Google to fund development of three nuclear power sites https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/google-to-fund-elementl-to-prepare-three-nuclear-power-sites [20] Óriáscégek álltak a nukleáris reneszánsz élére - Világgazdaság http://www.vg.hu/nemzetkozi-gazdasag/2025/03/nuklearis-energia-amazon-google

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Die Wahrheit verletzt tiefer als jede Beleidigung. \ Marquis de Sade

Sagen Sie niemals «Terroristin B.», «Schwachkopf H.», «korrupter Drecksack S.» oder «Meinungsfreiheitshasserin F.» und verkneifen Sie sich Memes, denn so etwas könnte Ihnen als Beleidigung oder Verleumdung ausgelegt werden und rechtliche Konsequenzen haben. Auch mit einer Frau M.-A. S.-Z. ist in dieser Beziehung nicht zu spaßen, sie gehört zu den Top-Anzeigenstellern.

«Politikerbeleidigung» als Straftatbestand wurde 2021 im Kampf gegen «Rechtsextremismus und Hasskriminalität» in Deutschland eingeführt, damals noch unter der Regierung Merkel. Im Gesetz nicht festgehalten ist die Unterscheidung zwischen schlechter Hetze und guter Hetze – trotzdem ist das gängige Praxis, wie der Titel fast schon nahelegt.

So dürfen Sie als Politikerin heute den Tesla als «Nazi-Auto» bezeichnen und dies ausdrücklich auf den Firmengründer Elon Musk und dessen «rechtsextreme Positionen» beziehen, welche Sie nicht einmal belegen müssen. [1] Vielleicht ernten Sie Proteste, jedoch vorrangig wegen der «gut bezahlten, unbefristeten Arbeitsplätze» in Brandenburg. Ihren Tweet hat die Berliner Senatorin Cansel Kiziltepe inzwischen offenbar dennoch gelöscht.

Dass es um die Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit in der Bundesrepublik nicht mehr allzu gut bestellt ist, befürchtet man inzwischen auch schon im Ausland. Der Fall des Journalisten David Bendels, der kürzlich wegen eines Faeser-Memes zu sieben Monaten Haft auf Bewährung verurteilt wurde, führte in diversen Medien zu Empörung. Die Welt versteckte ihre Kritik mit dem Titel «Ein Urteil wie aus einer Diktatur» hinter einer Bezahlschranke.

Unschöne, heutzutage vielleicht strafbare Kommentare würden mir auch zu einigen anderen Themen und Akteuren einfallen. Ein Kandidat wäre der deutsche Bundesgesundheitsminister (ja, er ist es tatsächlich immer noch). Während sich in den USA auf dem Gebiet etwas bewegt und zum Beispiel Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will, dass die Gesundheitsbehörde (CDC) keine Covid-Impfungen für Kinder mehr empfiehlt, möchte Karl Lauterbach vor allem das Corona-Lügengebäude vor dem Einsturz bewahren.

«Ich habe nie geglaubt, dass die Impfungen nebenwirkungsfrei sind», sagte Lauterbach jüngst der ZDF-Journalistin Sarah Tacke. Das steht in krassem Widerspruch zu seiner früher verbreiteten Behauptung, die Gen-Injektionen hätten keine Nebenwirkungen. Damit entlarvt er sich selbst als Lügner. Die Bezeichnung ist absolut berechtigt, dieser Mann dürfte keinerlei politische Verantwortung tragen und das Verhalten verlangt nach einer rechtlichen Überprüfung. Leider ist ja die Justiz anderweitig beschäftigt und hat außerdem selbst keine weiße Weste.

Obendrein kämpfte der Herr Minister für eine allgemeine Impfpflicht. Er beschwor dabei das Schließen einer «Impflücke», wie es die Weltgesundheitsorganisation – die «wegen Trump» in finanziellen Schwierigkeiten steckt – bis heute tut. Die WHO lässt aktuell ihre «Europäische Impfwoche» propagieren, bei der interessanterweise von Covid nicht mehr groß die Rede ist.

Einen «Klima-Leugner» würden manche wohl Nir Shaviv nennen, das ist ja nicht strafbar. Der Astrophysiker weist nämlich die Behauptung von einer Klimakrise zurück. Gemäß seiner Forschung ist mindestens die Hälfte der Erderwärmung nicht auf menschliche Emissionen, sondern auf Veränderungen im Sonnenverhalten zurückzuführen.

Das passt vielleicht auch den «Klima-Hysterikern» der britischen Regierung ins Konzept, die gerade Experimente zur Verdunkelung der Sonne angekündigt haben. Produzenten von Kunstfleisch oder Betreiber von Insektenfarmen würden dagegen vermutlich die Geschichte vom fatalen CO2 bevorzugen. Ihnen würde es besser passen, wenn der verantwortungsvolle Erdenbürger sein Verhalten gründlich ändern müsste.

In unserer völlig verkehrten Welt, in der praktisch jede Verlautbarung außerhalb der abgesegneten Narrative potenziell strafbar sein kann, gehört fast schon Mut dazu, Dinge offen anzusprechen. Im «besten Deutschland aller Zeiten» glaubten letztes Jahr nur noch 40 Prozent der Menschen, ihre Meinung frei äußern zu können. Das ist ein Armutszeugnis, und es sieht nicht gerade nach Besserung aus. Umso wichtiger ist es, dagegen anzugehen.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

--- Quellen: ---

[1] Zur Orientierung wenigstens ein paar Hinweise zur NS-Vergangenheit deutscher Automobilhersteller:

• Volkswagen
• Porsche
• Daimler-Benz
• BMW
• Audi
• Opel
• Heute: «Auto-Werke für die Rüstung? Rheinmetall prüft Übernahmen»

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Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 2fdae362:c9999539

Why Your Manufacturing Engineers Shouldn’t Build Your Next‑Gen Product (and How an External NPD Team Supercharges Both)

1  |  Two Very Different Missions

Most electronics companies lump “engineering” into one budget line. In reality there are two distinct jobs:

| Mission | Core Question | Success Metric | |---------|---------------|----------------| | Manufacturing & Sales Support | How do we keep shipping and lower COGS? | Uptime, yield, cost‑down, ECO turnaround | | New‑Product Development | What will customers demand 18‑36 months from now? | Time‑to‑market, feature velocity, first‑pass success |

Trying to solve both with the same staff is like asking your pit‑crew to design an entirely new race‑car while the current one is circling the track.

---

2  |  Why Your In‑House Team Excels at Sustaining Work

• Process‑driven mindset – KPIs center on takt time and scrap, not innovation cycles.
• Deep tribal knowledge of legacy designs, test fixtures, and compliance filings.
• Close link to Ops & Sales – Daily stand‑ups about line stoppages and customer RMAs.

That focus is exactly why the factory runs smoothly — but it penalizes exploratory work. Every minute spent chasing down a bleeding‑edge SoC or new RF stack is a minute the line risks slipping.

---

3  |  What New‑Product Development Really Demands

• State‑of‑the‑art parts libraries (and the supply‑chain foresight to qualify alternates).
• Architectural runway — designs built for firmware updatability, security, and field diagnostics.
• Fast‑loop prototyping — EVT to DVT in weeks, not half‑years.
• Cross‑disciplinary toolchain — from FPGA simulation to Yocto‑based Linux builds to OTA pipelines.

These skills dull quickly when they aren’t used daily; maintaining them internally is expensive downtime for a sustaining group.

---

4  |  The Outside‑NPD Model: Division of Labor That Works

| Stage | Your Internal Team | Our External NPD Team | |-------|-------------------|-----------------------| | Concept | Product vision, market intel | Technology scouting, architecture options | | Design | DFx feedback & factory constraints | Schematics, layouts, firmware, driver stacks | | Validation | Factory test jig specs | EVT/DVT, pre‑compliance, safety margins | | Transfer | Process FMEAs, operator training | Full doc set, source, BoM, bring‑up guides |

Result: No bandwidth tug‑of‑war — each team stays in its lane and both lanes move faster.

---

5  |  Seven Tangible Benefits You’ll Feel in Year 1

1. 14‑30 % faster NPD schedules via parallel tasking.
2. Zero factory interruptions — sustaining KPIs stay green.
3. Up‑to‑date technology choices yielding longer market life and lower future BOM risk.
4. Process upgrades your ops team can re‑use (automated CI for firmware, digital‑thread BoM).
5. Cleaner IP chain of custody — everything delivered in version‑controlled repos with SPDX manifests.
6. Predictable budgeting — fixed‑price or milestone schedules instead of overtime creep.
7. On‑demand specialist depth (wireless certs, OS driver authors, safety assessors) without hiring.

---

6  |  Hand‑Off That Sticks

We shut the project down only after:

• Source, binaries, Gerbers, test plans, and regulatory artifacts are in your repo.
• Your sustaining engineers complete hands‑on bring‑up alongside ours.
• A 30‑60‑day shadow‑support window is booked.

That means the next ECO lands on your familiar desk, not ours — unless you want it to.

---

7  |  A Quick Example

When ACME Corp’s internal team tried to modernize their decade‑old IoT gateway, the factory choked on late‑night proto builds. We took the NPD load, delivered a Linux‑plus‑Modbus driver stack in 16 weeks, and handed it back with a test‑rig script that ACME’s own sustaining crew still runs today — zero line downtime, product launched six months early.

---

8  |  Ready to Split the Load?

If your manufacturing engineers are drowning in ECOs and your roadmap is slipping, let’s talk. We’ll map out an NPD sprint plan that leaves your factory gurus doing what they do best — keeping product flowing — while we build the future version you’ll hand back to them, fully documented.

@ 9e69e420:d12360c2

President Trump has intensified immigration enforcement, likening it to a wartime effort. Despite pouring resources into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrest numbers are declining and falling short of goals. ICE fell from about 800 daily arrests in late January to fewer than 600 in early February.

Critics argue the administration is merely showcasing efforts with ineffectiveness, while Trump seeks billions more in funding to support his deportation agenda. Increased involvement from various federal agencies is intended to assist ICE, but many lack specific immigration training.

Challenges persist, as fewer immigrants are available for quick deportation due to a decline in illegal crossings. Local sheriffs are also pressured by rising demands to accommodate immigrants, which may strain resources further.

@ 7b20d99d:d2a541a9

Bitcoin is a powerful tool for sending aid quickly, directly, and without intermediaries, especially in countries where banking systems are corrupt or inefficient. It allows for supporting noble causes without relying on slow or centralized NGOs. But where there is generosity, there are also abuses.

In the Bitcoin world, some have learned to exploit the anonymity and speed of transactions to create fake emotional stories and steal funds from well-meaning individuals. These scams damage trust and slow down the adoption of Bitcoin in humanitarian efforts.

In this series, I'll show you:

How to spot dubious projects,

What practices can alert you,

And most importantly, how to continue supporting real causes safely.

Alert 1: Lack of transparency

A serious charity project, whether Bitcoin-based or not, must be accountable.

In the Bitcoin ecosystem, where everything relies on peer-to-peer trust, transparency is even more crucial.

Here are the classic signs of a lack of transparency:

1. No concrete evidence of action on the ground.

   A project that asks you for money but doesn't show any photos, videos, or reports is suspicious. Even with limited resources, a legitimate project can show:

Before/after images of an action (e.g., food distribution, healthcare, clothing)

Receipts or proof of purchase (blurred if necessary for privacy)

Testimonies from beneficiaries, even short ones

1. No regular posting or tracking.

If a project has raised funds but doesn't publish any updates on the progress, distribution, or results achieved, this is a red flag. A genuine project maintains a connection with its donors, even after the fundraising process.

1. Bitcoin address without tracking.

Providing a Bitcoin address without providing a link to a Geyser, BTCPay, or donation tracking page is an easy way to hide donation flows. Serious projects use public tools to make donations visible to everyone.

1. Refusal to answer questions.

An honest project accepts questions from donors:

• Where do the funds go?
• Why this amount?
• Who is responsible?

If there is constant vagueness, or worse, aggression when you ask these questions: that's a red flag.

Recommendation :

Before donating, look for evidence. Ask simple questions. And above all, compare several projects: you'll quickly see who's doing real work, and who's showing nothing.

---

In Bitcoin charity projects, emotion is often the scammer's favorite tool. They know: if you're moved, you give quickly. Especially when there's an emergency. Unfortunately, they often have no real reason behind their requests.

Here's how these emotional manipulations work:

1. Dramatic stories without proof.

   A sick child, an injured animal, a starving family... these stories touch the heart. But often, the images are taken from Google or old TikTok/Facebook accounts. There's no proof that the person requesting sats is actually involved.

2. The manufactured emergency.

Scammers use phrases like:

"URGENT! He only has two days to live!"

"We need 100,000 sats before midnight, or else..."

This kind of urgency is often fabricated to push you to act without thinking or checking.

1. No trace of previous activity.

Often, these accounts have never discussed charity before. They suddenly appear, launch an emotional campaign, receive donations... then disappear or change their name.

1. Reusing stories from other projects.

Some copy real stories from real projects and adapt them with new BTC addresses. They rely on virality and credulity. Sometimes, they even imitate the style of a legitimate project.

How to protect yourself?

Reverse image search: You can use Google Images or Yandex to check if the photo is circulating elsewhere.

Research the account's history: was it posting content before the campaign? Does it seem committed to Bitcoin or a cause?

Refrain from reacting too quickly: if a story upsets you, that's exactly what the scammer wants. Take a break, do some research.

Key points:

A real project doesn't need to manipulate your emotions to gain your support. It shares its impact, its concrete actions, and is open to scrutiny. Never let your sats speak before your brain.

---

---

Check the project's public presence and reputation

In the decentralized world of Bitcoin, there are no guarantees or official certifiers. What replaces institutions is reputation: what others say about you, what you publish, and how you act over time.

Before donating to a charitable project in Bitcoin, it is essential to verify the public presence and traceability of the project or individual. This can prevent you from being scammed by opportunistic or malicious accounts.

Here are the good reflexes to have:

---

1. Cross-platform search

A legitimate project leaves its mark on multiple channels:

Nostr: posts, zaps, interactions, community relays

Twitter/X: regular posts, comments, retweets

Telegram, YouTube, Instagram: visual content and community comments

Even if it's small, a real project has at least one public space where it shares its activities, answers questions, and builds relationships with its supporters.

Alert: An account that appears out of nowhere with 3 posts in 2 days and an urgent donation request is suspicious.

---

1. Seeking credible public support

A great sign is when other well-known users in the Bitcoin community (or on Nostr) endorse or support the project:

They share the campaign;

They respond to posts with enthusiasm or testimonials;

They contribute sats themselves;

You can send them a DM to ask, "Are you familiar with this project? Are they serious?"

---

1. View account history

Does this account have:

• Have you already run other campaigns in the past?
• Demonstrated concrete results?
• A long-standing audience?

Scams often have an empty history, or one that has been deliberately deleted.

If the account was recently created, it's an orange flag. It's not always a scam, but it's a good sign.

---

1. Beware of names that are too generic

Accounts like “Bitcoin_Charity,” “BTC_Hope4Africa,” or “SatoshiMissionHelp” that use generic, faceless names with no personal history or evidence of involvement are often lures to suck up your generosity.

---

In an open world like Nostr, trust must be earned, not granted automatically. Before you zap or send sats: check the footprints. A real project doesn't hide. It wants to be seen, recognized, supported... and verified.

---

---

Prefer traceable and public donations

One of the great advantages of Bitcoin is that every transaction is recorded on the blockchain. Yet, many BTC charitable projects fail to leverage this transparency potential… sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes intentionally.

If you want to give securely, you should prioritize tools and methods that allow clear tracking of your money.

---

1. Favors transparent platforms (Geyser, Zaprite, BTCPay, etc.)

These platforms allow:

• Track how much has been raised in real time
• Have a public address or QR code that everyone can see
• Sometimes even see who donated (if the donor makes it public)

And most importantly: the funds go directly into the creator's wallet, without an intermediary

Example: Geyser.fund shows how many sats have been raised, how many are left to reach, and sometimes even the expenses incurred.

---

1. Avoid isolated static addresses

When someone just gives you a Bitcoin address without any context or tools around it, you can't know:

• If others have already donated
• What's the status of the fundraising?
• What will happen with the funds received?

Even worse, an address can be reused for multiple different campaigns. No tracking, no limits.

Reminder: A scammer can also show a QR code with an emotional caption, collect in bulk, and then erase all traces.

---

1. Request a dedicated campaign address

A serious project can:

• Generate a unique address for each campaign or donor (via a wallet or BTCPay store)
• Or show you a link to a Bitcoin explorer to track inflows in real time

This allows you to verify that: - Your donation has been received - Funds are not being diverted for other purposes - And that other people are also contributing (proof of credibility)

---

1. Check expenses if possible

More and more projects are publishing:

• Captures of receipts or transfers
• Monthly reports
• Distribution videos

This allows donors to see how funds are being used, even in rural areas or without stable internet.

---

If a project doesn't want you to track donations, ask yourself why. In the Bitcoin ecosystem, transparency is a weapon against abuse. Use it, and encourage others to do the same.

---

Want to help? Great. But in the Bitcoin ecosystem, giving indiscriminately is like throwing your sats into a bottomless pit. Here's a clear list of best practices to avoid scams and support good causes with confidence and intelligence.

---

1. Never give under pressure

A real project:

• Don't rush.
• Don't create an artificial sense of urgency.
• Don't demand anything.

Golden rule: if you are pressured to skip "quickly" or "now or everything is ruined", it is suspicious.

---

1. Use reputable platforms

Before sending sats:

Check if the project is on Geyser.fund, Zaprite, BTCPayServer, or Tallycoin.

These platforms provide transparency, monitoring and protection.

If the project refuses to appear there "without valid reason", ask yourself questions.

---

1. Always check the source

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is leading this campaign?
• How long has this person been active in the community?
• Does their history hold a consistent profile?
• Are they well-known on Nostr, X, Telegram, or elsewhere?

A reliable project has nothing to hide. It is findable, traceable, and responsive.

---

1. Don't rely on images or videos alone

A photo of a crying child or a dish being offered proves nothing. What you want to know:

• Did they take this photo?
• What's the connection to the campaign?
• Do they show several stages (preparation, distribution, follow-up)?

Scammers love beautiful stolen images, but never show the actual work.

---

1. Request a follow-up report or evidence

A serious project can easily provide you with:

• A link to a dedicated Bitcoin address
• A video or photo with a personalized message
• A receipt or proof of purchase

If they refuse or get offended by you for asking? Run away.

---

1. Share only verified projects

You are also responsible for what you share. By sharing a project without verifying:

• You're putting your credibility on the line.
• You risk causing others to lose sats.

Do your own research, even if you trust the person who sent you the link.

---

1. Start small

You can test a project with a small amount and observe:

• How they communicate after receiving it

• If they thank you

• If they keep you informed

It's a simple way to filter out the good guys from the opportunists.

---

In a free ecosystem like Bitcoin, there's no customer service, no refunds, no "cancel" button. Your only security is your vigilance. Give, but give wisely.

---

How to intelligently support genuine causes

Supporting charitable projects with Bitcoin doesn't have to be risky. On the contrary, it can be a powerful tool for spreading the values ​​of Bitcoin while genuinely helping people.

But for your help to have a real impact, it's not enough to just switch off and disappear. You have to be intelligently involved.

Here's how to become a helpful, strategic, and caring donor.

---

1. Be part of the project, not just the donation

The best donors are not those who give the most, but those who:

• ask questions,
• suggest ideas,
• share campaigns,
• encourage the founder,
• inform others.

In Bitcoin, we talk about community, not customers. Be an agent of change, not just a transaction number.

1. Favors projects with a long-term vision

A serious project speaks to you:

• education,
• sustainability,
• independence,
• integration of Bitcoin into local life.

He doesn't just give away rice or clothes. He wants to make people more autonomous, freer, and more connected to the decentralized economy.

Support projects that build, not just those that distribute.

1. Diversify your support

You can :

• Skip small projects regularly
• Support a campaign with a fixed monthly budget
• Offer your skills: design, writing, video, networking

Participate in a DAO or a coordinated donations collective

Bitcoin support isn't just about money. Your time and talent are also valuable.

1. Educate while you help

When you participate in a project, take the opportunity to:

• Explain to others how Bitcoin works
• Demonstrate the benefits of transparency through blockchain
• Raising awareness in your circle of the freedom offered by direct support in BTC

Education is the ultimate weapon against addiction and scams.

1. Create or join a reliable initiative

You can :

• Create your own small campaign with Geyser.fund or Zaprite
• Join a collective like Hope With Bitcoin or other communities on Nostr
• Offer to document an existing campaign

This is how sustainable projects are born: not with large anonymous donations, but with small, well-supported flames.

Donating Bitcoin is more than just a transfer. It's an affirmation of values. It's a statement:

“I choose to support causes without going through banks, without permission, without borders, with transparency and freedom.”

But for it to work, you need:

• Stay vigilant

• Demand clarity

• Foster human connections
• Build trust

Bitcoin is a tool of sovereignty. It deserves honest projects. It's up to us to protect them.

Together, let's discover Hope With Bitcoin: The project whose mission is to share smiles and hope with those in need, while raising awareness for Bitcoin adoption.

X: https://x.com/HopeWithBTC

Nostr / Primal: https://primal.net/p/npub10vsdn82fps4vwjaqxcpwj0nyync0cfrp2f5qlayrljh6d549gx5s0y9eap

Proof Of Work: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/19LWZX4TtF6DJbDVCqhJ0EMMQqnjHVMvm

Geyser : https://geyser.fund/project/hopewithbitcoin

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Es ist völlig unbestritten, dass der Angriff der russischen Armee auf die Ukraine im Februar 2022 strikt zu verurteilen ist. Ebenso unbestritten ist Russland unter Wladimir Putin keine brillante Demokratie. Aus diesen Tatsachen lässt sich jedoch nicht das finstere Bild des russischen Präsidenten – und erst recht nicht des Landes – begründen, das uns durchweg vorgesetzt wird und den Kern des aktuellen europäischen Bedrohungs-Szenarios darstellt. Da müssen wir schon etwas genauer hinschauen.

Der vorliegende Artikel versucht derweil nicht, den Einsatz von Gewalt oder die Verletzung von Menschenrechten zu rechtfertigen oder zu entschuldigen – ganz im Gegenteil. Dass jedoch der Verdacht des «Putinverstehers» sofort latent im Raume steht, verdeutlicht, was beim Thema «Russland» passiert: Meinungsmache und Manipulation.

Angesichts der mentalen Mobilmachung seitens Politik und Medien sowie des Bestrebens, einen bevorstehenden Krieg mit Russland geradezu herbeizureden, ist es notwendig, dieser fatalen Entwicklung entgegenzutreten. Wenn wir uns nur ein wenig von der herrschenden Schwarz-Weiß-Malerei freimachen, tauchen automatisch Fragen auf, die Risse im offiziellen Narrativ enthüllen. Grund genug, nachzuhaken.

Wer sich schon länger auch abseits der Staats- und sogenannten Leitmedien informiert, der wird in diesem Artikel vermutlich nicht viel Neues erfahren. Andere könnten hier ein paar unbekannte oder vergessene Aspekte entdecken. Möglicherweise klärt sich in diesem Kontext die Wahrnehmung der aktuellen (unserer eigenen!) Situation ein wenig.

Manipulation erkennen

Corona-«Pandemie», menschengemachter Klimawandel oder auch Ukraine-Krieg: Jede Menge Krisen, und für alle gibt es ein offizielles Narrativ, dessen Hinterfragung unerwünscht ist. Nun ist aber ein Narrativ einfach eine Erzählung, eine Geschichte (Latein: «narratio») und kein Tatsachenbericht. Und so wie ein Märchen soll auch das Narrativ eine Botschaft vermitteln.

Über die Methoden der Manipulation ist viel geschrieben worden, sowohl in Bezug auf das Individuum als auch auf die Massen. Sehr wertvolle Tipps dazu, wie man Manipulationen durchschauen kann, gibt ein Büchlein [1] von Albrecht Müller, dem Herausgeber der NachDenkSeiten.

Die Sprache selber eignet sich perfekt für die Manipulation. Beispielsweise kann die Wortwahl Bewertungen mitschwingen lassen, regelmäßiges Wiederholen (gerne auch von verschiedenen Seiten) lässt Dinge irgendwann «wahr» erscheinen, Übertreibungen fallen auf und hinterlassen wenigstens eine Spur im Gedächtnis, genauso wie Andeutungen. Belege spielen dabei keine Rolle.

Es gibt auffällig viele Sprachregelungen, die offenbar irgendwo getroffen und irgendwie koordiniert werden. Oder alle Redenschreiber und alle Medien kopieren sich neuerdings permanent gegenseitig. Welchen Zweck hat es wohl, wenn der Krieg in der Ukraine durchgängig und quasi wörtlich als «russischer Angriffskrieg auf die Ukraine» bezeichnet wird? Obwohl das in der Sache richtig ist, deutet die Art der Verwendung auf gezielte Beeinflussung hin und soll vor allem das Feindbild zementieren.

Sprachregelungen dienen oft der Absicherung einer einseitigen Darstellung. Das Gleiche gilt für das Verkürzen von Informationen bis hin zum hartnäckigen Verschweigen ganzer Themenbereiche. Auch hierfür gibt es rund um den Ukraine-Konflikt viele gute Beispiele.

Das gewünschte Ergebnis solcher Methoden ist eine Schwarz-Weiß-Malerei, bei der einer eindeutig als «der Böse» markiert ist und die anderen automatisch «die Guten» sind. Das ist praktisch und demonstriert gleichzeitig ein weiteres Manipulationswerkzeug: die Verwendung von Doppelstandards. Wenn man es schafft, bei wichtigen Themen regelmäßig mit zweierlei Maß zu messen, ohne dass das Publikum protestiert, dann hat man freie Bahn.

Experten zu bemühen, um bestimmte Sachverhalte zu erläutern, ist sicher sinnvoll, kann aber ebenso missbraucht werden, schon allein durch die Auswahl der jeweiligen Spezialisten. Seit «Corona» werden viele erfahrene und ehemals hoch angesehene Fachleute wegen der «falschen Meinung» diffamiert und gecancelt. [2] Das ist nicht nur ein brutaler Umgang mit Menschen, sondern auch eine extreme Form, die öffentliche Meinung zu steuern.

Wann immer wir also erkennen (weil wir aufmerksam waren), dass wir bei einem bestimmten Thema manipuliert werden, dann sind zwei logische und notwendige Fragen: Warum? Und was ist denn richtig? In unserem Russland-Kontext haben die Antworten darauf viel mit Geopolitik und Geschichte zu tun.

Ist Russland aggressiv und expansiv?

Angeblich plant Russland, europäische NATO-Staaten anzugreifen, nach dem Motto: «Zuerst die Ukraine, dann den Rest». In Deutschland weiß man dafür sogar das Datum: «Wir müssen bis 2029 kriegstüchtig sein», versichert Verteidigungsminister Pistorius.

Historisch gesehen ist es allerdings eher umgekehrt: Russland, bzw. die Sowjetunion, ist bereits dreimal von Westeuropa aus militärisch angegriffen worden. Die Feldzüge Napoleons, des deutschen Kaiserreichs und Nazi-Deutschlands haben Millionen Menschen das Leben gekostet. Bei dem ausdrücklichen Vernichtungskrieg ab 1941 kam es außerdem zu Brutalitäten wie der zweieinhalbjährigen Belagerung Leningrads (heute St. Petersburg) durch Hitlers Wehrmacht. Deren Ziel, die Bevölkerung auszuhungern, wurde erreicht: über eine Million tote Zivilisten.

Trotz dieser Erfahrungen stimmte Michail Gorbatschow 1990 der deutschen Wiedervereinigung zu und die Sowjetunion zog ihre Truppen aus Osteuropa zurück (vgl. Abb. 1). Der Warschauer Pakt wurde aufgelöst, der Kalte Krieg formell beendet. Die Sowjets erhielten damals von führenden westlichen Politikern die Zusicherung, dass sich die NATO «keinen Zentimeter ostwärts» ausdehnen würde, das ist dokumentiert. [3]

Expandiert ist die NATO trotzdem, und zwar bis an Russlands Grenzen (vgl. Abb. 2). Laut dem Politikberater Jeffrey Sachs handelt es sich dabei um ein langfristiges US-Projekt, das von Anfang an die Ukraine und Georgien mit einschloss. Offiziell wurde der Beitritt beiden Staaten 2008 angeboten. In jedem Fall könnte die massive Ost-Erweiterung seit 1999 aus russischer Sicht nicht nur als Vertrauensbruch, sondern durchaus auch als aggressiv betrachtet werden.

Russland hat den europäischen Staaten mehrfach die Hand ausgestreckt [4] für ein friedliches Zusammenleben und den «Aufbau des europäischen Hauses». Präsident Putin sei «in seiner ersten Amtszeit eine Chance für Europa» gewesen, urteilt die Journalistin und langjährige Russland-Korrespondentin der ARD, Gabriele Krone-Schmalz. Er habe damals viele positive Signale Richtung Westen gesendet.

Die Europäer jedoch waren scheinbar an einer Partnerschaft mit dem kontinentalen Nachbarn weniger interessiert als an der mit dem transatlantischen Hegemon. Sie verkennen bis heute, dass eine gedeihliche Zusammenarbeit in Eurasien eine Gefahr für die USA und deren bekundetes Bestreben ist, die «einzige Weltmacht» zu sein – «Full Spectrum Dominance» [5] nannte das Pentagon das. Statt einem neuen Kalten Krieg entgegenzuarbeiten, ließen sich europäische Staaten selber in völkerrechtswidrige «US-dominierte Angriffskriege» [6] verwickeln, wie in Serbien, Afghanistan, dem Irak, Libyen oder Syrien. Diese werden aber selten so benannt.

Speziell den Deutschen stünde außer einer Portion Realismus auch etwas mehr Dankbarkeit gut zu Gesicht. Das Geschichtsbewusstsein der Mehrheit scheint doch recht selektiv und das Selbstbewusstsein einiger etwas desorientiert zu sein. Bekanntermaßen waren es die Soldaten der sowjetischen Roten Armee, die unter hohen Opfern 1945 Deutschland «vom Faschismus befreit» haben. Bei den Gedenkfeiern zu 80 Jahren Kriegsende will jedoch das Auswärtige Amt – noch unter der Diplomatie-Expertin Baerbock, die sich schon länger offiziell im Krieg mit Russland wähnt, – nun keine Russen sehen: Sie sollen notfalls rausgeschmissen werden.

«Die Grundsatzfrage lautet: Geht es Russland um einen angemessenen Platz in einer globalen Sicherheitsarchitektur, oder ist Moskau schon seit langem auf einem imperialistischen Trip, der befürchten lassen muss, dass die Russen in fünf Jahren in Berlin stehen?»

So bringt Gabriele Krone-Schmalz [7] die eigentliche Frage auf den Punkt, die zur Einschätzung der Situation letztlich auch jeder für sich beantworten muss.

Was ist los in der Ukraine?

In der internationalen Politik geht es nie um Demokratie oder Menschenrechte, sondern immer um Interessen von Staaten. Diese These stammt von Egon Bahr, einem der Architekten der deutschen Ostpolitik des «Wandels durch Annäherung» aus den 1960er und 70er Jahren. Sie trifft auch auf den Ukraine-Konflikt zu, den handfeste geostrategische und wirtschaftliche Interessen beherrschen, obwohl dort angeblich «unsere Demokratie» verteidigt wird.

Es ist ein wesentliches Element des Ukraine-Narrativs und Teil der Manipulation, die Vorgeschichte des Krieges wegzulassen – mindestens die vor der russischen «Annexion» der Halbinsel Krim im März 2014, aber oft sogar komplett diejenige vor der Invasion Ende Februar 2022. Das Thema ist komplex, aber einige Aspekte, die für eine Beurteilung nicht unwichtig sind, will ich wenigstens kurz skizzieren. [8]

Das Gebiet der heutigen Ukraine und Russlands – die übrigens in der «Kiewer Rus» gemeinsame Wurzeln haben – hat der britische Geostratege Halford Mackinder bereits 1904 als eurasisches «Heartland» bezeichnet, dessen Kontrolle er eine große Bedeutung für die imperiale Strategie Großbritanniens zumaß. Für den ehemaligen Sicherheits- und außenpolitischen Berater mehrerer US-amerikanischer Präsidenten und Mitgründer der Trilateralen Kommission, Zbigniew Brzezinski, war die Ukraine nach der Auflösung der Sowjetunion ein wichtiger Spielstein auf dem «eurasischen Schachbrett», wegen seiner Nähe zu Russland, seiner Bodenschätze und seines Zugangs zum Schwarzen Meer.

Die Ukraine ist seit langem ein gespaltenes Land. Historisch zerrissen als Spielball externer Interessen und geprägt von ethnischen, kulturellen, religiösen und geografischen Unterschieden existiert bis heute, grob gesagt, eine Ost-West-Spaltung, welche die Suche nach einer nationalen Identität stark erschwert.

Insbesondere im Zuge der beiden Weltkriege sowie der Russischen Revolution entstanden tiefe Risse in der Bevölkerung. Ukrainer kämpften gegen Ukrainer, zum Beispiel die einen auf der Seite von Hitlers faschistischer Nazi-Armee und die anderen auf der von Stalins kommunistischer Roter Armee. Die Verbrechen auf beiden Seiten sind nicht vergessen. Dass nach der Unabhängigkeit 1991 versucht wurde, Figuren wie den radikalen Nationalisten Symon Petljura oder den Faschisten und Nazi-Kollaborateur Stepan Bandera als «Nationalhelden» zu installieren, verbessert die Sache nicht.

Während die USA und EU-Staaten zunehmend «ausländische Einmischung» (speziell russische) in «ihre Demokratien» wittern, betreiben sie genau dies seit Jahrzehnten in vielen Ländern der Welt. Die seit den 2000er Jahren bekannten «Farbrevolutionen» in Osteuropa werden oft als Methode des Regierungsumsturzes durch von außen gesteuerte «demokratische» Volksaufstände beschrieben. Diese Strategie geht auf Analysen zum «Schwarmverhalten» [9] seit den 1960er Jahren zurück (Studentenproteste), wo es um die potenzielle Wirksamkeit einer «rebellischen Hysterie» von Jugendlichen bei postmodernen Staatsstreichen geht. Heute nennt sich dieses gezielte Kanalisieren der Massen zur Beseitigung unkooperativer Regierungen «Soft-Power».

In der Ukraine gab es mit der «Orangen Revolution» 2004 und dem «Euromaidan» 2014 gleich zwei solcher «Aufstände». Der erste erzwang wegen angeblicher Unregelmäßigkeiten eine Wiederholung der Wahlen, was mit Wiktor Juschtschenko als neuem Präsidenten endete. Dieser war ehemaliger Direktor der Nationalbank und Befürworter einer Annäherung an EU und NATO. Seine Frau, die First Lady, ist US-amerikanische «Philanthropin» und war Beamtin im Weißen Haus in der Reagan- und der Bush-Administration.

Im Gegensatz zu diesem ersten Event endete der sogenannte Euromaidan unfriedlich und blutig. Die mehrwöchigen Proteste gegen Präsident Wiktor Janukowitsch, in Teilen wegen des nicht unterzeichneten Assoziierungsabkommens mit der EU, wurden zunehmend gewalttätiger und von Nationalisten und Faschisten des «Rechten Sektors» dominiert. Sie mündeten Ende Februar 2014 auf dem Kiewer Unabhängigkeitsplatz (Maidan) in einem Massaker durch Scharfschützen. Dass deren Herkunft und die genauen Umstände nicht geklärt wurden, störte die Medien nur wenig. [10]

Janukowitsch musste fliehen, er trat nicht zurück. Vielmehr handelte es sich um einen gewaltsamen, allem Anschein nach vom Westen inszenierten Putsch. Laut Jeffrey Sachs war das kein Geheimnis, außer vielleicht für die Bürger. Die USA unterstützten die Post-Maidan-Regierung nicht nur, sie beeinflussten auch ihre Bildung. Das geht unter anderem aus dem berühmten «Fuck the EU»-Telefonat der US-Chefdiplomatin für die Ukraine, Victoria Nuland, mit Botschafter Geoffrey Pyatt hervor.

Dieser Bruch der demokratischen Verfassung war letztlich der Auslöser für die anschließenden Krisen auf der Krim und im Donbass (Ostukraine). Angesichts der ukrainischen Geschichte mussten die nationalistischen Tendenzen und die Beteiligung der rechten Gruppen an dem Umsturz bei der russigsprachigen Bevölkerung im Osten ungute Gefühle auslösen. Es gab Kritik an der Übergangsregierung, Befürworter einer Abspaltung und auch für einen Anschluss an Russland.

Ebenso konnte Wladimir Putin in dieser Situation durchaus Bedenken wegen des Status der russischen Militärbasis für seine Schwarzmeerflotte in Sewastopol auf der Krim haben, für die es einen langfristigen Pachtvertrag mit der Ukraine gab. Was im März 2014 auf der Krim stattfand, sei keine Annexion, sondern eine Abspaltung (Sezession) nach einem Referendum gewesen, also keine gewaltsame Aneignung, urteilte der Rechtswissenschaftler Reinhard Merkel in der FAZ sehr detailliert begründet. Übrigens hatte die Krim bereits zu Zeiten der Sowjetunion den Status einer autonomen Republik innerhalb der Ukrainischen SSR.

Anfang April 2014 wurden in der Ostukraine die «Volksrepubliken» Donezk und Lugansk ausgerufen. Die Kiewer Übergangsregierung ging unter der Bezeichnung «Anti-Terror-Operation» (ATO) militärisch gegen diesen, auch von Russland instrumentalisierten Widerstand vor. Zufällig war kurz zuvor CIA-Chef John Brennan in Kiew. Die Maßnahmen gingen unter dem seit Mai neuen ukrainischen Präsidenten, dem Milliardär Petro Poroschenko, weiter. Auch Wolodymyr Selenskyj beendete den Bürgerkrieg nicht, als er 2019 vom Präsidenten-Schauspieler, der Oligarchen entmachtet, zum Präsidenten wurde. Er fuhr fort, die eigene Bevölkerung zu bombardieren.

Mit dem Einmarsch russischer Truppen in die Ostukraine am 24. Februar 2022 begann die zweite Phase des Krieges. Die Wochen und Monate davor waren intensiv. Im November hatte die Ukraine mit den USA ein Abkommen über eine «strategische Partnerschaft» unterzeichnet. Darin sagten die Amerikaner ihre Unterstützung der EU- und NATO-Perspektive der Ukraine sowie quasi für die Rückeroberung der Krim zu. Dagegen ließ Putin der NATO und den USA im Dezember 2021 einen Vertragsentwurf über beiderseitige verbindliche Sicherheitsgarantien zukommen, den die NATO im Januar ablehnte. Im Februar eskalierte laut OSZE die Gewalt im Donbass.

Bereits wenige Wochen nach der Invasion, Ende März 2022, kam es in Istanbul zu Friedensverhandlungen, die fast zu einer Lösung geführt hätten. Dass der Krieg nicht damals bereits beendet wurde, lag daran, dass der Westen dies nicht wollte. Man war der Meinung, Russland durch die Ukraine in diesem Stellvertreterkrieg auf Dauer militärisch schwächen zu können. Angesichts von Hunderttausenden Toten, Verletzten und Traumatisierten, die als Folge seitdem zu beklagen sind, sowie dem Ausmaß der Zerstörung, fehlen einem die Worte.

Hasst der Westen die Russen?

Diese Frage drängt sich auf, wenn man das oft unerträglich feindselige Gebaren beobachtet, das beileibe nicht neu ist und vor Doppelmoral trieft. Russland und speziell die Person Wladimir Putins werden regelrecht dämonisiert, was gleichzeitig scheinbar jede Form von Diplomatie ausschließt.

Russlands militärische Stärke, seine geografische Lage, sein Rohstoffreichtum oder seine unabhängige diplomatische Tradition sind sicher Störfaktoren für das US-amerikanische Bestreben, der Boss in einer unipolaren Welt zu sein. Ein womöglich funktionierender eurasischer Kontinent, insbesondere gute Beziehungen zwischen Russland und Deutschland, war indes schon vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg eine Sorge des britischen Imperiums.

Ein «Vergehen» von Präsident Putin könnte gewesen sein, dass er die neoliberale Schocktherapie à la IWF und den Ausverkauf des Landes (auch an US-Konzerne) beendete, der unter seinem Vorgänger herrschte. Dabei zeigte er sich als Führungspersönlichkeit und als nicht so formbar wie Jelzin. Diese Aspekte allein sind aber heute vermutlich keine ausreichende Erklärung für ein derart gepflegtes Feindbild.

Der Historiker und Philosoph Hauke Ritz erweitert den Fokus der Fragestellung zu: «Warum hasst der Westen die Russen so sehr?», was er zum Beispiel mit dem Medienforscher Michael Meyen und mit der Politikwissenschaftlerin Ulrike Guérot bespricht. Ritz stellt die interessante These [11] auf, dass Russland eine Provokation für den Westen sei, welcher vor allem dessen kulturelles und intellektuelles Potenzial fürchte.

Die Russen sind Europäer aber anders, sagt Ritz. Diese «Fremdheit in der Ähnlichkeit» erzeuge vielleicht tiefe Ablehnungsgefühle. Obwohl Russlands Identität in der europäischen Kultur verwurzelt ist, verbinde es sich immer mit der Opposition in Europa. Als Beispiele nennt er die Kritik an der katholischen Kirche oder die Verbindung mit der Arbeiterbewegung. Christen, aber orthodox; Sozialismus statt Liberalismus. Das mache das Land zum Antagonisten des Westens und zu einer Bedrohung der Machtstrukturen in Europa.

Fazit

Selbstverständlich kann man Geschichte, Ereignisse und Entwicklungen immer auf verschiedene Arten lesen. Dieser Artikel, obwohl viel zu lang, konnte nur einige Aspekte der Ukraine-Tragödie anreißen, die in den offiziellen Darstellungen in der Regel nicht vorkommen. Mindestens dürfte damit jedoch klar geworden sein, dass die Russische Föderation bzw. Wladimir Putin nicht der alleinige Aggressor in diesem Konflikt ist. Das ist ein Stellvertreterkrieg zwischen USA/NATO (gut) und Russland (böse); die Ukraine (edel) wird dabei schlicht verheizt.

Das ist insofern von Bedeutung, als die gesamte europäische Kriegshysterie auf sorgsam kultivierten Freund-Feind-Bildern beruht. Nur so kann Konfrontation und Eskalation betrieben werden, denn damit werden die wahren Hintergründe und Motive verschleiert. Angst und Propaganda sind notwendig, damit die Menschen den Wahnsinn mitmachen. Sie werden belogen, um sie zuerst zu schröpfen und anschließend auf die Schlachtbank zu schicken. Das kann niemand wollen, außer den stets gleichen Profiteuren: die Rüstungs-Lobby und die großen Investoren, die schon immer an Zerstörung und Wiederaufbau verdient haben.

Apropos Investoren: Zu den Top-Verdienern und somit Hauptinteressenten an einer Fortführung des Krieges zählt BlackRock, einer der weltgrößten Vermögensverwalter. Der deutsche Bundeskanzler in spe, Friedrich Merz, der gerne «Taurus»-Marschflugkörper an die Ukraine liefern und die Krim-Brücke zerstören möchte, war von 2016 bis 2020 Aufsichtsratsvorsitzender von BlackRock in Deutschland. Aber das hat natürlich nichts zu sagen, der Mann macht nur seinen Job.

Es ist ein Spiel der Kräfte, es geht um Macht und strategische Kontrolle, um Geheimdienste und die Kontrolle der öffentlichen Meinung, um Bodenschätze, Rohstoffe, Pipelines und Märkte. Das klingt aber nicht sexy, «Demokratie und Menschenrechte» hört sich besser und einfacher an. Dabei wäre eine für alle Seiten förderliche Politik auch nicht so kompliziert; das Handwerkszeug dazu nennt sich Diplomatie. Noch einmal Gabriele Krone-Schmalz:

«Friedliche Politik ist nichts anderes als funktionierender Interessenausgleich. Da geht’s nicht um Moral.»

Die Situation in der Ukraine ist sicher komplex, vor allem wegen der inneren Zerrissenheit. Es dürfte nicht leicht sein, eine friedliche Lösung für das Zusammenleben zu finden, aber die Beteiligten müssen es vor allem wollen. Unter den gegebenen Umständen könnte eine sinnvolle Perspektive mit Neutralität und föderalen Strukturen zu tun haben.

Allen, die sich bis hierher durch die Lektüre gearbeitet (oder auch einfach nur runtergescrollt) haben, wünsche ich frohe Oster-Friedenstage!

[Titelbild: Pixabay; Abb. 1 und 2: nach Ganser/SIPER; Abb. 3: SIPER]

--- Quellen: ---

[1] Albrecht Müller, «Glaube wenig. Hinterfrage alles. Denke selbst.», Westend 2019

[2] Zwei nette Beispiele:

• ARD-faktenfinder (sic), «Viel Aufmerksamkeit für fragwürdige Experten», 03/2023
• Neue Zürcher Zeitung, «Aufstieg und Fall einer Russlandversteherin – die ehemalige ARD-Korrespondentin Gabriele Krone-Schmalz rechtfertigt seit Jahren Putins Politik», 12/2022

[3] George Washington University, «NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard – Declassified documents show security assurances against NATO expansion to Soviet leaders from Baker, Bush, Genscher, Kohl, Gates, Mitterrand, Thatcher, Hurd, Major, and Woerner», 12/2017

[4] Beispielsweise Wladimir Putin bei seiner Rede im Deutschen Bundestag, 25/09/2001

[5] William Engdahl, «Full Spectrum Dominance, Totalitarian Democracy In The New World Order», edition.engdahl 2009

[6] Daniele Ganser, «Illegale Kriege – Wie die NATO-Länder die UNO sabotieren. Eine Chronik von Kuba bis Syrien», Orell Füssli 2016

[7] Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, «Mit Friedensjournalismus gegen ‘Kriegstüchtigkeit’», Vortrag und Diskussion an der Universität Hamburg, veranstaltet von engagierten Studenten, 16/01/2025\ → Hier ist ein ähnlicher Vortrag von ihr (Video), den ich mit spanischer Übersetzung gefunden habe.

[8] Für mehr Hintergrund und Details empfehlen sich z.B. folgende Bücher:

• Mathias Bröckers, Paul Schreyer, «Wir sind immer die Guten», Westend 2019
• Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, «Russland verstehen? Der Kampf um die Ukraine und die Arroganz des Westens», Westend 2023
• Patrik Baab, «Auf beiden Seiten der Front – Meine Reisen in die Ukraine», Fiftyfifty 2023

[9] vgl. Jonathan Mowat, «Washington's New World Order "Democratization" Template», 02/2005 und RAND Corporation, «Swarming and the Future of Conflict», 2000

[10] Bemerkenswert einige Beiträge, von denen man später nichts mehr wissen wollte:

• ARD Monitor, «Todesschüsse in Kiew: Wer ist für das Blutbad vom Maidan verantwortlich», 10/04/2014, Transkript hier
• Telepolis, «Blutbad am Maidan: Wer waren die Todesschützen?», 12/04/2014
• Telepolis, «Scharfschützenmorde in Kiew», 14/12/2014
• Deutschlandfunk, «Gefahr einer Spirale nach unten», Interview mit Günter Verheugen, 18/03/2014
• NDR Panorama, «Putsch in Kiew: Welche Rolle spielen die Faschisten?», 06/03/2014

[11] Hauke Ritz, «Vom Niedergang des Westens zur Neuerfindung Europas», 2024

---

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

E-cash are coupons or tokens for Bitcoin, or Bitcoin debt notes that the mint issues. The e-cash states, essentially, "IoU 2900 sats".

They're redeemable for Bitcoin on Lightning (hard money), and therefore can be used as cash (softer money), so long as the mint has a good reputation. That means that they're less fungible than Lightning because the e-cash from one mint can be more or less valuable than the e-cash from another. If a mint is buggy, offline, or disappears, then the e-cash is unreedemable.

It also means that e-cash is more anonymous than Lightning, and that the sender and receiver's wallets don't need to be online, to transact. Nutzaps now add the possibility of parking transactions one level farther out, on a relay. The same relays that cannot keep npub profiles and follow lists consistent will now do monetary transactions.

What we then have is * a transaction on a relay that triggers * a transaction on a mint that triggers * a transaction on Lightning that triggers * a transaction on Bitcoin.

Which means that every relay that stores the nuts is part of a wildcat banking system. Which is fine, but relay operators should consider whether they wish to carry the associated risks and liabilities. They should also be aware that they should implement the appropriate features in their relay, such as expiration tags (nuts rot after 2 weeks), and to make sure that only expired nuts are deleted.

There will be plenty of specialized relays for this, so don't feel pressured to join in, and research the topic carefully, for yourself.

https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/blob/master/60.md

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

sitios.xyz

Based on sitio, this was supposed to be the successor of Websites For Trello.

From the old landing page:

sítios.xyz is a hosted static site generator based on sitio. It is capable of building websites by fetching content from other services and arranging them in pages. It can be used to build any sort of blog or site.

It supports fetching content from Trello, Dropbox, Evernote and arbitrary URLs. You can use just one of these providers, or mix them all in your site.

How it works

Basically, you just have to point to an URL of the site, like /posts, for example, and assign a provider to it. The trello:list provider, for example, will fetch all cards on a Trello list and create a page for each of them under /posts/:card-name and finish with an index, optionally paginated, on /posts itself.

You can repeat this process for other content from other sources, or even just point the root URL, / to some provider and be done with it.

Fast

The generated websites are super fast, as they're served as HTML files directly, no server-rendering involved. Also, due to sitio capabilities, they have instant navigation enabled by default, which uses JavaScript to fetch just the content of the pages, instead of performing a full reload.

Customization

Since the way pages are rendered -- their HTML structure -- is standardized by classless, custom theming and styling is simple to do using just CSS and JavaScript, and there are some themes available already for you to choose.

If you want custom HTML or a provider for which we don't have support yet, that's easy to add. Please let's us know using the chat below! No lock-in

The code that renders the sites is just a very minimal sitio script with the plugins you choose. These are all open-source and you can export your site and render it by yourself if you don't want to use sítios.xyz anymore.

• http://web.archive.org/web/20180416143134/https://sitios.xyz/
• https://github.com/fiatjaf/sitios.xyz

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Cadeias, crimes e cidadãos de bem

A idéia de ficar dentro duma dessas penitenciárias superlotadas é aterrorizante para qualquer cidadão de bem, logo, nenhum cidadão de bem comete crimes puníveis dessa maneira. Mas os cidadãos de bem já não os cometeriam de qualquer modo, é um outro tipo de gente, que não o cidadão de bem, que comete os piores crimes (não quero dizer que o "cidadão de bem" é melhor do que o outro absolutamente, estou só usando um conceito mais-ou-menos identificável).

O problema disso é que todos esses mesmos cidadãos de bem imaginam que a existência da cadeia e da punição-padrão movida pelo Estado afasta do crime milhões de pessoas que, sem isso, cometeriam crimes horríveis, mas que com isso vivem vidas normais.

A verdade, me parece, é que quem fica assim tão aterrorizado com a idéia da cadeia e da punição-padrão é a pessoa que já por natureza não cometeria esses crimes.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Verstand ohne Gefühl ist unmenschlich; \ Gefühl ohne Verstand ist Dummheit. \ Egon Bahr

Seit Jahren werden wir darauf getrimmt, dass Fakten eigentlich gefühlt seien. Aber nicht alles ist relativ und nicht alles ist nach Belieben interpretierbar. Diese Schokoladenhasen beispielsweise, die an Ostern in unseren Gefilden typisch sind, «ostern» zwar nicht, sondern sie sitzen in der Regel, trotzdem verwandelt sie das nicht in «Sitzhasen».

Nichts soll mehr gelten, außer den immer invasiveren Gesetzen. Die eigenen Traditionen und Wurzeln sind potenziell «pfui», um andere Menschen nicht auszuschließen, aber wir mögen uns toleranterweise an die fremden Symbole und Rituale gewöhnen. Dabei ist es mir prinzipiell völlig egal, ob und wann jemand ein Fastenbrechen feiert, am Karsamstag oder jedem anderen Tag oder nie – aber bitte freiwillig.

Und vor allem: Lasst die Finger von den Kindern! In Bern setzten kürzlich Demonstranten ein Zeichen gegen die zunehmende Verbreitung woker Ideologie im Bildungssystem und forderten ein Ende der sexuellen Indoktrination von Schulkindern.

Wenn es nicht wegen des heiklen Themas Migration oder wegen des Regenbogens ist, dann wegen des Klimas. Im Rahmen der «Netto Null»-Agenda zum Kampf gegen das angeblich teuflische CO2 sollen die Menschen ihre Ernährungsgewohnheiten komplett ändern. Nach dem Willen von Produzenten synthetischer Lebensmittel, wie Bill Gates, sollen wir baldmöglichst praktisch auf Fleisch und alle Milchprodukte wie Milch und Käse verzichten. Ein lukratives Geschäftsmodell, das neben der EU aktuell auch von einem britischen Lobby-Konsortium unterstützt wird.

Sollten alle ideologischen Stricke zu reißen drohen, ist da immer noch «der Putin». Die Unions-Europäer offenbaren sich dabei ständig mehr als Vertreter der Rüstungsindustrie. Allen voran zündelt Deutschland an der Kriegslunte, angeführt von einem scheinbar todesmutigen Kanzlerkandidaten Friedrich Merz. Nach dessen erneuter Aussage, «Taurus»-Marschflugkörper an Kiew liefern zu wollen, hat Russland eindeutig klargestellt, dass man dies als direkte Kriegsbeteiligung werten würde – «mit allen sich daraus ergebenden Konsequenzen für Deutschland».

Wohltuend sind Nachrichten über Aktivitäten, die sich der allgemeinen Kriegstreiberei entgegenstellen oder diese öffentlich hinterfragen. Dazu zählt auch ein Kongress kritischer Psychologen und Psychotherapeuten, der letzte Woche in Berlin stattfand. Die vielen Vorträge im Kontext von «Krieg und Frieden» deckten ein breites Themenspektrum ab, darunter Friedensarbeit oder die Notwendigkeit einer «Pädagogik der Kriegsuntüchtigkeit».

Der heutige «stille Freitag», an dem Christen des Leidens und Sterbens von Jesus gedenken, ist vielleicht unabhängig von jeder religiösen oder spirituellen Prägung eine passende Einladung zur Reflexion. In der Ruhe liegt die Kraft. In diesem Sinne wünsche ich Ihnen frohe Ostertage!

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Zwei mal drei macht vier, \ widewidewitt und drei macht neune, \ ich mach mir die Welt, \ widewide wie sie mir gefällt. \ Pippi Langstrumpf

Egal, ob Koalitionsverhandlungen oder politischer Alltag: Die Kontroversen zwischen theoretisch verschiedenen Parteien verschwinden, wenn es um den Kampf gegen politische Gegner mit Rückenwind geht. Wer den Alteingesessenen die Pfründe ernsthaft streitig machen könnte, gegen den werden nicht nur «Brandmauern» errichtet, sondern der wird notfalls auch strafrechtlich verfolgt. Doppelstandards sind dabei selbstverständlich inklusive.

In Frankreich ist diese Woche Marine Le Pen wegen der Veruntreuung von EU-Geldern von einem Gericht verurteilt worden. Als Teil der Strafe wurde sie für fünf Jahre vom passiven Wahlrecht ausgeschlossen. Obwohl das Urteil nicht rechtskräftig ist – Le Pen kann in Berufung gehen –, haben die Richter das Verbot, bei Wahlen anzutreten, mit sofortiger Wirkung verhängt. Die Vorsitzende des rechtsnationalen Rassemblement National (RN) galt als aussichtsreiche Kandidatin für die Präsidentschaftswahl 2027.

Das ist in diesem Jahr bereits der zweite gravierende Fall von Wahlbeeinflussung durch die Justiz in einem EU-Staat. In Rumänien hatte Călin Georgescu im November die erste Runde der Präsidentenwahl überraschend gewonnen. Das Ergebnis wurde später annulliert, die behauptete «russische Wahlmanipulation» konnte jedoch nicht bewiesen werden. Die Kandidatur für die Wahlwiederholung im Mai wurde Georgescu kürzlich durch das Verfassungsgericht untersagt.

Die Veruntreuung öffentlicher Gelder muss untersucht und geahndet werden, das steht außer Frage. Diese Anforderung darf nicht selektiv angewendet werden. Hingegen mussten wir in der Vergangenheit bei ungleich schwerwiegenderen Fällen von (mutmaßlichem) Missbrauch ganz andere Vorgehensweisen erleben, etwa im Fall der heutigen EZB-Chefin Christine Lagarde oder im «Pfizergate»-Skandal um die Präsidentin der EU-Kommission Ursula von der Leyen.

Wenngleich derartige Angelegenheiten formal auf einer rechtsstaatlichen Grundlage beruhen mögen, so bleibt ein bitterer Beigeschmack. Es stellt sich die Frage, ob und inwieweit die Justiz politisch instrumentalisiert wird. Dies ist umso interessanter, als die Gewaltenteilung einen essenziellen Teil jeder demokratischen Ordnung darstellt, während die Bekämpfung des politischen Gegners mit juristischen Mitteln gerade bei den am lautesten rufenden Verteidigern «unserer Demokratie» populär zu sein scheint.

Die Delegationen von CDU/CSU und SPD haben bei ihren Verhandlungen über eine Regierungskoalition genau solche Maßnahmen diskutiert. «Im Namen der Wahrheit und der Demokratie» möchte man noch härter gegen «Desinformation» vorgehen und dafür zum Beispiel den Digital Services Act der EU erweitern. Auch soll der Tatbestand der Volksverhetzung verschärft werden – und im Entzug des passiven Wahlrechts münden können. Auf europäischer Ebene würde Friedrich Merz wohl gerne Ungarn das Stimmrecht entziehen.

Der Pegel an Unzufriedenheit und Frustration wächst in großen Teilen der Bevölkerung kontinuierlich. Arroganz, Machtmissbrauch und immer abstrusere Ausreden für offensichtlich willkürliche Maßnahmen werden kaum verhindern, dass den etablierten Parteien die Unterstützung entschwindet. In Deutschland sind die Umfrageergebnisse der AfD ein guter Gradmesser dafür.

[Vorlage Titelbild: Pixabay]

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Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 5b730fac:9e746e2a

| Channel | Push to Branch | Previous Installation Method | NIP94 Event ID Updated as Expected | New Update Installed as Expected | Test Passed | | ----------------------------------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | deleted config files, first install | Already installed | Manual | Yes | Yes | Yes
nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqkmnp7kx5h36rumhjrtkxdslvqu38fyf09wv53u4hrqmvx08gm32qqxnzde5xcmnzwpnxq6rvdp59d83mz |

Before pushing update

Check state

Currently installed NIP94 event: { "id": "8e75993b2b6d28e4336bc90150e2c69db97d45f1c7db6bf3c3892cee55f45c44", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746716510, "kind": 1063, "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000", "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/bf6608e98a60cf977100d50aa21f720d4e369356fd9b5ca24616f9a7226bd41c.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "bf6608e98a60cf977100d50aa21f720d4e369356fd9b5ca24616f9a7226bd41c" ], [ "ox", "bf6608e98a60cf977100d50aa21f720d4e369356fd9b5ca24616f9a7226bd41c" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package_test-92-1157a2f" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ] }

Current version picked up by opkg: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg list-installed | grep "tollgate" tollgate-module-basic-go - multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f

Check basic module's logic

Config.json contains the right event ID: ``` root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "62a39f60f5b3e3f0910adc592c0468c5c134ce321238884e9f016caad4c5231b" }

```

Install.json contains the right package path: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "/tmp/1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "192.168.3.1", "install_time": 1746715561, "download_time": 1746715507, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746634883, "update_path": null }

Deactivate, delete config files and start

Deactivate & delete config files: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic stop root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic status inactive root@OpenWrt:/tmp# rm /etc/tollgate/config.json /etc/tollgate/install.json root@OpenWrt:/tmp# ls /etc/tollgate/config.json /etc/tollgate/install.json ls: /etc/tollgate/config.json: No such file or directory ls: /etc/tollgate/install.json: No such file or directory

Start and check configs. Release channel is set to stable by default: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "unknown" } root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "false", "ip_address_randomized": "false", "install_time": 0, "download_time": 0, "release_channel": "stable", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746717311 }

Logs are too verbose, but otherwise fine. Skipped all events due to release channel: Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.233356 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.235395 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.237559 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.239556 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.241685 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.259370 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:13 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13609]: 2025/05/08 15:15:13.261258 Skipping event due to release channel mismatch Thu May 8 15:15:31 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13609]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me Thu May 8 15:15:56 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13609]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me

Stop tollgate-basic: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic stop root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic status inactive

Switch to dev channel: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "false", "ip_address_randomized": "false", "install_time": 0, "download_time": 0, "release_channel": "stable", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746717311 } root@OpenWrt:/tmp# vi /etc/tollgate/install.json root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "false", "ip_address_randomized": "false", "install_time": 0, "download_time": 0, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746717311 }

Restart service: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic start root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic status running

Logread: Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:21:10 NIP94EventID: unknown Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:21:10 IPAddressRandomized: false Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: TODO: include min payment (1) for https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin in future Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: TODO: include min payment (1) for https://mint2.nutmix.cash in future Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:21:10 Janitor module initialized and listening for NIP-94 events Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:21:10.861535 Registering handlers... Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:21:10.861715 Starting HTTP server on all interfaces... Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:21:10.861834 Starting to listen for NIP-94 events Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Starting Tollgate - TIP-01 Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Listening on all interfaces on port :2121 Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Starting event processing loop Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connecting to relay: wss://nos.lol Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connecting to relay: wss://nostr.mom Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me Thu May 8 15:21:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connected to relay: wss://nos.lol Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Subscription successful on relay wss://nos.lol Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Subscribed to NIP-94 events on relay wss://nos.lol Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connected to relay: wss://nostr.mom Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Subscription successful on relay wss://nostr.mom Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Subscribed to NIP-94 events on relay wss://nostr.mom Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connected to relay: wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Subscription successful on relay wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 15:21:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Subscribed to NIP-94 events on relay wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 15:21:30 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me

Trigger new event: ``` c03rad0r@CobradorRomblonMimaropa:~/TG/tollgate-module-basic-go/src$ git push github Enumerating objects: 9, done. Counting objects: 100% (9/9), done. Delta compression using up to 8 threads Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done. Writing objects: 100% (5/5), 416 bytes | 416.00 KiB/s, done. Total 5 (delta 4), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0 remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (4/4), completed with 4 local objects. To https://github.com/OpenTollGate/tollgate-module-basic-go.git 1157a2f..e775bce multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package -> multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package

{ "id": "c73756a13f0ca270510d4301c1dbf433989974c33262fd3cd07627eacc3d6481", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746718037, "kind": 1063, "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000", "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/cffba9d8b8bc9e1c59c97fdf238a47bdb8d6ad3003e4ae8b6cf50ca301f13078.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "cffba9d8b8bc9e1c59c97fdf238a47bdb8d6ad3003e4ae8b6cf50ca301f13078" ], [ "ox", "cffba9d8b8bc9e1c59c97fdf238a47bdb8d6ad3003e4ae8b6cf50ca301f13078" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-93-e775bce" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ] } ```

New event caught, updated and restarted: Thu May 8 15:27:19 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Started the timer Thu May 8 15:27:19 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Intersection: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-93-e775bce] Thu May 8 15:27:19 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Right Time Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-93-e775bce] Thu May 8 15:27:19 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Right Arch Keys count: 61 Thu May 8 15:27:19 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Right Version Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-93-e775bce] Thu May 8 15:27:29 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:27:29.928620 Timeout reached, checking for new versions Thu May 8 15:27:29 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Sorted Qualifying Events Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-93-e775bce] Thu May 8 15:27:29 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Newer package version available: multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-93-e775bce Thu May 8 15:27:29 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Downloading package from https://blossom.swissdash.site/cffba9d8b8bc9e1c59c97fdf238a47bdb8d6ad3003e4ae8b6cf50ca301f13078.ipk to /tmp/cffba9d8b8bc9e1c59c97fdf238a47bdb8d6ad3003e4ae8b6cf50ca301f13078.ipk Thu May 8 15:27:34 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Package downloaded successfully to /tmp/ Thu May 8 15:27:34 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: New package version is ready to be installed by cronjob Thu May 8 15:27:34 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:27:34.073022 Verifying package checksum Thu May 8 15:27:34 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[13838]: 2025/05/08 15:27:34.082504 Package checksum verified successfully Thu May 8 15:27:55 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[13838]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[14419]: 2025/05/08 15:28:07 NIP94EventID: c73756a13f0ca270510d4301c1dbf433989974c33262fd3cd07627eacc3d6481 Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[14419]: 2025/05/08 15:28:07 IPAddressRandomized: 10.156.11.1 Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[14419]: TODO: include min payment (1) for https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin in future Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[14419]: TODO: include min payment (1) for https://mint2.nutmix.cash in future Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[14419]: Starting Tollgate - TIP-01 Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[14419]: Listening on all interfaces on port :2121 Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[14419]: 2025/05/08 15:28:07 Janitor module initialized and listening for NIP-94 events Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[14419]: 2025/05/08 15:28:07.915222 Registering handlers... Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[14419]: 2025/05/08 15:28:07.915366 Starting HTTP server on all interfaces... Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[14419]: 2025/05/08 15:28:07.917009 Starting to listen for NIP-94 events Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[14419]: Starting event processing loop Thu May 8 15:28:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[14419]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.damus.io

New config files with new IP address root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "c73756a13f0ca270510d4301c1dbf433989974c33262fd3cd07627eacc3d6481" } root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "/tmp/cffba9d8b8bc9e1c59c97fdf238a47bdb8d6ad3003e4ae8b6cf50ca301f13078.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "10.156.11.1", "install_time": 1746718081, "download_time": 1746718054, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746717311, "update_path": null }

@ daa41bed:88f54153

There has been a good bit of discussion on Nostr over the past few days about the merits of zaps as a method of engaging with notes, so after writing a rather lengthy article on the pros of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, I wanted to take some time to chime in on the much more fun topic of digital engagement.

Let's begin by defining a couple of things:

Nostr is a decentralized, censorship-resistance protocol whose current biggest use case is social media (think Twitter/X). Instead of relying on company servers, it relies on relays that anyone can spin up and own their own content. Its use cases are much bigger, though, and this article is hosted on my own relay, using my own Nostr relay as an example.

Zap is a tip or donation denominated in sats (small units of Bitcoin) sent from one user to another. This is generally done directly over the Lightning Network but is increasingly using Cashu tokens. For the sake of this discussion, how you transmit/receive zaps will be irrelevant, so don't worry if you don't know what Lightning or Cashu are.

If we look at how users engage with posts and follows/followers on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc., it becomes evident that traditional social media thrives on engagement farming. The more outrageous a post, the more likely it will get a reaction. We see a version of this on more visual social platforms like YouTube and TikTok that use carefully crafted thumbnail images to grab the user's attention to click the video. If you'd like to dive deep into the psychology and science behind social media engagement, let me know, and I'd be happy to follow up with another article.

In this user engagement model, a user is given the option to comment or like the original post, or share it among their followers to increase its signal. They receive no value from engaging with the content aside from the dopamine hit of the original experience or having their comment liked back by whatever influencer they provide value to. Ad revenue flows to the content creator. Clout flows to the content creator. Sales revenue from merch and content placement flows to the content creator. We call this a linear economy -- the idea that resources get created, used up, then thrown away. Users create content and farm as much engagement as possible, then the content is forgotten within a few hours as they move on to the next piece of content to be farmed.

What if there were a simple way to give value back to those who engage with your content? By implementing some value-for-value model -- a circular economy. Enter zaps.

Unlike traditional social media platforms, Nostr does not actively use algorithms to determine what content is popular, nor does it push content created for active user engagement to the top of a user's timeline. Yes, there are "trending" and "most zapped" timelines that users can choose to use as their default, but these use relatively straightforward engagement metrics to rank posts for these timelines.

That is not to say that we may not see clients actively seeking to refine timeline algorithms for specific metrics. Still, the beauty of having an open protocol with media that is controlled solely by its users is that users who begin to see their timeline gamed towards specific algorithms can choose to move to another client, and for those who are more tech-savvy, they can opt to run their own relays or create their own clients with personalized algorithms and web of trust scoring systems.

Zaps enable the means to create a new type of social media economy in which creators can earn for creating content and users can earn by actively engaging with it. Like and reposting content is relatively frictionless and costs nothing but a simple button tap. Zaps provide active engagement because they signal to your followers and those of the content creator that this post has genuine value, quite literally in the form of money—sats.

I have seen some comments on Nostr claiming that removing likes and reactions is for wealthy people who can afford to send zaps and that the majority of people in the US and around the world do not have the time or money to zap because they have better things to spend their money like feeding their families and paying their bills. While at face value, these may seem like valid arguments, they, unfortunately, represent the brainwashed, defeatist attitude that our current economic (and, by extension, social media) systems aim to instill in all of us to continue extracting value from our lives.

Imagine now, if those people dedicating their own time (time = money) to mine pity points on social media would instead spend that time with genuine value creation by posting content that is meaningful to cultural discussions. Imagine if, instead of complaining that their posts get no zaps and going on a tirade about how much of a victim they are, they would empower themselves to take control of their content and give value back to the world; where would that leave us? How much value could be created on a nascent platform such as Nostr, and how quickly could it overtake other platforms?

Other users argue about user experience and that additional friction (i.e., zaps) leads to lower engagement, as proven by decades of studies on user interaction. While the added friction may turn some users away, does that necessarily provide less value? I argue quite the opposite. You haven't made a few sats from zaps with your content? Can't afford to send some sats to a wallet for zapping? How about using the most excellent available resource and spending 10 seconds of your time to leave a comment? Likes and reactions are valueless transactions. Social media's real value derives from providing monetary compensation and actively engaging in a conversation with posts you find interesting or thought-provoking. Remember when humans thrived on conversation and discussion for entertainment instead of simply being an onlooker of someone else's life?

If you've made it this far, my only request is this: try only zapping and commenting as a method of engagement for two weeks. Sure, you may end up liking a post here and there, but be more mindful of how you interact with the world and break yourself from blind instinct. You'll thank me later.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Spanien bleibt einer der Vorreiter im europäischen Prozess der totalen Überwachung per Digitalisierung. Seit Mittwoch ist dort der digitale Personalausweis verfügbar. Dabei handelt es sich um eine Regierungs-App, die auf dem Smartphone installiert werden muss und in den Stores von Google und Apple zu finden ist. Per Dekret von Regierungschef Pedro Sánchez und Zustimmung des Ministerrats ist diese Maßnahme jetzt in Kraft getreten.

Mit den üblichen Argumenten der Vereinfachung, des Komforts, der Effizienz und der Sicherheit preist das Innenministerium die «Innovation» an. Auch die Beteuerung, dass die digitale Variante parallel zum physischen Ausweis existieren wird und diesen nicht ersetzen soll, fehlt nicht. Während der ersten zwölf Monate wird «der Neue» noch nicht für alle Anwendungsfälle gültig sein, ab 2026 aber schon.

Dass die ganze Sache auch «Risiken und Nebenwirkungen» haben könnte, wird in den Mainstream-Medien eher selten thematisiert. Bestenfalls wird der Aspekt der Datensicherheit angesprochen, allerdings in der Regel direkt mit dem Regierungsvokabular von den «maximalen Sicherheitsgarantien» abgehandelt. Dennoch gibt es einige weitere Aspekte, die Bürger mit etwas Sinn für Privatsphäre bedenken sollten.

Um sich die digitale Version des nationalen Ausweises besorgen zu können (eine App mit dem Namen MiDNI), muss man sich vorab online registrieren. Dabei wird die Identität des Bürgers mit seiner mobilen Telefonnummer verknüpft. Diese obligatorische fixe Verdrahtung kennen wir von diversen anderen Apps und Diensten. Gleichzeitig ist das die Basis für eine perfekte Lokalisierbarkeit der Person.

Für jeden Vorgang der Identifikation in der Praxis wird später «eine Verbindung zu den Servern der Bundespolizei aufgebaut». Die Daten des Individuums werden «in Echtzeit» verifiziert und im Erfolgsfall von der Polizei signiert zurückgegeben. Das Ergebnis ist ein QR-Code mit zeitlich begrenzter Gültigkeit, der an Dritte weitergegeben werden kann.

Bei derartigen Szenarien sträuben sich einem halbwegs kritischen Staatsbürger die Nackenhaare. Allein diese minimale Funktionsbeschreibung lässt die totale Überwachung erkennen, die damit ermöglicht wird. Jede Benutzung des Ausweises wird künftig registriert, hinterlässt also Spuren. Und was ist, wenn die Server der Polizei einmal kein grünes Licht geben? Das wäre spätestens dann ein Problem, wenn der digitale doch irgendwann der einzig gültige Ausweis ist: Dann haben wir den abschaltbaren Bürger.

Dieser neue Vorstoß der Regierung von Pedro Sánchez ist ein weiterer Schritt in Richtung der «totalen Digitalisierung» des Landes, wie diese Politik in manchen Medien – nicht einmal kritisch, sondern sehr naiv – genannt wird. Ebenso verharmlosend wird auch erwähnt, dass sich das spanische Projekt des digitalen Ausweises nahtlos in die Initiativen der EU zu einer digitalen Identität für alle Bürger sowie des digitalen Euro einreiht.

In Zukunft könnte der neue Ausweis «auch in andere staatliche und private digitale Plattformen integriert werden», wie das Medienportal Cope ganz richtig bemerkt. Das ist die Perspektive.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

Dazu passend:

Nur Abschied vom Alleinfahren? Monströse spanische Überwachungsprojekte gemäß EU-Norm

---

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ f1989a96:bcaaf2c1

Good morning, readers!

This week, we bring reports from Bangladesh, where the interim government instructed the central bank to halt the printing of old banknotes featuring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh. This has induced a currency shortage, as new notes have yet to be issued to replace the discontinued ones. As a result, Bangladeshis find themselves holding worthless currency, facing increased costs, and feeling frustrated over such poor currency management. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, citizens are fleeing to gold as the local rupiah currency crashes to record lows amid increasing financial controls from the government.

In open-source news, LNbits, a Bitcoin and Lightning wallet management software, emerged from beta with its v1.0.0 release. LNbits works like a control panel on top of a Bitcoin wallet, letting users divide funds into separate accounts and use different features and functionalities. It is a handy tool for educators, civil society organizations, and communities who want to use Bitcoin for real-world transactions without needing advanced technical skills. We also spotlight a new tool called following .space that allows users to curate and share premade follow packs for nostr. The result is a more straightforward onboarding process for new users interested in censorship-resistant social media and the ability to curate feeds to better suit their interests.

We end with an interview with HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein, who explores his thinking behind the relationship between Bitcoin and human rights as we enter an age of increased corporate and nation-state adoption. He highlights the paradox where Bitcoin, a tool for individual financial freedom, is being adopted by institutions around the world, many of which regularly seek greater control over financial activity. We also include a new report from Bitcoin developer and past HRF grantee, b10c, who documents the current state of Bitcoin mining centralization and the threat it poses to decentralization and censorship resistance.

Now, let’s jump right in!

SUBCRIBE HERE

GLOBAL NEWS

Bangladesh | Currency Shortage as Central Bank Halts Printing of Banknotes

A state-induced cash crunch is paralyzing Bangladesh after the interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, ordered the central bank to discontinue old banknotes featuring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding president of Bangladesh. New cash is expected to be printed in phases beginning in May. But Bangladeshis report they are currently stuck with old and unusable currency, as the national mint has yet to issue replacement currency and lacks the capacity to print more than three notes at a time. Meanwhile, public ATMs continue to dispense old and worn-out banknotes, with merchants reluctantly accepting them and banks refusing to exchange them. Through all this, the central bank of Bangladesh sits on nearly 15,000 crore taka ($1.28 billion) worth of old notes in vaults, but the interim government has refused to release them, deepening public frustration.

Nigeria | Regulates Bitcoin as a Security

Nigerian lawmakers are moving to regulate digital assets as securities by passing the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025. Rather than embrace it as a tool for financial freedom, the law places Bitcoin under the purview of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Companies must now register with the Nigerian SEC, implement more strict data-collection processes (to harvest personal information), and navigate a legal framework not designed for a borderless and permissionless technology like Bitcoin. The law further grants the SEC access to data from telecom and Internet providers to investigate “illegal market activity” — a provision that could easily be abused to surveil or intimidate Bitcoin users and developers. Nigeria routinely uses regulations to stifle the presence of open-source money, raising compliance hurdles, imposing taxes, and punishing digital asset companies. It’s not unreasonable to suspect this new classification could provide the state with a means to suppress the free adoption and innovation of Bitcoin.

Indonesia | Gold Rush Amid Economic Uncertainty

As the rupiah currency falls to record lows, Indonesians are flocking to gold in a rush to protect their savings. But gold isn’t the only safe haven. With 74% of Indonesia’s population unbanked or underbanked, digital tools like Bitcoin offer a more accessible alternative, especially when nearly 70% of Indonesians have Internet access. The Indonesian government is also tightening capital controls. A new policy forces exporters to keep all foreign currency earnings inside the country for a full year to trap dollars in the financial system. HRF grantee Bitcoin Indonesia is responding by helping people in the region (especially in nearby states like Burma) build financial resilience through meetups, workshops, and training focused on Bitcoin custody, privacy, and adoption. In an area where financial services remain out of reach for millions, learning how to save and transact permissionlessly is paramount.

Kenya | Introduces Legal Framework for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)

Kenya’s government introduced a comprehensive legal framework to regulate Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) through its newly proposed 2025 VASP Bill. The legislation outlines strict licensing requirements for digital asset exchanges, wallet providers, brokers, and other digital asset firms. It functionally bars individuals from operating independently (think: open-source freedom tech builders) by mandating local incorporation, compliance with cybersecurity standards, and approval from financial regulators. This appears to be an attempt to formalize and better control the rapidly growing digital asset space. It could stifle grassroots innovation and limit access to financial tools that have become vital for activists and citizens seeking privacy and autonomy as economic policies and high inflation drive unrest.

El Salvador | Attorney General’s Office Preparing Arrest Warrants for Independent Journalists

El Faro, one of El Salvador’s most prominent investigative news outlets, shared reliable information that the Salvadoran Attorney General’s Office is preparing arrest warrants against three of its journalists. The warning came from El Faro director Carlos Dada, who suggests that the charges may include “apology for crimes” and “illicit association.” The alleged charges allegedly stem from El Faro’s latest reporting: a three-part video interview with former leaders of the 18th Street Revolucionarios gang that sheds light on Bukele’s “years-long relationship” with Salvadoran gangs. El Faro editor-in-chief Óscar Martínez said that any arrests or home raids following this news would be “for having done journalism.” With El Salvador’s shrinking civic space, this potential action against independent media would further restrict Salvadorans’ ability to access independent information and hold officials accountable.

BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS

LNbits | Emerges from Beta with v1.0.0 Release

LNbits, an open-source software tool that lets people create and manage Bitcoin Lightning wallets securely for themselves and for others, officially launched version 1.0.0, marking its transition out of beta and into a more stable release for public use. It works like a control panel sitting on top of a Bitcoin wallet, letting users divide funds into separate accounts and use different features and functionalities. LNbits is especially useful for educators, small businesses, and community organizers who want to use and manage Bitcoin for payments and savings. HRF is pleased to see this Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) grantee strengthen the tools available to activists to achieve financial freedom in the face of censorship, surveillance, or inflation.

SeedSigner | Self-Custody Tool for Chinese Bitcoiners Facing Local Corruption

Chinese Bitcoin users are turning to SeedSigner, an open-source and fully customizable Bitcoin hardware wallet, as a more private way to protect their savings from law enforcement corruption. While many assume the primary threat to Bitcoin in China comes from top-down management and enforcement from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), new reports suggest greater concern over the police, who regularly monitor mail, detect hardware wallet purchases, and fabricate charges to extort Chinese users’ Bitcoin. SeedSigner solves this by allowing users to assemble a secure signing device from generic, inexpensive parts, avoiding the risk of shipping a branded wallet that might flag them as a target. When privacy violations begin at the local level, SeedSigner can help citizens safeguard their financial freedom by making secure self-custody discreet, accessible, and affordable.

Following .space | Create and Share Follow Packs on Nostr

Following.space is a new tool for nostr that solves one of the protocol’s biggest pain points: finding people worth following in the absence of an algorithm. Created by developer and HRF grantee Calle, the tool lets anyone build and share curated “follow packs” — pre-made lists of nostr users that can be easily distributed across the web. The lists are customizable and can be made based on shared interests, communities, organizations, regions, and more. This makes onboarding new users easier and allows users to curate their feeds to suit their interests. The result is a simple but powerful tool that helps nostr scale more organically by encouraging natural discovery. Enabling free expression and connections without reliance on centralized platforms strengthens human rights and financial freedom in repressive environments. Try it here.

256 Foundation | Releases Ember One Source Code

The 256 Foundation, an open-source Bitcoin mining initiative, released the source code of its new Ember One Bitcoin mining hashboard to the public. A Bitcoin hashboard is a device with multiple chips for performing Bitcoin mining computations. The open-source Ember One only consumes 100 Watts of total power and is modular by design, allowing user customization and the ability to mine discreetly even under autocratic regimes. This is important because it gives individuals a way to access and earn Bitcoin without drawing the attention of officials. For dissidents, mining at home means gaining more control over how they earn, spend, and store their money, all without relying on centralized systems at the whims of dictators.

Btrust and Africa Free Routing | Announce Partnership to Advance African Bitcoin Development

Btrust, a nonprofit advancing Bitcoin development in Africa, awarded a grant to Africa Free Routing, a program within African Bitcoiners, to support five Bitcoin Lightning-focused developer boot camps across the continent in 2025. These bootcamps aim to onboard non-Bitcoin developers into the Bitcoin ecosystem, offering hands-on training, mentorship, and opportunities to contribute to open-source projects. This work strengthens the foundations of freedom tech in Africa, providing tools that allow people to resist financial repression under tyranny. Learn more about the partnership here.

Presidio Bitcoin | Hosting First Hackathon

Presidio Bitcoin, the Bay Area’s first dedicated freedom tech co-working and events space, just announced its first-ever hackathon, which will take place from May 16-17, 2025. This 24-hour hackathon in San Francisco brings together developers and technologists to build and collaborate at the frontier of Bitcoin, AI, and open-source technology. In addition to the hackathon, Presidio is launching a new program offering free three-month access to its workspace for Bitcoin open-source contributors. This is a valuable opportunity to connect with fellow developers, startup founders, and freedom tech advocates in the area. HRF is proud to sponsor this hackathon and is looking forward to how the outcomes might help create better freedom tools for dissidents worldwide. Learn more about the event here.

RECOMMENDED CONTENT

Bitcoin Nation State Adoption Paradox - Interview with Alex Gladstein

In a recent episode of the Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast, hosted by Preston Pysh, Alex Gladstein, HRF’s chief strategy officer, discusses the complexities of Bitcoin’s new era of adoption. He highlights the paradox where Bitcoin, a tool for individual financial freedom, is being adopted by governments, which some believe to be potentially compromising to its core principles. He emphasizes that while governments may adopt it for strategic or economic reasons, in doing so, they expose their populations to a technology that will ultimately weaken state control over money and advance individual liberty and human rights. Watch the full interview here.

Bitcoin Mining Centralization by b10c

In this report, Bitcoin developer and past HRF grantee b10c documents the growing trend of centralization in Bitcoin mining pools. It shows that over 95% of blocks are now mined by just six Bitcoin mining pools, with Foundry and AntPool controlling roughly 60–70% of the hashrate (the computing power dedicated to the Bitcoin network). This marks a rise in mining pool centralization in recent years. While this hasn’t harmed Bitcoin’s censorship resistance yet, it reduces the number of block template producers. This concentration of template producers poses a potential risk to Bitcoin’s neutrality, which is essential for ensuring access to uncensorable money and protecting human rights in autocratic regimes. HRF has happily supported both Hashpool and Public Pool with recent grants to support smaller, independent pools that help preserve Bitcoin's decentralization. Read the full report here.

If this article was forwarded to you and you enjoyed reading it, please consider subscribing to the Financial Freedom Report here.

Support the newsletter by donating bitcoin to HRF’s Financial Freedom program via BTCPay.\ Want to contribute to the newsletter? Submit tips, stories, news, and ideas by emailing us at ffreport @ hrf.org

The Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) is accepting grant proposals on an ongoing basis. The Bitcoin Development Fund is looking to support Bitcoin developers, community builders, and educators. Submit proposals here.

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@ aa8de34f:a6ffe696

In seinem Beitrag vom 30. März 2025 fragt Henning Rosenbusch auf Telegram angesichts zunehmender digitaler Kontrolle und staatlicher Allmacht:

„Wie soll sich gegen eine solche Tyrannei noch ein Widerstand formieren können, selbst im Untergrund? Sehe ich nicht.“\ (Quelle: t.me/rosenbusch/25228)

Er beschreibt damit ein Gefühl der Ohnmacht, das viele teilen: Eine Welt, in der Totalitarismus nicht mehr mit Panzern, sondern mit Algorithmen kommt. Wo Zugriff auf Geld, Meinungsfreiheit und Teilhabe vom Wohlverhalten abhängt. Der Bürger als kontrollierbare Variable im Code des Staates.\ Die Frage ist berechtigt. Doch die Antwort darauf liegt nicht in alten Widerstandsbildern – sondern in einer neuen Realität.

-- Denn es braucht keinen Untergrund mehr. --

Der Widerstand der Zukunft trägt keinen Tarnanzug. Er ist nicht konspirativ, sondern transparent. Nicht bewaffnet, sondern mathematisch beweisbar. Bitcoin steht nicht am Rand dieser Entwicklung – es ist ihr Fundament. Eine Bastion aus physikalischer Realität, spieltheoretischem Schutz und ökonomischer Wahrheit. Es ist nicht unfehlbar, aber unbestechlich. Nicht perfekt, aber immun gegen zentrale Willkür.

Hier entsteht kein „digitales Gegenreich“, sondern eine dezentrale Renaissance. Keine Revolte aus Wut, sondern eine stille Abkehr: von Zwang zu Freiwilligkeit, von Abhängigkeit zu Selbstverantwortung. Diese Revolution führt keine Kriege. Sie braucht keine Führer. Sie ist ein Netzwerk. Jeder Knoten ein Individuum. Jede Entscheidung ein Akt der Selbstermächtigung.

Weltweit wachsen Freiheits-Zitadellen aus dieser Idee: wirtschaftlich autark, digital souverän, lokal verankert und global vernetzt. Sie sind keine Utopien im luftleeren Raum, sondern konkrete Realitäten – angetrieben von Energie, Code und dem menschlichen Wunsch nach Würde.

Der Globalismus alter Prägung – zentralistisch, monopolistisch, bevormundend – wird an seiner eigenen Hybris zerbrechen. Seine Werkzeuge der Kontrolle werden ihn nicht retten. Im Gegenteil: Seine Geister werden ihn verfolgen und erlegen.

Und während die alten Mächte um Erhalt kämpfen, wächst eine neue Welt – nicht im Schatten, sondern im Offenen. Nicht auf Gewalt gebaut, sondern auf Mathematik, Physik und Freiheit.

Die Tyrannei sieht keinen Widerstand.\ Weil sie nicht erkennt, dass er längst begonnen hat.\ Unwiderruflich. Leise. Überall.

@ 97c70a44:ad98e322

Last week, in a bid to understand the LLM hype, I decided to write a trivial nostr-related program in rust via a combination of codebuff (yes, that is a referral link, pls click), aider, and goose.

The result of the experiment was inconclusive, but as a side effect it produced a great case study in converting a NINO into a Real Nostr App.

Introducing Roz

Roz, a friendly notary for nostr events.

To use it, simply publish an event to relay.damus.io or nos.lol, and roz will make note of it. To find out when roz first saw a given event, just ask:

curl https://roz.coracle.social/notary/cb429632ae22557d677a11149b2d0ccd72a1cf66ac55da30e3534ed1a492765d

This will return a JSON payload with a seen key indicating when roz first saw the event. How (and whether) you use this is up to you!

De-NINO-fying roz

Roz is just a proof of concept, so don't rely on it being there forever. And anyway, roz is a NINO, since it provides value to nostr (potentially), but doesn't really do things in a nostr-native way. It also hard-codes its relays, and certainly doesn't use the outbox model or sign events. But that's ok, it's a proof of concept.

A much better way to do this would be to modify roz to properly leverage nostr's capabilities, namely:

• Use nostr-native data formats (i.e., draft a new kind)
• Use relays instead of proprietary servers for data storage
• Leverage nostr identities and signatures to decouple trust from storage, and allow trusted attestations to be discovered

Luckily, this is not hard at all. In fact, I've gone ahead and drafted a PR to the NIPs repo that adds timestamp annotations to NIP 03, as an alternative to OpenTimestamps. The trade-off is that while user attestations are far less reliable than OTS proofs, they're much easier to verify, and can reach a pretty high level of reliability by combining multiple attestation sources with other forms of reputation.

In other words, instead of going nuclear and embedding your attestations into The Time Chain, you can simply ask 5-10 relays or people you trust for their attestations for a given event.

This PR isn't terribly important on its own, but it does remove one small barrier between us and trusted key rotation events (or other types of event that require establishing a verifiable chain of causality).

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Der Irrsinn ist bei Einzelnen etwas Seltenes – \ aber bei Gruppen, Parteien, Völkern, Zeiten die Regel. \ Friedrich Nietzsche

Erinnern Sie sich an die Horrorkomödie «Scary Movie»? Nicht, dass ich diese Art Filme besonders erinnerungswürdig fände, aber einige Szenen daraus sind doch gewissermaßen Klassiker. Dazu zählt eine, die das Verhalten vieler Protagonisten in Horrorfilmen parodiert, wenn sie in Panik flüchten. Welchen Weg nimmt wohl die Frau in der Situation auf diesem Bild?

Diese Szene kommt mir automatisch in den Sinn, wenn ich aktuelle Entwicklungen in Europa betrachte. Weitreichende Entscheidungen gehen wider jede Logik in die völlig falsche Richtung. Nur ist das hier alles andere als eine Komödie, sondern bitterernst. Dieser Horror ist leider sehr real.

Die Europäische Union hat sich selbst über Jahre konsequent in eine Sackgasse manövriert. Sie hat es versäumt, sich und ihre Politik selbstbewusst und im Einklang mit ihren Wurzeln auf dem eigenen Kontinent zu positionieren. Stattdessen ist sie in blinder Treue den vermeintlichen «transatlantischen Freunden» auf ihrem Konfrontationskurs gen Osten gefolgt.

In den USA haben sich die Vorzeichen allerdings mittlerweile geändert, und die einst hoch gelobten «Freunde und Partner» erscheinen den europäischen «Führern» nicht mehr vertrauenswürdig. Das ist spätestens seit der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz, der Rede von Vizepräsident J. D. Vance und den empörten Reaktionen offensichtlich. Große Teile Europas wirken seitdem wie ein aufgescheuchter Haufen kopfloser Hühner. Orientierung und Kontrolle sind völlig abhanden gekommen.

Statt jedoch umzukehren oder wenigstens zu bremsen und vielleicht einen Abzweig zu suchen, geben die Crash-Piloten jetzt auf dem Weg durch die Sackgasse erst richtig Gas. Ja sie lösen sogar noch die Sicherheitsgurte und deaktivieren die Airbags. Den vor Angst dauergelähmten Passagieren fällt auch nichts Besseres ein und so schließen sie einfach die Augen. Derweil übertrumpfen sich die Kommentatoren des Events gegenseitig in sensationslüsterner «Berichterstattung».

Wie schon die deutsche Außenministerin mit höchsten UN-Ambitionen, Annalena Baerbock, proklamiert auch die Europäische Kommission einen «Frieden durch Stärke». Zu dem jetzt vorgelegten, selbstzerstörerischen Fahrplan zur Ankurbelung der Rüstungsindustrie, genannt «Weißbuch zur europäischen Verteidigung – Bereitschaft 2030», erklärte die Kommissionspräsidentin, die «Ära der Friedensdividende» sei längst vorbei. Soll das heißen, Frieden bringt nichts ein? Eine umfassende Zusammenarbeit an dauerhaften europäischen Friedenslösungen steht demnach jedenfalls nicht zur Debatte.

Zusätzlich brisant ist, dass aktuell «die ganze EU von Deutschen regiert wird», wie der EU-Parlamentarier und ehemalige UN-Diplomat Michael von der Schulenburg beobachtet hat. Tatsächlich sitzen neben von der Leyen und Strack-Zimmermann noch einige weitere Deutsche in – vor allem auch in Krisenzeiten – wichtigen Spitzenposten der Union. Vor dem Hintergrund der Kriegstreiberei in Deutschland muss eine solche Dominanz mindestens nachdenklich stimmen.

Ihre ursprünglichen Grundwerte wie Demokratie, Freiheit, Frieden und Völkerverständigung hat die EU kontinuierlich in leere Worthülsen verwandelt. Diese werden dafür immer lächerlicher hochgehalten und beschworen.

Es wird dringend Zeit, dass wir, der Souverän, diesem erbärmlichen und gefährlichen Trauerspiel ein Ende setzen und die Fäden selbst in die Hand nehmen. In diesem Sinne fordert uns auch das «European Peace Project» auf, am 9. Mai im Rahmen eines Kunstprojekts den Frieden auszurufen. Seien wir dabei!

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben und ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 66675158:1b644430

I don't believe in "vibe coding" – it's just the newest Silicon Valley fad trying to give meaning to their latest favorite technology, LLMs. We've seen this pattern before with blockchain, when suddenly Non Fungible Tokens appeared, followed by Web3 startups promising to revolutionize everything from social media to supply chains. VCs couldn't throw money fast enough at anything with "decentralized" (in name only) in the pitch deck. Andreessen Horowitz launched billion-dollar crypto funds, while Y Combinator batches filled with blockchain startups promising to be "Uber for X, but on the blockchain."

The metaverse mania followed, with Meta betting its future on digital worlds where we'd supposedly hang out as legless avatars. Decentralized (in name only) autonomous organizations emerged as the next big thing – supposedly democratic internet communities that ended up being the next scam for quick money.

Then came the inevitable collapse. The FTX implosion in late 2022 revealed fraud, Luna/Terra's death spiral wiped out billions (including my ten thousand dollars), while Celsius and BlockFi froze customer assets before bankruptcy.

By 2023, crypto winter had fully set in. The SEC started aggressive enforcement actions, while users realized that blockchain technology had delivered almost no practical value despite a decade of promises.

Blockchain's promises tapped into fundamental human desires – decentralization resonated with a generation disillusioned by traditional institutions. Evangelists presented a utopian vision of freedom from centralized control. Perhaps most significantly, crypto offered a sense of meaning in an increasingly abstract world, making the clear signs of scams harder to notice.

The technology itself had failed to solve any real-world problems at scale. By 2024, the once-mighty crypto ecosystem had become a cautionary tale. Venture firms quietly scrubbed blockchain references from their websites while founders pivoted to AI and large language models.

---

Most reading this are likely fellow bitcoiners and nostr users who understand that Bitcoin is blockchain's only valid use case. But I shared that painful history because I believe the AI-hype cycle will follow the same trajectory.

Just like with blockchain, we're now seeing VCs who once couldn't stop talking about "Web3" falling over themselves to fund anything with "AI" in the pitch deck. The buzzwords have simply changed from "decentralized" to "intelligent."

"Vibe coding" is the perfect example – a trendy name for what is essentially just fuzzy instructions to LLMs. Developers who've spent years honing programming skills are now supposed to believe that "vibing" with an AI is somehow a legitimate methodology.

This might be controversial to some, but obvious to others:

Formal, context-free grammar will always remain essential for building precise systems, regardless of how advanced natural language technology becomes

The mathematical precision of programming languages provides a foundation that human language's ambiguity can never replace. Programming requires precision – languages, compilers, and processors operate on explicit instructions, not vibes. What "vibe coding" advocates miss is that beneath every AI-generated snippet lies the same deterministic rules that have always governed computation.

LLMs don't understand code in any meaningful sense—they've just ingested enormous datasets of human-written code and can predict patterns. When they "work," it's because they've seen similar patterns before, not because they comprehend the underlying logic.

This creates a dangerous dependency. Junior developers "vibing" with LLMs might get working code without understanding the fundamental principles. When something breaks in production, they'll lack the knowledge to fix it.

Even experienced developers can find themselves in treacherous territory when relying too heavily on LLM-generated code. What starts as a productivity boost can transform into a dependency crutch.

The real danger isn't just technical limitations, but the false confidence it instills. Developers begin to believe they understand systems they've merely instructed an AI to generate – fundamentally different from understanding code you've written yourself.

We're already seeing the warning signs: projects cobbled together with LLM-generated code that work initially but become maintenance nightmares when requirements change or edge cases emerge.

The venture capital money is flowing exactly as it did with blockchain. Anthropic raised billions, OpenAI is valued astronomically despite minimal revenue, and countless others are competing to build ever-larger models with vague promises. Every startup now claims to be "AI-powered" regardless of whether it makes sense.

Don't get me wrong—there's genuine innovation happening in AI research. But "vibe coding" isn't it. It's a marketing term designed to make fuzzy prompting sound revolutionary.

Cursor perfectly embodies this AI hype cycle. It's an AI-enhanced code editor built on VS Code that promises to revolutionize programming by letting you "chat with your codebase." Just like blockchain startups promised to "revolutionize" industries, Cursor promises to transform development by adding LLM capabilities.

Yes, Cursor can be genuinely helpful. It can explain unfamiliar code, suggest completions, and help debug simple issues. After trying it for just an hour, I found the autocomplete to be MAGICAL for simple refactoring and basic functionality.

But the marketing goes far beyond reality. The suggestion that you can simply describe what you want and get production-ready code is dangerously misleading. What you get are approximations with:

• Security vulnerabilities the model doesn't understand
• Edge cases it hasn't considered
• Performance implications it can't reason about
• Dependency conflicts it has no way to foresee

The most concerning aspect is how such tools are marketed to beginners as shortcuts around learning fundamentals. "Why spend years learning to code when you can just tell AI what you want?" This is reminiscent of how crypto was sold as a get-rich-quick scheme requiring no actual understanding.

When you "vibe code" with an AI, you're not eliminating complexity—you're outsourcing understanding to a black box. This creates developers who can prompt but not program, who can generate but not comprehend.

The real utility of LLMs in development is in augmenting existing workflows:

• Explaining unfamiliar codebases
• Generating boilerplate for well-understood patterns
• Suggesting implementations that a developer evaluates critically
• Assisting with documentation and testing

These uses involve the model as a subordinate assistant to a knowledgeable developer, not as a replacement for expertise. This is where the technology adds value—as a sophisticated tool in skilled hands.

Cursor is just a better hammer, not a replacement for understanding what you're building. The actual value emerges when used by developers who understand what happens beneath the abstractions. They can recognize when AI suggestions make sense and when they don't because they have the fundamental knowledge to evaluate output critically.

This is precisely where the "vibe coding" narrative falls apart.

@ 611021ea:089a7d0f

This is the 2nd article I've written regarding my thoughts around the nostr health and fitness ecosystem and how something like NIP101h could play a part in enabling an ecosystem of highly specialized apps benefiting from nostr inherent interoperability. I've posted the last article on Wikistr and have continued experimenting with the NIP in a couple of clients. Recently I've been focused on extending the NIP to include calories and workout intensity.

Caloric Data

Let's talk about calories for a minute. Seems simple, right? You burn some, you consume some. But as I started implementing kind 1357 for caloric data, I quickly realized this was too simplistic.

The reality is tracking calories burned through a 10K run is fundamentally different from logging the calories in your morning avocado toast. Different contexts, different metadata, different user flows. Trying to cram both into one kind felt like forcing a square peg through a round hole.

So I split them: - Kind 1357: Calories expended (your run, your workout, even just existing) - Kind 2357: Calories consumed (your meals, snacks, that beer you "forgot" to log)

This wasn't just a technical decision. It reflects how people actually think about and track their health. Nobody mentally lumps "I burned 350 calories on my run" with "I ate a 650 calorie lunch" as the same type of data point. They're related but distinct.

Workout Intensity

Speaking of workouts, RUNSTR has been sending workout data for a while now, but workout intensity (kind 1356) is something I've been particularly excited about.

Why? Because intensity is the secret sauce that makes fitness data meaningful. Two people can run the same distance, but one might be casually jogging while catching up on podcasts, and another might be doing high-intensity intervals that leave them gasping for air.

Same distance, totally different physiological impacts.

Intensity gives context to duration. It turns "I worked out for 45 minutes" into a meaningful metric about how hard you pushed. And this isn't just for the fitness obsessed—it's essential for things like heart rate zone training, progressive overload, and recovery monitoring.

The Bigger Vision: Why I'm Building This

I'm not building NIP-101h because I think the world needs another fitness standard. God knows there are plenty already. I'm building it because I believe health data belongs to people, not platforms.

Right now, your Apple Health data lives in Apple's ecosystem. Your Fitbit data lives in Fitbit's walled garden. Your Strava data? Yep, siloed there too. These companies have built incredible products, but they've also created digital gulags.

Nostr gives us a chance to flip the script. What if your health data lived on the internet rather than the platform? What if you could: - Track your runs in RUNSTR - Encrypt sensitive data - Store data in relays or blossom servers - Use the data across an open ecosystem of interoperable apps

...all without asking permission from some corporate overlord?

That's pretty much the vision. I've also spun up HealthNote Relay to support some of the new NIPs and Kinds while I continue to flesh out NIP-101h.

The Power of Specialization

One thing I've realized is that the real magic happens when we get specific. A diabetes management app needs different data structures than a strength training app. But they both benefit from a common language for the overlap.

So I'm intentionally designing the NIP-101h series as a collection of highly specialized kinds rather than a monolithic standard. This lets developers pick and choose exactly what they need, while still ensuring interoperability where it matters.

Take our calorie example—by splitting into two kinds, we allow for specialized nutrition tracking apps that might never care about workout calories, while still ensuring they can talk to fitness apps when needed.

What's Coming Next

I've got a growing list of kinds I want to tackle: - Sleep data (duration, quality, phases) - Strength training specifics (sets, reps, weight) - Hydration tracking - Mental health metrics

But I'm equally excited to see what others build. Maybe someone will create specialized kinds for pregnancy tracking, or chronic illness management, or physical therapy progress.

That's the beauty of this approach—I don't need to anticipate every use case. The framework lets the community evolve it organically.

Join the Health Data Revolution

If you're a developer interested in health and fitness on Nostr, I'd love to hear from you. What kinds would help your use case? What are you building? What am I missing?

And if you're just a Nostr user who cares about your health data, check out RUNSTR (Alpha) or Npub.health (super alpha) to see what we're building.

You can find information the specification here NIP 101h.

See you in volume three, where I'll dig into NIP101h format details and share what I've learned from the early experiments.

Lets Go!

@ 5b730fac:9e746e2a

| Channel | Push to Branch | Previous Installation Method | NIP94 Event ID Updated as Expected | New Update Installed as Expected | Test Passed | | ------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | dev | Already Installed | Automatic | Yes | Yes | Yes
nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqkmnp7kx5h36rumhjrtkxdslvqu38fyf09wv53u4hrqmvx08gm32qqxnzde5xcmnzdfex5unzvfcfywh0x |

Before pushing update

Check state

Currently installed NIP94 event: { "id": "51ca573636243df455333e83d5b456b4bcefd939c8160c5737545abcdc95dfd9", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746714091, "kind": 1063, "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b" ], [ "ox", "75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ], "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000" }

Current version picked up by opkg: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg list-installed | grep "tollgate" tollgate-module-basic-go - multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710

Check basic module's logic

Config.json contains the right event ID: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "51ca573636243df455333e83d5b456b4bcefd939c8160c5737545abcdc95dfd9" }

Install.json contains the right package path: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "/tmp/75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "192.168.3.1", "install_time": 1746714121, "download_time": 1746714105, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746634883, "update_path": null }

Update package manually

Trigger new event announcement on this branch

New NIP94 event on this branch { "id": "62a39f60f5b3e3f0910adc592c0468c5c134ce321238884e9f016caad4c5231b", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746715485, "kind": 1063, "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000", "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3" ], [ "ox", "1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ] }

The new version was updated automatically despite internet gateway interruption: ``` Thu May 8 14:44:51 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Subscription successful on relay wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 14:44:51 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Subscribed to NIP-94 events on relay wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 14:44:54 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Started the timer Thu May 8 14:44:54 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Intersection: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f] Thu May 8 14:44:54 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Right Time Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f] Thu May 8 14:44:54 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Right Arch Keys count: 59 Thu May 8 14:44:54 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Right Version Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f] Thu May 8 14:45:05 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:05.228500 Timeout reached, checking for new versions Thu May 8 14:45:05 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Sorted Qualifying Events Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f] Thu May 8 14:45:05 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Newer package version available: multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f Thu May 8 14:45:05 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Downloading package from https://blossom.swissdash.site/1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3.ipk to /tmp/1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3.ipk Thu May 8 14:45:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Package downloaded successfully to /tmp/ Thu May 8 14:45:07 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: New package version is ready to be installed by cronjob Thu May 8 14:45:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:07.693753 Verifying package checksum Thu May 8 14:45:07 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:07.703697 Package checksum verified successfully Thu May 8 14:45:10 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Started the timer Thu May 8 14:45:22 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:23.453098 Timeout reached, checking for new versions Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Sorted Qualifying Events Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f] Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Newer package version available: multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:23.461627 Verifying package checksum Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:23.471684 Package checksum verified successfully Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:23.471744 Verifying package checksum Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Package /tmp/1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3.ipk already exists with correct checksum, skipping download Thu May 8 14:45:23 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:23.481076 Package checksum verified successfully Thu May 8 14:45:47 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:45:47.810824 Relay wss://nos.lol disconnected, attempting to reconnect Thu May 8 14:45:47 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Connecting to relay: wss://nos.lol Thu May 8 14:45:47 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[10154]: Connected to relay: wss://nos.lol

```

New version picked up by opkg: ``` root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg list-installed | grep "tollgate" tollgate-module-basic-go - multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-92-1157a2f

```

tollgate-basic is running again: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic status running

Event id in config is fine: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "62a39f60f5b3e3f0910adc592c0468c5c134ce321238884e9f016caad4c5231b" }

install.json is fine: ``` root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "/tmp/1bfcd4d08a4bf70d2878ee4bca2d3ba7c5a839355dc0eeef30e2589aa16ccfb3.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "192.168.3.1", "install_time": 1746715561, "download_time": 1746715507, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746634883, "update_path": null }

```

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass technisch manches möglich ist, \ aber der Staat es nicht nutzt. \ Angela Merkel

Die Modalverben zu erklären, ist im Deutschunterricht manchmal nicht ganz einfach. Nicht alle Fremdsprachen unterscheiden zum Beispiel bei der Frage nach einer Möglichkeit gleichermaßen zwischen «können» im Sinne von «die Gelegenheit, Kenntnis oder Fähigkeit haben» und «dürfen» als «die Erlaubnis oder Berechtigung haben». Das spanische Wort «poder» etwa steht für beides.

Ebenso ist vielen Schülern auf den ersten Blick nicht recht klar, dass das logische Gegenteil von «müssen» nicht unbedingt «nicht müssen» ist, sondern vielmehr «nicht dürfen». An den Verkehrsschildern lässt sich so etwas meistens recht gut erklären: Manchmal muss man abbiegen, aber manchmal darf man eben nicht.

Dieses Beispiel soll ein wenig die Verwirrungstaktik veranschaulichen, die in der Politik gerne verwendet wird, um unpopuläre oder restriktive Maßnahmen Stück für Stück einzuführen. Zuerst ist etwas einfach innovativ und bringt viele Vorteile. Vor allem ist es freiwillig, jeder kann selber entscheiden, niemand muss mitmachen. Später kann man zunehmend weniger Alternativen wählen, weil sie verschwinden, und irgendwann verwandelt sich alles andere in «nicht dürfen» – die Maßnahme ist obligatorisch.

Um die Durchsetzung derartiger Initiativen strategisch zu unterstützen und nett zu verpacken, gibt es Lobbyisten, gerne auch NGOs genannt. Dass das «NG» am Anfang dieser Abkürzung übersetzt «Nicht-Regierungs-» bedeutet, ist ein Anachronismus. Das war vielleicht früher einmal so, heute ist eher das Gegenteil gemeint.

In unserer modernen Zeit wird enorm viel Lobbyarbeit für die Digitalisierung praktisch sämtlicher Lebensbereiche aufgewendet. Was das auf dem Sektor der Mobilität bedeuten kann, haben wir diese Woche anhand aktueller Entwicklungen in Spanien beleuchtet. Begründet teilweise mit Vorgaben der Europäischen Union arbeitet man dort fleißig an einer «neuen Mobilität», basierend auf «intelligenter» technologischer Infrastruktur. Derartige Anwandlungen wurden auch schon als «Technofeudalismus» angeprangert.

Nationale Zugangspunkte für Mobilitätsdaten im Sinne der EU gibt es nicht nur in allen Mitgliedsländern, sondern auch in der Schweiz und in Großbritannien. Das Vereinigte Königreich beteiligt sich darüber hinaus an anderen EU-Projekten für digitale Überwachungs- und Kontrollmaßnahmen, wie dem biometrischen Identifizierungssystem für «nachhaltigen Verkehr und Tourismus».

Natürlich marschiert auch Deutschland stracks und euphorisch in Richtung digitaler Zukunft. Ohne vernetzte Mobilität und einen «verlässlichen Zugang zu Daten, einschließlich Echtzeitdaten» komme man in der Verkehrsplanung und -steuerung nicht aus, erklärt die Regierung. Der Interessenverband der IT-Dienstleister Bitkom will «die digitale Transformation der deutschen Wirtschaft und Verwaltung vorantreiben». Dazu bewirbt er unter anderem die Konzepte Smart City, Smart Region und Smart Country und behauptet, deutsche Großstädte «setzen bei Mobilität voll auf Digitalisierung».

Es steht zu befürchten, dass das umfassende Sammeln, Verarbeiten und Vernetzen von Daten, das angeblich die Menschen unterstützen soll (und theoretisch ja auch könnte), eher dazu benutzt wird, sie zu kontrollieren und zu manipulieren. Je elektrischer und digitaler unsere Umgebung wird, desto größer sind diese Möglichkeiten. Im Ergebnis könnten solche Prozesse den Bürger nicht nur einschränken oder überflüssig machen, sondern in mancherlei Hinsicht regelrecht abschalten. Eine gesunde Skepsis ist also geboten.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

Dieser Beitrag wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben. Er ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

The land that belongs to the indigenous peoples of Russia has been seized by a gang of killers who have unleashed a war of extermination. They wipe out anyone who refuses to conform to their rules. Those who disagree and stay behind are tortured and killed in prisons and labor camps. Those who flee lose their homeland, dissolve into foreign cultures, and fade away. And those who stand up to protect their people are attacked by the misled and deceived. The deceived die for the unchecked greed of a single dictator—thousands from both sides, people who just wanted to live, raise their kids, and build a future.

Now, they are forced to make an impossible choice: abandon their homeland or die. Some perish on the battlefield, others lose themselves in exile, stripped of their identity, scattered in a world that isn’t theirs.

There’s been endless debate about how to fix this, how to clear the field of the weeds that choke out every new sprout, every attempt at change. But the real problem? We can’t play by their rules. We can’t speak their language or use their weapons. We stand for humanity, and no matter how righteous our cause, we will not multiply suffering. Victory doesn’t come from matching the enemy—it comes from staying ahead, from using tools they haven’t mastered yet. That’s how wars are won.

Our only resource is the will of the people to rewrite the order of things. Historian Timothy Snyder once said that a nation cannot exist without a city. A city is where the most active part of a nation thrives. But the cities are occupied. The streets are watched. Gatherings are impossible. They control the money. They control the mail. They control the media. And any dissent is crushed before it can take root.

So I started asking myself: How do we stop this fragmentation? How do we create a space where people can rebuild their connections when they’re ready? How do we build a self-sustaining network, where everyone contributes and benefits proportionally, while keeping their freedom to leave intact? And more importantly—how do we make it spread, even in occupied territory?

In 2009, something historic happened: the internet got its own money. Thanks to Satoshi Nakamoto, the world took a massive leap forward. Bitcoin and decentralized ledgers shattered the idea that money must be controlled by the state. Now, to move or store value, all you need is an address and a key. A tiny string of text, easy to carry, impossible to seize.

That was the year money broke free. The state lost its grip. Its biggest weapon—physical currency—became irrelevant. Money became purely digital.

The internet was already a sanctuary for information, a place where people could connect and organize. But with Bitcoin, it evolved. Now, value itself could flow freely, beyond the reach of authorities.

Think about it: when seedlings are grown in controlled environments before being planted outside, they get stronger, survive longer, and bear fruit faster. That’s how we handle crops in harsh climates—nurture them until they’re ready for the wild.

Now, picture the internet as that controlled environment for ideas. Bitcoin? It’s the fertile soil that lets them grow. A testing ground for new models of interaction, where concepts can take root before they move into the real world. If nation-states are a battlefield, locked in a brutal war for territory, the internet is boundless. It can absorb any number of ideas, any number of people, and it doesn’t run out of space.

But for this ecosystem to thrive, people need safe ways to communicate, to share ideas, to build something real—without surveillance, without censorship, without the constant fear of being erased.

This is where Nostr comes in.

Nostr—"Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays"—is more than just a messaging protocol. It’s a new kind of city. One that no dictator can seize, no corporation can own, no government can shut down.

It’s built on decentralization, encryption, and individual control. Messages don’t pass through central servers—they are relayed through independent nodes, and users choose which ones to trust. There’s no master switch to shut it all down. Every person owns their identity, their data, their connections. And no one—no state, no tech giant, no algorithm—can silence them.

In a world where cities fall and governments fail, Nostr is a city that cannot be occupied. A place for ideas, for networks, for freedom. A city that grows stronger the more people build within it.

@ f9cf4e94:96abc355

Para esse exemplo iremos usar: | Nome | Imagem | Descrição | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Raspberry PI B+ | | Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit a 1.4GHz e 1 GB de SDRAM LPDDR2, | | Pen drive | | 16Gb |

Recomendo que use o Ubuntu Server para essa instalação. Você pode baixar o Ubuntu para Raspberry Pi aqui. O passo a passo para a instalação do Ubuntu no Raspberry Pi está disponível aqui. Não instale um desktop (como xubuntu, lubuntu, xfce, etc.).

---

Passo 1: Atualizar o Sistema 🖥️

Primeiro, atualize seu sistema e instale o Tor:

bash apt update apt install tor

---

Passo 2: Criar o Arquivo de Serviço nrs.service 🔧

Crie o arquivo de serviço que vai gerenciar o servidor Nostr. Você pode fazer isso com o seguinte conteúdo:

```unit [Unit] Description=Nostr Relay Server Service After=network.target

[Service] Type=simple WorkingDirectory=/opt/nrs ExecStart=/opt/nrs/nrs-arm64 Restart=on-failure

[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ```

---

Passo 3: Baixar o Binário do Nostr 🚀

Baixe o binário mais recente do Nostr aqui no GitHub.

---

Passo 4: Criar as Pastas Necessárias 📂

Agora, crie as pastas para o aplicativo e o pendrive:

bash mkdir -p /opt/nrs /mnt/edriver

---

Passo 5: Listar os Dispositivos Conectados 🔌

Para saber qual dispositivo você vai usar, liste todos os dispositivos conectados:

bash lsblk

---

Passo 6: Formatando o Pendrive 💾

Escolha o pendrive correto (por exemplo, /dev/sda) e formate-o:

bash mkfs.vfat /dev/sda

---

Passo 7: Montar o Pendrive 💻

Monte o pendrive na pasta /mnt/edriver:

bash mount /dev/sda /mnt/edriver

---

Passo 8: Verificar UUID dos Dispositivos 📋

Para garantir que o sistema monte o pendrive automaticamente, liste os UUID dos dispositivos conectados:

bash blkid

---

Passo 9: Alterar o fstab para Montar o Pendrive Automáticamente 📝

Abra o arquivo /etc/fstab e adicione uma linha para o pendrive, com o UUID que você obteve no passo anterior. A linha deve ficar assim:

fstab UUID=9c9008f8-f852 /mnt/edriver vfat defaults 0 0

---

Passo 10: Copiar o Binário para a Pasta Correta 📥

Agora, copie o binário baixado para a pasta /opt/nrs:

bash cp nrs-arm64 /opt/nrs

---

Passo 11: Criar o Arquivo de Configuração 🛠️

Crie o arquivo de configuração com o seguinte conteúdo e salve-o em /opt/nrs/config.yaml:

yaml app_env: production info: name: Nostr Relay Server description: Nostr Relay Server pub_key: "" contact: "" url: http://localhost:3334 icon: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u= https://public.bnbstatic.com/image/cms/crawler/COINCU_NEWS/image-495-1024x569.png base_path: /mnt/edriver negentropy: true

---

Passo 12: Copiar o Serviço para o Diretório de Systemd ⚙️

Agora, copie o arquivo nrs.service para o diretório /etc/systemd/system/:

bash cp nrs.service /etc/systemd/system/

Recarregue os serviços e inicie o serviço nrs:

bash systemctl daemon-reload systemctl enable --now nrs.service

---

Passo 13: Configurar o Tor 🌐

Abra o arquivo de configuração do Tor /var/lib/tor/torrc e adicione a seguinte linha:

torrc HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/nostr_server/ HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:3334

---

Passo 14: Habilitar e Iniciar o Tor 🧅

Agora, ative e inicie o serviço Tor:

bash systemctl enable --now tor.service

O Tor irá gerar um endereço .onion para o seu servidor Nostr. Você pode encontrá-lo no arquivo /var/lib/tor/nostr_server/hostname.

---

Observações ⚠️

• Com essa configuração, os dados serão salvos no pendrive, enquanto o binário ficará no cartão SD do Raspberry Pi.
• O endereço .onion do seu servidor Nostr será algo como: ws://y3t5t5wgwjif<exemplo>h42zy7ih6iwbyd.onion.

---

Agora, seu servidor Nostr deve estar configurado e funcionando com Tor! 🥳

Se este artigo e as informações aqui contidas forem úteis para você, convidamos a considerar uma doação ao autor como forma de reconhecimento e incentivo à produção de novos conteúdos.

@ b04082ac:29b5c55b

Money has always been more than a medium of exchange. It reflects what societies value, how they organize trust, and what they choose to remember. This article explores the idea that money functions as a form of collective memory, and how Bitcoin may be restoring this role in a new way.

The Asante Example

In the Asante Empire, which flourished in West Africa during the 18th and 19th centuries, gold dust served as the primary medium of exchange. To measure it, traders used ornate spoons made of brass. These spoons were often carved with birds, animals, or abstract symbols. They were not currency themselves, but tools used to handle gold dust accurately.

Importantly, these spoons also carried meaning. Symbols and proverbs embedded in the spoons conveyed lessons about honesty, community, and continuity. For example, the Sankofa bird, shown turning its head backward to retrieve an egg from its back, represented the proverb, “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.” This was a reminder to learn from the past.

The spoons reflect an understanding that money and its instruments are not just practical tools. They are cultural artifacts that store shared values. In the Asante context, even measurement was ritualized and tied to ethics and memory.

Money as a Cultural Medium

This connection between money and cultural meaning is not unique to the Asante Empire. Modern fiat currencies also carry symbols, phrases, and designs that reflect national identity and political values.

The U.S. dollar includes Latin phrases and national symbols meant to convey stability and purpose. The British pound features royal iconography, reinforcing the idea of continuity and sovereignty. When the euro was introduced, it deliberately avoided specific national references. Itsdesign used bridges and windowsto suggest openness and cooperation across the continent.

These design choices show that societies still embed meaning into their money. Even in a digital or fiat context, money is used to transmit a story about who we are, where authority lies, and what we value.

The Fragility of Fiat Memory

While fiat money carries cultural symbols, the narratives behind those symbols can be fragile.

In 2021, the central bank of the Philippines removed democratic leaders from its banknotes,triggering public criticism. In the United States, attempts to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 billfaced repeated delays. These examples show how political control over money includes control over what stories are told and remembered.

Unlike objects passed down through generations, fiat memory can be edited or erased. In this sense, it is vulnerable. The meaning encoded in fiat systems can shift depending on who holds power.

Bitcoin as a New Form of Memory

Bitcoin is described as digital money. But it also introduces a different model of how societies can record value and preserve meaning.

The Bitcoin network launched in 2009 with a small message embedded in its first block: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” This was a reference to a newspaper headline that day and a clear sign of protest against financial bailouts, centralized monetary policy, and forever wars.

This moment marked the beginning of a system where memory is stored differently. Instead of relying on governments or institutions, Bitcoin stores its history on a public ledger maintained by a decentralized network of participants. Its memory is not symbolic or political; it is structural. Every transaction, every block, is preserved through time-stamped computation and consensus.

No single authority can change it. The rules are clear and publicly auditable. In this way, Bitcoin offers a version of money where memory is both neutral and resilient.

Cultural Expression and Community Values

Even though Bitcoin lacks the traditional symbols found on banknotes, it has developed its own culture. Phrases like “Don’t trust, verify” or “Stay humble, stack sats” are shared widely in the Bitcoin community. These ideas reflect a focus on self-responsibility, verification, and long-term thinking.

These proverbs can be compared to the carved messages on the Asante spoons. While the contexts are very different, the underlying idea is similar: a community using language and symbols to reinforce its shared values.

Bitcoin also has a well established and growing art scene. Bitcoin conferences often feature dedicated sections for art inspired by the protocol and its culture. Statues of Satoshi Nakamoto have been installed in cities like Budapest, Lugano, and Fornelli. These physical works reflect the desire to link Bitcoin’s abstract values to something tangible.

Looking Back to Look Forward

The Asante example helps us see that money has long been tied to memory and meaning. Their spoons were practical tools but also cultural anchors. Bitcoin, while new and digital, may be playing a similar role.

Instead of relying on political symbols or national myths, Bitcoin uses code, transparency, and global consensus to create trust. In doing so, it offers a way to preserve economic memory that does not depend on power or politics.

It’s still early to know what kind of legacy Bitcoin will leave. But if it succeeds, it may not just change how money works. It may also change how civilizations remember.

@ aa8de34f:a6ffe696

19. März 2025

🔐 1. SHA-256 is Quantum-Resistant

Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism relies on SHA-256, a hashing algorithm. Even with a powerful quantum computer, SHA-256 remains secure because:

• Quantum computers excel at factoring large numbers (Shor’s Algorithm).
• However, SHA-256 is a one-way function, meaning there's no known quantum algorithm that can efficiently reverse it.
• Grover’s Algorithm (which theoretically speeds up brute force attacks) would still require 2¹²⁸ operations to break SHA-256 – far beyond practical reach.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

🔑 2. Public Key Vulnerability – But Only If You Reuse Addresses

Bitcoin uses Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) to generate keys.

• A quantum computer could use Shor’s Algorithm to break SECP256K1, the curve Bitcoin uses.
• If you never reuse addresses, it is an additional security element
• 🔑 1. Bitcoin Addresses Are NOT Public Keys

Many people assume a Bitcoin address is the public key—this is wrong.

• When you receive Bitcoin, it is sent to a hashed public key (the Bitcoin address).
• The actual public key is never exposed because it is the Bitcoin Adress who addresses the Public Key which never reveals the creation of a public key by a spend
• Bitcoin uses Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) or newer methods like Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH), which add extra layers of security.

🕵️♂️ 2.1 The Public Key Never Appears

• When you send Bitcoin, your wallet creates a digital signature.
• This signature uses the private key to prove ownership.
• The Bitcoin address is revealed and creates the Public Key
• The public key remains hidden inside the Bitcoin script and Merkle tree.

This means: ✔ The public key is never exposed. ✔ Quantum attackers have nothing to target, attacking a Bitcoin Address is a zero value game.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

🔄 3. Bitcoin Can Upgrade

Even if quantum computers eventually become a real threat:

• Bitcoin developers can upgrade to quantum-safe cryptography (e.g., lattice-based cryptography or post-quantum signatures like Dilithium).
• Bitcoin’s decentralized nature ensures a network-wide soft fork or hard fork could transition to quantum-resistant keys.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

⏳ 4. The 10-Minute Block Rule as a Security Feature

• Bitcoin’s network operates on a 10-minute block interval, meaning:Even if an attacker had immense computational power (like a quantum computer), they could only attempt an attack every 10 minutes.Unlike traditional encryption, where a hacker could continuously brute-force keys, Bitcoin’s system resets the challenge with every new block.This limits the window of opportunity for quantum attacks.

---

🎯 5. Quantum Attack Needs to Solve a Block in Real-Time

• A quantum attacker must solve the cryptographic puzzle (Proof of Work) in under 10 minutes.
• The problem? Any slight error changes the hash completely, meaning:If the quantum computer makes a mistake (even 0.0001% probability), the entire attack fails.Quantum decoherence (loss of qubit stability) makes error correction a massive challenge.The computational cost of recovering from an incorrect hash is still incredibly high.

---

⚡ 6. Network Resilience – Even if a Block Is Hacked

• Even if a quantum computer somehow solved a block instantly:The network would quickly recognize and reject invalid transactions.Other miners would continue mining under normal cryptographic rules.51% Attack? The attacker would need to consistently beat the entire Bitcoin network, which is not sustainable.

---

🔄 7. The Logarithmic Difficulty Adjustment Neutralizes Threats

• Bitcoin adjusts mining difficulty every 2016 blocks (\~2 weeks).
• If quantum miners appeared and suddenly started solving blocks too quickly, the difficulty would adjust upward, making attacks significantly harder.
• This self-correcting mechanism ensures that even quantum computers wouldn't easily overpower the network.

---

🔥 Final Verdict: Quantum Computers Are Too Slow for Bitcoin

✔ The 10-minute rule limits attack frequency – quantum computers can’t keep up.

✔ Any slight miscalculation ruins the attack, resetting all progress.

✔ Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment would react, neutralizing quantum advantages.

Even if quantum computers reach their theoretical potential, Bitcoin’s game theory and design make it incredibly resistant. 🚀

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Bald werde es verboten, alleine im Auto zu fahren, konnte man dieser Tage in verschiedenen spanischen Medien lesen. Die nationale Verkehrsbehörde (Dirección General de Tráfico, kurz DGT) werde Alleinfahrern das Leben schwer machen, wurde gemeldet. Konkret erörtere die Generaldirektion geeignete Sanktionen für Personen, die ohne Beifahrer im Privatauto unterwegs seien.

Das Alleinfahren sei zunehmend verpönt und ein Mentalitätswandel notwendig, hieß es. Dieser «Luxus» stehe im Widerspruch zu den Maßnahmen gegen Umweltverschmutzung, die in allen europäischen Ländern gefördert würden. In Frankreich sei es «bereits verboten, in der Hauptstadt allein zu fahren», behauptete Noticiastrabajo Huffpost in einer Zwischenüberschrift. Nur um dann im Text zu konkretisieren, dass die sogenannte «Umweltspur» auf der Pariser Ringautobahn gemeint war, die für Busse, Taxis und Fahrgemeinschaften reserviert ist. Ab Mai werden Verstöße dagegen mit einem Bußgeld geahndet.

Die DGT jedenfalls wolle bei der Umsetzung derartiger Maßnahmen nicht hinterherhinken. Diese Medienberichte, inklusive des angeblich bevorstehenden Verbots, beriefen sich auf Aussagen des Generaldirektors der Behörde, Pere Navarro, beim Mobilitätskongress Global Mobility Call im November letzten Jahres, wo es um «nachhaltige Mobilität» ging. Aus diesem Kontext stammt auch Navarros Warnung: «Die Zukunft des Verkehrs ist geteilt oder es gibt keine».

Die «Faktenchecker» kamen der Generaldirektion prompt zu Hilfe. Die DGT habe derlei Behauptungen zurückgewiesen und klargestellt, dass es keine Pläne gebe, Fahrten mit nur einer Person im Auto zu verbieten oder zu bestrafen. Bei solchen Meldungen handele es sich um Fake News. Teilweise wurde der Vorsitzende der spanischen «Rechtsaußen»-Partei Vox, Santiago Abascal, der Urheberschaft bezichtigt, weil er einen entsprechenden Artikel von La Gaceta kommentiert hatte.

Der Beschwichtigungsversuch der Art «niemand hat die Absicht» ist dabei erfahrungsgemäß eher ein Alarmzeichen als eine Beruhigung. Walter Ulbrichts Leugnung einer geplanten Berliner Mauer vom Juni 1961 ist vielen genauso in Erinnerung wie die Fake News-Warnungen des deutschen Bundesgesundheitsministeriums bezüglich Lockdowns im März 2020 oder diverse Äußerungen zu einer Impfpflicht ab 2020.

Aber Aufregung hin, Dementis her: Die Pressemitteilung der DGT zu dem Mobilitätskongress enthält in Wahrheit viel interessantere Informationen als «nur» einen Appell an den «guten» Bürger wegen der Bemühungen um die Lebensqualität in Großstädten oder einen möglichen obligatorischen Abschied vom Alleinfahren. Allerdings werden diese Details von Medien und sogenannten Faktencheckern geflissentlich übersehen, obwohl sie keineswegs versteckt sind. Die Auskünfte sind sehr aufschlussreich, wenn man genauer hinschaut.

Digitalisierung ist der Schlüssel für Kontrolle

Auf dem Kongress stellte die Verkehrsbehörde ihre Initiativen zur Förderung der «neuen Mobilität» vor, deren Priorität Sicherheit und Effizienz sei. Die vier konkreten Ansätze haben alle mit Digitalisierung, Daten, Überwachung und Kontrolle im großen Stil zu tun und werden unter dem Euphemismus der «öffentlich-privaten Partnerschaft» angepriesen. Auch lassen sie die transhumanistische Idee vom unzulänglichen Menschen erkennen, dessen Fehler durch «intelligente» technologische Infrastruktur kompensiert werden müssten.

Die Chefin des Bereichs «Verkehrsüberwachung» erklärte die Funktion des spanischen National Access Point (NAP), wobei sie betonte, wie wichtig Verkehrs- und Infrastrukturinformationen in Echtzeit seien. Der NAP ist «eine essenzielle Web-Applikation, die unter EU-Mandat erstellt wurde», kann man auf der Website der DGT nachlesen.

Das Mandat meint Regelungen zu einem einheitlichen europäischen Verkehrsraum, mit denen die Union mindestens seit 2010 den Aufbau einer digitalen Architektur mit offenen Schnittstellen betreibt. Damit begründet man auch «umfassende Datenbereitstellungspflichten im Bereich multimodaler Reiseinformationen». Jeder Mitgliedstaat musste einen NAP, also einen nationalen Zugangspunkt einrichten, der Zugang zu statischen und dynamischen Reise- und Verkehrsdaten verschiedener Verkehrsträger ermöglicht.

Diese Entwicklung ist heute schon weit fortgeschritten, auch und besonders in Spanien. Auf besagtem Kongress erläuterte die Leiterin des Bereichs «Telematik» die Plattform «DGT 3.0». Diese werde als Integrator aller Informationen genutzt, die von den verschiedenen öffentlichen und privaten Systemen, die Teil der Mobilität sind, bereitgestellt werden.

Es handele sich um eine Vermittlungsplattform zwischen Akteuren wie Fahrzeugherstellern, Anbietern von Navigationsdiensten oder Kommunen und dem Endnutzer, der die Verkehrswege benutzt. Alle seien auf Basis des Internets der Dinge (IOT) anonym verbunden, «um der vernetzten Gemeinschaft wertvolle Informationen zu liefern oder diese zu nutzen».

So sei DGT 3.0 «ein Zugangspunkt für einzigartige, kostenlose und genaue Echtzeitinformationen über das Geschehen auf den Straßen und in den Städten». Damit lasse sich der Verkehr nachhaltiger und vernetzter gestalten. Beispielsweise würden die Karten des Produktpartners Google dank der DGT-Daten 50 Millionen Mal pro Tag aktualisiert.

Des Weiteren informiert die Verkehrsbehörde über ihr SCADA-Projekt. Die Abkürzung steht für Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, zu deutsch etwa: Kontrollierte Steuerung und Datenerfassung. Mit SCADA kombiniert man Software und Hardware, um automatisierte Systeme zur Überwachung und Steuerung technischer Prozesse zu schaffen. Das SCADA-Projekt der DGT wird von Indra entwickelt, einem spanischen Beratungskonzern aus den Bereichen Sicherheit & Militär, Energie, Transport, Telekommunikation und Gesundheitsinformation.

Das SCADA-System der Behörde umfasse auch eine Videostreaming- und Videoaufzeichnungsplattform, die das Hochladen in die Cloud in Echtzeit ermöglicht, wie Indra erklärt. Dabei gehe es um Bilder, die von Überwachungskameras an Straßen aufgenommen wurden, sowie um Videos aus DGT-Hubschraubern und Drohnen. Ziel sei es, «die sichere Weitergabe von Videos an Dritte sowie die kontinuierliche Aufzeichnung und Speicherung von Bildern zur möglichen Analyse und späteren Nutzung zu ermöglichen».

Letzteres klingt sehr nach biometrischer Erkennung und Auswertung durch künstliche Intelligenz. Für eine bessere Datenübertragung wird derzeit die Glasfaserverkabelung entlang der Landstraßen und Autobahnen ausgebaut. Mit der Cloud sind die Amazon Web Services (AWS) gemeint, die spanischen Daten gehen somit direkt zu einem US-amerikanischen «Big Data»-Unternehmen.

Das Thema «autonomes Fahren», also Fahren ohne Zutun des Menschen, bildet den Abschluss der Betrachtungen der DGT. Zusammen mit dem Interessenverband der Automobilindustrie ANFAC (Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Automóviles y Camiones) sprach man auf dem Kongress über Strategien und Perspektiven in diesem Bereich. Die Lobbyisten hoffen noch in diesem Jahr 2025 auf einen normativen Rahmen zur erweiterten Unterstützung autonomer Technologien.

Wenn man derartige Informationen im Zusammenhang betrachtet, bekommt man eine Idee davon, warum zunehmend alles elektrisch und digital werden soll. Umwelt- und Mobilitätsprobleme in Städten, wie Luftverschmutzung, Lärmbelästigung, Platzmangel oder Staus, sind eine Sache. Mit dem Argument «emissionslos» wird jedoch eine Referenz zum CO2 und dem «menschengemachten Klimawandel» hergestellt, die Emotionen triggert. Und damit wird so ziemlich alles verkauft.

Letztlich aber gilt: Je elektrischer und digitaler unsere Umgebung wird und je freigiebiger wir mit unseren Daten jeder Art sind, desto besser werden wir kontrollier-, steuer- und sogar abschaltbar. Irgendwann entscheiden KI-basierte Algorithmen, ob, wann, wie, wohin und mit wem wir uns bewegen dürfen. Über einen 15-Minuten-Radius geht dann möglicherweise nichts hinaus. Die Projekte auf diesem Weg sind ernst zu nehmen, real und schon weit fortgeschritten.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 1bda7e1f:bb97c4d9

Tldr

• Nostr is an open and interoperable protocol
• You can integrate it with workflow automation tools to augment your experience
• n8n is a great low/no-code workflow automation tool which you can host yourself
• Nostrobots allows you to integrate Nostr into n8n
• In this blog I create some workflow automations for Nostr
• A simple form to delegate posting notes
• Push notifications for mentions on multiple accounts
• Push notifications for your favourite accounts when they post a note
• All workflows are provided as open source with MIT license for you to use

Inter-op All The Things

Nostr is a new open social protocol for the internet. This open nature exciting because of the opportunities for interoperability with other technologies. In Using NFC Cards with Nostr I explored the nostr: URI to launch Nostr clients from a card tap.

The interoperability of Nostr doesn't stop there. The internet has many super-powers, and Nostr is open to all of them. Simply, there's no one to stop it. There is no one in charge, there are no permissioned APIs, and there are no risks of being de-platformed. If you can imagine technologies that would work well with Nostr, then any and all of them can ride on or alongside Nostr rails.

My mental model for why this is special is Google Wave ~2010. Google Wave was to be the next big platform. Lars was running it and had a big track record from Maps. I was excited for it. Then, Google pulled the plug. And, immediately all the time and capital invested in understanding and building on the platform was wasted.

This cannot happen to Nostr, as there is no one to pull the plug, and maybe even no plug to pull.

So long as users demand Nostr, Nostr will exist, and that is a pretty strong guarantee. It makes it worthwhile to invest in bringing Nostr into our other applications.

All we need are simple ways to plug things together.

Nostr and Workflow Automation

Workflow automation is about helping people to streamline their work. As a user, the most common way I achieve this is by connecting disparate systems together. By setting up one system to trigger another or to move data between systems, I can solve for many different problems and become way more effective.

n8n for workflow automation

Many workflow automation tools exist. My favourite is n8n. n8n is a low/no-code workflow automation platform which allows you to build all kinds of workflows. You can use it for free, you can self-host it, it has a user-friendly UI and useful API. Vs Zapier it can be far more elaborate. Vs Make.com I find it to be more intuitive in how it abstracts away the right parts of the code, but still allows you to code when you need to.

Most importantly you can plug anything into n8n: You have built-in nodes for specific applications. HTTP nodes for any other API-based service. And community nodes built by individual community members for any other purpose you can imagine.

Eating my own dogfood

It's very clear to me that there is a big design space here just demanding to be explored. If you could integrate Nostr with anything, what would you do?

In my view the best way for anyone to start anything is by solving their own problem first (aka "scratching your own itch" and "eating your own dogfood"). As I get deeper into Nostr I find myself controlling multiple Npubs – to date I have a personal Npub, a brand Npub for a community I am helping, an AI assistant Npub, and various testing Npubs. I need ways to delegate access to those Npubs without handing over the keys, ways to know if they're mentioned, and ways to know if they're posting.

I can build workflows with n8n to solve these issues for myself to start with, and keep expanding from there as new needs come up.

Running n8n with Nostrobots

I am mostly non-technical with a very helpful AI. To set up n8n to work with Nostr and operate these workflows should be possible for anyone with basic technology skills.

• I have a cheap VPS which currently runs my HAVEN Nostr Relay and Albyhub Lightning Node in Docker containers,
• My objective was to set up n8n to run alongside these in a separate Docker container on the same server, install the required nodes, and then build and host my workflows.

Installing n8n

Self-hosting n8n could not be easier. I followed n8n's Docker-Compose installation docs–

• Install Docker and Docker-Compose if you haven't already,
• Create your docker-compose.yml and .env files from the docs,
• Create your data folder sudo docker volume create n8n_data,
• Start your container with sudo docker compose up -d,
• Your n8n instance should be online at port 5678.

n8n is free to self-host but does require a license. Enter your credentials into n8n to get your free license key. You should now have access to the Workflow dashboard and can create and host any kind of workflows from there.

Installing Nostrobots

To integrate n8n nicely with Nostr, I used the Nostrobots community node by Ocknamo.

In n8n parlance a "node" enables certain functionality as a step in a workflow e.g. a "set" node sets a variable, a "send email" node sends an email. n8n comes with all kinds of "official" nodes installed by default, and Nostr is not amongst them. However, n8n also comes with a framework for community members to create their own "community" nodes, which is where Nostrobots comes in.

You can only use a community node in a self-hosted n8n instance (which is what you have if you are running in Docker on your own server, but this limitation does prevent you from using n8n's own hosted alternative).

To install a community node, see n8n community node docs. From your workflow dashboard–

• Click the "..." in the bottom left corner beside your username, and click "settings",
• Cilck "community nodes" left sidebar,
• Click "Install",
• Enter the "npm Package Name" which is n8n-nodes-nostrobots,
• Accept the risks and click "Install",
• Nostrobots is now added to your n8n instance.

Using Nostrobots

Nostrobots gives you nodes to help you build Nostr-integrated workflows–

• Nostr Write – for posting Notes to the Nostr network,
• Nostr Read – for reading Notes from the Nostr network, and
• Nostr Utils – for performing certain conversions you may need (e.g. from bech32 to hex).

Nostrobots has good documentation on each node which focuses on simple use cases.

Each node has a "convenience mode" by default. For example, the "Read" Node by default will fetch Kind 1 notes by a simple filter, in Nostrobots parlance a "Strategy". For example, with Strategy set to "Mention" the node will accept a pubkey and fetch all Kind 1 notes that Mention the pubkey within a time period. This is very good for quick use.

What wasn't clear to me initially (until Ocknamo helped me out) is that advanced use cases are also possible.

Each node also has an advanced mode. For example, the "Read" Node can have "Strategy" set to "RawFilter(advanced)". Now the node will accept json (anything you like that complies with NIP-01). You can use this to query Notes (Kind 1) as above, and also Profiles (Kind 0), Follow Lists (Kind 3), Reactions (Kind 7), Zaps (Kind 9734/9735), and anything else you can think of.

Creating and adding workflows

With n8n and Nostrobots installed, you can now create or add any kind of Nostr Workflow Automation.

• Click "Add workflow" to go to the workflow builder screen,
• If you would like to build your own workflow, you can start with adding any node. Click "+" and see what is available. Type "Nostr" to explore the Nostrobots nodes you have added,
• If you would like to add workflows that someone else has built, click "..." in the top right. Then click "import from URL" and paste in the URL of any workflow you would like to use (including the ones I share later in this article).

Nostr Workflow Automations

It's time to build some things!

A simple form to post a note to Nostr

I started very simply. I needed to delegate the ability to post to Npubs that I own in order that a (future) team can test things for me. I don't want to worry about managing or training those people on how to use keys, and I want to revoke access easily.

I needed a basic form with credentials that posted a Note.

For this I can use a very simple workflow–

• A n8n Form node – Creates a form for users to enter the note they wish to post. Allows for the form to be protected by a username and password. This node is the workflow "trigger" so that the workflow runs each time the form is submitted.
• A Set node – Allows me to set some variables, in this case I set the relays that I intend to use. I typically add a Set node immediately following the trigger node, and put all the variables I need in this. It helps to make the workflows easier to update and maintain.
• A Nostr Write node (from Nostrobots) – Writes a Kind-1 note to the Nostr network. It accepts Nostr credentials, the output of the Form node, and the relays from the Set node, and posts the Note to those relays.

Once the workflow is built, you can test it with the testing form URL, and set it to "Active" to use the production form URL. That's it. You can now give posting access to anyone for any Npub. To revoke access, simply change the credentials or set to workflow to "Inactive".

It may also be the world's simplest Nostr client.

You can find the Nostr Form to Post a Note workflow here.

Push notifications on mentions and new notes

One of the things Nostr is not very good at is push notifications. Furthermore I have some unique itches to scratch. I want–

• To make sure I never miss a note addressed to any of my Npubs – For this I want a push notification any time any Nostr user mentions any of my Npubs,
• To make sure I always see all notes from key accounts – For this I need a push notification any time any of my Npubs post any Notes to the network,
• To get these notifications on all of my devices – Not just my phone where my Nostr regular client lives, but also on each of my laptops to suit wherever I am working that day.

I needed to build a Nostr push notifications solution.

To build this workflow I had to string a few ideas together–

• Triggering the node on a schedule – Nostrobots does not include a trigger node. As every workflow starts with a trigger we needed a different method. I elected to run the workflow on a schedule of every 10-minutes. Frequent enough to see Notes while they are hot, but infrequent enough to not burden public relays or get rate-limited,
• Storing a list of Npubs in a Nostr list – I needed a way to store the list of Npubs that trigger my notifications. I initially used an array defined in the workflow, this worked fine. Then I decided to try Nostr lists (NIP-51, kind 30000). By defining my list of Npubs as a list published to Nostr I can control my list from within a Nostr client (e.g. Listr.lol or Nostrudel.ninja). Not only does this "just work", but because it's based on Nostr lists automagically Amethyst client allows me to browse that list as a Feed, and everyone I add gets notified in their Mentions,
• Using specific relays – I needed to query the right relays, including my own HAVEN relay inbox for notes addressed to me, and wss://purplepag.es for Nostr profile metadata,
• Querying Nostr events (with Nostrobots) – I needed to make use of many different Nostr queries and use quite a wide range of what Nostrobots can do–
  • I read the EventID of my Kind 30000 list, to return the desired pubkeys,
  • For notifications on mentions, I read all Kind 1 notes that mention that pubkey,
  • For notifications on new notes, I read all Kind 1 notes published by that pubkey,
  • Where there are notes, I read the Kind 0 profile metadata event of that pubkey to get the displayName of the relevant Npub,
  • I transform the EventID into a Nevent to help clients find it.
• Using the Nostr URI – As I did with my NFC card article, I created a link with the nostr: URI prefix so that my phone's native client opens the link by default,
• Push notifications solution – I needed a push notifications solution. I found many with n8n integrations and chose to go with Pushover which supports all my devices, has a free trial, and is unfairly cheap with a $5-per-device perpetual license.

Once the workflow was built, lists published, and Pushover installed on my phone, I was fully set up with push notifications on Nostr. I have used these workflows for several weeks now and made various tweaks as I went. They are feeling robust and I'd welcome you to give them a go.

You can find the Nostr Push Notification If Mentioned here and If Posts a Note here.

In speaking with other Nostr users while I was building this, there are all kind of other needs for push notifications too – like on replies to a certain bookmarked note, or when a followed Npub starts streaming on zap.stream. These are all possible.

Use my workflows

I have open sourced all my workflows at my Github with MIT license and tried to write complete docs, so that you can import them into your n8n and configure them for your own use.

To import any of my workflows–

• Click on the workflow of your choice, e.g. "Nostr_Push_Notify_If_Mentioned.json",
• Click on the "raw" button to view the raw JSON, ex any Github page layout,
• Copy that URL,
• Enter that URL in the "import from URL" dialog mentioned above.

To configure them–

• Prerequisites, credentials, and variables are all stated,
• In general any variables required are entered into a Set Node that follows the trigger node,
• Pushover has some extra setup but is very straightforward and documented in the workflow.

What next?

Over my first four blogs I explored creating a good Nostr setup with Vanity Npub, Lightning Payments, Nostr Addresses at Your Domain, and Personal Nostr Relay.

Then in my latest two blogs I explored different types of interoperability with NFC cards and now n8n Workflow Automation.

Thinking ahead n8n can power any kind of interoperability between Nostr and any other legacy technology solution. On my mind as I write this:

• Further enhancements to posting and delegating solutions and forms (enhanced UI or different note kinds),
• Automated or scheduled posting (such as auto-liking everything Lyn Alden posts),
• Further enhancements to push notifications, on new and different types of events (such as notifying me when I get a new follower, on replies to certain posts, or when a user starts streaming),
• All kinds of bridges, such as bridging notes to and from Telegram, Slack, or Campfire. Or bridging RSS or other event feeds to Nostr,
• All kinds of other automation (such as BlackCoffee controlling a coffee machine),
• All kinds of AI Assistants and Agents,

In fact I have already released an open source workflow for an AI Assistant, and will share more about that in my next blog.

Please be sure to let me know if you think there's another Nostr topic you'd like to see me tackle.

GM Nostr.

@ 5b730fac:9e746e2a

| Channel | Push to Branch | Previous Installation Method | NIP94 Event ID Updated as Expected | New Update Installed as Expected | Test Passed | | ------- | ----------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | dev | Already Installed | Manual | Yes | Yes | Yes
nostr:naddr1qvzqqqr4gupzqkmnp7kx5h36rumhjrtkxdslvqu38fyf09wv53u4hrqmvx08gm32qqxnzde5xcmnzdp4xvmnvdpkpctkgk |

Before pushing update

Check state

Currently installed NIP94 event: { "id": "33bf30e90f1e09924a933f08e788165eada8cca2d6c78443e7e52910f0705988", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746711607, "kind": 1063, "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000", "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97" ], [ "ox", "0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ] }

Installed here: Thu May 8 13:40:13 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Started the timer Thu May 8 13:40:13 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Intersection: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b] Thu May 8 13:40:13 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Right Time Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b] Thu May 8 13:40:13 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Right Arch Keys count: 56 Thu May 8 13:40:13 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Right Version Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b] Thu May 8 13:40:23 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[6709]: 2025/05/08 13:40:23.779018 Timeout reached, checking for new versions Thu May 8 13:40:23 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Sorted Qualifying Events Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b] Thu May 8 13:40:23 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Newer package version available: multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b Thu May 8 13:40:23 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Downloading package from https://blossom.swissdash.site/0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97.ipk to /tmp/0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97.ipk Thu May 8 13:40:28 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: Package downloaded successfully to /tmp/ Thu May 8 13:40:28 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[6709]: 2025/05/08 13:40:28.863469 Verifying package checksum Thu May 8 13:40:28 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[6709]: 2025/05/08 13:40:28.873010 Package checksum verified successfully Thu May 8 13:40:28 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[6709]: New package version multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b is ready to be installed by cronjob Thu May 8 13:41:06 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[7713]: 2025/05/08 13:41:06 NIP94EventID: 33bf30e90f1e09924a933f08e788165eada8cca2d6c78443e7e52910f0705988 Thu May 8 13:41:06 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[7713]: 2025/05/08 13:41:06 IPAddressRandomized: 192.168.3.1

Current version picked up by opkg: root@OpenWrt:~# opkg list-installed | grep "tollgate" tollgate-module-basic-go - multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b

Check basic module's logic

Config.json contains the right event ID: ``` root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "33bf30e90f1e09924a933f08e788165eada8cca2d6c78443e7e52910f0705988" }

```

Install.json contains the right package path: root@OpenWrt:~# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json { "package_path": "/tmp/0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "192.168.3.1", "install_time": 1746711661, "download_time": 1746711628, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746634883, "update_path": null }

Update package manually

Prevent automatic update

Stop tollgate-basic so that it doesn't automatically update to newer event kinds. root@OpenWrt:~# service tollgate-basic stop root@OpenWrt:~# service tollgate-basic status inactive

Trigger new event announcement on this branch

New NIP94 event on this branch c03rad0r@CobradorRomblonMimaropa:~/TG/tollgate-module-basic-go/src$ git push github Enumerating objects: 9, done. Counting objects: 100% (9/9), done. Delta compression using up to 8 threads Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done. Writing objects: 100% (5/5), 429 bytes | 429.00 KiB/s, done. Total 5 (delta 4), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0 remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (4/4), completed with 4 local objects. To https://github.com/OpenTollGate/tollgate-module-basic-go.git 4e46a9b..ad29788 multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package -> multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package

The new version that we will install manually: { "id": "2ff8b1e63036f03884a82450c811d9df0ed2b9f1a4099bbb1e4308e1d845be97", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746712364, "kind": 1063, "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000", "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059" ], [ "ox", "e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-90-ad29788" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ] }

The installation: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# wget https://blossom.swissdash.site/e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059.ipk Downloading 'https://blossom.swissdash.site/e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059.ipk' Connecting to 212.47.72.157:443 Writing to 'e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059.ipk' e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45 2943k --:--:-- ETA Download completed (4509706 bytes) root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg install e8633b4c2ceb05b5fd45fe0574417b644bbc62e6e3862147e94ca46104735059.ipk Upgrading tollgate-module-basic-go on root from multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-89-4e46a9b to multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-90-ad29788... Command failed: Not found Removing existing banner file if present... Configuring tollgate-module-basic-go. nodogsplash cfg7c92bd Running TollGate NoDogSplash file copy script... Source files: drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 384 May 8 13:57 . drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 224 May 8 13:50 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 599 May 8 13:50 asset-manifest.json -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 312 May 8 13:50 manifest.json -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 642 May 8 13:50 splash.html Copying splash.html... IP is already randomized or not set to false. Exiting.

Current version picked up by opkg: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# opkg list-installed | grep "tollgate" tollgate-module-basic-go - multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-90-ad29788 root@OpenWrt:/tmp#

tollgate-basic is running again: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# service tollgate-basic status running

Event ID successfully set to unknown: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "unknown" }

install.json is still pointing at dev channel: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "/tmp/0456244a6b01629d86d6218ddacb149fd3a54b007154531ade55415c5573ab97.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "192.168.3.1", "install_time": 1746712641, "download_time": 1746711628, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746634883, "update_path": null }

Trigger new event announcement on this branch

Trigger new event: c03rad0r@CobradorRomblonMimaropa:~/TG/tollgate-module-basic-go/src$ git push github Enumerating objects: 9, done. Counting objects: 100% (9/9), done. Delta compression using up to 8 threads Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done. Writing objects: 100% (5/5), 418 bytes | 418.00 KiB/s, done. Total 5 (delta 4), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0 remote: Resolving deltas: 100% (4/4), completed with 4 local objects. To https://github.com/OpenTollGate/tollgate-module-basic-go.git ad29788..ca43710 multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package -> multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package

New event json: { "id": "51ca573636243df455333e83d5b456b4bcefd939c8160c5737545abcdc95dfd9", "pubkey": "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a", "created_at": 1746714091, "kind": 1063, "tags": [ [ "url", "https://blossom.swissdash.site/75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b.ipk" ], [ "m", "application/octet-stream" ], [ "x", "75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b" ], [ "ox", "75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b" ], [ "filename", "basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk" ], [ "architecture", "aarch64_cortex-a53" ], [ "version", "multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710" ], [ "release_channel", "dev" ] ], "content": "TollGate Module Package: basic for gl-mt3000" }

Logread output: ``` Thu May 8 14:12:11 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[8933]: 2025/05/08 14:12:11.615394 Relay wss://relay.damus.io disconnected, attempting to reconnect Thu May 8 14:12:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 14:12:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Connected to relay: wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 14:12:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Subscription successful on relay wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 14:12:11 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Subscribed to NIP-94 events on relay wss://relay.damus.io Thu May 8 14:20:41 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Connecting to relay: wss://relay.tollgate.me Thu May 8 14:21:33 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Started the timer Thu May 8 14:21:33 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Intersection: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710] Thu May 8 14:21:33 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Right Time Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-90-ad29788 basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-90-ad29788 basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710] Thu May 8 14:21:33 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Right Arch Keys count: 115 Thu May 8 14:21:33 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Right Version Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710] Thu May 8 14:21:43 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[8933]: 2025/05/08 14:21:43.304879 Timeout reached, checking for new versions Thu May 8 14:21:43 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Sorted Qualifying Events Keys: [basic-gl-mt3000-aarch64_cortex-a53.ipk-multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710] Thu May 8 14:21:43 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Newer package version available: multiple_mints_rebase_taglist_detect_package-91-ca43710 Thu May 8 14:21:43 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Downloading package from https://blossom.swissdash.site/75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b.ipk to /tmp/75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b.ipk Thu May 8 14:21:45 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: Package downloaded successfully to /tmp/ Thu May 8 14:21:45 2025 daemon.info tollgate-basic[8933]: New package version is ready to be installed by cronjob Thu May 8 14:21:45 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[8933]: 2025/05/08 14:21:45.667395 Verifying package checksum Thu May 8 14:21:45 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[8933]: 2025/05/08 14:21:45.676755 Package checksum verified successfully Thu May 8 14:22:06 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:22:06 NIP94EventID: 51ca573636243df455333e83d5b456b4bcefd939c8160c5737545abcdc95dfd9 Thu May 8 14:22:06 2025 daemon.err tollgate-basic[10154]: 2025/05/08 14:22:06 IPAddressRandomized: 192.168.3.1

```

Config has the right event id again: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/config.json | jq { "tollgate_private_key": "8a45d0add1c7ddf668f9818df550edfa907ae8ea59d6581a4ca07473d468d663", "accepted_mints": [ "https://mint.minibits.cash/Bitcoin", "https://mint2.nutmix.cash" ], "price_per_minute": 1, "bragging": { "enabled": true, "fields": [ "amount", "mint", "duration" ] }, "relays": [ "wss://relay.damus.io", "wss://nos.lol", "wss://nostr.mom", "wss://relay.tollgate.me" ], "trusted_maintainers": [ "5075e61f0b048148b60105c1dd72bbeae1957336ae5824087e52efa374f8416a" ], "fields_to_be_reviewed": [ "price_per_minute", "relays", "tollgate_private_key", "trusted_maintainers" ], "nip94_event_id": "51ca573636243df455333e83d5b456b4bcefd939c8160c5737545abcdc95dfd9" }

Install.json has the right file path again: root@OpenWrt:/tmp# cat /etc/tollgate/install.json | jq { "package_path": "/tmp/75990a3f245069a56c02c6e24dc312ecc6ff1f0df632fb99ddb247c98a745a5b.ipk", "ip_address_randomized": "192.168.3.1", "install_time": 1746714121, "download_time": 1746714105, "release_channel": "dev", "ensure_default_timestamp": 1746634883, "update_path": null }

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Was nützt die schönste Schuldenbremse, wenn der Russe vor der Tür steht? \ Wir können uns verteidigen lernen oder alle Russisch lernen. \ Jens Spahn

In der Politik ist buchstäblich keine Idee zu riskant, kein Mittel zu schäbig und keine Lüge zu dreist, als dass sie nicht benutzt würden. Aber der Clou ist, dass diese Masche immer noch funktioniert, wenn nicht sogar immer besser. Ist das alles wirklich so schwer zu durchschauen? Mir fehlen langsam die Worte.

Aktuell werden sowohl in der Europäischen Union als auch in Deutschland riesige Milliardenpakete für die Aufrüstung – also für die Rüstungsindustrie – geschnürt. Die EU will 800 Milliarden Euro locker machen, in Deutschland sollen es 500 Milliarden «Sondervermögen» sein. Verteidigung nennen das unsere «Führer», innerhalb der Union und auch an «unserer Ostflanke», der Ukraine.

Das nötige Feindbild konnte inzwischen signifikant erweitert werden. Schuld an allem und zudem gefährlich ist nicht mehr nur Putin, sondern jetzt auch Trump. Europa müsse sich sowohl gegen Russland als auch gegen die USA schützen und rüsten, wird uns eingetrichtert.

Und während durch Diplomatie genau dieser beiden Staaten gerade endlich mal Bewegung in die Bemühungen um einen Frieden oder wenigstens einen Waffenstillstand in der Ukraine kommt, rasselt man im moralisch überlegenen Zeigefinger-Europa so richtig mit dem Säbel.

Begleitet und gestützt wird der ganze Prozess – wie sollte es anders sein – von den «Qualitätsmedien». Dass Russland einen Angriff auf «Europa» plant, weiß nicht nur der deutsche Verteidigungsminister (und mit Abstand beliebteste Politiker) Pistorius, sondern dank ihnen auch jedes Kind. Uns bleiben nur noch wenige Jahre. Zum Glück bereitet sich die Bundeswehr schon sehr konkret auf einen Krieg vor.

Die FAZ und Corona-Gesundheitsminister Spahn markieren einen traurigen Höhepunkt. Hier haben sich «politische und publizistische Verantwortungslosigkeit propagandistisch gegenseitig befruchtet», wie es bei den NachDenkSeiten heißt. Die Aussage Spahns in dem Interview, «der Russe steht vor der Tür», ist das eine. Die Zeitung verschärfte die Sache jedoch, indem sie das Zitat explizit in den Titel übernahm, der in einer ersten Version scheinbar zu harmlos war.

Eine große Mehrheit der deutschen Bevölkerung findet Aufrüstung und mehr Schulden toll, wie ARD und ZDF sehr passend ermittelt haben wollen. Ähnliches gelte für eine noch stärkere militärische Unterstützung der Ukraine. Etwas skeptischer seien die Befragten bezüglich der Entsendung von Bundeswehrsoldaten dorthin, aber immerhin etwa fifty-fifty.

Eigentlich ist jedoch die Meinung der Menschen in «unseren Demokratien» irrelevant. Sowohl in der Europäischen Union als auch in Deutschland sind die «Eliten» offenbar der Ansicht, der Souverän habe in Fragen von Krieg und Frieden sowie von aberwitzigen astronomischen Schulden kein Wörtchen mitzureden. Frau von der Leyen möchte über 150 Milliarden aus dem Gesamtpaket unter Verwendung von Artikel 122 des EU-Vertrags ohne das Europäische Parlament entscheiden – wenn auch nicht völlig kritiklos.

In Deutschland wollen CDU/CSU und SPD zur Aufweichung der «Schuldenbremse» mehrere Änderungen des Grundgesetzes durch das abgewählte Parlament peitschen. Dieser Versuch, mit dem alten Bundestag eine Zweidrittelmehrheit zu erzielen, die im neuen nicht mehr gegeben wäre, ist mindestens verfassungsrechtlich umstritten.

Das Manöver scheint aber zu funktionieren. Heute haben die Grünen zugestimmt, nachdem Kanzlerkandidat Merz läppische 100 Milliarden für «irgendwas mit Klima» zugesichert hatte. Die Abstimmung im Plenum soll am kommenden Dienstag erfolgen – nur eine Woche, bevor sich der neu gewählte Bundestag konstituieren wird.

Interessant sind die Argumente, die BlackRocker Merz für seine Attacke auf Grundgesetz und Demokratie ins Feld führt. Abgesehen von der angeblichen Eile, «unsere Verteidigungsfähigkeit deutlich zu erhöhen» (ausgelöst unter anderem durch «die Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz und die Ereignisse im Weißen Haus»), ließ uns der CDU-Chef wissen, dass Deutschland einfach auf die internationale Bühne zurück müsse. Merz schwadronierte gefährlich mehrdeutig:

«Die ganze Welt schaut in diesen Tagen und Wochen auf Deutschland. Wir haben in der Europäischen Union und auf der Welt eine Aufgabe, die weit über die Grenzen unseres eigenen Landes hinausgeht.»

[Titelbild: Tag des Sieges]

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

«Wir brauchen eine digitale Brandmauer gegen den Faschismus», schreibt der Chaos Computer Club (CCC) auf seiner Website. Unter diesem Motto präsentierte er letzte Woche einen Forderungskatalog, mit dem sich 24 Organisationen an die kommende Bundesregierung wenden. Der Koalitionsvertrag müsse sich daran messen lassen, verlangen sie.

In den drei Kategorien «Bekenntnis gegen Überwachung», «Schutz und Sicherheit für alle» sowie «Demokratie im digitalen Raum» stellen die Unterzeichner, zu denen auch Amnesty International und Das NETTZ gehören, unter anderem die folgenden «Mindestanforderungen»:

• Verbot biometrischer Massenüberwachung des öffentlichen Raums sowie der ungezielten biometrischen Auswertung des Internets.
• Anlasslose und massenhafte Vorratsdatenspeicherung wird abgelehnt.
• Automatisierte Datenanalysen der Informationsbestände der Strafverfolgungsbehörden sowie jede Form von Predictive Policing oder automatisiertes Profiling von Menschen werden abgelehnt.
• Einführung eines Rechts auf Verschlüsselung. Die Bundesregierung soll sich dafür einsetzen, die Chatkontrolle auf europäischer Ebene zu verhindern.
• Anonyme und pseudonyme Nutzung des Internets soll geschützt und ermöglicht werden.
• Bekämpfung «privaten Machtmissbrauchs von Big-Tech-Unternehmen» durch durchsetzungsstarke, unabhängige und grundsätzlich föderale Aufsichtsstrukturen.
• Einführung eines digitalen Gewaltschutzgesetzes, unter Berücksichtigung «gruppenbezogener digitaler Gewalt» und die Förderung von Beratungsangeboten.
• Ein umfassendes Förderprogramm für digitale öffentliche Räume, die dezentral organisiert und quelloffen programmiert sind, soll aufgelegt werden.

Es sei ein Irrglaube, dass zunehmende Überwachung einen Zugewinn an Sicherheit darstelle, ist eines der Argumente der Initiatoren. Sicherheit erfordere auch, dass Menschen anonym und vertraulich kommunizieren können und ihre Privatsphäre geschützt wird.

Gesunde digitale Räume lebten auch von einem demokratischen Diskurs, lesen wir in dem Papier. Es sei Aufgabe des Staates, Grundrechte zu schützen. Dazu gehöre auch, Menschenrechte und demokratische Werte, insbesondere Freiheit, Gleichheit und Solidarität zu fördern sowie den Missbrauch von Maßnahmen, Befugnissen und Infrastrukturen durch «die Feinde der Demokratie» zu verhindern.

Man ist geneigt zu fragen, wo denn die Autoren «den Faschismus» sehen, den es zu bekämpfen gelte. Die meisten der vorgetragenen Forderungen und Argumente finden sicher breite Unterstützung, denn sie beschreiben offenkundig gängige, kritikwürdige Praxis. Die Aushebelung der Privatsphäre, der Redefreiheit und anderer Grundrechte im Namen der Sicherheit wird bereits jetzt massiv durch die aktuellen «demokratischen Institutionen» und ihre «durchsetzungsstarken Aufsichtsstrukturen» betrieben.

Ist «der Faschismus» also die EU und ihre Mitgliedsstaaten? Nein, die «faschistische Gefahr», gegen die man eine digitale Brandmauer will, kommt nach Ansicht des CCC und seiner Partner aus den Vereinigten Staaten. Private Überwachung und Machtkonzentration sind dabei weltweit schon lange Realität, jetzt endlich müssen sie jedoch bekämpft werden. In dem Papier heißt es:

«Die willkürliche und antidemokratische Machtausübung der Tech-Oligarchen um Präsident Trump erfordert einen Paradigmenwechsel in der deutschen Digitalpolitik. (...) Die aktuellen Geschehnisse in den USA zeigen auf, wie Datensammlungen und -analyse genutzt werden können, um einen Staat handstreichartig zu übernehmen, seine Strukturen nachhaltig zu beschädigen, Widerstand zu unterbinden und marginalisierte Gruppen zu verfolgen.»

Wer auf der anderen Seite dieser Brandmauer stehen soll, ist also klar. Es sind die gleichen «Feinde unserer Demokratie», die seit Jahren in diese Ecke gedrängt werden. Es sind die gleichen Andersdenkenden, Regierungskritiker und Friedensforderer, die unter dem großzügigen Dach des Bundesprogramms «Demokratie leben» einem «kontinuierlichen Echt- und Langzeitmonitoring» wegen der Etikettierung «digitaler Hass» unterzogen werden.

Dass die 24 Organisationen praktisch auch die Bekämpfung von Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon und anderen fordern, entbehrt nicht der Komik. Diese fallen aber sicher unter das Stichwort «Machtmissbrauch von Big-Tech-Unternehmen». Gleichzeitig verlangen die Lobbyisten implizit zum Beispiel die Förderung des Nostr-Netzwerks, denn hier finden wir dezentral organisierte und quelloffen programmierte digitale Räume par excellence, obendrein zensurresistent. Das wiederum dürfte in der Politik weniger gut ankommen.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Die «Eliten» führen bereits groß angelegte Pilotprojekte für eine Zukunft durch, die sie wollen und wir nicht. Das schreibt der OffGuardian in einem Update zum Thema «EU-Brieftasche für die digitale Identität». Das Portal weist darauf hin, dass die Akteure dabei nicht gerade zimperlich vorgehen und auch keinen Hehl aus ihren Absichten machen. Transition News hat mehrfach darüber berichtet, zuletzt hier und hier.

Mit der EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI-Brieftasche) sei eine einzige von der Regierung herausgegebene App geplant, die Ihre medizinischen Daten, Beschäftigungsdaten, Reisedaten, Bildungsdaten, Impfdaten, Steuerdaten, Finanzdaten sowie (potenziell) Kopien Ihrer Unterschrift, Fingerabdrücke, Gesichtsscans, Stimmproben und DNA enthält. So fasst der OffGuardian die eindrucksvolle Liste möglicher Einsatzbereiche zusammen.

Auch Dokumente wie der Personalausweis oder der Führerschein können dort in elektronischer Form gespeichert werden. Bis 2026 sind alle EU-Mitgliedstaaten dazu verpflichtet, Ihren Bürgern funktionierende und frei verfügbare digitale «Brieftaschen» bereitzustellen.

Die Menschen würden diese App nutzen, so das Portal, um Zahlungen vorzunehmen, Kredite zu beantragen, ihre Steuern zu zahlen, ihre Rezepte abzuholen, internationale Grenzen zu überschreiten, Unternehmen zu gründen, Arzttermine zu buchen, sich um Stellen zu bewerben und sogar digitale Verträge online zu unterzeichnen.

All diese Daten würden auf ihrem Mobiltelefon gespeichert und mit den Regierungen von neunzehn Ländern (plus der Ukraine) sowie über 140 anderen öffentlichen und privaten Partnern ausgetauscht. Von der Deutschen Bank über das ukrainische Ministerium für digitalen Fortschritt bis hin zu Samsung Europe. Unternehmen und Behörden würden auf diese Daten im Backend zugreifen, um «automatisierte Hintergrundprüfungen» durchzuführen.

Der Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände (VZBV) habe Bedenken geäußert, dass eine solche App «Risiken für den Schutz der Privatsphäre und der Daten» berge, berichtet das Portal. Die einzige Antwort darauf laute: «Richtig, genau dafür ist sie ja da!»

Das alles sei keine Hypothese, betont der OffGuardian. Es sei vielmehr «Potential». Damit ist ein EU-Projekt gemeint, in dessen Rahmen Dutzende öffentliche und private Einrichtungen zusammenarbeiten, «um eine einheitliche Vision der digitalen Identität für die Bürger der europäischen Länder zu definieren». Dies ist nur eines der groß angelegten Pilotprojekte, mit denen Prototypen und Anwendungsfälle für die EUDI-Wallet getestet werden. Es gibt noch mindestens drei weitere.

Den Ball der digitalen ID-Systeme habe die Covid-«Pandemie» über die «Impfpässe» ins Rollen gebracht. Seitdem habe das Thema an Schwung verloren. Je näher wir aber der vollständigen Einführung der EUid kämen, desto mehr Propaganda der Art «Warum wir eine digitale Brieftasche brauchen» könnten wir in den Mainstream-Medien erwarten, prognostiziert der OffGuardian. Vielleicht müssten wir schon nach dem nächsten großen «Grund», dem nächsten «katastrophalen katalytischen Ereignis» Ausschau halten. Vermutlich gebe es bereits Pläne, warum die Menschen plötzlich eine digitale ID-Brieftasche brauchen würden.

Die Entwicklung geht jedenfalls stetig weiter in genau diese Richtung. Beispielsweise hat Jordanien angekündigt, die digitale biometrische ID bei den nächsten Wahlen zur Verifizierung der Wähler einzuführen. Man wolle «den Papierkrieg beenden und sicherstellen, dass die gesamte Kette bis zu den nächsten Parlamentswahlen digitalisiert wird», heißt es. Absehbar ist, dass dabei einige Wahlberechtigte «auf der Strecke bleiben» werden, wie im Fall von Albanien geschehen.

Derweil würden die Briten gerne ihre Privatsphäre gegen Effizienz eintauschen, behauptet Tony Blair. Der Ex-Premier drängte kürzlich erneut auf digitale Identitäten und Gesichtserkennung. Blair ist Gründer einer Denkfabrik für globalen Wandel, Anhänger globalistischer Technokratie und «moderner Infrastruktur».

Abschließend warnt der OffGuardian vor der Illusion, Trump und Musk würden den US-Bürgern «diesen Schlamassel ersparen». Das Department of Government Efficiency werde sich auf die digitale Identität stürzen. Was könne schließlich «effizienter» sein als eine einzige App, die für alles verwendet wird? Der Unterschied bestehe nur darin, dass die US-Version vielleicht eher privat als öffentlich sei – sofern es da überhaupt noch einen wirklichen Unterschied gebe.

[Titelbild: Screenshot OffGuardian]

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 66df6056:f3203c64

งาน Bitcoin++ ประจำปี 2025 ที่จัดขึ้นที่เมืองออสติน รัฐเท็กซัส เป็นการรวมตัวของนักพัฒนา Bitcoin ที่เจาะลึกในประเด็นทางเทคนิค โดยเฉพาะอย่างยิ่งเรื่อง Mempool, Transaction Relay และ Mining Pools หัวข้อเหล่านี้ถูกเน้นย้ำว่าเป็นหัวข้อที่น่าสนใจและเป็นที่ถกเถียงกัน เป้าหมายหลักของงานคือเพื่อให้เหล่านักพัฒนาและผู้สร้างสรรค์ได้แบ่งปันสิ่งที่พวกเขากำลังทำอยู่ เรียนรู้เกี่ยวกับความท้าทายในการนำ Transaction เข้าสู่ Block และการปรับปรุง Bitcoin รวมถึงส่งเสริมการเติบโตของชุมชน Open-Source

งานในปีนี้เป็นครั้งแรกที่มุ่งเน้นไปที่ Mempool และ Transaction Relay โดยเฉพาะ ซึ่งเกี่ยวข้องโดยตรงกับการสร้าง Block Mempool ถูกมองว่าเป็นพื้นที่ส่วนรวม (commons) และเป็นตลาดประมูลที่เสรีและเปิดกว้างที่สุดแห่งหนึ่งของโลก ที่ซึ่งใครก็ตามที่เป็นเจ้าของ Bitcoin สามารถเสนอราคา (ค่าธรรมเนียม) และใครก็ตามที่ขุด Bitcoin ก็สามารถยอมรับราคานั้นและนำ Transaction เข้า Block ได้ แม้ว่ากระบวนการนี้จะมีความท้าทายและบางครั้งก็เป็นที่ถกเถียงกัน แต่ Bitcoin ยังคงทำงานเป็นระบบแบบอนาธิปไตย (anarchic system) ที่การพัฒนาเกิดขึ้นในลักษณะกระจายศูนย์

ประเด็นร้อน: OP_RETURN และการถกเถียงเรื่อง Data Carrier

หนึ่งในประเด็นหลักที่ถูกกล่าวถึงและมีการจัดดีเบตแบบ Oxford-style คือเรื่องขีดจำกัดของ Data Carrier ใน OP_RETURN โดยเฉพาะการถกเถียงเรื่องการปลดขีดจำกัดค่าเริ่มต้นใน Bitcoin Core การถกเถียงนี้สะท้อนให้เห็นถึงความตึงเครียดระหว่างกลุ่มที่เรียกว่า "Monetary Maximalists" ซึ่งต้องการให้ Bitcoin เป็นเงินที่ดีที่สุด กับกลุ่ม "Platform Maximalists" ที่ต้องการให้ Bitcoin สามารถทำสิ่งต่างๆ ที่ไม่เกี่ยวข้องกับเงินได้มากขึ้น เช่น การออก Token บน Bitcoin

ฝ่ายที่สนับสนุนการปลดขีดจำกัดแย้งว่ามันเป็นปัญหาทางเทคนิคที่ไม่มีวิธีที่มีหลักการในการป้องกันอย่างแท้จริงในระดับ Consensus การพยายามใช้ Filter ใน Mempool เพื่อป้องกันนั้นไม่สามารถทำได้อย่างสมบูรณ์ และผู้ใช้สามารถหาวิธีหลีกเลี่ยงได้ การปลดขีดจำกัดอาจช่วยลดการสร้าง UTXO ที่ใช้ไม่ได้ (unspendable UTXOs) ซึ่งเป็นสิ่งที่แย่กว่า OP_RETURN และจะช่วยประหยัดเวลาของนักพัฒนาจากการโต้เถียงในเรื่องเล็กๆ น้อยๆ

ขณะที่ฝ่ายคัดค้านการปลดขีดจำกัดยืนยันว่า Filter ใน Mempool ทำงานได้ผลในการยับยั้งการใช้ OP_RETURN สำหรับข้อมูลที่ไม่ใช่ทางการเงิน และการปลดขีดจำกัดจะเป็นการทำลาย Filter ที่มีอยู่ พวกเขาแย้งว่า Bitcoin ถูกออกแบบมาให้เป็นระบบการเงิน ไม่ใช่ฐานข้อมูลสำหรับเก็บข้อมูลตามอำเภอใจ การอนุญาตให้เก็บข้อมูลที่ไม่ใช่ทางการเงินจำนวนมากจะทำให้ Transaction ของผู้ใช้ทั่วไปมีค่าใช้จ่ายสูงขึ้น และเป็นการ "ขาย Bitcoin ให้กับผู้ที่เสนอราคาสูงสุด" ซึ่งอาจนำไปสู่การบ่อนทำลายโดยผู้ที่ควบคุมระบบการเงินแบบเก่า พวกเขายืนยันว่า Bitcoin ควรเน้นการเป็นเงิน และการเปลี่ยนแปลงที่ไม่จำเป็นซึ่งทำลาย Filter ที่ทำงานอยู่จะทำให้ความไว้วางใจใน Bitcoin Core ลดลง นอกจากนี้ยังมีการพูดถึงทางเลือกในการใช้ Filter ในระดับ Node เช่นที่ implement ใน Bitcoin Knots

ความรวมศูนย์ในการขุดและการกระจายศูนย์

ปัญหาความรวมศูนย์ใน Mining Pool เป็นอีกหัวข้อที่มีการหารืออย่างกว้างขวาง โดยเฉพาะเรื่องความหลากหลายของ Block Template เครื่องมืออย่าง stratum.work ถูกสร้างขึ้นมาเพื่อช่วยให้ผู้สังเกตการณ์สามารถเปรียบเทียบ Block Template จาก Pool ต่างๆ ได้ ข้อมูลแสดงให้เห็นว่า Antpool และ Pool ที่เป็น "เพื่อน" (Antpool and friends) รวมถึง Foundry มีส่วนแบ่ง Hash Rate รวมกันค่อนข้างสูง ซึ่งทำให้เกิดความกังวลเกี่ยวกับความรวมศูนย์ ปัญหาดังกล่าวถูกมองว่าเป็นปัญหาเชิงเศรษฐศาสตร์และแรงจูงใจ มากกว่าปัญหาทางเทคนิคล้วนๆ

ทางออกในการกระจายศูนย์การขุดและการสร้าง Block Template ถูกนำเสนอ โดยเฉพาะโปรโตคอล Datam ที่พัฒนาโดย Ocean Mining Datam ถูกออกแบบมาเพื่อการขุดแบบกระจายศูนย์โดยเฉพาะ โดย กำหนดให้ Miner ต้องรัน Node ของตัวเองเพื่อสร้าง Block Template ซึ่งแตกต่างจาก Stratum V2 ที่ยังคงมีการใช้งานแบบรวมศูนย์อยู่ Datam Gateway ทำหน้าที่เป็นตัวเชื่อมระหว่าง Miner กับ Pool โดยใช้ Stratum V1 แต่ Miner เป็นผู้สร้าง Block Template เอง โปรโตคอล Datam นั้นเรียบง่าย ใช้ภาษา C เพื่อให้มีขนาดเล็กและมีประสิทธิภาพสูง สามารถทำงานบน Raspberry Pi ได้ และมีการเข้ารหัสระหว่าง Pool กับ Gateway การสร้าง Datam ขึ้นมาใหม่จากศูนย์เป็นเพราะไม่มีโปรโตคอลหรือซอฟต์แวร์ Pool เดิมที่ตอบโจทย์การกระจายศูนย์ได้อย่างสมบูรณ์

การแก้ไข Bug ใน Consensus (Consensus Cleanup)

มีการนำเสนอ BIP 54 หรือ Great Consensus Cleanup ซึ่งเป็นข้อเสนอ Soft Fork เพื่อแก้ไข Bug เล็กน้อยในกฎ Consensus ของ Bitcoin จุดประสงค์ไม่ใช่การเปลี่ยนแปลงคุณค่าหลักของ Bitcoin แต่เป็นการแก้ไข Bug ที่สามารถทำได้ผ่าน Soft Fork Bug เหล่านี้รวมถึงปัญหาที่อาจนำไปสู่การมี Transaction ID (TXID) ของ Coinbase ซ้ำกันในอนาคตสำหรับ Block ที่เกิดขึ้นก่อน BIP 34 การแก้ไขใน BIP 54 เกี่ยวข้องกับการใช้ Time Locking และการกำหนดค่า End Sequence ใน Coinbase Transaction เพื่อป้องกันปัญหานี้ ข้อเสนอนี้ถูกพัฒนาขึ้นโดย Antoine Riard และมีการหารืออย่างละเอียด

ความปลอดภัยทางควอนตัมในอนาคต

ประเด็นเรื่องความปลอดภัยทางควอนตัมของ Bitcoin ก็ถูกหยิบยกขึ้นมาพูดคุย แม้จะดูเป็นปัญหาที่ไกลตัว แต่ก็เป็นสิ่งสำคัญที่จะต้องมีแผนรองรับ BIP 360 ถูกนำเสนอเป็นข้อเสนอ Soft Fork ทางเลือก (Opt-in soft fork) เพื่อเพิ่มความปลอดภัยทางควอนตัมให้กับ Bitcoin ปัญหาหลักคือผู้ใช้จะต้องเปิดเผย Public Key และ Signature เมื่อใช้จ่าย Transaction และคอมพิวเตอร์ควอนตัมอาจสามารถคำนวณ Private Key จาก Public Key ได้ BIP 360 เสนอให้เพิ่มข้อมูล Public Key และ Signature ที่ผ่านการป้องกันควอนตัมเข้าไปใน Transaction โดยรองรับ Taproot อย่างไรก็ตาม Multisig บางประเภท เช่น P2SH หรือ P2WSH อาจให้การป้องกันได้ดีกว่า เนื่องจากผู้โจมตีจะต้องหา Private Key หลายตัว ในขณะที่ Key Path Spend ของ Taproot อาจไม่ช่วยป้องกันปัญหานี้ BIP 360 ยังกำหนดให้มี Public Key ที่ป้องกันควอนตัมเพียงตัวเดียวเพื่อหลีกเลี่ยงความกำกวมของที่อยู่ Taproot

นวัตกรรมและกรณีใช้งานอื่นๆ

นอกจากนี้ยังมีการกล่าวถึงโครงการอื่นๆ ที่น่าสนใจ เช่น Maple AI ที่มุ่งมั่นสร้าง AI ที่ไม่ใช่แบบรวมศูนย์ และ Open Secret ซึ่งเป็น Framework สำหรับนักพัฒนาในการให้ผู้ใช้สามารถ Self-Custody ข้อมูลของตนเองได้ แนวคิดนี้คล้ายกับการ Self-Custody Bitcoin ใน Wallet โดยมองว่าการถือข้อมูลผู้ใช้เป็นภาระความเสี่ยงสำหรับนักพัฒนา

มีการพูดถึงแนวโน้มที่ผู้เล่นในระบบการเงินแบบเก่าอย่าง Visa และ Stripe กำลังพยายามเข้าสู่พื้นที่ Digital Currency โดยอาจใช้การ Tokenize Credit Card รวมถึงบทบาทที่อาจเกิดขึ้นของ AI Agents ซึ่งอาจเริ่มใช้ Bitcoin หรือ Lightning Network ในการชำระเงินในอนาคต มีการคาดการณ์ว่า AI Agents อาจทำธุรกรรมผ่าน Lightning Network ได้ในระดับที่สูงกว่าการใช้งานของมนุษย์อย่างรวดเร็ว โดยมีการพัฒนาโปรโตคอลอย่าง X402 และ Fusats เพื่อรองรับการชำระเงินสำหรับ Agents โดยเปิดโอกาสให้ Agents เลือกใช้สกุลเงินดิจิทัลที่ดีที่สุดในตลาดเสรี

สุดท้าย งาน Bitcoin++ เน้นย้ำถึงความสำคัญของการประชุมและการรวมตัวกันของนักพัฒนาเพื่อหารือ ประสานงาน และแบ่งปันไอเดีย โดยเฉพาะในประเด็นที่ต้องอาศัยความร่วมมือและการแก้ปัญหาที่ซับซ้อน

@ f0c7506b:9ead75b8

Rainer Maria Rilke

Yalnızca güçlü olanların hakkıdır yaşamak.

Güçlü olan ileri gider ve saflar seyrekleşir. Ama üç beş büyük, güçlü ve tanrısal kişi güneşli ve aydınlık gözleriyle o yeni, o vaat edilmiş ülkeye ulaşacaktır. Belki binlerce yıl sonra ancak. Ve güçlü, adaleli, hükmetmek için yaratılmış elleriyle hastaların, zayıfların ve sakatların ölüleri üzerinde bir krallık kuracaklardır. Bir krallık!

Benim aradığım insanların kendileri değil, sesleridir.

Duyguları körelmiş, çeşitli düşüncelere saplanmış kalabalık hiçbir zaman ilerlemenin taşıyıcısı olamaz, kendi küçüklüğünün o küflü içgüdüsüyle kalabalığın kin ve nefretle baktığı bir kişi, bir büyük kişi, iradesinin gösterdiği yolda kimsenin gözünün yaşına bakmaksızın ilahi bir güç ve bir zafer gülümsemesiyle yürüyebilir ancak.

Bizim soyumuz da sonsuz oluşum piramidinin doruk noktasını oluşturmaktan uzaktır. Bizler de mükemmelliğe ulaşmış değiliz. Bizler de henüz olgunlaşmadık.

Şairler sevgiye övgüler döşenir; doğrusu sevginin güçlü bir şey olduğu kesin. Hüneşin bir ışınıdır sevgi, aydınlatıp nurlandırır insanı der bazıları; bazıları da insanı esrikliğe sürükleyen bir zehri kendisinde barındırdığını söyler. Gerçekten de yol açtığı sonuçlar, bir hekimin ağır bir ameliyattan önce korkudan titreyen hastaya teneffüs ettirdiği güldürücü gazınkine benzer, içinde tepinip duran acıyı unutturur hastaya.

Önemli olan, hayatta hiç değilse bir kez kutsal bir ilkbaharın yaşanmasıdır; öyle bir bahar ki, insanın gönlünü ilerideki bütün günleri altın yaldızla kaplamaya yetecek kadar ışık ve parıltıyla doldursun.

Şu hayat denen şey kötü bir işçiliğin ürünü, acemilere göre bir şey. Bu kepaze yaşam uğruna insan nelere katlanmıyor ki!

Kendisine sadakatten ayrılmadığı, yalnızca kendisinin olan bir tek bu var: Yalnızlığı.

Sahildeki üstü tenteli hasır koltuklar arkasındaki yüksek, sessiz kum tepeleri içinde yürürsen, tenteler altındaki insanları göremezsin; ama birinin bir diğerine seslendiğini, bir başkasının gevezelik ettiğini, bir ötekinin güldüğünü işitir ve anlarsın hemen: bu insan şöyle şöyle biridir diyebilirsin. Onun hayatı sevdiğini, bağrında büyük bir özlem ya da acı barındırdığını, bu acının da sesini ağlamaklı kıldığını her gülüşünde hissedersin.

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Ständige Lügen und Unterstellungen, permanent falsche Fürsorge \ können Bausteine von emotionaler Manipulation sein. Mit dem Zweck, \ Macht und Kontrolle über eine andere Person auszuüben. \ Apotheken Umschau

Irgendetwas muss passiert sein: «Gaslighting» ist gerade Thema in vielen Medien. Heute bin ich nach längerer Zeit mal wieder über dieses Stichwort gestolpert. Das war in einem Artikel von Norbert Häring über Manipulationen des Deutschen Wetterdienstes (DWD). In diesem Fall ging es um eine Pressemitteilung vom Donnerstag zum «viel zu warmen» Winter 2024/25.

Häring wirft der Behörde vor, dreist zu lügen und Dinge auszulassen, um die Klimaangst wach zu halten. Was der Leser beim DWD nicht erfahre, sei, dass dieser Winter kälter als die drei vorangegangenen und kälter als der Durchschnitt der letzten zehn Jahre gewesen sei. Stattdessen werde der falsche Eindruck vermittelt, es würde ungebremst immer wärmer.

Wem also der zu Ende gehende Winter eher kalt vorgekommen sein sollte, mit dessen Empfinden stimme wohl etwas nicht. Das jedenfalls wolle der DWD uns einreden, so der Wirtschaftsjournalist. Und damit sind wir beim Thema Gaslighting.

Als Gaslighting wird eine Form psychischer Manipulation bezeichnet, mit der die Opfer desorientiert und zutiefst verunsichert werden, indem ihre eigene Wahrnehmung als falsch bezeichnet wird. Der Prozess führt zu Angst und Realitätsverzerrung sowie zur Zerstörung des Selbstbewusstseins. Die Bezeichnung kommt von dem britischen Theaterstück «Gas Light» aus dem Jahr 1938, in dem ein Mann mit grausamen Psychotricks seine Frau in den Wahnsinn treibt.

Damit Gaslighting funktioniert, muss das Opfer dem Täter vertrauen. Oft wird solcher Psychoterror daher im privaten oder familiären Umfeld beschrieben, ebenso wie am Arbeitsplatz. Jedoch eignen sich die Prinzipien auch perfekt zur Manipulation der Massen. Vermeintliche Autoritäten wie Ärzte und Wissenschaftler, oder «der fürsorgliche Staat» und Institutionen wie die UNO oder die WHO wollen uns doch nichts Böses. Auch Staatsmedien, Faktenchecker und diverse NGOs wurden zu «vertrauenswürdigen Quellen» erklärt. Das hat seine Wirkung.

Warum das Thema Gaslighting derzeit scheinbar so populär ist, vermag ich nicht zu sagen. Es sind aber gerade in den letzten Tagen und Wochen auffällig viele Artikel dazu erschienen, und zwar nicht nur von Psychologen. Die Frankfurter Rundschau hat gleich mehrere publiziert, und Anwälte interessieren sich dafür offenbar genauso wie Apotheker.

Die Apotheken Umschau machte sogar auf «Medical Gaslighting» aufmerksam. Davon spreche man, wenn Mediziner Symptome nicht ernst nähmen oder wenn ein gesundheitliches Problem vom behandelnden Arzt «schnöde heruntergespielt» oder abgetan würde. Kommt Ihnen das auch irgendwie bekannt vor? Der Begriff sei allerdings irreführend, da er eine manipulierende Absicht unterstellt, die «nicht gewährleistet» sei.

Apropos Gaslighting: Die noch amtierende deutsche Bundesregierung meldete heute, es gelte, «weiter [sic!] gemeinsam daran zu arbeiten, einen gerechten und dauerhaften Frieden für die Ukraine zu erreichen». Die Ukraine, wo sich am Montag «der völkerrechtswidrige Angriffskrieg zum dritten Mal jährte», verteidige ihr Land und «unsere gemeinsamen Werte».

Merken Sie etwas? Das Demokratieverständnis mag ja tatsächlich inzwischen in beiden Ländern ähnlich traurig sein. Bezüglich Friedensbemühungen ist meine Wahrnehmung jedoch eine andere. Das muss an meinem Gedächtnis liegen.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

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Europa – das Ganze ist eine wunderbare Idee, \ aber das war der Kommunismus auch. \ Loriot

«Europa hat fertig», könnte man unken, und das wäre nicht einmal sehr verwegen. Mit solch einer Einschätzung stünden wir nicht alleine, denn die Stimmen in diese Richtung mehren sich. Der französische Präsident Emmanuel Macron warnte schon letztes Jahr davor, dass «unser Europa sterben könnte». Vermutlich hatte er dabei andere Gefahren im Kopf als jetzt der ungarische Ministerpräsident Viktor Orbán, der ein «baldiges Ende der EU» prognostizierte. Das Ergebnis könnte allerdings das gleiche sein.

Neben vordergründigen Themenbereichen wie Wirtschaft, Energie und Sicherheit ist das eigentliche Problem jedoch die obskure Mischung aus aufgegebener Souveränität und geschwollener Arroganz, mit der europäische Politiker:innende unterschiedlicher Couleur aufzutreten pflegen. Und das Tüpfelchen auf dem i ist die bröckelnde Legitimation politischer Institutionen dadurch, dass die Stimmen großer Teile der Bevölkerung seit Jahren auf vielfältige Weise ausgegrenzt werden.

Um «UnsereDemokratie» steht es schlecht. Dass seine Mandate immer schwächer werden, merkt natürlich auch unser «Führungspersonal». Entsprechend werden die Maßnahmen zur Gängelung, Überwachung und Manipulation der Bürger ständig verzweifelter. Parallel dazu plustern sich in Paris Macron, Scholz und einige andere noch einmal mächtig in Sachen Verteidigung und «Kriegstüchtigkeit» auf.

Momentan gilt es auch, das Überschwappen covidiotischer und verschwörungsideologischer Auswüchse aus den USA nach Europa zu vermeiden. So ein «MEGA» (Make Europe Great Again) können wir hier nicht gebrauchen. Aus den Vereinigten Staaten kommen nämlich furchtbare Nachrichten. Beispielsweise wurde einer der schärfsten Kritiker der Corona-Maßnahmen kürzlich zum Gesundheitsminister ernannt. Dieser setzt sich jetzt für eine Neubewertung der mRNA-«Impfstoffe» ein, was durchaus zu einem Entzug der Zulassungen führen könnte.

Der europäischen Version von «Verteidigung der Demokratie» setzte der US-Vizepräsident J. D. Vance auf der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz sein Verständnis entgegen: «Demokratie stärken, indem wir unseren Bürgern erlauben, ihre Meinung zu sagen». Das Abschalten von Medien, das Annullieren von Wahlen oder das Ausschließen von Menschen vom politischen Prozess schütze gar nichts. Vielmehr sei dies der todsichere Weg, die Demokratie zu zerstören.

In der Schweiz kamen seine Worte deutlich besser an als in den meisten europäischen NATO-Ländern. Bundespräsidentin Karin Keller-Sutter lobte die Rede und interpretierte sie als «Plädoyer für die direkte Demokratie». Möglicherweise zeichne sich hier eine außenpolitische Kehrtwende in Richtung integraler Neutralität ab, meint mein Kollege Daniel Funk. Das wären doch endlich mal ein paar gute Nachrichten.

Von der einstigen Idee einer europäischen Union mit engeren Beziehungen zwischen den Staaten, um Konflikte zu vermeiden und das Wohlergehen der Bürger zu verbessern, sind wir meilenweit abgekommen. Der heutige korrupte Verbund unter technokratischer Leitung ähnelt mehr einem Selbstbedienungsladen mit sehr begrenztem Zugang. Die EU-Wahlen im letzten Sommer haben daran ebenso wenig geändert, wie die Bundestagswahl am kommenden Sonntag darauf einen Einfluss haben wird.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

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Sachzwangfreie, gesichert systemkritische Investigativ-Journalisten der unabhängigen, für Ausgewogenheit bekannten Mainstream-Medien, haben in jahrelanger Recherche den Rechtsruck Deutschlands beobachtet und nun in einem rund 5000 Seiten starken Gutachten dem Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz zugespielt. Möglicherweise ist Erfahrung in der Veröffentlichung der Tagebücher eines verkannten Künstlers hierbei sehr hilfreich gewesen.

Nach sorgfältiger Überprüfung des Inland-Geheimdienstes konnte festgestellt werden, dass dem 3. Reich zugeschriebenes Gedankengut fortbesteht und dadurch die Unseredemokratie nachhaltig vergiftet ist. Bei der Beurteilung waren die Erkenntnisse der Gauck-Behörde von unschätzbarem Wert.

Ein Magazin, einst bekannt dafür, der Politik scharf auf die Finger zu schauen, und das auch die vorgenannten Tagebücher veröffentlicht hat (das war vor der Zeit, als ein ausgewachsener amerikanischer Voll-Philanthrop mit seiner Großzügigkeit die laufenden Strom- und Heizkosten des Verlagsgebäudes bezahlt hat), scheint hier seine Schreib-Fachkräfte zur Verfügung gestellt zu haben. Das könnte erklären, warum einige Details der nicht zu hinterfragenden Schrift an die Öffentlichkeit gelangt sind.

Schon im Grundgesetz kommt der durch das NS-Regime verbrannte Begriff „Volk“ zwölf Mal vor. So lebt die Ideologie, dass es ein deutsches Volk gibt, auch im Grundgesetz weiter. Vermutlich wurde durch Bestechung und Intrigen der Artikel 116 Absatz 1 hineingeschmuggelt, der besagt, wer Deutscher im Sinne des Grundgesetzes ist. Das fordert zwangsläufig eine dringend notwendige Prüfung, ob nicht das Grundgesetz selbst verfassungswidrig ist.

Mit Gründung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland wurde auch weiterhin im Straßenverkehr am Rechtsverkehr festgehalten, obwohl die Autoindustrie mit Beibehaltung des Lenkrades auf der linken Seite ein klares Zeichen gegen rechts gesetzt hat.

Der Ausbau des deutschen Autobahnnetzes wurde im 3. Reich stark vorangetrieben. Er diente vor allem dazu, eine schnelle Truppenbewegung zu ermöglichen. Schließlich sollte nach Goebbels, vor allem bekannt durch seine Rede im Sportpalast in Berlin, bestmögliche Kriegstüchtigkeit hergestellt werden. Die Waffenproduktion der Hermann-Göring-Werke, heute Rheinmetall, ließen die Hochöfen bereits dauerglühen.

Nach dem 2. Weltenbrand wurde der Ausbau des deutschen Autobahnnetzes weiter vorangetrieben. Statt sie zu entschärfen, wurden extreme Rechtskurven durch Leitplanken gesichert. Weniger scharfe Rechtskurven wurden in einer Liste als Verdachtsfall erfasst und werden seitdem intensiv beobachtet, die Unfallhäufigkeit wird ständig gemessen.

Ein weiteres Indiz für rechtes Gedankengut ist die Tatsache, dass eine bekannte Autofirma ihre Produkte auch in der Bundesrepublik nicht in Bürgerwagen umbenannt hat. So wurde in der Wirtschaftswunderzeit mit einem verfassungswidrigen Kraftfahrzeug mit 37 PS wild in der Gegend herumgefahren und durch Auslandsreisen, gerne an den Gardasee, der Begriff Volk in die ganze Welt getragen. Den Höhepunkt des Gipfels erreichte die Verfassungswidrigkeit jedoch dadurch, dass ein Werk in Brasilien den Bürgerwagen produzierte und so den gesamten amerikanischen Kontinent mit hässlichem Gedankengut verseuchte.

Deutsche Unternehmen, die aus Überzeugung Schrauben und Muttern mit Rechtsgewinde herstellen, können nur überzeugte Rechtsextremisten sein. Alles, was rechts ist oder rechts herum geht, muss zum Schutze von Unseredemokratie verfolgt und verboten werden. Auch die Buchhaltung der Unternehmen gehört reformiert, denn schließlich gibt es mit Soll und Haben eine linke und, staatsgefährdend, auch eine rechte Seite, auf der die Einnahmen und Ausgaben erfasst werden.

In großen Städten wurden nach der bedingungslosen Kapitulation der Wehrmacht Straßen und Plätze, die nach den „Größen“ des 3. Reichs benannt wurden, wieder umbenannt. Es wurde dabei versäumt, Parks in größeren Städten, die sich Volksgarten nennen, in Bürgergarten umzubenennen.

Auch wurde versäumt, ideologisch vergiftete Tischsitten zu reformieren. So liegt das Messer neben dem Teller weiterhin rechts. Die Absicht liegt sozusagen auf der Hand, denn das ist eine eindeutige Aufforderung zu Messergewalt, zumal die meisten Menschen Rechtshänder sind.

An der Schreibweise von links nach rechts wurde weiter festgehalten. Ein weiteres Anzeichen dafür, wie das Volk durch alltägliche Verrichtungen zu einer rechten Gesinnung durch dunkle Kräfte hingeleitet werden soll. Die Schreibweise „kursiv“ wurde nicht verboten, obwohl sie extrem rechts ist.

Offensichtlich wird auch die Indoktrination des Volkes, wenn vom für die Linken diskriminierenden Rechtsstaat die Rede ist. Menschen, die ein gesundes Rechtsverständnis haben, sind ideologisch vergiftet.

Die Auflösung von Familienstrukturen, einst die kleinste tragende Zelle der Gesellschaft, muss dringend umgesetzt werden, da verschworene Gruppen, die im Ernstfall wie Pech und Schwefel zusammenhalten, den Staat delegitimieren. Sie könnten zum Beispiel einen Familienausflug planen, von dem der Staat nichts weiß.

Ein Ehepaar, das nicht mehr zeitgemäß in einem Doppelbett schläft, ist höchstverdächtig. Der Ehepartner, der in einem Ehebett auf der rechten Seite sehr nah an der Bettkante schläft, schläft rechtsextrem. Wenn er ein Gitter am Bett hat, damit er nicht aus dem Bett fällt, schläft er sogar extrem gesichert rechts.

Der Verfassungsschutz muss dringend prüfen, ob nicht das gesamte deutsche Volk verboten werden sollte, denn es ist eindeutig so, dass das Volk völkisch ist und das darf in einer Unseredemokratie keinen Platz haben.

Mit Übergabe des Gutachtens an den Verfassungsschutz sieht dieser es als Geheimsache an, sodass er es aus Gründen des Staatswohls nicht denjenigen gegenüber zugänglich gemacht werden kann, die es betrifft, nämlich das völkische Volk.

Jenes Volk, das dank einer übermenschlichen Autoren-Anstrengung im wirtschaftlichen Bereich immer mehr den nicht mehr vorhandenen Pfennig und die nicht mehr vorhandene Mark umdrehen muss.

Als Volks-Sparmöglichkeiten gibt es jedoch noch:

·         Im Outlet-Store Markenartikel 2. Wahl

·         Auf dem Markt Spargel 2. Wahl

·         Und jetzt auch einen Bundeskanzler 2. Wahl

Warum hat das undankbare deutsche Volk, das die Unseredemokratie nicht genug zu schätzen weiß, immer noch etwas zu meckern?

Wer jetzt behauptet, dass dieser Text absurd ist, der möge sich in der Realität umsehen. Da finden die wirklichen Absurditäten statt. Das hier ist nur Schwurbelei von jemandem, der die Welt nicht mehr versteht.

Dieser Artikel wurde mit dem Pareto-Client geschrieben

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(Bild von pixabay)

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Bitcoin and Fixed Income was Written By Wyatt O’Rourke. If you enjoyed this article then support his writing, directly, by donating to his lightning wallet: ultrahusky3@primal.net

Fiduciary duty is the obligation to act in the client’s best interests at all times, prioritizing their needs above the advisor’s own, ensuring honesty, transparency, and avoiding conflicts of interest in all recommendations and actions.

This is something all advisors in the BFAN take very seriously; after all, we are legally required to do so. For the average advisor this is a fairly easy box to check. All you essentially have to do is have someone take a 5-minute risk assessment, fill out an investment policy statement, and then throw them in the proverbial 60/40 portfolio. You have thousands of investment options to choose from and you can reasonably explain how your client is theoretically insulated from any move in the \~markets\~. From the traditional financial advisor perspective, you could justify nearly anything by putting a client into this type of portfolio. All your bases were pretty much covered from return profile, regulatory, compliance, investment options, etc. It was just too easy. It became the household standard and now a meme.

As almost every real bitcoiner knows, the 60/40 portfolio is moving into psyop territory, and many financial advisors get clowned on for defending this relic on bitcoin twitter. I’m going to specifically poke fun at the ‘40’ part of this portfolio.

The ‘40’ represents fixed income, defined as…

An investment type that provides regular, set interest payments, such as bonds or treasury securities, and returns the principal at maturity. It’s generally considered a lower-risk asset class, used to generate stable income and preserve capital.

Historically, this part of the portfolio was meant to weather the volatility in the equity markets and represent the “safe” investments. Typically, some sort of bond.

First and foremost, the fixed income section is most commonly constructed with U.S. Debt. There are a couple main reasons for this. Most financial professionals believe the same fairy tale that U.S. Debt is “risk free” (lol). U.S. debt is also one of the largest and most liquid assets in the market which comes with a lot of benefits.

There are many brilliant bitcoiners in finance and economics that have sounded the alarm on the U.S. debt ticking time bomb. I highly recommend readers explore the work of Greg Foss, Lawrence Lepard, Lyn Alden, and Saifedean Ammous. My very high-level recap of their analysis:

• A bond is a contract in which Party A (the borrower) agrees to repay Party B (the lender) their principal plus interest over time.

• The U.S. government issues bonds (Treasury securities) to finance its operations after tax revenues have been exhausted.

• These are traditionally viewed as “risk-free” due to the government’s historical reliability in repaying its debts and the strength of the U.S. economy

• U.S. bonds are seen as safe because the government has control over the dollar (world reserve asset) and, until recently (20 some odd years), enjoyed broad confidence that it would always honor its debts.

• This perception has contributed to high global demand for U.S. debt but, that is quickly deteriorating.

• The current debt situation raises concerns about sustainability.

• The U.S. has substantial obligations, and without sufficient productivity growth, increasing debt may lead to a cycle where borrowing to cover interest leads to more debt.

• This could result in more reliance on money creation (printing), which can drive inflation and further debt burdens.

In the words of Lyn Alden “Nothing stops this train”

Those obligations are what makes up the 40% of most the fixed income in your portfolio. So essentially you are giving money to one of the worst capital allocators in the world (U.S. Gov’t) and getting paid back with printed money.

As someone who takes their fiduciary responsibility seriously and understands the debt situation we just reviewed, I think it’s borderline negligent to put someone into a classic 60% (equities) / 40% (fixed income) portfolio without serious scrutiny of the client’s financial situation and options available to them. I certainly have my qualms with equities at times, but overall, they are more palatable than the fixed income portion of the portfolio. I don’t like it either, but the money is broken and the unit of account for nearly every equity or fixed income instrument (USD) is fraudulent. It’s a paper mache fade that is quite literally propped up by the money printer.

To briefly be as most charitable as I can – It wasn’t always this way. The U.S. Dollar used to be sound money, we used to have government surplus instead of mathematically certain deficits, The U.S. Federal Government didn’t used to have a money printing addiction, and pre-bitcoin the 60/40 portfolio used to be a quality portfolio management strategy. Those times are gone.

Now the fun part. How does bitcoin fix this?

Bitcoin fixes this indirectly. Understanding investment criteria changes via risk tolerance, age, goals, etc. A client may still have a need for “fixed income” in the most literal definition – Low risk yield. Now you may be thinking that yield is a bad word in bitcoin land, you’re not wrong, so stay with me. Perpetual motion machine crypto yield is fake and largely where many crypto scams originate. However, that doesn’t mean yield in the classic finance sense does not exist in bitcoin, it very literally does. Fortunately for us bitcoiners there are many other smart, driven, and enterprising bitcoiners that understand this problem and are doing something to address it. These individuals are pioneering new possibilities in bitcoin and finance, specifically when it comes to fixed income.

Here are some new developments –

Private Credit Funds – The Build Asset Management Secured Income Fund I is a private credit fund created by Build Asset Management. This fund primarily invests in bitcoin-backed, collateralized business loans originated by Unchained, with a secured structure involving a multi-signature, over-collateralized setup for risk management. Unchained originates loans and sells them to Build, which pools them into the fund, enabling investors to share in the interest income.

Dynamics

• Loan Terms: Unchained issues loans at interest rates around 14%, secured with a 2/3 multi-signature vault backed by a 40% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.
• Fund Mechanics: Build buys these loans from Unchained, thus providing liquidity to Unchained for further loan originations, while Build manages interest payments to investors in the fund.

Pros

• The fund offers a unique way to earn income via bitcoin-collateralized debt, with protection against rehypothecation and strong security measures, making it attractive for investors seeking exposure to fixed income with bitcoin.

Cons

• The fund is only available to accredited investors, which is a regulatory standard for private credit funds like this.

Corporate Bonds – MicroStrategy Inc. (MSTR), a business intelligence company, has leveraged its corporate structure to issue bonds specifically to acquire bitcoin as a reserve asset. This approach allows investors to indirectly gain exposure to bitcoin’s potential upside while receiving interest payments on their bond investments. Some other publicly traded companies have also adopted this strategy, but for the sake of this article we will focus on MSTR as they are the biggest and most vocal issuer.

Dynamics

• Issuance: MicroStrategy has issued senior secured notes in multiple offerings, with terms allowing the company to use the proceeds to purchase bitcoin.

• Interest Rates: The bonds typically carry high-yield interest rates, averaging around 6-8% APR, depending on the specific issuance and market conditions at the time of issuance.

• Maturity: The bonds have varying maturities, with most structured for multi-year terms, offering investors medium-term exposure to bitcoin’s value trajectory through MicroStrategy’s holdings.

Pros

• Indirect Bitcoin exposure with income provides a unique opportunity for investors seeking income from bitcoin-backed debt.

• Bonds issued by MicroStrategy offer relatively high interest rates, appealing for fixed-income investors attracted to the higher risk/reward scenarios.

Cons

• There are credit risks tied to MicroStrategy’s financial health and bitcoin’s performance. A significant drop in bitcoin prices could strain the company’s ability to service debt, increasing credit risk.

• Availability: These bonds are primarily accessible to institutional investors and accredited investors, limiting availability for retail investors.

Interest Payable in Bitcoin – River has introduced an innovative product, bitcoin Interest on Cash, allowing clients to earn interest on their U.S. dollar deposits, with the interest paid in bitcoin.

Dynamics

• Interest Payment: Clients earn an annual interest rate of 3.8% on their cash deposits. The accrued interest is converted to Bitcoin daily and paid out monthly, enabling clients to accumulate Bitcoin over time.

• Security and Accessibility: Cash deposits are insured up to $250,000 through River’s banking partner, Lead Bank, a member of the FDIC. All Bitcoin holdings are maintained in full reserve custody, ensuring that client assets are not lent or leveraged.

Pros

• There are no hidden fees or minimum balance requirements, and clients can withdraw their cash at any time.

• The 3.8% interest rate provides a predictable income stream, akin to traditional fixed-income investments.

Cons

• While the interest rate is fixed, the value of the Bitcoin received as interest can fluctuate, introducing potential variability in the investment’s overall return.

• Interest rate payments are on the lower side

Admittedly, this is a very small list, however, these types of investments are growing more numerous and meaningful. The reality is the existing options aren’t numerous enough to service every client that has a need for fixed income exposure. I challenge advisors to explore innovative options for fixed income exposure outside of sovereign debt, as that is most certainly a road to nowhere. It is my wholehearted belief and call to action that we need more options to help clients across the risk and capital allocation spectrum access a sound money standard.

Additional Resources

• River: The future of saving is here: Earn 3.8% on cash. Paid in Bitcoin.

• Onramp: Bitcoin, The Emergent Asset Class

• MicroStrategy: MicroStrategy Announces Pricing of Offering of Convertible Senior Notes

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Bitcoin and Fixed Income was Written By Wyatt O’Rourke. If you enjoyed this article then support his writing, directly, by donating to his lightning wallet: ultrahusky3@primal.net

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Die «moralische Weltordnung» – eine Art Astrologie. Friedrich Nietzsche

Das Treffen der BRICS-Staaten beim Gipfel im russischen Kasan war sicher nicht irgendein politisches Event. Gastgeber Wladimir Putin habe «Hof gehalten», sagen die Einen, China und Russland hätten ihre Vorstellung einer multipolaren Weltordnung zelebriert, schreiben Andere.

In jedem Fall zeigt die Anwesenheit von über 30 Delegationen aus der ganzen Welt, dass von einer geostrategischen Isolation Russlands wohl keine Rede sein kann. Darüber hinaus haben sowohl die Anreise von UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres als auch die Meldungen und Dementis bezüglich der Beitrittsbemühungen des NATO-Staats Türkei für etwas Aufsehen gesorgt.

Im Spannungsfeld geopolitischer und wirtschaftlicher Umbrüche zeigt die neue Allianz zunehmendes Selbstbewusstsein. In Sachen gemeinsamer Finanzpolitik schmiedet man interessante Pläne. Größere Unabhängigkeit von der US-dominierten Finanzordnung ist dabei ein wichtiges Ziel.

Beim BRICS-Wirtschaftsforum in Moskau, wenige Tage vor dem Gipfel, zählte ein nachhaltiges System für Finanzabrechnungen und Zahlungsdienste zu den vorrangigen Themen. Während dieses Treffens ging der russische Staatsfonds eine Partnerschaft mit dem Rechenzentrumsbetreiber BitRiver ein, um Bitcoin-Mining-Anlagen für die BRICS-Länder zu errichten.

Die Initiative könnte ein Schritt sein, Bitcoin und andere Kryptowährungen als Alternativen zu traditionellen Finanzsystemen zu etablieren. Das Projekt könnte dazu führen, dass die BRICS-Staaten den globalen Handel in Bitcoin abwickeln. Vor dem Hintergrund der Diskussionen über eine «BRICS-Währung» wäre dies eine Alternative zu dem ursprünglich angedachten Korb lokaler Währungen und zu goldgedeckten Währungen sowie eine mögliche Ergänzung zum Zahlungssystem BRICS Pay.

Dient der Bitcoin also der Entdollarisierung? Oder droht er inzwischen, zum Gegenstand geopolitischer Machtspielchen zu werden? Angesichts der globalen Vernetzungen ist es oft schwer zu durchschauen, «was eine Show ist und was im Hintergrund von anderen Strippenziehern insgeheim gesteuert wird». Sicher können Strukturen wie Bitcoin auch so genutzt werden, dass sie den Herrschenden dienlich sind. Aber die Grundeigenschaft des dezentralisierten, unzensierbaren Peer-to-Peer Zahlungsnetzwerks ist ihm schließlich nicht zu nehmen.

Wenn es nach der EZB oder dem IWF geht, dann scheint statt Instrumentalisierung momentan eher der Kampf gegen Kryptowährungen angesagt. Jürgen Schaaf, Senior Manager bei der Europäischen Zentralbank, hat jedenfalls dazu aufgerufen, Bitcoin «zu eliminieren». Der Internationale Währungsfonds forderte El Salvador, das Bitcoin 2021 als gesetzliches Zahlungsmittel eingeführt hat, kürzlich zu begrenzenden Maßnahmen gegen das Kryptogeld auf.

Dass die BRICS-Staaten ein freiheitliches Ansinnen im Kopf haben, wenn sie Kryptowährungen ins Spiel bringen, darf indes auch bezweifelt werden. Im Abschlussdokument bekennen sich die Gipfel-Teilnehmer ausdrücklich zur UN, ihren Programmen und ihrer «Agenda 2030». Ernst Wolff nennt das «eine Bankrotterklärung korrupter Politiker, die sich dem digital-finanziellen Komplex zu 100 Prozent unterwerfen».

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr: a quick introduction, attempt #2

Nostr doesn't subscribe to any ideals of "free speech" as these belong to the realm of politics and assume a big powerful government that enforces a common ruleupon everybody else.

Nostr instead is much simpler, it simply says that servers are private property and establishes a generalized framework for people to connect to all these servers, creating a true free market in the process. In other words, Nostr is the public road that each market participant can use to build their own store or visit others and use their services.

(Of course a road is never truly public, in normal cases it's ran by the government, in this case it relies upon the previous existence of the internet with all its quirks and chaos plus a hand of government control, but none of that matters for this explanation).

More concretely speaking, Nostr is just a set of definitions of the formats of the data that can be passed between participants and their expected order, i.e. messages between clients (i.e. the program that runs on a user computer) and relays (i.e. the program that runs on a publicly accessible computer, a "server", generally with a domain-name associated) over a type of TCP connection (WebSocket) with cryptographic signatures. This is what is called a "protocol" in this context, and upon that simple base multiple kinds of sub-protocols can be added, like a protocol for "public-square style microblogging", "semi-closed group chat" or, I don't know, "recipe sharing and feedback".

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Auf der diesjährigen Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz geht es vor allem um die Ukraine. Protagonisten sind dabei zunächst die US-Amerikaner. Präsident Trump schockierte die Europäer kurz vorher durch ein Telefonat mit seinem Amtskollegen Wladimir Putin, während Vizepräsident Vance mit seiner Rede über Demokratie und Meinungsfreiheit für versteinerte Mienen und Empörung sorgte.

Die Bemühungen der Europäer um einen Frieden in der Ukraine halten sich, gelinde gesagt, in Grenzen. Größeres Augenmerk wird auf militärische Unterstützung, die Pflege von Feindbildern sowie Eskalation gelegt. Der deutsche Bundeskanzler Scholz reagierte auf die angekündigten Verhandlungen über einen möglichen Frieden für die Ukraine mit der Forderung nach noch höheren «Verteidigungsausgaben». Auch die amtierende Außenministerin Baerbock hatte vor der Münchner Konferenz klargestellt:

«Frieden wird es nur durch Stärke geben. (...) Bei Corona haben wir gesehen, zu was Europa fähig ist. Es braucht erneut Investitionen, die der historischen Wegmarke, vor der wir stehen, angemessen sind.»

Die Rüstungsindustrie freut sich in jedem Fall über weltweit steigende Militärausgaben. Die Kriege in der Ukraine und in Gaza tragen zu Rekordeinnahmen bei. Jetzt «winkt die Aussicht auf eine jahrelange große Nachrüstung in Europa», auch wenn der Ukraine-Krieg enden sollte, so hört man aus Finanzkreisen. In der Konsequenz kennt «die Aktie des deutschen Vorzeige-Rüstungskonzerns Rheinmetall in ihrem Anstieg offenbar gar keine Grenzen mehr». «Solche Friedensversprechen» wie das jetzige hätten in der Vergangenheit zu starken Kursverlusten geführt.

Für manche Leute sind Kriegswaffen und sonstige Rüstungsgüter Waren wie alle anderen, jedenfalls aus der Perspektive von Investoren oder Managern. Auch in diesem Bereich gibt es Startups und man spricht von Dingen wie innovativen Herangehensweisen, hocheffizienten Produktionsanlagen, skalierbaren Produktionstechniken und geringeren Stückkosten.

Wir lesen aktuell von Massenproduktion und gesteigerten Fertigungskapazitäten für Kriegsgerät. Der Motor solcher Dynamik und solchen Wachstums ist die Aufrüstung, die inzwischen permanent gefordert wird. Parallel wird die Bevölkerung verbal eingestimmt und auf Kriegstüchtigkeit getrimmt.

Das Rüstungs- und KI-Startup Helsing verkündete kürzlich eine «dezentrale Massenproduktion für den Ukrainekrieg». Mit dieser Expansion positioniere sich das Münchner Unternehmen als einer der weltweit führenden Hersteller von Kampfdrohnen. Der nächste «Meilenstein» steht auch bereits an: Man will eine Satellitenflotte im Weltraum aufbauen, zur Überwachung von Gefechtsfeldern und Truppenbewegungen.

Ebenfalls aus München stammt das als DefenseTech-Startup bezeichnete Unternehmen ARX Robotics. Kürzlich habe man in der Region die größte europäische Produktionsstätte für autonome Verteidigungssysteme eröffnet. Damit fahre man die Produktion von Militär-Robotern hoch. Diese Expansion diene auch der Lieferung der «größten Flotte unbemannter Bodensysteme westlicher Bauart» in die Ukraine.

Rüstung boomt und scheint ein Zukunftsmarkt zu sein. Die Hersteller und Vermarkter betonen, mit ihren Aktivitäten und Produkten solle die europäische Verteidigungsfähigkeit erhöht werden. Ihre Strategien sollten sogar «zum Schutz demokratischer Strukturen beitragen».

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Bitcoin transactions explained

A transaction is a piece of data that takes inputs and produces outputs. Forget about the blockchain thing, Bitcoin is actually just a big tree of transactions. The blockchain is just a way to keep transactions ordered.

Imagine you have 10 satoshis. That means you have them in an unspent transaction output (UTXO). You want to spend them, so you create a transaction. The transaction should reference unspent outputs as its inputs. Every transaction has an immutable id, so you use that id plus the index of the output (because transactions can have multiple outputs). Then you specify a script that unlocks that transaction and related signatures, then you specify outputs along with a script that locks these outputs.

As you can see, there's this lock/unlocking thing and there are inputs and outputs. Inputs must be unlocked by fulfilling the conditions specified by the person who created the transaction they're in. And outputs must be locked so anyone wanting to spend those outputs will need to unlock them.

For most of the cases locking and unlocking means specifying a public key whose controller (the person who has the corresponding private key) will be able to spend. Other fancy things are possible too, but we can ignore them for now.

Back to the 10 satoshis you want to spend. Since you've successfully referenced 10 satoshis and unlocked them, now you can specify the outputs (this is all done in a single step). You can specify one output of 10 satoshis, two of 5, one of 3 and one of 7, three of 3 and so on. The sum of outputs can't be more than 10. And if the sum of outputs is less than 10 the difference goes to fees. In the first days of Bitcoin you didn't need any fees, but now you do, otherwise your transaction won't be included in any block.

If you're still interested in transactions maybe you could take a look at this small chapter of that Andreas Antonopoulos book.

If you hate Andreas Antonopoulos because he is a communist shitcoiner or don't want to read more than half a page, go here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Coin_analogy

@ 9c35fe6b:5977e45b

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@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant

Peter Todd has been saying this for a long time and all the time I've been thinking he is misunderstanding everything, but I guess a more charitable interpretation is that he is right.

Nostr today is indeed centralized.

Yesterday I published two harmless notes with the exact same content at the same time. In two minutes the notes had a noticeable difference in responses:

The top one was published to wss://nostr.wine, wss://nos.lol, wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com. The second was published to the relay where I generally publish all my notes to, wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com, and that is announced on my NIP-05 file and on my NIP-65 relay list.

A few minutes later I published that screenshot again in two identical notes to the same sets of relays, asking if people understood the implications. The difference in quantity of responses can still be seen today:

These results are skewed now by the fact that the two notes got rebroadcasted to multiple relays after some time, but the fundamental point remains.

What happened was that a huge lot more of people saw the first note compared to the second, and if Nostr was really censorship-resistant that shouldn't have happened at all.

Some people implied in the comments, with an air of obviousness, that publishing the note to "more relays" should have predictably resulted in more replies, which, again, shouldn't be the case if Nostr is really censorship-resistant.

What happens is that most people who engaged with the note are following me, in the sense that they have instructed their clients to fetch my notes on their behalf and present them in the UI, and clients are failing to do that despite me making it clear in multiple ways that my notes are to be found on wss://pyramid.fiatjaf.com.

If we were talking not about me, but about some public figure that was being censored by the State and got banned (or shadowbanned) by the 3 biggest public relays, the sad reality would be that the person would immediately get his reach reduced to ~10% of what they had before. This is not at all unlike what happened to dozens of personalities that were banned from the corporate social media platforms and then moved to other platforms -- how many of their original followers switched to these other platforms? Probably some small percentage close to 10%. In that sense Nostr today is similar to what we had before.

Peter Todd is right that if the way Nostr works is that you just subscribe to a small set of relays and expect to get everything from them then it tends to get very centralized very fast, and this is the reality today.

Peter Todd is wrong that Nostr is inherently centralized or that it needs a protocol change to become what it has always purported to be. He is in fact wrong today, because what is written above is not valid for all clients of today, and if we drive in the right direction we can successfully make Peter Todd be more and more wrong as time passes, instead of the contrary.

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See also:

• Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr
• A vision for content discovery and relay usage for basic social-networking in Nostr

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Nur wenn wir aufeinander zugehen, haben wir die Chance \ auf Überwindung der gegenseitigen Ressentiments! \ Dr. med. dent. Jens Knipphals

In Wolfsburg sollte es kürzlich eine Gesprächsrunde von Kritikern der Corona-Politik mit Oberbürgermeister Dennis Weilmann und Vertretern der Stadtverwaltung geben. Der Zahnarzt und langjährige Maßnahmenkritiker Jens Knipphals hatte diese Einladung ins Rathaus erwirkt und publiziert. Seine Motivation:

«Ich möchte die Spaltung der Gesellschaft überwinden. Dazu ist eine umfassende Aufarbeitung der Corona-Krise in der Öffentlichkeit notwendig.»

Schon früher hatte Knipphals Antworten von den Kommunalpolitikern verlangt, zum Beispiel bei öffentlichen Bürgerfragestunden. Für das erwartete Treffen im Rathaus formulierte er Fragen wie: Warum wurden fachliche Argumente der Kritiker ignoriert? Weshalb wurde deren Ausgrenzung, Diskreditierung und Entmenschlichung nicht entgegengetreten? In welcher Form übernehmen Rat und Verwaltung in Wolfsburg persönlich Verantwortung für die erheblichen Folgen der politischen Corona-Krise?

Der Termin fand allerdings nicht statt – der Bürgermeister sagte ihn kurz vorher wieder ab. Knipphals bezeichnete Weilmann anschließend als Wiederholungstäter, da das Stadtoberhaupt bereits 2022 zu einem Runden Tisch in der Sache eingeladen hatte, den es dann nie gab. Gegenüber Multipolar erklärte der Arzt, Weilmann wolle scheinbar eine öffentliche Aufarbeitung mit allen Mitteln verhindern. Er selbst sei «inzwischen absolut desillusioniert» und die einzige Lösung sei, dass die Verantwortlichen gingen.

Die Aufarbeitung der Plandemie beginne bei jedem von uns selbst, sei aber letztlich eine gesamtgesellschaftliche Aufgabe, schreibt Peter Frey, der den «Fall Wolfsburg» auch in seinem Blog behandelt. Diese Aufgabe sei indes deutlich größer, als viele glaubten. Erfreulicherweise sei der öffentliche Informationsraum inzwischen größer, trotz der weiterhin unverfrorenen Desinformations-Kampagnen der etablierten Massenmedien.

Frey erinnert daran, dass Dennis Weilmann mitverantwortlich für gravierende Grundrechtseinschränkungen wie die 2021 eingeführten 2G-Regeln in der Wolfsburger Innenstadt zeichnet. Es sei naiv anzunehmen, dass ein Funktionär einzig im Interesse der Bürger handeln würde. Als früherer Dezernent des Amtes für Wirtschaft, Digitalisierung und Kultur der Autostadt kenne Weilmann zum Beispiel die Verknüpfung von Fördergeldern mit politischen Zielsetzungen gut.

Wolfsburg wurde damals zu einem Modellprojekt des Bundesministeriums des Innern (BMI) und war Finalist im Bitkom-Wettbewerb «Digitale Stadt». So habe rechtzeitig vor der Plandemie das Projekt «Smart City Wolfsburg» anlaufen können, das der Stadt «eine Vorreiterrolle für umfassende Vernetzung und Datenerfassung» aufgetragen habe, sagt Frey. Die Vereinten Nationen verkauften dann derartige «intelligente» Überwachungs- und Kontrollmaßnahmen ebenso als Rettung in der Not wie das Magazin Forbes im April 2020:

«Intelligente Städte können uns helfen, die Coronavirus-Pandemie zu bekämpfen. In einer wachsenden Zahl von Ländern tun die intelligenten Städte genau das. Regierungen und lokale Behörden nutzen Smart-City-Technologien, Sensoren und Daten, um die Kontakte von Menschen aufzuspüren, die mit dem Coronavirus infiziert sind. Gleichzeitig helfen die Smart Cities auch dabei, festzustellen, ob die Regeln der sozialen Distanzierung eingehalten werden.»

Offensichtlich gibt es viele Aspekte zu bedenken und zu durchleuten, wenn es um die Aufklärung und Aufarbeitung der sogenannten «Corona-Pandemie» und der verordneten Maßnahmen geht. Frustration und Desillusion sind angesichts der Realitäten absolut verständlich. Gerade deswegen sind Initiativen wie die von Jens Knipphals so bewundernswert und so wichtig – ebenso wie eine seiner Kernthesen: «Wir müssen aufeinander zugehen, da hilft alles nichts».

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Im Augenblick wird mit größter Intensität, großer Umsicht \ das deutsche Volk belogen. \ Olaf Scholz im FAZ-Interview

Online-Wahlen stärken die Demokratie, sind sicher, und 61 Prozent der Wahlberechtigten sprechen sich für deren Einführung in Deutschland aus. Das zumindest behauptet eine aktuelle Umfrage, die auch über die Agentur Reuters Verbreitung in den Medien gefunden hat. Demnach würden außerdem 45 Prozent der Nichtwähler bei der Bundestagswahl ihre Stimme abgeben, wenn sie dies zum Beispiel von Ihrem PC, Tablet oder Smartphone aus machen könnten.

Die telefonische Umfrage unter gut 1000 wahlberechtigten Personen sei repräsentativ, behauptet der Auftraggeber – der Digitalverband Bitkom. Dieser präsentiert sich als eingetragener Verein mit einer beeindruckenden Liste von Mitgliedern, die Software und IT-Dienstleistungen anbieten. Erklärtes Vereinsziel ist es, «Deutschland zu einem führenden Digitalstandort zu machen und die digitale Transformation der deutschen Wirtschaft und Verwaltung voranzutreiben».

Durchgeführt hat die Befragung die Bitkom Servicegesellschaft mbH, also alles in der Familie. Die gleiche Erhebung hatte der Verband übrigens 2021 schon einmal durchgeführt. Damals sprachen sich angeblich sogar 63 Prozent für ein derartiges «Demokratie-Update» aus – die Tendenz ist demgemäß fallend. Dennoch orakelt mancher, der Gang zur Wahlurne gelte bereits als veraltet.

Die spanische Privat-Uni mit Globalisten-Touch, IE University, berichtete Ende letzten Jahres in ihrer Studie «European Tech Insights», 67 Prozent der Europäer befürchteten, dass Hacker Wahlergebnisse verfälschen könnten. Mehr als 30 Prozent der Befragten glaubten, dass künstliche Intelligenz (KI) bereits Wahlentscheidungen beeinflusst habe. Trotzdem würden angeblich 34 Prozent der unter 35-Jährigen einer KI-gesteuerten App vertrauen, um in ihrem Namen für politische Kandidaten zu stimmen.

Wie dauerhaft wird wohl das Ergebnis der kommenden Bundestagswahl sein? Diese Frage stellt sich angesichts der aktuellen Entwicklung der Migrations-Debatte und der (vorübergehend) bröckelnden «Brandmauer» gegen die AfD. Das «Zustrombegrenzungsgesetz» der Union hat das Parlament heute Nachmittag überraschenderweise abgelehnt. Dennoch muss man wohl kein ausgesprochener Pessimist sein, um zu befürchten, dass die Entscheidungen der Bürger von den selbsternannten Verteidigern der Demokratie künftig vielleicht nicht respektiert werden, weil sie nicht gefallen.

Bundesweit wird jetzt zu «Brandmauer-Demos» aufgerufen, die CDU gerät unter Druck und es wird von Übergriffen auf Parteibüros und Drohungen gegen Mitarbeiter berichtet. Sicherheitsbehörden warnen vor Eskalationen, die Polizei sei «für ein mögliches erhöhtes Aufkommen von Straftaten gegenüber Politikern und gegen Parteigebäude sensibilisiert».

Der Vorwand «unzulässiger Einflussnahme» auf Politik und Wahlen wird als Argument schon seit einiger Zeit aufgebaut. Der Manipulation schuldig befunden wird neben Putin und Trump auch Elon Musk, was lustigerweise ausgerechnet Bill Gates gerade noch einmal bekräftigt und als «völlig irre» bezeichnet hat. Man stelle sich die Diskussionen um die Gültigkeit von Wahlergebnissen vor, wenn es Online-Verfahren zur Stimmabgabe gäbe. In der Schweiz wird «E-Voting» seit einigen Jahren getestet, aber wohl bisher mit wenig Erfolg.

Die politische Brandstiftung der letzten Jahre zahlt sich immer mehr aus. Anstatt dringende Probleme der Menschen zu lösen – zu denen auch in Deutschland die weit verbreitete Armut zählt –, hat die Politik konsequent polarisiert und sich auf Ausgrenzung und Verhöhnung großer Teile der Bevölkerung konzentriert. Basierend auf Ideologie und Lügen werden abweichende Stimmen unterdrückt und kriminalisiert, nicht nur und nicht erst in diesem Augenblick. Die nächsten Wochen dürften ausgesprochen spannend werden.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Censorship-resistant relay discovery in Nostr

In Nostr is not decentralized nor censorship-resistant I said Nostr is centralized. Peter Todd thinks it is centralized by design, but I disagree.

Nostr wasn't designed to be centralized. The idea was always that clients would follow people in the relays they decided to publish to, even if it was a single-user relay hosted in an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

But the Nostr explanations never had any guidance about how to do this, and the protocol itself never had any enforcement mechanisms for any of this (because it would be impossible).

My original idea was that clients would use some undefined combination of relay hints in reply tags and the (now defunct) kind:2 relay-recommendation events plus some form of manual action ("it looks like Bob is publishing on relay X, do you want to follow him there?") to accomplish this. With the expectation that we would have a better idea of how to properly implement all this with more experience, Branle, my first working client didn't have any of that implemented, instead it used a stupid static list of relays with read/write toggle -- although it did publish relay hints and kept track of those internally and supported kind:2 events, these things were not really useful.

Gossip was the first client to implement a truly censorship-resistant relay discovery mechanism that used NIP-05 hints (originally proposed by Mike Dilger) relay hints and kind:3 relay lists, and then with the simple insight of NIP-65 that got much better. After seeing it in more concrete terms, it became simpler to reason about it and the approach got popularized as the "gossip model", then implemented in clients like Coracle and Snort.

Today when people mention the "gossip model" (or "outbox model") they simply think about NIP-65 though. Which I think is ok, but too restrictive. I still think there is a place for the NIP-05 hints, nprofile and nevent relay hints and specially relay hints in event tags. All these mechanisms are used together in ZBD Social, for example, but I believe also in the clients listed above.

I don't think we should stop here, though. I think there are other ways, perhaps drastically different ways, to approach content propagation and relay discovery. I think manual action by users is underrated and could go a long way if presented in a nice UX (not conceived by people that think users are dumb animals), and who knows what. Reliance on third-parties, hardcoded values, social graph, and specially a mix of multiple approaches, is what Nostr needs to be censorship-resistant and what I hope to see in the future.

@ 7e538978:a5987ab6

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@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

背景与研究范围

Backpack 是由多名前 FTX 和 Alameda 员工在 FTX 崩盘后创立的一家加密交易平台，与 Amber Group（一家大型加密金融服务商）和已倒闭的交易所 FTX 之间可能存在多重隐秘关联。本研究超越公开新闻，从团队延续、资金路径、合规架构、基础设施复用和链上迹象等角度，推理分析三者之间的联系。下文将分别讨论：团队与股权延续性、法币出金（稳定币清算）架构、Amber Group 的支持角色、Circle/Equals Money 等第三方的关联，以及“交叉代币解锁”机制的可能性，并给出关键证据与信息缺口。

团队与股权上的延续性

首先，在团队方面，Backpack 由多名 FTX/Alameda 前成员创立。据报道，Backpack 的联合创始人包括前 Alameda Research 早期员工 Armani Ferrante，以及 FTX 前总法律顾问 Can Suncoinspeaker.com；另一位联合创始人 Tristan Yver 也曾任职于 FTX/Alamedanftgators.com。据 CoinSpeaker 披露，Backpack 40名员工中至少有5人是 FTX 前员工coinspeaker.com。这表明 Backpack 在团队传承上与 FTX 存在明显延续。一方面，创始团队直接来自原 FTX 帝国的核心人员；另一方面，他们将过往在大型交易所积累的经验带入了 Backpack。

其次，在股权投资方面也有延续痕迹。早在2022年9月，Backpack 背后的公司 Coral 即获得了由 FTX Ventures 领投的2000万美元种子轮融资，用于开发 Backpack xNFT 钱包等产品nftgators.com。然而由于2022年11月FTX暴雷，这笔来自 FTX 的投资资金大部分被冻结损失nftgators.com。在经历了资金困难的“蟑螂生存模式”后，Backpack 团队于2023-2024年重新融资，成功在2024年2月完成1700万美元的 A 轮融资nftgators.com。值得注意的是，此轮融资的投资阵容中出现了 Amber Group 的身影nftgators.com。Amber Group 与 Placeholder、Hashed、Wintermute 等知名机构共同参与了该轮融资coinspeaker.com。这意味着 Amber 已经成为 Backpack 股东之一，在股权上建立了联系。此外，Jump Crypto 和 Delphi Digital 等与 FTX时代关系密切的机构也参与了投资nftgators.com。综上， Backpack 的股东和团队构成反映出明显的历史延续：既有原FTX系资本（FTX Ventures）和人员直接过渡，也有 Amber Group 等行业巨头在FTX倒台后入场接棒投资，为 Backpack 提供资金和资源支持。

法币出金架构与 USDC 清算渠道

FTX 时代的稳定币清算： 为了解 Backpack 是否继承了 FTX 的 USDC 清算架构，需要回顾 FTX 过往的法币出入金体系。FTX 在运营高峰时期，以其流畅的出入金和稳定币兑换闻名。用户可以将 USDC 等稳定币充值到 FTX 并直接视同美元资产使用，提取时又能以银行电汇方式取出美元，过程中几乎无汇兑损耗。这背后可能依赖于 FTX 与 Circle 等机构的直接清算合作，以及自有银行网络的支持。例如，Circle 提供的企业账户服务可以让像FTX这样的平台在后台实现USDC与美元的1:1兑换与清算circle.com。事实上，FTX 曾是 USDC 的主要场景之一，大量用户通过将美元换成 USDC 再转入FTX进行交易，从而绕过昂贵的跨境汇款费用。FTX 很可能建立了高效的稳定币兑换通道——例如通过 Silvergate 银行网络或与稳定币发行方直接交割——来实现低成本、快速的法币⇄USDC 转换。这套“USDC 清算架构”是FTX业务成功的重要基础之一。

Backpack 的出金方案： Backpack 作为新兴交易所，近期正式推出了类似的法币⇄稳定币出入金功能，并号称实现了“0费率”的美元/USDC转换panewslab.com。根据官方公告，从2025年5月起，Backpack Exchange 用户可以通过电汇方式充值和提取美元，且美元与USDC的兑换不收取任何手续费panewslab.com。这与FTX当年提供的低成本稳定币出入金体验如出一辙，表明 Backpack 很可能在复用或重建一种高效的清算架构。

与FTX相比，Backpack 并未公开具体采用了何种技术/金融渠道来实现0手续费。但通过社区测试和代码线索，可以推测其架构与FTX思路相似：首先， Backpack 将美元法币与USDC稳定币视为等价资产开放存取，用户电汇美元到账后在平台得到USDC或美元余额，提币时可用USDC直接提走或兑换成美元汇出。其次， Backpack 可能通过与稳定币发行方Circle的合作，或通过场外流动性方，将用户的USDC和法币进行实时对冲清算。Circle提供的API允许合规企业账户方便地将USDC兑换为美元存入银行账户circle.com；Backpack 很可能利用了这一渠道，在后台完成USDC的兑换，再通过银行网络把美元汇给用户。虽然Backpack官方未明言使用Circle，但其USDC通道开放的举措本身就体现了Circle所倡导的稳定币跨境支付应用场景circle.com。因此，从设计上看，Backpack 的法币出入金体系是对FTX模式的一种延续和致敬，即充分利用稳定币作为清算中介，实现跨境汇款的低成本与高效率。

银行网络与 Equals Money： 更有意思的是，有社区用户实测 Backpack 的美元提现，发现汇款发起方显示为“Equals Money PLC”btcxiaolinzi.top。Equals Money 是英国一家持有FCA牌照的电子货币机构(EMI)，为企业提供银行转账和外汇服务btcxiaolinzi.top。测试者推断，Backpack 可能在 Equals Money 开立了企业账户，用于代替传统银行向用户汇出美元btcxiaolinzi.top。这一细节揭示了Backpack出金架构的实现路径：Backpack 很可能将待提现的USDC通过某种方式兑换成法币并存入其在Equals Money的账户，由后者完成跨境电汇至用户收款银行。由于Equals Money本质上连接着欧洲和国际支付网络，Backpack借助它可以避开美国传统银行的限制，为全球用户（包括无法直接与美国持牌银行打交道的用户）提供出金服务。这一点在FTX时代并未被广泛报道，但符合FTX/Alameda团队擅长搭建复杂金融通道的作风。由此推断， Backpack 确实在承袭FTX时期的清算理念：利用多层金融机构合作（如稳定币发行方、电子货币机构等），构筑高效的全球资金出入网络。在表面0手续费的背后，可能是由Backpack或其合作方（如做市商）承担了兑换成本，以吸引用户panewslab.com。目前这一体系已进入公开测试及运营阶段，随着更多支付方式（ACH、SEPA）的推出，Backpack正逐步完善其全球法币出入金矩阵panewslab.com。

Amber Group 的潜在支持角色

作为Backpack的重要战略投资方，Amber Group 在该体系中可能扮演多重支持角色。首先是资金层面： Amber参与了Backpack的A轮融资nftgators.com并获得股权，这意味着Amber对Backpack的发展具有直接利益。在FTX倒闭后，Amber选择投资由FTX前团队创立的新交易所，体现出其对这支团队能力和商业模式的认可。Amber本身是知名的加密市场做市和金融服务公司，管理着庞大的资产并具备深厚的流动性提供能力dailycoin.com。因此可以合理推测，Amber除了资本投入，还可能作为做市商为Backpack的交易提供充足的流动性支持，确保用户在Backpack上交易时有良好的市场深度和稳定的价格。这种隐性支持符合许多交易所背后有大做市商“站台”的行业惯例。尤其Backpack定位要提供低成本的稳定币兑换和跨链流动性，Amber在稳定币交易市场的经验和库存或可帮助其维持汇率稳定。

其次是技术与基础设施支持： Amber Group 多年来构建了自己的交易系统（包括托管、风控和前端应用，如之前面向零售的 WhaleFin 应用）。尽管目前未有公开信息表明Backpack直接复用了Amber的技术，但不排除Amber在底层架构上提供咨询或授权支持的可能。例如，Amber深耕多链资产管理和清算，其内部API或合规方案可能对Backpack搭建跨法币/加密的基础设施有所启发。双方如果有合作，极有可能保持低调以避免监管敏感。还有一种支持形式是隐性投资或子基金合作： Amber可能通过旗下基金或关联投资工具，持有Backpack相关业务的权益而不公开身份。然而截至目前，我们尚未发现明确证据证明Amber有这种“隐形”持股行为——Amber作为领投方之一出现于公开融资名单，说明其支持主要还是以正式股权投资和业务协作的方式进行coinspeaker.com。

第三是合规与网络资源： Amber在全球（尤其亚洲）拥有广泛的业务网络和合规资源。Backpack注册在阿联酋迪拜，并计划拓展美国、日本、欧洲等市场learn.backpack.exchangelearn.backpack.exchange。Amber总部位于亚洲（最初在香港，新加坡等地开展业务），对东亚和东南亚市场非常了解。Amber的联合创始人团队中有合规专家，曾帮助公司获取多地牌照。Backpack的联合创始人之一（Can Sun）本身是前FTX法务，这保证了内部合规经验，但Amber的外部资源也可能提供协助。例如，Amber在香港与监管机构打交道的经验，或许有助于Backpack寻求香港或东南亚牌照；Amber在银行业和支付领域的关系网络，也可能帮助Backpack连接银行通道（如引荐像Equals Money这样的机构）。虽然这方面多属于推测，但考虑到Amber投资后通常会积极赋能被投企业，Backpack有理由从Amber处获得合规咨询、市场拓展等方面的帮助。

总的来看，Amber Group 对 Backpack 的支持可能是**“润物细无声”**式的：既体现在台前的融资与做市合作，也体现在幕后的资源共享和经验输出。这种支持帮助Backpack在短时间内补齐了从交易技术到法币通道的诸多要素，使其有能力低成本快速上线类似FTX当年的核心功能（如稳定币快速出入金）。然而，由于双方都未公开详述合作细节，我们对Amber介入的深度仍缺乏直接证据，只能从结果倒推其可能性。

Circle、Equals Money 等第三方的关联

在Backpack、FTX与Amber的关系网络中，Circle和Equals Money等第三方机构扮演了关键“节点”，它们的出现为三者合作提供了基础设施支撑：

• Circle（USDC发行方）： Circle公司本身与FTX及Backpack都有千丝万缕的业务联系。FTX在世时是USDC重要的使用方，帮助USDC拓展了交易所场景；FTX垮台后，Backpack继续扛起“稳定币交易所”的大旗，大量采用USDC作为美元计价和清算工具panewslab.com。虽然我们没有公开材料直接指出Backpack已与Circle签署合作协议，但Backpack推出USD/USDC通道的举措实际是在推动USDC的使用，这与Circle致力于扩大USDC应用的战略不谋而合circle.com。Circle近年来打造跨境支付网络，与多家交易平台和金融机构合作提供法币-稳定币转换服务circle.com。因此，有理由相信Backpack在后台利用了Circle的流动性或API来实现用户提币时的USDC兑换和赎回。比如，当用户在Backpack提取美元，Backpack可能将等额USDC通过Circle赎回成美元，Circle则将该美元汇入Backpack的银行账户进行出金。这种模式其实正是Circle提供给企业客户的“稳定币托管清算”服务之一circle.com。换言之，Circle充当了Backpack法币出金链条中的关键一环，尽管普通用户感知不到它的存在。反过来看Amber，作为全球领先的做市商，也大量使用USDC进行交易和结算，Amber与Circle之间亦可能有直接合作关系（如参与Circle的伙伴计划等）。可以说，Circle及其USDC网络构成了FTX时代和Backpack时代连接传统金融和加密世界的桥梁：FTX和Backpack都踩在这座桥上快速发展，而Amber作为市场参与者，同样频繁走这座桥，为自身和伙伴创造价值。

• Equals Money（英国电子货币机构）： 前文提及，Equals Money PLC 在Backpack的出金过程中显现出来btcxiaolinzi.top。这家公司提供面向企业的银行即服务(BaaS)，允许像Backpack这样的客户通过其平台发起全球付款。Equals Money的出现意味着Backpack选择了一条灵活的合规路径来实现银行转账功能：相比直接开设传统银行账户，使用EMI能更快获取支付能力且准入门槛较低。FTX时期并未传出使用EMI的消息，因为当时FTX可直接依赖自己的银行关系网（例如通过位于美国、欧洲的自有账户）来处理汇款。然而在后FTX时代，许多加密公司（包括Amber）都在寻找新的银行替代方案，EMI因此受到青睐。具体联系： 根据实测，Backpack用户提现美元到Wise时，Wise收到的汇款来自Equals Moneybtcxiaolinzi.top。Wise作为跨境汇款平台，其收款机制对资金来源要求严格，但Equals Money持有FCA牌照，属于受监管机构，Wise接收来自Equals的资金被视为合规btcxiaolinzi.top。由此推断，Backpack通过Equals的企业账户，将兑换好的美元直接打给用户填入的收款账号（包括Wise提供的虚拟账号）。这表明Backpack和Equals Money之间有直接业务往来，Equals是Backpack法币出金服务链条上的合作伙伴。值得一提的是，Amber Group 此前在欧洲也曾探索电子货币牌照或合作渠道的可能，尽管无法确认Amber是否也使用Equals，但不排除Amber为Backpack牵线搭桥、推荐了Equals这类服务商的可能性。

综合来看， Circle和Equals Money分别代表了稳定币清算层和法币支付层的基础设施，与Backpack/FTX/Amber的联系体现为：Circle提供“链上到链下”的美元流动性支持，Equals提供“链下”最后一公里的银行网络接口。三者之所以都选择/使用这些渠道，是因为它们共享了对加密法币融合效率的追求。对于FTX和Backpack而言，这些渠道是业务方案的一部分；对于Amber而言，这些渠道是服务布局和投资的一环（Amber支持的交易所采用了这些方案，也间接符合Amber推动行业基础设施完善的利益）。

“交叉代币解锁”机制与链上协作迹象

“交叉代币解锁”是指Amber、Backpack（或其关联项目）之间通过持有彼此发行的代币，并利用协议合作、解锁计划或链上交易，实现协同利益的一种机制。鉴于Backpack尚处于发展初期，我们需要探讨哪些代币或资产可能涉及双方的互动：

• Backpack 平台代币的潜在发行： 根据Backpack社区的信息，平台计划通过交易积分空投方式向活跃用户发放代币资格btcxiaolinzi.top。这暗示Backpack未来会推出自己的平台代币。若真如此，早期投资方（包括Amber Group）很可能在代币经济中占有一席之地，例如通过投资协议获得一定比例的平台代币配额。在代币正式解锁流通时，Amber等机构投资者将持有相应份额。这就产生了潜在的“交叉代币”联系：Amber持有Backpack的代币，并可在协议允许的时间窗口解锁出售或利用。这种关系一方面绑定了Amber与Backpack的长期利益，另一方面也为Amber提供了在二级市场获利或支持Backpack代币市值的机会。如果Backpack设计代币经济时有锁仓解锁期，那么Amber的代币解锁时间和数量将受到协议约束。从链上数据看，未来可以观察这些大额代币解锁地址是否与Amber的钱包存在关联，以验证Amber对Backpack代币的处置行为。当前，由于Backpack代币尚未发行，我们只能提出这一推测性机制，等待后续链上数据来印证。

• Amber 持仓代币与Backpack业务的协同： 反之，Amber Group 或其子基金本身持有众多加密资产，是否有与Backpack生态互动的情况？例如，Amber可能持有某些与Backpack生态有关的项目代币（如Solana链上资产，Backpack钱包支持的特定NFT/代币等）。一个案例是Backpack团队曾在Solana上发行受欢迎的 xNFT系列“Mαd Lads”NFTlearn.backpack.exchange。Amber或其投资部门是否参与了该NFT的投资或持有尚无公开资料，但不排除Amber透过场内交易购买一些以支持Backpack生态热度。再者，如果Amber在其他项目上持有代币，而Backpack平台上线这些资产交易，Amber可能通过链上转账将流动性注入Backpack，从而实现双方受益——Amber获得流动性做市收益，Backpack获得交易量和资产丰富度。这可以视作一种链上协作。例如Amber持有大量某种代币X，在Backpack上新上线代币X交易对时，Amber账户向Backpack的热钱包充值代币X提供初始流动性。这样的行为在链上会呈现Amber已知地址向Backpack地址的大额转账。如果将来这些数据出现，将成为印证双方链上合作的直接证据。目前，此类链上轨迹还未有公开披露，我们只能假设其存在的可能性。

• FTX 遗留资产与Backpack 的关联： 另一个值得一提的链上观察维度是FTX/Alameda遗留资产的动向。FTX倒闭后，其相关钱包曾多次异动。Backpack团队作为前员工，有可能知晓某些地址或资产的情况。但由于破产清算在法庭监管下进行，直接将FTX遗留资产转给新项目不太现实。不过，不排除某些前Alameda投资的项目代币后来为Backpack团队所用。例如，Alameda早期投资的项目若代币解锁，Backpack团队个人可能持有部分并用于新平台的流动性。这种间接关联较难确认，但链上仍可寻找蛛丝马迹，比如监测前Alameda标识的钱包与Backpack相关地址之间的交易。如果有频繁互动，可能暗示Backpack获取了Alameda旧有资产的支持。至今未见显著证据，推测空间大于实证。

小结： “交叉代币解锁”机制目前更多停留在理论推演层面。我们确认了Backpack未来存在发行平台代币的规划btcxiaolinzi.top；也确认Amber作为投资方大概率会获得并持有该代币份额。但具体的锁仓解锁安排、双方是否会通过特殊协议（如做市激励、流动性挖矿等）进行合作，还有待官方披露或链上数据验证。链上分析工具可以在未来帮助捕捉Amber地址与Backpack生态代币/NFT的交互，从而揭示深层协作。如果发现Amber旗下地址在Backpack代币解锁后立即大量转入交易所，可能意味着Amber选择变现；反之，若锁定期内就有灰度交易发生，甚至可能存在双方提前约定的场外交换。这些都是值得持续监测的方向，但就目前信息来看，尚无定论。

\ 图：FTX、Amber Group 与 Backpack 三者关系示意图。红色/橙色线表示团队和股权延续（FTX前员工和投资延续到Backpack，Amber参与投资并可能提供流动性）；蓝色线表示Backpack法币出金所依赖的稳定币清算和银行通道（通过USDC及Equals Money实现）；灰色虚线表示FTX和Amber分别与USDC发行方Circle在业务上的联系。这些关系共同构成了Backpack在FTX余荫和Amber支持下快速搭建全球业务的基础。

关键证据与信息缺口

通过上述分析，我们梳理了已知的信息链条，并挖掘了若干可能的隐秘关联，同时也识别出需要进一步调查的信息空白：

• 明确的证据链： 我们找到了多项公开资料证明Backpack与FTX/Amber的联系：包括创始团队来自FTX/Alamedacoinspeaker.com、FTX Ventures 曾投资Backpack母公司nftgators.com、Amber Group 参与了Backpack的融资coinspeaker.com、多名FTX旧部现在Backpack任职coinspeaker.com等。这些形成了人员和资金延续的直接证据。另外，通过用户分享和代码库，我们确认Backpack法币出金使用了Equals Money通道btcxiaolinzi.top并提供了0手续费的USD/USDC转换panewslab.com——这证明了Backpack确实建立了类似FTX当年的稳定币清算架构，只是技术实现上借助了新的合作方(Equals Money)。这些证据支撑了本文的大部分推论基础。

• 合理的推测与佐证： 有些关联尚无官方公告证明，但基于行业惯例和现有线索推测合理，并有部分侧面佐证。例如，Amber 为Backpack提供做市流动性支援一事，没有直接新闻来源，但考虑到Amber投资交易所的动机和能力，此推断具有高概率可靠性。再如，Backpack疑似使用Circle的USDC清算服务，虽无明示，但从其业务模式和Circle的产品定位来看circle.com，这一幕后合作应该存在。同样地，Amber可能通过非公开方式向Backpack输出技术/合规支持，也是基于双方利益绑定关系而做出的推断。这些推测目前缺乏直接证据，只能算作可能性假设，需要后续留意更多细节披露。

• 信息缺口与待验证点： 首先，关于Backpack具体的清算路径，我们仍不清楚它如何在链上/链下转换巨额USDC为法币。虽然Equals Money出现在汇款端btcxiaolinzi.top，但在那之前USDC的结算或许涉及Circle或其他做市商（如Amber）——这部分交易发生在后台，需更多技术信息或链上监控来捕捉。其次，Amber与Backpack之间除股权外是否存在合同约定的业务合作（如Amber成为指定做市商、提供信贷支持等）目前尚未公开，属于信息真空。第三，Backpack未来的代币发行和分配细节未知，Amber等投资方将如何参与、解锁周期如何，将直接影响“交叉代币”协作的发生与否，需等官方白皮书出台。第四，更多链上证据的挖掘：由于没有公开的钱包标签，很难直接将某条链上交易指认属于Amber或Backpack。但如果未来Backpack发行代币或大型交易上线，链上必然会出现相关资金流，我们可以通过已知Amber常用地址（如果有披露）来交叉比对，看其是否与Backpack生态有交互。这是一块需要进一步研究的领域，可能借助区块链分析工具和交易图谱来补全证据。最后，还有监管和法律结构的信息：例如Backpack在不同司法管辖区的注册实体与银行账号详情，FTX遗产处理过程中是否对Backpack团队有约束，这些在公开资料中都尚无答案。

结论

综合全篇分析，Backpack、Amber Group 与已倒闭的FTX之间确实存在千丝万缕的延续和关联。Backpack可以被视作FTX精神和技术路线的“继承者”之一——由FTX旧将创建，在FTX垮台造成的市场空白中迅速崛起coinspeaker.com。Amber Group 则扮演了重要的扶持者角色，通过投资和可能的资源注入，参与了Backpack的重建过程coinspeaker.com。在具体业务层面，Backpack延续了FTX时代的创新，如高效的稳定币清算和全球化业务布局，但为了适应新的环境，它也采用了新的工具（如Equals Money的出金渠道）和更严格的合规措施（迪拜等地的牌照）coinspeaker.com。这一切背后，隐现着Amber等老牌加密公司的身影支持，以及Circle等基础设施提供商的支撑。

当然，隐秘关联并不意味着不正当行为，上述关系很多是基于正常的商业合作和延续，只是未明言于公众。例如，前FTX团队利用自己的经验和人脉创建新平台，本身无可厚非；Amber投资新交易所也是市场行为。从推理和现有证据看，并没有直接迹象显示三者存在违法的秘密勾连。然而，对于研究者和行业观察者而言，了解这些联系有助于洞察加密行业格局的演变：FTX的倒下并未让其积累的人才和思想消失，反而通过创业和投资，以新的形式（Backpack）继续影响市场；Amber等老牌玩家则通过战略投资，将自己的版图延伸到新兴平台，以保持竞争力。

未来展望： 随着Backpack进一步发展，我们预计会有更多信息浮出水面来验证或修正上述假设。例如，Backpack若推出平台代币，其投资人持仓和解锁情况将记录在链，从而揭示Amber等的参与细节；再比如，Backpack进入美国市场时需要公开其合作银行或支付伙伴，届时我们可能印证Circle等在其中的角色。如果出现新的合作公告或监管披露文件，也能帮助我们更清晰地绘制三者关系网。目前的信息不对称使我们只能尽力拼凑一幅关联图景，并针对关键环节提供已知证据支持。仍存在的一些信息缺口需要持续跟进调查。总之，Backpack、Amber Group 与FTX的故事折射出加密行业的新旧交替与传承。在FTX的余烬上，新火花正在由熟悉旧世界的人点燃，而这些火花能否照亮一个更加合规稳健的未来，还有待时间检验。 nftgators.comcoinspeaker.com

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Nostr: a quick introduction, attempt #1

Nostr doesn't have a material existence, it is not a website or an app. Nostr is just a description what kind of messages each computer can send to the others and vice-versa. It's a very simple thing, but the fact that such description exists allows different apps to connect to different servers automatically, without people having to talk behind the scenes or sign contracts or anything like that.

When you use a Nostr client that is what happens, your client will connect to a bunch of servers, called relays, and all these relays will speak the same "language" so your client will be able to publish notes to them all and also download notes from other people.

That's basically what Nostr is: this communication layer between the client you run on your phone or desktop computer and the relay that someone else is running on some server somewhere. There is no central authority dictating who can connect to whom or even anyone who knows for sure where each note is stored.

If you think about it, Nostr is very much like the internet itself: there are millions of websites out there, and basically anyone can run a new one, and there are websites that allow you to store and publish your stuff on them.

The added benefit of Nostr is that this unified "language" that all Nostr clients speak allow them to switch very easily and cleanly between relays. So if one relay decides to ban someone that person can switch to publishing to others relays and their audience will quickly follow them there. Likewise, it becomes much easier for relays to impose any restrictions they want on their users: no relay has to uphold a moral ground of "absolute free speech": each relay can decide to delete notes or ban users for no reason, or even only store notes from a preselected set of people and no one will be entitled to complain about that.

There are some bad things about this design: on Nostr there are no guarantees that relays will have the notes you want to read or that they will store the notes you're sending to them. We can't just assume all relays will have everything — much to the contrary, as Nostr grows more relays will exist and people will tend to publishing to a small set of all the relays, so depending on the decisions each client takes when publishing and when fetching notes, users may see a different set of replies to a note, for example, and be confused.

Another problem with the idea of publishing to multiple servers is that they may be run by all sorts of malicious people that may edit your notes. Since no one wants to see garbage published under their name, Nostr fixes that by requiring notes to have a cryptographic signature. This signature is attached to the note and verified by everybody at all times, which ensures the notes weren't tampered (if any part of the note is changed even by a single character that would cause the signature to become invalid and then the note would be dropped). The fix is perfect, except for the fact that it introduces the requirement that each user must now hold this 63-character code that starts with "nsec1", which they must not reveal to anyone. Although annoying, this requirement brings another benefit: that users can automatically have the same identity in many different contexts and even use their Nostr identity to login to non-Nostr websites easily without having to rely on any third-party.

To conclude: Nostr is like the internet (or the internet of some decades ago): a little chaotic, but very open. It is better than the internet because it is structured and actions can be automated, but, like in the internet itself, nothing is guaranteed to work at all times and users many have to do some manual work from time to time to fix things. Plus, there is the cryptographic key stuff, which is painful, but cool.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Menschen tun alles, egal wie absurd, \ um ihrer eigenen Seele nicht zu begegnen. \ Carl Gustav Jung

«Extremer Reichtum ist eine Gefahr für die Demokratie», sagen über die Hälfte der knapp 3000 befragten Millionäre aus G20-Staaten laut einer Umfrage der «Patriotic Millionaires». Ferner stellte dieser Zusammenschluss wohlhabender US-Amerikaner fest, dass 63 Prozent jener Millionäre den Einfluss von Superreichen auf US-Präsident Trump als Bedrohung für die globale Stabilität ansehen.

Diese Besorgnis haben 370 Millionäre und Milliardäre am Dienstag auch den in Davos beim WEF konzentrierten Privilegierten aus aller Welt übermittelt. In einem offenen Brief forderten sie die «gewählten Führer» auf, die Superreichen – also sie selbst – zu besteuern, um «die zersetzenden Auswirkungen des extremen Reichtums auf unsere Demokratien und die Gesellschaft zu bekämpfen». Zum Beispiel kontrolliere eine handvoll extrem reicher Menschen die Medien, beeinflusse die Rechtssysteme in unzulässiger Weise und verwandele Recht in Unrecht.

Schon 2019 beanstandete der bekannte Historiker und Schriftsteller Ruthger Bregman an einer WEF-Podiumsdiskussion die Steuervermeidung der Superreichen. Die elitäre Veranstaltung bezeichnete er als «Feuerwehr-Konferenz, bei der man nicht über Löschwasser sprechen darf.» Daraufhin erhielt Bregman keine Einladungen nach Davos mehr. Auf seine Aussagen machte der Schweizer Aktivist Alec Gagneux aufmerksam, der sich seit Jahrzehnten kritisch mit dem WEF befasst. Ihm wurde kürzlich der Zutritt zu einem dreiteiligen Kurs über das WEF an der Volkshochschule Region Brugg verwehrt.

Nun ist die Erkenntnis, dass mit Geld politischer Einfluss einhergeht, alles andere als neu. Und extremer Reichtum macht die Sache nicht wirklich besser. Trotzdem hat man über Initiativen wie Patriotic Millionaires oder Taxmenow bisher eher selten etwas gehört, obwohl es sie schon lange gibt. Auch scheint es kein Problem, wenn ein Herr Gates fast im Alleingang versucht, globale Gesundheits-, Klima-, Ernährungs- oder Bevölkerungspolitik zu betreiben – im Gegenteil. Im Jahr, als der Milliardär Donald Trump zum zweiten Mal ins Weiße Haus einzieht, ist das Echo in den Gesinnungsmedien dagegen enorm – und uniform, wer hätte das gedacht.

Der neue US-Präsident hat jedoch «Davos geerdet», wie Achgut es nannte. In seiner kurzen Rede beim Weltwirtschaftsforum verteidigte er seine Politik und stellte klar, er habe schlicht eine «Revolution des gesunden Menschenverstands» begonnen. Mit deutlichen Worten sprach er unter anderem von ersten Maßnahmen gegen den «Green New Scam», und von einem «Erlass, der jegliche staatliche Zensur beendet»:

«Unsere Regierung wird die Äußerungen unserer eigenen Bürger nicht mehr als Fehlinformation oder Desinformation bezeichnen, was die Lieblingswörter von Zensoren und derer sind, die den freien Austausch von Ideen und, offen gesagt, den Fortschritt verhindern wollen.»

Wie der «Trumpismus» letztlich einzuordnen ist, muss jeder für sich selbst entscheiden. Skepsis ist definitiv angebracht, denn «einer von uns» sind weder der Präsident noch seine auserwählten Teammitglieder. Ob sie irgendeinen Sumpf trockenlegen oder Staatsverbrechen aufdecken werden oder was aus WHO- und Klimaverträgen wird, bleibt abzuwarten.

Das WHO-Dekret fordert jedenfalls die Übertragung der Gelder auf «glaubwürdige Partner», die die Aktivitäten übernehmen könnten. Zufällig scheint mit «Impfguru» Bill Gates ein weiterer Harris-Unterstützer kürzlich das Lager gewechselt zu haben: Nach einem gemeinsamen Abendessen zeigte er sich «beeindruckt» von Trumps Interesse an der globalen Gesundheit.

Mit dem Projekt «Stargate» sind weitere dunkle Wolken am Erwartungshorizont der Fangemeinde aufgezogen. Trump hat dieses Joint Venture zwischen den Konzernen OpenAI, Oracle, und SoftBank als das «größte KI-Infrastrukturprojekt der Geschichte» angekündigt. Der Stein des Anstoßes: Oracle-CEO Larry Ellison, der auch Fan von KI-gestützter Echtzeit-Überwachung ist, sieht einen weiteren potenziellen Einsatz der künstlichen Intelligenz. Sie könne dazu dienen, Krebserkrankungen zu erkennen und individuelle mRNA-«Impfstoffe» zur Behandlung innerhalb von 48 Stunden zu entwickeln.

Warum bitte sollten sich diese superreichen «Eliten» ins eigene Fleisch schneiden und direkt entgegen ihren eigenen Interessen handeln? Weil sie Menschenfreunde, sogenannte Philanthropen sind? Oder vielleicht, weil sie ein schlechtes Gewissen haben und ihre Schuld kompensieren müssen? Deswegen jedenfalls brauchen «Linke» laut Robert Willacker, einem deutschen Politikberater mit brasilianischen Wurzeln, rechte Parteien – ein ebenso überraschender wie humorvoller Erklärungsansatz.

Wenn eine Krähe der anderen kein Auge aushackt, dann tut sie das sich selbst noch weniger an. Dass Millionäre ernsthaft ihre eigene Besteuerung fordern oder Machteliten ihren eigenen Einfluss zugunsten anderer einschränken würden, halte ich für sehr unwahrscheinlich. So etwas glaube ich erst, wenn zum Beispiel die Rüstungsindustrie sich um Friedensverhandlungen bemüht, die Pharmalobby sich gegen institutionalisierte Korruption einsetzt, Zentralbanken ihre CBDC-Pläne für Bitcoin opfern oder der ÖRR die Abschaffung der Rundfunkgebühren fordert.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Die grauenvollste Aussicht ist die der Technokratie – \ einer kontrollierenden Herrschaft, \ die durch verstümmelte und verstümmelnde Geister ausgeübt wird. \ Ernst Jünger

«Davos ist nicht mehr sexy», das Weltwirtschaftsforum (WEF) mache Davos kaputt, diese Aussagen eines Einheimischen las ich kürzlich in der Handelszeitung. Während sich einige vor Ort enorm an der «teuersten Gewerbeausstellung der Welt» bereicherten, würden die negativen Begleiterscheinungen wie Wohnungsnot und Niedergang der lokalen Wirtschaft immer deutlicher.

Nächsten Montag beginnt in dem Schweizer Bergdorf erneut ein Jahrestreffen dieses elitären Clubs der Konzerne, bei dem man mit hochrangigen Politikern aus aller Welt und ausgewählten Vertretern der Systemmedien zusammenhocken wird. Wie bereits in den vergangenen vier Jahren wird die Präsidentin der EU-Kommission, Ursula von der Leyen, in Begleitung von Klaus Schwab ihre Grundsatzansprache halten.

Der deutsche WEF-Gründer hatte bei dieser Gelegenheit immer höchst lobende Worte für seine Landsmännin: 2021 erklärte er sich «stolz, dass Europa wieder unter Ihrer Führung steht» und 2022 fand er es bemerkenswert, was sie erreicht habe angesichts des «erstaunlichen Wandels», den die Welt in den vorangegangenen zwei Jahren erlebt habe; es gebe nun einen «neuen europäischen Geist».

Von der Leyens Handeln während der sogenannten Corona-«Pandemie» lobte Schwab damals bereits ebenso, wie es diese Woche das Karlspreis-Direktorium tat, als man der Beschuldigten im Fall Pfizergate die diesjährige internationale Auszeichnung «für Verdienste um die europäische Einigung» verlieh. Außerdem habe sie die EU nicht nur gegen den «Aggressor Russland», sondern auch gegen die «innere Bedrohung durch Rassisten und Demagogen» sowie gegen den Klimawandel verteidigt.

Jene Herausforderungen durch «Krisen epochalen Ausmaßes» werden indes aus dem Umfeld des WEF nicht nur herbeigeredet – wie man alljährlich zur Zeit des Davoser Treffens im Global Risks Report nachlesen kann, der zusammen mit dem Versicherungskonzern Zurich erstellt wird. Seit die Globalisten 2020/21 in der Praxis gesehen haben, wie gut eine konzertierte und konsequente Angst-Kampagne funktionieren kann, geht es Schlag auf Schlag. Sie setzen alles daran, Schwabs goldenes Zeitfenster des «Great Reset» zu nutzen.

Ziel dieses «großen Umbruchs» ist die totale Kontrolle der Technokraten über die Menschen unter dem Deckmantel einer globalen Gesundheitsfürsorge. Wie aber könnte man so etwas erreichen? Ein Mittel dazu ist die «kreative Zerstörung». Weitere unabdingbare Werkzeug sind die Einbindung, ja Gleichschaltung der Medien und der Justiz.

Ein «Great Mental Reset» sei die Voraussetzung dafür, dass ein Großteil der Menschen Einschränkungen und Manipulationen wie durch die Corona-Maßnahmen praktisch kritik- und widerstandslos hinnehme, sagt der Mediziner und Molekulargenetiker Michael Nehls. Er meint damit eine regelrechte Umprogrammierung des Gehirns, wodurch nach und nach unsere Individualität und unser soziales Bewusstsein eliminiert und durch unreflektierten Konformismus ersetzt werden.

Der aktuelle Zustand unserer Gesellschaften ist auch für den Schweizer Rechtsanwalt Philipp Kruse alarmierend. Durch den Umgang mit der «Pandemie» sieht er die Grundlagen von Recht und Vernunft erschüttert, die Rechtsstaatlichkeit stehe auf dem Prüfstand. Seiner dringenden Mahnung an alle Bürger, die Prinzipien von Recht und Freiheit zu verteidigen, kann ich mich nur anschließen.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Ich begann, Social Media aufzubauen, \ um den Menschen eine Stimme zu geben. \ Mark Zuckerberg

Sind euch auch die Tränen gekommen, als ihr Mark Zuckerbergs Wendehals-Deklaration bezüglich der Meinungsfreiheit auf seinen Portalen gehört habt? Rührend, oder? Während er früher die offensichtliche Zensur leugnete und später die Regierung Biden dafür verantwortlich machte, will er nun angeblich «die Zensur auf unseren Plattformen drastisch reduzieren».

«Purer Opportunismus» ob des anstehenden Regierungswechsels wäre als Klassifizierung viel zu kurz gegriffen. Der jetzige Schachzug des Meta-Chefs ist genauso Teil einer kühl kalkulierten Business-Strategie, wie es die 180 Grad umgekehrte Praxis vorher war. Social Media sind ein höchst lukratives Geschäft. Hinzu kommt vielleicht noch ein bisschen verkorkstes Ego, weil derartig viel Einfluss und Geld sicher auch auf die Psyche schlagen. Verständlich.

«Es ist an der Zeit, zu unseren Wurzeln der freien Meinungsäußerung auf Facebook und Instagram zurückzukehren. Ich begann, Social Media aufzubauen, um den Menschen eine Stimme zu geben», sagte Zuckerberg.

Welche Wurzeln? Hat der Mann vergessen, dass er von der Überwachung, dem Ausspionieren und dem Ausverkauf sämtlicher Daten und digitaler Spuren sowie der Manipulation seiner «Kunden» lebt? Das ist knallharter Kommerz, nichts anderes. Um freie Meinungsäußerung geht es bei diesem Geschäft ganz sicher nicht, und das war auch noch nie so. Die Wurzeln von Facebook liegen in einem Projekt des US-Militärs mit dem Namen «LifeLog». Dessen Ziel war es, «ein digitales Protokoll vom Leben eines Menschen zu erstellen».

Der Richtungswechsel kommt allerdings nicht überraschend. Schon Anfang Dezember hatte Meta-Präsident Nick Clegg von «zu hoher Fehlerquote bei der Moderation» von Inhalten gesprochen. Bei der Gelegenheit erwähnte er auch, dass Mark sehr daran interessiert sei, eine aktive Rolle in den Debatten über eine amerikanische Führungsrolle im technologischen Bereich zu spielen.

Während Milliardärskollege und Big Tech-Konkurrent Elon Musk bereits seinen Posten in der kommenden Trump-Regierung in Aussicht hat, möchte Zuckerberg also nicht nur seine Haut retten – Trump hatte ihn einmal einen «Feind des Volkes» genannt und ihm lebenslange Haft angedroht –, sondern am liebsten auch mitspielen. KI-Berater ist wohl die gewünschte Funktion, wie man nach einem Treffen Trump-Zuckerberg hörte. An seine Verhaftung dachte vermutlich auch ein weiterer Multimilliardär mit eigener Social Media-Plattform, Pavel Durov, als er Zuckerberg jetzt kritisierte und gleichzeitig warnte.

Politik und Systemmedien drehen jedenfalls durch – was zu viel ist, ist zu viel. Etwas weniger Zensur und mehr Meinungsfreiheit würden die Freiheit der Bürger schwächen und seien potenziell vernichtend für die Menschenrechte. Zuckerberg setze mit dem neuen Kurs die Demokratie aufs Spiel, das sei eine «Einladung zum nächsten Völkermord», ernsthaft. Die Frage sei, ob sich die EU gegen Musk und Zuckerberg behaupten könne, Brüssel müsse jedenfalls hart durchgreifen.

Auch um die Faktenchecker macht man sich Sorgen. Für die deutsche Nachrichtenagentur dpa und die «Experten» von Correctiv, die (noch) Partner für Fact-Checking-Aktivitäten von Facebook sind, sei das ein «lukratives Geschäftsmodell». Aber möglicherweise werden die Inhalte ohne diese vermeintlichen Korrektoren ja sogar besser. Anders als Meta wollen jedoch Scholz, Faeser und die Tagesschau keine Fehler zugeben und zum Beispiel Correctiv-Falschaussagen einräumen.

Bei derlei dramatischen Befürchtungen wundert es nicht, dass der öffentliche Plausch auf X zwischen Elon Musk und AfD-Chefin Alice Weidel von 150 EU-Beamten überwacht wurde, falls es irgendwelche Rechtsverstöße geben sollte, die man ihnen ankreiden könnte. Auch der Deutsche Bundestag war wachsam. Gefunden haben dürften sie nichts. Das Ganze war eher eine Show, viel Wind wurde gemacht, aber letztlich gab es nichts als heiße Luft.

Das Anbiedern bei Donald Trump ist indes gerade in Mode. Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) tut das auch, denn sie fürchtet um Spenden von über einer Milliarde Dollar. Eventuell könnte ja Elon Musk auch hier künftig aushelfen und der Organisation sowie deren größtem privaten Förderer, Bill Gates, etwas unter die Arme greifen. Nachdem Musks KI-Projekt xAI kürzlich von BlackRock & Co. sechs Milliarden eingestrichen hat, geht da vielleicht etwas.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Was du bist hängt von drei Faktoren ab: \ Was du geerbt hast, \ was deine Umgebung aus dir machte \ und was du in freier Wahl \ aus deiner Umgebung und deinem Erbe gemacht hast. \ Aldous Huxley

Das brave Mitmachen und Mitlaufen in einem vorgegebenen, recht engen Rahmen ist gewiss nicht neu, hat aber gerade wieder mal Konjunktur. Dies kann man deutlich beobachten, eigentlich egal, in welchem gesellschaftlichen Bereich man sich umschaut. Individualität ist nur soweit angesagt, wie sie in ein bestimmtes Schema von «Diversität» passt, und Freiheit verkommt zur Worthülse – nicht erst durch ein gewisses Buch einer gewissen ehemaligen Regierungschefin.

Erklärungsansätze für solche Entwicklungen sind bekannt, und praktisch alle haben etwas mit Massenpsychologie zu tun. Der Herdentrieb, also der Trieb der Menschen, sich – zum Beispiel aus Unsicherheit oder Bequemlichkeit – lieber der Masse anzuschließen als selbstständig zu denken und zu handeln, ist einer der Erklärungsversuche. Andere drehen sich um Macht, Propaganda, Druck und Angst, also den gezielten Einsatz psychologischer Herrschaftsinstrumente.

Aber wollen die Menschen überhaupt Freiheit? Durch Gespräche im privaten Umfeld bin ich diesbezüglich in der letzten Zeit etwas skeptisch geworden. Um die Jahreswende philosophiert man ja gerne ein wenig über das Erlebte und über die Erwartungen für die Zukunft. Dabei hatte ich hin und wieder den Eindruck, die totalitären Anwandlungen unserer «Repräsentanten» kämen manchen Leuten gerade recht.

«Desinformation» ist so ein brisantes Thema. Davor müsse man die Menschen doch schützen, hörte ich. Jemand müsse doch zum Beispiel diese ganzen merkwürdigen Inhalte in den Social Media filtern – zur Ukraine, zum Klima, zu Gesundheitsthemen oder zur Migration. Viele wüssten ja gar nicht einzuschätzen, was richtig und was falsch ist, sie bräuchten eine Führung.

Freiheit bedingt Eigenverantwortung, ohne Zweifel. Eventuell ist es einigen tatsächlich zu anspruchsvoll, die Verantwortung für das eigene Tun und Lassen zu übernehmen. Oder die persönliche Freiheit wird nicht als ausreichend wertvolles Gut angesehen, um sich dafür anzustrengen. In dem Fall wäre die mangelnde Selbstbestimmung wohl das kleinere Übel. Allerdings fehlt dann gemäß Aldous Huxley ein Teil der Persönlichkeit. Letztlich ist natürlich alles eine Frage der Abwägung.

Sind viele Menschen möglicherweise schon so «eingenordet», dass freiheitliche Ambitionen gar nicht für eine ganze Gruppe, ein Kollektiv, verfolgt werden können? Solche Gedanken kamen mir auch, als ich mir kürzlich diverse Talks beim viertägigen Hacker-Kongress des Chaos Computer Clubs (38C3) anschaute. Ich war nicht nur überrascht, sondern reichlich erschreckt angesichts der in weiten Teilen mainstream-geformten Inhalte, mit denen ein dankbares Publikum beglückt wurde. Wo ich allgemein hellere Köpfe erwartet hatte, fand ich Konformismus und enthusiastisch untermauerte Narrative.

Gibt es vielleicht so etwas wie eine Herdenimmunität gegen Indoktrination? Ich denke, ja, zumindest eine gestärkte Widerstandsfähigkeit. Was wir brauchen, sind etwas gesunder Menschenverstand, offene Informationskanäle und der Mut, sich freier auch zwischen den Herden zu bewegen. Sie tun das bereits, aber sagen Sie es auch dieses Jahr ruhig weiter.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

bitcoind decentralization

It is better to have multiple curator teams, with different vetting processes and release schedules for bitcoind than a single one.

"More eyes on code", "Contribute to Core", "Everybody should audit the code".

All these points repeated again and again fell to Earth on the day it was discovered that Bitcoin Core developers merged a variable name change from "blacklist" to "blocklist" without even discussing or acknowledging the fact that that innocent pull request opened by a sybil account was a social attack.

After a big lot of people manifested their dissatisfaction with that event on Twitter and on GitHub, most Core developers simply ignored everybody's concerns or even personally attacked people who were complaining.

The event has shown that:

1) Bitcoin Core ultimately rests on the hands of a couple maintainers and they decide what goes on the GitHub repository[^pr-merged-very-quickly] and the binary releases that will be downloaded by thousands; 2) Bitcoin Core is susceptible to social attacks; 2) "More eyes on code" don't matter, as these extra eyes can be ignored and dismissed.

Solution: bitcoind decentralization

If usage was spread across 10 different bitcoind flavors, the network would be much more resistant to social attacks to a single team.

This has nothing to do with the question on if it is better to have multiple different Bitcoin node implementations or not, because here we're basically talking about the same software.

Multiple teams, each with their own release process, their own logo, some subtle changes, or perhaps no changes at all, just a different name for their bitcoind flavor, and that's it.

Every day or week or month or year, each flavor merges all changes from Bitcoin Core on their own fork. If there's anything suspicious or too leftist (or perhaps too rightist, in case there's a leftist bitcoind flavor), maybe they will spot it and not merge.

This way we keep the best of both worlds: all software development, bugfixes, improvements goes on Bitcoin Core, other flavors just copy. If there's some non-consensus change whose efficacy is debatable, one of the flavors will merge on their fork and test, and later others -- including Core -- can copy that too. Plus, we get resistant to attacks: in case there is an attack on Bitcoin Core, only 10% of the network would be compromised. the other flavors would be safe.

Run Bitcoin Knots

The first example of a bitcoind software that follows Bitcoin Core closely, adds some small changes, but has an independent vetting and release process is Bitcoin Knots, maintained by the incorruptible Luke DashJr.

Next time you decide to run bitcoind, run Bitcoin Knots instead and contribute to bitcoind decentralization!

---

See also:

• How to attack Bitcoin, Anthony Towns' take

[^pr-merged-very-quickly]: See PR 20624, for example, a very complicated change that could be introducing bugs or be a deliberate attack, merged in 3 days without time for discussion.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Heute möchte ich ein Gedicht mit euch teilen. Es handelt sich um eine Ballade des österreichischen Lyrikers Johann Gabriel Seidl aus dem 19. Jahrhundert. Mir sind diese Worte fest in Erinnerung, da meine Mutter sie perfekt rezitieren konnte, auch als die Kräfte schon langsam schwanden.

Dem originalen Titel «Die Uhr» habe ich für mich immer das Wort «innere» hinzugefügt. Denn der Zeitmesser – hier vermutliche eine Taschenuhr – symbolisiert zwar in dem Kontext das damalige Zeitempfinden und die Umbrüche durch die industrielle Revolution, sozusagen den Zeitgeist und das moderne Leben. Aber der Autor setzt sich philosophisch mit der Zeit auseinander und gibt seinem Werk auch eine klar spirituelle Dimension.

Das Ticken der Uhr und die Momente des Glücks und der Trauer stehen sinnbildlich für das unaufhaltsame Fortschreiten und die Vergänglichkeit des Lebens. Insofern könnte man bei der Uhr auch an eine Sonnenuhr denken. Der Rhythmus der Ereignisse passt uns vielleicht nicht immer in den Kram.

Was den Takt pocht, ist durchaus auch das Herz, unser «inneres Uhrwerk». Wenn dieses Meisterwerk einmal stillsteht, ist es unweigerlich um uns geschehen. Hoffentlich können wir dann dankbar sagen: «Ich habe mein Bestes gegeben.»

Ich trage, wo ich gehe, stets eine Uhr bei mir; \ Wieviel es geschlagen habe, genau seh ich an ihr. \ Es ist ein großer Meister, der künstlich ihr Werk gefügt, \ Wenngleich ihr Gang nicht immer dem törichten Wunsche genügt.

Ich wollte, sie wäre rascher gegangen an manchem Tag; \ Ich wollte, sie hätte manchmal verzögert den raschen Schlag. \ In meinen Leiden und Freuden, in Sturm und in der Ruh, \ Was immer geschah im Leben, sie pochte den Takt dazu.

Sie schlug am Sarge des Vaters, sie schlug an des Freundes Bahr, \ Sie schlug am Morgen der Liebe, sie schlug am Traualtar. \ Sie schlug an der Wiege des Kindes, sie schlägt, will's Gott, noch oft, \ Wenn bessere Tage kommen, wie meine Seele es hofft.

Und ward sie auch einmal träger, und drohte zu stocken ihr Lauf, \ So zog der Meister immer großmütig sie wieder auf. \ Doch stände sie einmal stille, dann wär's um sie geschehn, \ Kein andrer, als der sie fügte, bringt die Zerstörte zum Gehn.

Dann müßt ich zum Meister wandern, der wohnt am Ende wohl weit, \ Wohl draußen, jenseits der Erde, wohl dort in der Ewigkeit! \ Dann gäb ich sie ihm zurücke mit dankbar kindlichem Flehn: \ Sieh, Herr, ich hab nichts verdorben, sie blieb von selber stehn.

Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804-1875)

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Drivechain

Understanding Drivechain requires a shift from the paradigm most bitcoiners are used to. It is not about "trustlessness" or "mathematical certainty", but game theory and incentives. (Well, Bitcoin in general is also that, but people prefer to ignore it and focus on some illusion of trustlessness provided by mathematics.)

Here we will describe the basic mechanism (simple) and incentives (complex) of "hashrate escrow" and how it enables a 2-way peg between the mainchain (Bitcoin) and various sidechains.

The full concept of "Drivechain" also involves blind merged mining (i.e., the sidechains mine themselves by publishing their block hashes to the mainchain without the miners having to run the sidechain software), but this is much easier to understand and can be accomplished either by the BIP-301 mechanism or by the Spacechains mechanism.

How does hashrate escrow work from the point of view of Bitcoin?

A new address type is created. Anything that goes in that is locked and can only be spent if all miners agree on the Withdrawal Transaction (WT^) that will spend it for 6 months. There is one of these special addresses for each sidechain.

To gather miners' agreement bitcoind keeps track of the "score" of all transactions that could possibly spend from that address. On every block mined, for each sidechain, the miner can use a portion of their coinbase to either increase the score of one WT^ by 1 while decreasing the score of all others by 1; or they can decrease the score of all WT^s by 1; or they can do nothing.

Once a transaction has gotten a score high enough, it is published and funds are effectively transferred from the sidechain to the withdrawing users.

If a timeout of 6 months passes and the score doesn't meet the threshold, that WT^ is discarded.

What does the above procedure mean?

It means that people can transfer coins from the mainchain to a sidechain by depositing to the special address. Then they can withdraw from the sidechain by making a special withdraw transaction in the sidechain.

The special transaction somehow freezes funds in the sidechain while a transaction that aggregates all withdrawals into a single mainchain WT^, which is then submitted to the mainchain miners so they can start voting on it and finally after some months it is published.

Now the crucial part: the validity of the WT^ is not verified by the Bitcoin mainchain rules, i.e., if Bob has requested a withdraw from the sidechain to his mainchain address, but someone publishes a wrong WT^ that instead takes Bob's funds and sends them to Alice's main address there is no way the mainchain will know that. What determines the "validity" of the WT^ is the miner vote score and only that. It is the job of miners to vote correctly -- and for that they may want to run the sidechain node in SPV mode so they can attest for the existence of a reference to the WT^ transaction in the sidechain blockchain (which then ensures it is ok) or do these checks by some other means.

What? 6 months to get my money back?

Yes. But no, in practice anyone who wants their money back will be able to use an atomic swap, submarine swap or other similar service to transfer funds from the sidechain to the mainchain and vice-versa. The long delayed withdraw costs would be incurred by few liquidity providers that would gain some small profit from it.

Why bother with this at all?

Drivechains solve many different problems:

It enables experimentation and new use cases for Bitcoin

Issued assets, fully private transactions, stateful blockchain contracts, turing-completeness, decentralized games, some "DeFi" aspects, prediction markets, futarchy, decentralized and yet meaningful human-readable names, big blocks with a ton of normal transactions on them, a chain optimized only for Lighting-style networks to be built on top of it.

These are some ideas that may have merit to them, but were never actually tried because they couldn't be tried with real Bitcoin or inferfacing with real bitcoins. They were either relegated to the shitcoin territory or to custodial solutions like Liquid or RSK that may have failed to gain network effect because of that.

It solves conflicts and infighting

Some people want fully private transactions in a UTXO model, others want "accounts" they can tie to their name and build reputation on top; some people want simple multisig solutions, others want complex code that reads a ton of variables; some people want to put all the transactions on a global chain in batches every 10 minutes, others want off-chain instant transactions backed by funds previously locked in channels; some want to spend, others want to just hold; some want to use blockchain technology to solve all the problems in the world, others just want to solve money.

With Drivechain-based sidechains all these groups can be happy simultaneously and don't fight. Meanwhile they will all be using the same money and contributing to each other's ecosystem even unwillingly, it's also easy and free for them to change their group affiliation later, which reduces cognitive dissonance.

It solves "scaling"

Multiple chains like the ones described above would certainly do a lot to accomodate many more transactions that the current Bitcoin chain can. One could have special Lightning Network chains, but even just big block chains or big-block-mimblewimble chains or whatnot could probably do a good job. Or even something less cool like 200 independent chains just like Bitcoin is today, no extra features (and you can call it "sharding"), just that would already multiply the current total capacity by 200.

Use your imagination.

It solves the blockchain security budget issue

The calculation is simple: you imagine what security budget is reasonable for each block in a world without block subsidy and divide that for the amount of bytes you can fit in a single block: that is the price to be paid in satoshis per byte. In reasonable estimative, the price necessary for every Bitcoin transaction goes to very large amounts, such that not only any day-to-day transaction has insanely prohibitive costs, but also Lightning channel opens and closes are impracticable.

So without a solution like Drivechain you'll be left with only one alternative: pushing Bitcoin usage to trusted services like Liquid and RSK or custodial Lightning wallets. With Drivechain, though, there could be thousands of transactions happening in sidechains and being all aggregated into a sidechain block that would then pay a very large fee to be published (via blind merged mining) to the mainchain. Bitcoin security guaranteed.

It keeps Bitcoin decentralized

Once we have sidechains to accomodate the normal transactions, the mainchain functionality can be reduced to be only a "hub" for the sidechains' comings and goings, and then the maximum block size for the mainchain can be reduced to, say, 100kb, which would make running a full node very very easy.

Can miners steal?

Yes. If a group of coordinated miners are able to secure the majority of the hashpower and keep their coordination for 6 months, they can publish a WT^ that takes the money from the sidechains and pays to themselves.

Will miners steal?

No, because the incentives are such that they won't.

Although it may look at first that stealing is an obvious strategy for miners as it is free money, there are many costs involved:

1. The cost of ceasing blind-merged mining returns -- as stealing will kill a sidechain, all the fees from it that miners would be expected to earn for the next years are gone;
2. The cost of Bitcoin price going down: If a steal is successful that will mean Drivechains are not safe, therefore Bitcoin is less useful, and miner credibility will also be hurt, which are likely to cause the Bitcoin price to go down, which in turn may kill the miners' businesses and savings;
3. The cost of coordination -- assuming miners are just normal businesses, they just want to do their work and get paid, but stealing from a Drivechain will require coordination with other miners to conduct an immoral act in a way that has many pitfalls and is likely to be broken over the months;
4. The cost of miners leaving your mining pool: when we talked about "miners" above we were actually talking about mining pools operators, so they must also consider the risk of miners migrating from their mining pool to others as they begin the process of stealing;
5. The cost of community goodwill -- when participating in a steal operation, a miner will suffer a ton of backlash from the community. Even if the attempt fails at the end, the fact that it was attempted will contribute to growing concerns over exaggerated miners power over the Bitcoin ecosystem, which may end up causing the community to agree on a hard-fork to change the mining algorithm in the future, or to do something to increase participation of more entities in the mining process (such as development or cheapment of new ASICs), which have a chance of decreasing the profits of current miners.

Another point to take in consideration is that one may be inclined to think a newly-created sidechain or a sidechain with relatively low usage may be more easily stolen from, since the blind merged mining returns from it (point 1 above) are going to be small -- but the fact is also that a sidechain with small usage will also have less money to be stolen from, and since the other costs besides 1 are less elastic at the end it will not be worth stealing from these too.

All of the above consideration are valid only if miners are stealing from good sidechains. If there is a sidechain that is doing things wrong, scamming people, not being used at all, or is full of bugs, for example, that will be perceived as a bad sidechain, and then miners can and will safely steal from it and kill it, which will be perceived as a good thing by everybody.

What do we do if miners steal?

Paul Sztorc has suggested in the past that a user-activated soft-fork could prevent miners from stealing, i.e., most Bitcoin users and nodes issue a rule similar to this one to invalidate the inclusion of a faulty WT^ and thus cause any miner that includes it in a block to be relegated to their own Bitcoin fork that other nodes won't accept.

This suggestion has made people think Drivechain is a sidechain solution backed by user-actived soft-forks for safety, which is very far from the truth. Drivechains must not and will not rely on this kind of soft-fork, although they are possible, as the coordination costs are too high and no one should ever expect these things to happen.

If even with all the incentives against them (see above) miners do still steal from a good sidechain that will mean the failure of the Drivechain experiment. It will very likely also mean the failure of the Bitcoin experiment too, as it will be proven that miners can coordinate to act maliciously over a prolonged period of time regardless of economic and social incentives, meaning they are probably in it just for attacking Bitcoin, backed by nation-states or something else, and therefore no Bitcoin transaction in the mainchain is to be expected to be safe ever again.

Why use this and not a full-blown trustless and open sidechain technology?

Because it is impossible.

If you ever heard someone saying "just use a sidechain", "do this in a sidechain" or anything like that, be aware that these people are either talking about "federated" sidechains (i.e., funds are kept in custody by a group of entities) or they are talking about Drivechain, or they are disillusioned and think it is possible to do sidechains in any other manner.

No, I mean a trustless 2-way peg with correctness of the withdrawals verified by the Bitcoin protocol!

That is not possible unless Bitcoin verifies all transactions that happen in all the sidechains, which would be akin to drastically increasing the blocksize and expanding the Bitcoin rules in tons of ways, i.e., a terrible idea that no one wants.

What about the Blockstream sidechains whitepaper?

Yes, that was a way to do it. The Drivechain hashrate escrow is a conceptually simpler way to achieve the same thing with improved incentives, less junk in the chain, more safety.

Isn't the hashrate escrow a very complex soft-fork?

Yes, but it is much simpler than SegWit. And, unlike SegWit, it doesn't force anything on users, i.e., it isn't a mandatory blocksize increase.

Why should we expect miners to care enough to participate in the voting mechanism?

Because it's in their own self-interest to do it, and it costs very little. Today over half of the miners mine RSK. It's not blind merged mining, it's a very convoluted process that requires them to run a RSK full node. For the Drivechain sidechains, an SPV node would be enough, or maybe just getting data from a block explorer API, so much much simpler.

What if I still don't like Drivechain even after reading this?

That is the entire point! You don't have to like it or use it as long as you're fine with other people using it. The hashrate escrow special addresses will not impact you at all, validation cost is minimal, and you get the benefit of people who want to use Drivechain migrating to their own sidechains and freeing up space for you in the mainchain. See also the point above about infighting.

See also

• Podcast episode with Ruben Somsen and Aaron van Wirdum explaining Drivechain
• Alternatives to Drivechain
• Drivechain comparison with Ethereum

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

A response to Achim Warner's "Drivechain brings politics to miners" article

I mean this article: https://achimwarner.medium.com/thoughts-on-drivechain-i-miners-can-do-things-about-which-we-will-argue-whether-it-is-actually-a5c3c022dbd2

There are basically two claims here:

1. Some corporate interests might want to secure sidechains for themselves and thus they will bribe miners to have these activated

First, it's hard to imagine why they would want such a thing. Are they going to make a proprietary KYC chain only for their users? They could do that in a corporate way, or with a federation, like Facebook tried to do, and that would provide more value to their users than a cumbersome pseudo-decentralized system in which they don't even have powers to issue currency. Also, if Facebook couldn't get away with their federated shitcoin because the government was mad, what says the government won't be mad with a sidechain? And finally, why would Facebook want to give custody of their proprietary closed-garden Bitcoin-backed ecosystem coins to a random, open and always-changing set of miners?

But even if they do succeed in making their sidechain and it is very popular such that it pays miners fees and people love it. Well, then why not? Let them have it. It's not going to hurt anyone more than a proprietary shitcoin would anyway. If Facebook really wants a closed ecosystem backed by Bitcoin that probably means we are winning big.

2. Miners will be required to vote on the validity of debatable things

He cites the example of a PoS sidechain, an assassination market, a sidechain full of nazists, a sidechain deemed illegal by the US government and so on.

There is a simple solution to all of this: just kill these sidechains. Either miners can take the money from these to themselves, or they can just refuse to engage and freeze the coins there forever, or they can even give the coins to governments, if they want. It is an entirely good thing that evil sidechains or sidechains that use horrible technology that doesn't even let us know who owns each coin get annihilated. And it was the responsibility of people who put money in there to evaluate beforehand and know that PoS is not deterministic, for example.

About government censoring and wanting to steal money, or criminals using sidechains, I think the argument is very weak because these same things can happen today and may even be happening already: i.e., governments ordering mining pools to not mine such and such transactions from such and such people, or forcing them to reorg to steal money from criminals and whatnot. All this is expected to happen in normal Bitcoin. But both in normal Bitcoin and in Drivechain decentralization fixes that problem by making it so governments cannot catch all miners required to control the chain like that -- and in fact fixing that problem is the only reason we need decentralization.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Falls du beim Lesen des Titels dieses Newsletters unwillkürlich an positive Neuigkeiten aus dem globalen polit-medialen Irrenhaus oder gar aus dem wirtschaftlichen Umfeld gedacht hast, darf ich dich beglückwünschen. Diese Assoziation ist sehr löblich, denn sie weist dich als unverbesserlichen Optimisten aus. Leider muss ich dich diesbezüglich aber enttäuschen. Es geht hier um ein anderes Thema, allerdings sehr wohl ein positives, wie ich finde.

Heute ist ein ganz besonderer Tag: die Wintersonnenwende. Genau gesagt hat heute morgen um 10:20 Uhr Mitteleuropäischer Zeit (MEZ) auf der Nordhalbkugel unseres Planeten der astronomische Winter begonnen. Was daran so außergewöhnlich ist? Der kürzeste Tag des Jahres war gestern, seit heute werden die Tage bereits wieder länger! Wir werden also jetzt jeden Tag ein wenig mehr Licht haben.

Für mich ist dieses Ereignis immer wieder etwas kurios: Es beginnt der Winter, aber die Tage werden länger. Das erscheint mir zunächst wie ein Widerspruch, denn meine spontanen Assoziationen zum Winter sind doch eher Kälte und Dunkelheit, relativ zumindest. Umso erfreulicher ist der emotionale Effekt, wenn dann langsam die Erkenntnis durchsickert: Ab jetzt wird es schon wieder heller!

Natürlich ist es kalt im Winter, mancherorts mehr als anderswo. Vielleicht jedoch nicht mehr lange, wenn man den Klimahysterikern glauben wollte. Mindestens letztes Jahr hat Väterchen Frost allerdings gleich zu Beginn seiner Saison – und passenderweise während des globalen Überhitzungsgipfels in Dubai – nochmal richtig mit der Faust auf den Tisch gehauen. Schnee- und Eischaos sind ja eigentlich in der Agenda bereits nicht mehr vorgesehen. Deswegen war man in Deutschland vermutlich in vorauseilendem Gehorsam schon nicht mehr darauf vorbereitet und wurde glatt lahmgelegt.

Aber ich schweife ab. Die Aussicht auf nach und nach mehr Licht und damit auch Wärme stimmt mich froh. Den Zusammenhang zwischen beidem merkt man in Andalusien sehr deutlich. Hier, wo die Häuser im Winter arg auskühlen, geht man zum Aufwärmen raus auf die Straße oder auf den Balkon. Die Sonne hat auch im Winter eine erfreuliche Kraft. Und da ist jede Minute Gold wert.

Außerdem ist mir vor Jahren so richtig klar geworden, warum mir das südliche Klima so sehr gefällt. Das liegt nämlich nicht nur an der Sonne als solcher, oder der Wärme – das liegt vor allem am Licht. Ohne Licht keine Farben, das ist der ebenso simple wie gewaltige Unterschied zwischen einem deprimierenden matschgraubraunen Winter und einem fröhlichen bunten. Ein großes Stück Lebensqualität.

Mir gefällt aber auch die Symbolik dieses Tages: Licht aus der Dunkelheit, ein Wendepunkt, ein Neuanfang, neue Möglichkeiten, Übergang zu neuer Aktivität. In der winterlichen Stille keimt bereits neue Lebendigkeit. Und zwar in einem Zyklus, das wird immer wieder so geschehen. Ich nehme das gern als ein Stück Motivation, es macht mir Hoffnung und gibt mir Energie.

Übrigens ist parallel am heutigen Tag auf der südlichen Halbkugel Sommeranfang. Genau im entgegengesetzten Rhythmus, sich ergänzend, wie Yin und Yang. Das alles liegt an der Schrägstellung der Erdachse, die ist nämlich um 23,4º zur Umlaufbahn um die Sonne geneigt. Wir erinnern uns, gell?

Insofern bleibt eindeutig festzuhalten, dass “schräg sein” ein willkommener, wichtiger und positiver Wert ist. Mit anderen Worten: auch ungewöhnlich, eigenartig, untypisch, wunderlich, kauzig, … ja sogar irre, spinnert oder gar “quer” ist in Ordnung. Das schließt das Denken mit ein.

In diesem Sinne wünsche ich euch allen urige Weihnachtstage!

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Dieser Beitrag ist letztes Jahr in meiner Denkbar erschienen.

@ 7460b7fd:4fc4e74b

Backpack 平台 USDC 出金渠道深度研究报告

背景简介

Backpack 是近年来崛起的加密交易与钱包平台，由前 FTX/Alameda 团队成员创立coindesk.comfinsmes.com。2024 年初 Backpack 曾宣布与 Banxa 合作提供法币出入金服务，支持130多个国家用户使用信用卡/银行渠道买卖加密资产learn.backpack.exchange。2025 年 5 月，Backpack 官方更是推出“0 手续费”的 USD⇄USDC 出金通道，允许用户通过电汇将 USDC 1:1 无损兑换为美元并提取到银行账户lianpr.combinance.com。本报告将详细分析 Backpack 当前的出金方式及其合作渠道、低成本运营的原因、Backpack 与支付机构 Equals Money 的关系，并探讨如果搭建类似的加密金融服务，应如何与 USDC 发行方 Circle 建立合作。

Backpack 的 USDC 出金方式与合作渠道

USD⇄USDC 零手续费通道 – Backpack Exchange 已面向全球用户开放美元与 USDC 间的法币转换，并永久免除任何手续费23btc.com。用户完成 KYC 验证后，可以通过 电汇（Wire Transfer） 将美元直接充值到 Backpack 平台获取等值 USDC，或将持有的 USDC 提现兑换为美元电汇至本人银行账户binance.com。据官方介绍，该通道具备“三大核心优势”：一是零摩擦转换，实现美元与 USDC 间的无缝1:1兑换；二是即时到账，宣称电汇入金/提现可秒级处理；三是全球覆盖，后续将支持 ACH、SEPA 等本地清算网络23btc.com。

合作金融机构 – 为实现合规的法币收付，Backpack 并非自行持有银行牌照，而是借助第三方持牌机构的通道来托管用户的法币资金assets.ctfassets.net。有迹象表明 Backpack 使用了英国的电子货币机构 Equals Money 作为其出入金通道之一：在其开源代码中，Backpack 将“EqualsMoney”集成为一个区块链/支付网络类型github.com。这意味着 Backpack 平台可以通过 Equals Money 提供的多币种账户和支付网络，来代收用户的银行转账并代付提现资金。除了英国渠道，Backpack 集团在全球多地布有实体，以拓展支付能力。例如，用户实测的电汇显示汇款方为 “Trek Labs Australia Pty Ltd”（Backpack 在澳大利亚的子公司）medium.com。这家公司作为汇款主体将等值美元汇出到用户银行账户。除澳洲外，Backpack 背后的 Trek Labs 集团还在迪拜设有 Trek Labs Ltd FZE，在立陶宛设有 Trek Labs UAB，在美国设有 Trek Labs, Inc.medium.com。这种全球子公司布局使 Backpack 能借助各地区的合作银行或支付机构完成跨境资金结算，覆盖包括欧美、亚太在内的广阔用户群。

出金流程 – 用户在 Backpack 平台发起 USDC 提现时，平台会通过上述合作渠道将用户的 USDC 兑换为等额法币，并由托管金融机构从其法币池中汇出资金。比如，当用户提取 1,000 USDC 到香港银行账户，Backpack 将该 USDC 转换为 1,000 美元，由合作机构通过 SWIFT 电汇发送。用户可在 Backpack 后台实时查询电汇状态medium.com。实际测试显示，从提现到款项到账香港银行大约耗时36小时（约1.5个工作日）medium.com。汇款时收款行信息需要用户自行提供并添加到平台，如收款行名称、地址、SWIFT代码等medium.com。Backpack 平台本身要求用户的银行账户姓名与平台注册姓名一致，以确保合规。assets.ctfassets.netassets.ctfassets.net

低成本出金的架构与原因

Backpack 能提供零手续费的稳定币出金服务，得益于其结算架构设计和合规路径上的优势，使其运营成本得以控制在极低水平：

• Stablecoin 即时清算：Backpack 利用 USDC 稳定币作为桥梁，实现用户资金在链上和银行账户之间的快速清算。由于 USDC 与美元1:1锚定，兑换过程中没有汇率损耗或价差成本lianpr.com。平台内美元和 USDC 的余额转换也是按面值对等，不收取点差，这实现了资金的“零摩擦”兑换23btc.com。相比传统银行汇款需要经过多级代理和 Forex 转换，Stablecoin 的使用大幅降低了兑换费用和时间延迟。

• 第三方牌照通道：Backpack 选择通过持牌支付机构（如 Equals Money 等）来承载法币收付功能，而非自行作为汇款人展开业务。这种策略绕开了平台直接获取银行牌照或支付牌照的高成本投入，转而借用第三方机构的现有牌照和账户网络。例如，Equals Money作为英国受监管的电子货币机构，拥有多币种账户和全球汇款能力。Backpack 通过 API 接入该机构后，相当于获取了一套现成的银行基础设施，可以以较低费用发送SWIFT、电汇等github.com。第三方机构通常按照交易量收取较小的服务费，Backpack 可以在当前发展阶段予以补贴，从而对用户“免手续费”。这种“牌照即服务”的模式使 Backpack 将合规成本外包，自己专注于用户和交易环节。

• 合规及监管路径：Backpack 利用多个辖区的子公司布局，根据各地监管环境选择最优的出金路径。例如，在欧洲可能通过立陶宛子公司对接 EU 区的支付网络，在亚洲通过澳大利亚子公司汇出 SWIFT。medium.com这种灵活性使他们能规避单一地区监管限制，选择成本最低、效率最高的清算通道完成提现。此外，多实体运营也有助于分散风险，符合各地反洗钱要求，为零手续费策略提供合规保障。

• 资金结算与收益：尽管对用户宣称0手续费，Backpack 可能通过其他方式覆盖成本。例如，用户的法币资金在汇出前可能短暂存放于合作机构的池中，这些资金量若较大，可产生利息收益，用于弥补转账费用coindesk.com。另外，Backpack 平台的主要收入来自交易手续费和利息产品等，高频交易活动带来的收入能够补贴出金通道的成本，从整体上实现盈亏平衡。

值得注意的是，“0 手续费”指的是 Backpack 平台本身不向用户收取出金手续费，但并不意味着整个过程完全免费。银行端的固定费用仍可能存在。例如，有用户反馈，通过 Backpack 将 USDC 提现到香港 ZA Bank 账户时，Backpack 未收取费用，但 ZA Bank 会收取一次性 20 美元的入账费用twitter.com。类似地，美国银行接收国际电汇通常也会有每笔 15\~30 美元不等的手续费。这些费用属于收款行或中间行收费，并非 Backpack 或其合作方收取。即便如此，相比传统OTC中介或其他交易所的出金方案，Backpack 的整体成本依然极低——没有额外的汇兑损耗，仅需承担银行常规入账费，大额提现尤为划算。一位资深用户将 Backpack 提现称为“目前最优、最简单的合规出金路径”，反馈资金1天左右即到账，流程非常顺畅x.com。可见，Backpack 通过精心搭建的结算架构，实现了高效低成本的出金服务，在合规前提下大大降低了用户将数字资产变现的门槛。

Backpack 与 Equals Money 的关系考察

Equals Money 背景 – Equals Money 是英国上市金融科技公司 Equals Group PLC 旗下的支付业务品牌，提供多币种电子账户、国际汇款和企业外汇兑换等服务。该公司前身为 FairFX，持有英国金融行为监管局（FCA）颁发的电子货币机构牌照，主营为企业客户提供全球支付解决方案fxcintel.com。简单来说，Equals Money 扮演的是受监管的“非银行支付平台”角色，可为合作伙伴提供银行账户托管和跨境支付通道。对于缺乏自有牌照的加密公司而言，与这类机构合作能快速获得法币收付能力。

业务合作关系 – 目前公开信息并未有 Backpack 与 Equals Money 签署官方战略合作的公告，但从技术集成和业务逻辑上看，两者存在密切的业务往来。Backpack 在代码库中增添了对 “EqualsMoney” 的支持选项github.com表明其系统已经对接了 Equals 提供的支付 API。在用户充值/提现时，Backpack 系统可以将指令通过该接口发送给 Equals，由后者执行实际的银行转账操作（如从对应的用户托管账户划款）。换言之，Equals Money可能充当了 Backpack 用户法币资金的托管方和结算代理。还有用户实测提到，从 Backpack 提现美元时，资金是由 “Trek Labs Australia Pty Ltd” 汇出medium.com。结合上下文，推测 Trek Labs Australia 这家 Backpack 子公司可能在 Equals Money或类似机构开设了运营账户，用于统一汇出用户提现款项。这个细节侧面印证了 Backpack 利用第三方支付平台进行法币结算：汇款主体虽然名义上是 Backpack 关联公司，但实际的支付通道和银行接口由 Equals Money 等持牌机构提供支持。

人员和投资交集 – 在股权和团队层面，暂未发现 Backpack 与 Equals Money 有直接的交叉。Backpack 的融资由加密领域的风投基金主导（Placeholder、Hashed、Amber Group 等）finsmes.com，并无公开提及来自 Equals 集团的投资。管理团队方面，Backpack 由前加密交易所从业者主导，而 Equals Money 属于传统金融支付行业，公司高管以金融背景为主，目前没有明显的人事重合记录。此外，Equals Group PLC 在2024年底宣布将被嵌入式金融公司 Railsr 收购thisweekinfintech.com（该交易有待监管批准），这属于其自身战略调整，与 Backpack 无直接关联。总体来看，Backpack 与 Equals Money 更可能是一种商业合作关系：Backpack 作为客户接入 Equals Money 的支付服务，以使用其许可和网络；双方在产权和团队上保持独立。此类合作在金融科技领域较为常见，属于优势互补：加密平台获取法币通道，支付机构拓展客户和资金流量。

合作的意义 – 通过与 Equals Money 等机构合作，Backpack 实现了快速合规地打通法币出入口，在竞争激烈的交易所市场上形成差异化优势。用户能够享受到类似银行级别的出金体验（直接电汇到账）且几乎零成本x.com，这极大增强了 Backpack 平台的吸引力和资金留存率。对 Equals Money 而言，服务 Backpack 这样高增长的加密客户，也为其带来了可观的跨境支付业务量和创新合作机遇。在严格遵守反洗钱和监管要求的前提下，这种加密与传统金融的合作模式，展现了融合创新的前景。

搭建类似业务与 Circle 合作的要点

假如希望搭建与 Backpack 类似的稳定币出入金架构，与 USDC 发行方 Circle 建立合作是关键一步。Circle 提供针对企业的账户服务和 API接口，使合作方能够方便地在应用中集成 USDC 与法币的转换和支付功能circle.comcircle.com。以下是与 Circle 合作时需要关注的主要要点：

• 主体资格
  需要有合法注册的公司实体，并处于 Circle 支持的地区（如北美、欧洲等）。Circle 暂不向个人用户开放其直接铸币/赎回服务，仅面向机构客户。
• 业务规模要求
  主要针对大体量、批量使用 USDC 的公司，例如交易所、托管机构、数字钱包平台或银行等。若业务量较小，Circle 会建议通过第三方交易所获取 USDC。

• KYC 合规审查
  对申请企业进行严格的背景尽调，包括高管和受益人身份验证、注册信息、经营范围、反洗钱和制裁风险评估等。需提供公司注册证书、人员身份证明、合规方案等，审核时间通常为数天至数周。

• 账户功能
  审核通过后可开立 Circle 账户，支持将银行资金充值并自动兑换为 USDC，或将 USDC 赎回为法币并电汇到指定银行账户；涵盖链上转账、ACH 和电汇等多种渠道。

• API 接入
  提供完整的 REST API 和 SDK，支持自动化发起电汇兑换、铸造/销毁 USDC、提现等操作，合作方只需专注前端体验，后端支付和结算由 Circle 处理。

• 费用结构
  对符合条件的合作伙伴铸造/赎回 USDC 不收手续费；法币转账需承担银行或中间行手续费。支持免费 ACH 通道，国际电汇按银行标准收费。

• 合规责任
  Circle 对企业客户履行 KYC/AML 义务，但合作方若面向终端用户提供服务，也需自行做用户审核与交易监控，并在高金额转账时传输用户身份信息（Travel Rule）。

合作流程：实际操作中，搭建团队需要先在 Circle 官网提交企业账户申请，提供相关资料并通过合规审核circle.com。拿到账户后，可登录 Circle 提供的业务后台或通过 API Sandbox 进行测试集成，熟悉 USDC 钱包、法币钱包的操作。一旦准备就绪，即可将功能推向生产环境，为用户开通 USDC 与法币的双向兑换。值得注意的是，企业应根据所服务用户区域，获取必要的当地监管许可或豁免。例如在美国需要遵守联邦和州级货币转移许可证要求，在欧盟则可能利用立陶宛等国的数字资产服务牌照。这与 Backpack 多地布局子公司的做法类似，都是为了符合法规开展业务。

成功案例：除了 Backpack，业内已有多家知名机构通过与 Circle 合作开展稳定币支付业务。例如 Binance 与 Circle 达成战略合作，使其平台更广泛支持 USDCfortune.com；支付公司 Stripe 也集成了 Circle API，在其产品中新增了稳定币收付功能stables.money。这些案例表明，通过 Circle 提供的基础设施，加密公司可以较为迅速地搭建起合规、高效的法币⇄稳定币出入金体系，触达全球80多个国家的用户circle.com。因此，对于希望复制 Backpack 模式的新创团队而言，提早布局与 Circle 等发行方的合作，并搭建完善的合规架构，将是取得监管认可和市场竞争优势的关键。

结论

Backpack 平台通过巧妙融合稳定币技术和传统金融渠道，打造出了低成本、高效率的USD⇄USDC出金方案。在无需用户承担手续费的情况下，依托 Equals Money 等支付伙伴和自身全球子公司网络，实现了合规的美元电汇快速到账23btc.commedium.com。这一模式的成功在于对结算架构的创新设计和对监管资源的充分利用：既发挥了 USDC 稳定币实时、低成本的优势，又借力持牌金融机构解决了法币合规问题。这为行业树立了一个范例。

对于有意搭建类似业务的团队，与 Circle 建立合作无疑是重要的一环。Circle 提供了成熟的 USDC 基础设施，只要申请企业拥有足够的资质和规模，通过严格的 KYC 审核后即可获得稳定币铸造和法币结算的能力circle.comcircle.com。在此基础上，新业务还需结合自身情况选择适当的支付合作方和注册管辖地，搭建自己的合规“护城河”。只有技术与合规并重，才能如同 Backpack 一样，在保证低成本出金的同时，赢得监管许可和用户信赖。

参考资料：

• Backpack 官方公告及新闻稿binance.comlianpr.com23btc.com

• Backpack 用户协议与代码仓库assets.ctfassets.netgithub.com

• 媒体报道（CoinDesk 等）coindesk.comlearn.backpack.exchange

• 第三方分析与用户实测反馈medium.comtwitter.com

• Circle 官方文档与博客circle.comcircle.comcircle.com

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

A violência é uma forma de comunicação

A violência é uma forma de comunicação: um serial killer, um pai que bate no filho, uma briga de torcidas, uma sessão de tortura, uma guerra, um assassinato passional, uma briga de bar. Em todos esses se pode enxergar uma mensagem que está tentando ser transmitida, que não foi compreendida pelo outro lado, que não pôde ser expressa, e, quando o transmissor da mensagem sentiu que não podia ser totalmente compreendido em palavras, usou essa outra forma de comunicação.

Quando uma ofensa em um bar descamba para uma briga, por exemplo, o que há é claramente uma tentativa de uma ofensa maior ainda pelo lado do que iniciou a primeira, a briga não teria acontecido se ele a tivesse conseguido expressar em palavras tão claras que toda a audiência de bêbados compreendesse, o que estaria além dos limites da linguagem, naquele caso, o soco com o mão direita foi mais eficiente. Poderia ser também a defesa argumentativa: "eu não sou um covarde como você está dizendo" -- mas o bar não acreditaria nessa frase solta, a comunicação não teria obtido o sucesso desejado.

A explicação para o fato da redução da violência à medida em que houve progresso da civilização está na melhora da eficiência da comunicação humana: a escrita, o refinamento da expressão lingüística, o aumento do alcance da palavra falada com rádio, a televisão e a internet.

Se essa eficiência diminuir, porque não há mais acordo quanto ao significado das palavras, porque as pessoas não estão nem aí para se o que escrevem é bom ou não, ou porque são incapazes de compreender qualquer coisa, deve aumentar proporcionalmente a violência.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Das Betriebsklima ist das einzige Klima, \ das du selbst bestimmen kannst. \ Anonym

Eine Strategie zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel hat das deutsche Bundeskabinett diese Woche beschlossen. Da «Wetterextreme wie die immer häufiger auftretenden Hitzewellen und Starkregenereignisse» oft desaströse Auswirkungen auf Mensch und Umwelt hätten, werde eine Anpassung an die Folgen des Klimawandels immer wichtiger. «Klimaanpassungsstrategie» nennt die Regierung das.

Für die «Vorsorge vor Klimafolgen» habe man nun erstmals klare Ziele und messbare Kennzahlen festgelegt. So sei der Erfolg überprüfbar, und das solle zu einer schnelleren Bewältigung der Folgen führen. Dass sich hinter dem Begriff Klimafolgen nicht Folgen des Klimas, sondern wohl «Folgen der globalen Erwärmung» verbergen, erklärt den Interessierten die Wikipedia. Dabei ist das mit der Erwärmung ja bekanntermaßen so eine Sache.

Die Zunahme schwerer Unwetterereignisse habe gezeigt, so das Ministerium, wie wichtig eine frühzeitige und effektive Warnung der Bevölkerung sei. Daher solle es eine deutliche Anhebung der Nutzerzahlen der sogenannten Nina-Warn-App geben.

Die ARD spurt wie gewohnt und setzt die Botschaft zielsicher um. Der Artikel beginnt folgendermaßen:

«Die Flut im Ahrtal war ein Schock für das ganze Land. Um künftig besser gegen Extremwetter gewappnet zu sein, hat die Bundesregierung eine neue Strategie zur Klimaanpassung beschlossen. Die Warn-App Nina spielt eine zentrale Rolle. Der Bund will die Menschen in Deutschland besser vor Extremwetter-Ereignissen warnen und dafür die Reichweite der Warn-App Nina deutlich erhöhen.»

Die Kommunen würden bei ihren «Klimaanpassungsmaßnahmen» vom Zentrum KlimaAnpassung unterstützt, schreibt das Umweltministerium. Mit dessen Aufbau wurden das Deutsche Institut für Urbanistik gGmbH, welches sich stark für Smart City-Projekte engagiert, und die Adelphi Consult GmbH beauftragt.

Adelphi beschreibt sich selbst als «Europas führender Think-and-Do-Tank und eine unabhängige Beratung für Klima, Umwelt und Entwicklung». Sie seien «global vernetzte Strateg*innen und weltverbessernde Berater*innen» und als «Vorreiter der sozial-ökologischen Transformation» sei man mit dem Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitspreis ausgezeichnet worden, welcher sich an den Zielen der Agenda 2030 orientiere.

Über die Warn-App mit dem niedlichen Namen Nina, die möglichst jeder auf seinem Smartphone installieren soll, informiert das Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK). Gewarnt wird nicht nur vor Extrem-Wetterereignissen, sondern zum Beispiel auch vor Waffengewalt und Angriffen, Strom- und anderen Versorgungsausfällen oder Krankheitserregern. Wenn man die Kategorie Gefahreninformation wählt, erhält man eine Dosis von ungefähr zwei Benachrichtigungen pro Woche.

Beim BBK erfahren wir auch einiges über die empfohlenen Systemeinstellungen für Nina. Der Benutzer möge zum Beispiel den Zugriff auf die Standortdaten «immer zulassen», und zwar mit aktivierter Funktion «genauen Standort verwenden». Die Datennutzung solle unbeschränkt sein, auch im Hintergrund. Außerdem sei die uneingeschränkte Akkunutzung zu aktivieren, der Energiesparmodus auszuschalten und das Stoppen der App-Aktivität bei Nichtnutzung zu unterbinden.

Dass man so dramatische Ereignisse wie damals im Ahrtal auch anders bewerten kann als Regierungen und Systemmedien, hat meine Kollegin Wiltrud Schwetje anhand der Tragödie im spanischen Valencia gezeigt. Das Stichwort «Agenda 2030» taucht dabei in einem Kontext auf, der wenig mit Nachhaltigkeitspreisen zu tun hat.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Die Ungerechtigkeit ist uns nur in dem Falle angenehm,\ dass wir Vorteile aus ihr ziehen;\ in jedem andern hegt man den Wunsch,\ dass der Unschuldige in Schutz genommen werde.\ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Politiker beteuern jederzeit, nur das Beste für die Bevölkerung zu wollen – nicht von ihr. Auch die zahlreichen unsäglichen «Corona-Maßnahmen» waren angeblich zu unserem Schutz notwendig, vor allem wegen der «besonders vulnerablen Personen». Daher mussten alle möglichen Restriktionen zwangsweise und unter Umgehung der Parlamente verordnet werden.

Inzwischen hat sich immer deutlicher herausgestellt, dass viele jener «Schutzmaßnahmen» den gegenteiligen Effekt hatten, sie haben den Menschen und den Gesellschaften enorm geschadet. Nicht nur haben die experimentellen Geninjektionen – wie erwartet – massive Nebenwirkungen, sondern Maskentragen schadet der Psyche und der Entwicklung (nicht nur unserer Kinder) und «Lockdowns und Zensur haben Menschen getötet».

Eine der wichtigsten Waffen unserer «Beschützer» ist die Spaltung der Gesellschaft. Die tiefen Gräben, die Politiker, Lobbyisten und Leitmedien praktisch weltweit ausgehoben haben, funktionieren leider nahezu in Perfektion. Von ihren persönlichen Erfahrungen als Kritikerin der Maßnahmen berichtete kürzlich eine Schweizerin im Interview mit Transition News. Sie sei schwer enttäuscht und verspüre bis heute eine Hemmschwelle und ein seltsames Unwohlsein im Umgang mit «Geimpften».

Menschen, die aufrichtig andere schützen wollten, werden von einer eindeutig politischen Justiz verfolgt, verhaftet und angeklagt. Dazu zählen viele Ärzte, darunter Heinrich Habig, Bianca Witzschel und Walter Weber. Über den aktuell laufenden Prozess gegen Dr. Weber hat Transition News mehrfach berichtet (z.B. hier und hier). Auch der Selbstschutz durch Verweigerung der Zwangs-Covid-«Impfung» bewahrt nicht vor dem Knast, wie Bundeswehrsoldaten wie Alexander Bittner erfahren mussten.

Die eigentlich Kriminellen schützen sich derweil erfolgreich selber, nämlich vor der Verantwortung. Die «Impf»-Kampagne war «das größte Verbrechen gegen die Menschheit». Trotzdem stellt man sich in den USA gerade die Frage, ob der scheidende Präsident Joe Biden nach seinem Sohn Hunter möglicherweise auch Anthony Fauci begnadigen wird – in diesem Fall sogar präventiv. Gibt es überhaupt noch einen Rest Glaubwürdigkeit, den Biden verspielen könnte?

Der Gedanke, den ehemaligen wissenschaftlichen Chefberater des US-Präsidenten und Direktor des National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) vorsorglich mit einem Schutzschild zu versehen, dürfte mit der vergangenen Präsidentschaftswahl zu tun haben. Gleich mehrere Personalentscheidungen des designierten Präsidenten Donald Trump lassen Leute wie Fauci erneut in den Fokus rücken.

Das Buch «The Real Anthony Fauci» des nominierten US-Gesundheitsministers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. erschien 2021 und dreht sich um die Machenschaften der Pharma-Lobby in der öffentlichen Gesundheit. Das Vorwort zur rumänischen Ausgabe des Buches schrieb übrigens Călin Georgescu, der Überraschungssieger der ersten Wahlrunde der aktuellen Präsidentschaftswahlen in Rumänien. Vielleicht erklärt diese Verbindung einen Teil der Panik im Wertewesten.

In Rumänien selber gab es gerade einen Paukenschlag: Das bisherige Ergebnis wurde heute durch das Verfassungsgericht annuliert und die für Sonntag angesetzte Stichwahl kurzfristig abgesagt – wegen angeblicher «aggressiver russischer Einmischung». Thomas Oysmüller merkt dazu an, damit sei jetzt in der EU das Tabu gebrochen, Wahlen zu verbieten, bevor sie etwas ändern können.

Unsere Empörung angesichts der Historie von Maßnahmen, die die Falschen beschützen und für die meisten von Nachteil sind, müsste enorm sein. Die Frage ist, was wir damit machen. Wir sollten nach vorne schauen und unsere Energie clever einsetzen. Abgesehen von der Umgehung von jeglichem «Schutz vor Desinformation und Hassrede» (sprich: Zensur) wird es unsere wichtigste Aufgabe sein, Gräben zu überwinden.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

On HTLCs and arbiters

This is another attempt and conveying the same information that should be in Lightning and its fake HTLCs. It assumes you know everything about Lightning and will just highlight a point. This is also valid for PTLCs.

The protocol says HTLCs are trimmed (i.e., not actually added to the commitment transaction) when the cost of redeeming them in fees would be greater than their actual value.

Although this is often dismissed as a non-important fact (often people will say "it's trusted for small payments, no big deal"), but I think it is indeed very important for 3 reasons:

1. Lightning absolutely relies on HTLCs actually existing because the payment proof requires them. The entire security of each payment comes from the fact that the payer has a preimage that comes from the payee. Without that, the state of the payment becomes an unsolvable mystery. The inexistence of an HTLC breaks the atomicity between the payment going through and the payer receiving a proof.
2. Bitcoin fees are expected to grow with time (arguably the reason Lightning exists in the first place).
3. MPP makes payment sizes shrink, therefore more and more of Lightning payments are to be trimmed. As I write this, the mempool is clear and still payments smaller than about 5000sat are being trimmed. Two weeks ago the limit was at 18000sat, which is already below the minimum most MPP splitting algorithms will allow.

Therefore I think it is important that we come up with a different way of ensuring payment proofs are being passed around in the case HTLCs are trimmed.

Channel closures

Worse than not having HTLCs that can be redeemed is the fact that in the current Lightning implementations channels will be closed by the peer once an HTLC timeout is reached, either to fulfill an HTLC for which that peer has a preimage or to redeem back that expired HTLCs the other party hasn't fulfilled.

For the surprise of everybody, nodes will do this even when the HTLCs in question were trimmed and therefore cannot be redeemed at all. It's very important that nodes stop doing that, because it makes no economic sense at all.

However, that is not so simple, because once you decide you're not going to close the channel, what is the next step? Do you wait until the other peer tries to fulfill an expired HTLC and tell them you won't agree and that you must cancel that instead? That could work sometimes if they're honest (and they have no incentive to not be, in this case). What if they say they tried to fulfill it before but you were offline? Now you're confused, you don't know if you were offline or they were offline, or if they are trying to trick you. Then unsolvable issues start to emerge.

Arbiters

One simple idea is to use trusted arbiters for all trimmed HTLC issues.

This idea solves both the protocol issue of getting the preimage to the payer once it is released by the payee -- and what to do with the channels once a trimmed HTLC expires.

A simple design would be to have each node hardcode a set of trusted other nodes that can serve as arbiters. Once a channel is opened between two nodes they choose one node from both lists to serve as their mutual arbiter for that channel.

Then whenever one node tries to fulfill an HTLC but the other peer is unresponsive, they can send the preimage to the arbiter instead. The arbiter will then try to contact the unresponsive peer. If it succeeds, then done, the HTLC was fulfilled offchain. If it fails then it can keep trying until the HTLC timeout. And then if the other node comes back later they can eat the loss. The arbiter will ensure they know they are the ones who must eat the loss in this case. If they don't agree to eat the loss, the first peer may then close the channel and blacklist the other peer. If the other peer believes that both the first peer and the arbiter are dishonest they can remove that arbiter from their list of trusted arbiters.

The same happens in the opposite case: if a peer doesn't get a preimage they can notify the arbiter they hadn't received anything. The arbiter may try to ask the other peer for the preimage and, if that fails, settle the dispute for the side of that first peer, which can proceed to fail the HTLC is has with someone else on that route.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Problemas com Russell Kirk

A idéia central da “política da prudência[^1]” de Russell Kirk me parece muito correta, embora tenha sido melhor formulada pior no seu enorme livro do que em uma pequena frase do joanadarquista Lucas Souza: “o conservadorismo é importante, porque tem muita gente com idéia errada por aí, e nós podemos não saber distingüi-las”.

Porém, há alguns problemas que precisam ser esclarecidos, ou melhor explicados, e que me impedem de enxergar os seus argumentos como refutação final do meu já tão humilde (embora feroz) anarquismo. São eles:

I Percebo alguma coisa errada, não sei bem onde, entre a afirmação de que toda ideologia é ruim, ou “todas as ideologias causam confusão[^2]”, e a proposta conservadora de “conservar o mundo da ordem que herdamos, ainda que em estado imperfeito, de nossos ancestrais[^3]”. Ora, sem precisar cair em exemplos como o do partido conservador inglês -- que conservava a política inglesa sempre onde estava, e se alternava no governo com o partido trabalhista, que a levava cada vez mais um pouco à esquerda --, está embutida nessa frase, talvez, a idéia, que ao mesmo tempo é clara e ferrenhamente combatida pelos próprios conservadores, de que a história é da humanidade é uma história de progresso linear rumo a uma situação melhor.

Querer conservar o mundo da ordem que herdamos significa conservar também os vários erros que podem ter sido cometidos pelos nossos ancestrais mais recentes, e conservá-los mesmo assim, acusando toda e qualquer tentativa de propôr soluções a esses erros de ideologia? Ou será que conservar o mundo da ordem é escolher um período determinado que seja tido como o auge da história humana e tentar restaurá-lo em nosso próprio tempo? Não seria isto ideologia?

Ou, ainda, será que conservar o mundo da ordem é selecionar, entre vários períodos do passado, alguns pedaços que o conservador considerar ótimos em cada sociedade, fazer dali uma mistura de sociedade ideal baseada no passado e então tentar implementá-la? Quem saberia dizer quais são as partes certas?

II Sobre a questão do que mantém a sociedade civil coesa, Russell Kirk, opondo-a à posição libertária de que o nexo da sociedade é o autointeresse, declara que a posição conservadora é a de que “a sociedade é uma comunidade de almas, que une os mortos, os vivos e os ainda não nascidos, e que se harmoniza por aquilo que Aristóteles chamou de amizade e os cristãos chamam de caridade ou amor ao próximo”.

Esta é uma posição muito correta, mas me parece estar em contradição com a defesa do Estado que ele faz na mesma página e na seguinte. O que me parece errado é que a sociedade não pode ser, ao mesmo tempo, uma “comunidade baseada no amor ao próximo” e uma comunidade que “requer não somente que as paixões dos indivíduos sejam subjugadas, mas que, mesmo no povo e no corpo social, bem como nos indivíduos, as inclinações dos homens, amiúde, devam ser frustradas, a vontade controlada e as paixões subjugadas” e, pior, que “isso somente pode ser feito por um poder exterior”.

Disto aí podemos tirar que, da mesma forma que Kirk define a posição libertária como sendo a de que o autointeresse é que mantém a sociedade civil coesa, a posição conservadora seria então a de que essa coesão vem apenas do Estado, e não de qualquer ligação entre vivos e mortos, ou do amor ao próximo. Já que, sem o Estado, diz, ele, citando Thomas Hobbes, a condição do homem é “solitária, pobre, sórdida, embrutecida e curta”?

[^1]: este é o nome do livro e também um outro nome que ele dá para o próprio conservadorismo (p.99). [^2]: p. 101 [^3]: p. 102

@ a95c6243:d345522c

Konsum ist Therapie.
Wolfgang Joop

Umweltbewusstes Verhalten und verantwortungsvoller Konsum zeugen durchaus von einer wünschenswerten Einstellung. Ob man deswegen allerdings einen grünen statt eines schwarzen Freitags braucht, darf getrost bezweifelt werden – zumal es sich um manipulatorische Konzepte handelt. Wie in der politischen Landschaft sind auch hier die Etiketten irgendwas zwischen nichtssagend und trügerisch.

Heute ist also wieder mal «Black Friday», falls Sie es noch nicht mitbekommen haben sollten. Eigentlich haben wir ja eher schon eine ganze «Black Week», der dann oft auch noch ein «Cyber Monday» folgt. Die Werbebranche wird nicht müde, immer neue Anlässe zu erfinden oder zu importieren, um uns zum Konsumieren zu bewegen. Und sie ist damit sehr erfolgreich.

Warum fallen wir auf derartige Werbetricks herein und kaufen im Zweifelsfall Dinge oder Mengen, die wir sicher nicht brauchen? Pure Psychologie, würde ich sagen. Rabattschilder triggern etwas in uns, was den Verstand in Stand-by versetzt. Zusätzlich beeinflussen uns alle möglichen emotionalen Reize und animieren uns zum Schnäppchenkauf.

Gedankenlosigkeit und Maßlosigkeit können besonders bei der Ernährung zu ernsten Problemen führen. Erst kürzlich hat mir ein Bekannter nach einer USA-Reise erzählt, dass es dort offenbar nicht unüblich ist, schon zum ausgiebigen Frühstück in einem Restaurant wenigstens einen Liter Cola zu trinken. Gerne auch mehr, um das Gratis-Nachfüllen des Bechers auszunutzen.

Kritik am schwarzen Freitag und dem unnötigen Konsum kommt oft von Umweltschützern. Neben Ressourcenverschwendung, hohem Energieverbrauch und wachsenden Müllbergen durch eine zunehmende Wegwerfmentalität kommt dabei in der Regel auch die «Klimakrise» auf den Tisch.

Die EU-Kommission lancierte 2015 den Begriff «Green Friday» im Kontext der überarbeiteten Rechtsvorschriften zur Kennzeichnung der Energieeffizienz von Elektrogeräten. Sie nutzte die Gelegenheit kurz vor dem damaligen schwarzen Freitag und vor der UN-Klimakonferenz COP21, bei der das Pariser Abkommen unterzeichnet werden sollte.

Heute wird ein grüner Freitag oft im Zusammenhang mit der Forderung nach «nachhaltigem Konsum» benutzt. Derweil ist die Europäische Union schon weit in ihr Geschäftsmodell des «Green New Deal» verstrickt. In ihrer Propaganda zum Klimawandel verspricht sie tatsächlich «Unterstützung der Menschen und Regionen, die von immer häufigeren Extremwetter-Ereignissen betroffen sind». Was wohl die Menschen in der Region um Valencia dazu sagen?

Ganz im Sinne des Great Reset propagierten die Vereinten Nationen seit Ende 2020 eine «grüne Erholung von Covid-19, um den Klimawandel zu verlangsamen». Der UN-Umweltbericht sah in dem Jahr einen Schwerpunkt auf dem Verbraucherverhalten. Änderungen des Konsumverhaltens des Einzelnen könnten dazu beitragen, den Klimaschutz zu stärken, hieß es dort.

Der Begriff «Schwarzer Freitag» wurde in den USA nicht erstmals für Einkäufe nach Thanksgiving verwendet – wie oft angenommen –, sondern für eine Finanzkrise. Jedoch nicht für den Börsencrash von 1929, sondern bereits für den Zusammenbruch des US-Goldmarktes im September 1869. Seitdem mussten die Menschen weltweit so einige schwarze Tage erleben.

Kürzlich sind die britischen Aufsichtsbehörden weiter von ihrer Zurückhaltung nach dem letzten großen Finanzcrash von 2008 abgerückt. Sie haben Regeln für den Bankensektor gelockert, womit sie «verantwortungsvolle Risikobereitschaft» unterstützen wollen. Man würde sicher zu schwarz sehen, wenn man hier ein grünes Wunder befürchten würde.

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Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ ecda4328:1278f072

A detailed breakdown of the recent debate around Bitcoin Core’s proposed policy change to OP_RETURN — and why it’s less dramatic than some fear.

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TL;DR

Removing the 80-byte OP_RETURN limit is a mempool policy cleanup, not a consensus rule change. It reduces UTXO bloat, improves relay consistency, and doesn’t affect Bitcoin’s monetary properties or block size limits.

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What Is OP_RETURN?

OP_RETURN is a Bitcoin script opcode introduced in 2014 (Bitcoin Core 0.9.0) to allow small amounts of arbitrary data to be embedded in transactions. Crucially, it creates provably unspendable outputs, preventing UTXO set pollution.

A default policy limit of 80 bytes was added to discourage non-payment data usage while still allowing basic use cases (e.g., hashes, commitments).

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Why Was OP_RETURN Added? (Bitcoin Core 0.9, March 2014)

When OP_RETURN was introduced, it wasn’t to promote on-chain data — it was a harm-reduction tool:

“This change is not an endorsement of storing data in the blockchain... [It] creates a provably-prunable output, to avoid data storage schemes... storing arbitrary data... bloating Bitcoin’s UTXO database.” — Bitcoin Core 0.9 Release Notes

Before that, users embedded data in fake outputs, bloating the UTXO set and degrading node performance.

OP_RETURN made those outputs prunable and cleaner, though it imposed an 80-byte policy cap — not a consensus rule.

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What’s Actually Changing?

Bitcoin Core PR #32359 proposes:

• Removing the 80-byte policy limit on OP_RETURN data
• Removing the -datacarrier and -datacarriersize configuration options
• Default behavior will now relay (and mine) larger OP_RETURNs

⚠️ This is not a consensus change. Blocks stay limited to \~4MB. No rules about block validity are altered.

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Why It’s Not a Big Deal

• ✅ Consensus stays the same: No risk of chain splits
• ✅ Block size stays capped (\~4MB)
• ✅ You can still run Bitcoin Knots if you prefer stricter policies
• ✅ Transaction size limit (\~100KB) remains for DoS protection

Bottom line: This is a configuration tweak to improve consistency between nodes and miners.

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Common Uses of OP_RETURN

• Timestamping
• Cross-chain anchoring (e.g., merge-mined sidechains)
• Asset issuance (e.g., Omni/Tether)
• Notarization and commitments
• Metadata for protocols like Citrea

📝 In contrast, Ordinal inscriptions use witness data; Stamps use fake outputs — not OP_RETURN.

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Arguments For Removing the Limit

1. The limit is ineffective — easily bypassed via witness/multisig/fake outputs
2. Cleaner data paths — prevents UTXO bloat from “Stamp”-style tricks
3. Reflects mining reality — miners already include these transactions
4. Improves relay/mempool consistency
5. Avoids centralization risks — removes miner advantages from custom policies
6. Enables metaprotocols — safely embed structured metadata without abusing Bitcoin’s core design

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Arguments Against Removing the Limit

1. Risk of encouraging non-monetary use
2. Fears of "spam" or NFT-like inscriptions
3. Concerns over governance process
4. Perceived erosion of Bitcoin’s monetary purity

🧠 Note: The 80-byte cap was policy, not consensus. Removing it doesn’t allow anything that wasn’t already valid on-chain.

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Policy vs. Consensus

• Policy rules affect relay and mempool behavior
• Consensus rules affect what blocks are considered valid

Large OP_RETURNs are already valid. The inconsistency is that many nodes don’t relay them, while miners do include them. This change aligns relay with mining, improving propagation and fee estimation.

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Bitcoin Knots: A Protest Client

Bitcoin Knots (maintained by Luke Dashjr) retains the old 80-byte policy. After the PR surfaced, some users switched to Knots as a protest.

According to Matthew R. Kratter, Bitcoin Knots briefly surpassed Core 29.0 in node count during early 2025 — but this spike appears to have been driven more by timing mismatches between release cycles and a coordinated protest campaign, rather than a durable shift in user adoption. In fact, most Bitcoin nodes today still run older versions of Core. As of May 2025, Core 28.1.0 alone accounts for over 21% of nodes, while Core 29.0.0 sits below 6%, and Knots 20250305 trails at just over 6% — suggesting that the majority of the network remains on pre-29 Core versions rather than switching to Knots en masse.

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Broader Implications

• 🛠️ Highlights tensions between devs, miners, and users over governance
• 🧭 Shows how non-consensus rules can impact perceived neutrality
• 🧪 Sparks renewed focus on tooling (e.g., ASMap, better banlists, relay filtering)
• 🔐 Reaffirms user sovereignty through client diversity

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Final Thoughts

Removing the OP_RETURN limit aligns Bitcoin Core’s policy with reality — what’s already getting mined — while cleaning up harmful workarounds.

It won’t break Bitcoin.

But it does surface deeper tensions about Bitcoin’s purpose, evolution, and who ultimately decides what gets built and accepted.

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References

• PR: Remove arbitrary limits on OP_RETURN #32359
• PR: Deprecate datacarrier options #32406
• Mailing list: Relax OP_RETURN standardness restrictions
• Gist with full community discussion
• Bitcoin Knots
• Kratter video: Bitcoin Core Removes the Mask

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🙏 Acknowledgements

Thanks to @hodlinator, ShiShi21m, and many others in the community for their thoughtful insights, corrections, and spirited discussion.

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Based on the original GitHub Gist: Bitcoin OP_RETURN Controversy: Complete Summary

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

A command line utility to create and manage personal graphs, then write them to dot and make images with graphviz.

It manages a bunch of YAML files, one for each entity in the graph. Each file lists the incoming and outgoing links it has (could have listen only the outgoing, now that I'm tihnking about it).

Each run of the tool lets you select from existing nodes or add new ones to generate a single link type from one to one, one to many, many to one or many to many -- then updates the YAML files accordingly.

It also includes a command that generates graphs with graphviz, and it can accept a template file that lets you customize the dot that is generated and thus the graphviz graph.

rel

• https://github.com/fiatjaf/rel

@ 90c656ff:9383fd4e

Bitcoin operates through a decentralized system that relies on a process called mining to validate transactions and secure the network. However, Bitcoin mining requires a large amount of energy, which raises concerns about its environmental impact. Although there are solutions to make this process more sustainable, energy consumption remains a topic of debate among both critics and advocates of the technology.

How does Bitcoin mining work?

Bitcoin mining is the process by which new blocks are added to the blockchain (or timechain) and new coins are created. This process uses a mechanism called proof-of-work, where specialized computers (miners) compete to solve complex mathematical problems. To do this, they consume a huge amount of electricity, as the equipment must operate continuously to keep the network secure and decentralized.

• Energy consumption and environmental impact

The main criticism of Bitcoin mining is its high electricity consumption. Currently, it is estimated that the Bitcoin network consumes as much energy as some entire countries. This raises environmental concerns, as much of the world's electricity is still generated from fossil fuels, which emit polluting gases.

The environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining include:

01 - Carbon Emissions: If the electricity used for mining comes from polluting sources, the process contributes to increased CO₂ emissions, intensifying global warming.

02 - Excessive Use of Natural Resources: Large-scale mining can strain local power grids and increase demand for electricity, leading to higher fossil fuel consumption in some regions.

03 - Electronic Waste Production: Mining equipment has a relatively short lifespan, which leads to the generation of large amounts of electronic waste.

• Alternatives and sustainable solutions

Despite these concerns, Bitcoin mining is becoming increasingly efficient and sustainable. Many mining operations already use renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric, solar, and wind, significantly reducing their ecological footprint. Some solutions include:

01 - Use of Renewable Energy: Miners are relocating to regions with excess renewable energy production, taking advantage of resources that would otherwise be wasted.

02 - Recycling Heat Generated by Mining: Some companies are using the heat produced by mining equipment to warm buildings and infrastructure, making more efficient use of the energy.

03 - Technological Innovations: The development of new chips and more efficient equipment reduces the energy consumption of mining without compromising network security.

In summary, the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining is a controversial issue, but solutions to make the process more sustainable are rapidly evolving. While energy consumption remains high, the shift toward renewable energy sources and new technologies could make Bitcoin a more efficient and environmentally friendly system. Thus, the issue is not merely the amount of electricity consumed, but the origin of that energy and the innovations making mining increasingly sustainable.

Thank you very much for reading this far. I hope everything is well with you, and sending a big hug from your favorite Bitcoiner maximalist from Madeira. Long live freedom!

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

GraphQL vs REST

Today I saw this: https://github.com/stickfigure/blog/wiki/How-to-(and-how-not-to)-design-REST-APIs

And it reminded me why GraphQL is so much better.

It has also reminded me why HTTP is so confusing and awful as a protocol, especially as a protocol for structured data APIs, with all its status codes and headers and bodies and querystrings and content-types -- but let's not talk about that for now.

People complain about GraphQL being great for frontend developers and bad for backend developers, but I don't know who are these people that apparently love reading guides like the one above of how to properly construct ad-hoc path routers, decide how to properly build the JSON, what to include and in which circumstance, what status codes and headers to use, all without having any idea of what the frontend or the API consumer will want to do with their data.

It is a much less stressful environment that one in which we can just actually perform the task and fit the data in a preexistent schema with types and a structure that we don't have to decide again and again while anticipating with very incomplete knowledge the usage of an extraneous person -- i.e., an environment with GraphQL, or something like GraphQL.

By the way, I know there are some people that say that these HTTP JSON APIs are not the real REST, but that is irrelevant for now.