@ 57c631a3:07529a8e

The $400 Million Perk — Trump’s Airborne Throne The Qataris want to gift Donald Trump a $400 million Boeing 747-8. It’s not just any plane — it’s a flying palace, complete with two bedrooms, a private office, all business-class seating, and massive TVs. In other words, it’s the perfect airborne throne for a man who has never seen a golden toilet he didn’t like. And make no mistake, once Trump leaves the White House, that plane isn’t going to serve the American taxpayer — it’s going straight to his presidential library, where he can keep using it at our expense.

The cost to the American people? Hundreds of millions for conversion, maintenance, and operation as Air Force One. The cost to Trump? Zero.

The Emoluments Clause? Never Heard of It.

This brazen 747 deal is a direct violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which explicitly bars U.S. officials from accepting gifts, payments, or other benefits from foreign governments without Congressional approval. That approval hasn’t been given. Trump is just grabbing what he wants — and so is his family.

Here are a few of their greatest hits:

• World Liberty Financial: Early in Trump’s term, the Trump family’s cryptocurrency firm took a $75 million investment from billionaire Justin Sun. Not long after, a federal fraud case against Sun quietly disappeared. Today, World Liberty Financial is selling “meme coins” featuring Trump and Melania, profiting directly from the Trump name.
• Qatar, Again: Trump’s family recently inked a $5.5 billion deal to build a beachfront resort in Qatar. The local partner? A company owned by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, meaning Trump’s family is cutting deals directly with a foreign government.
• Affinity Partners: Days after Trump’s inauguration, his son, Donald Jr., announced plans for a major hotel in Belgrade, Serbia. The money for the project? It’s coming from Affinity Partners, a firm started by Trump’s son-in-law with funding from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and, of course, Qatar.
• Social Media Cash Grab: Before taking office, Trump settled a lawsuit against the social media platform X, pocketing $10 million. In a bizarre twist, Trump then put X’s owner, Elon Musk, in charge of an ongoing effort to dismantle key government agencies.
• Pressure on Allies: According to British news outlet The Observer, Trump and his allies pressured British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to make a Trump-owned golf course the site of the 2028 British Open. That’s a deal worth millions in course fees and international prestige.
• Monetizing the First Lady: Before Trump took office, his family accepted $40 million from Amazon for the rights to produce and stream a documentary series about Melania Trump.
• Access for Sale: Trump is auctioning off face-to-face time at the White House. Past presidents may have given time to campaign backers, but Trump’s twist is that the money goes directly to his family, not to a campaign or political party.
• Pay-to-Play Networking: Trump has even founded a super-exclusive club, The Executive Branch, with a $500,000 initiation fee, offering access to a Georgetown clubhouse and, more importantly, to a prime network of influence-peddlers.

Time for a Reckoning

Democrats need to make it clear to these corrupt actors that the clock is ticking. The Qataris, Saudis, and other foreign governments cutting these shady deals should understand that they will face severe consequences when a new administration takes charge. Those luxury jets and billion-dollar beachfront resorts might seem like clever investments today, but they’ll come with a steep price when a real Justice Department comes knocking.

Speaking of the DOJ, Trump’s current legal shield is the ultra-MAGA loyalist Pam Bondi, who has turned the department into a personal law firm for Trump’s interests. Few in Washington know more about the flow of foreign cash than Bondi — after all, in her previous life as a private lawyer, she spent years representing the Qataris in DC.

So, there you have it. From the gift of a $400 million flying palace to a wait-listed private club, this is the Trump family’s top-ten corruption list. They’ve gotten away with it so far by exploiting loopholes and breaking the rules of decency that once separated American democracy from banana republics.

That won’t last. Not if we do our jobs.

https://connect-test.layer3.press/articles/d2c4795a-f503-4b0e-a9b4-f361b4d186ec

@ 34f1ddab:2ca0cf7c

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.

@ 609f186c:0aa4e8af

Google says that Android 16 is slated to feature an optional high security mode. Cool.

Advanced Protection has a bunch of requested features that address the kinds of threats we worry about.

It's the kind of 'turn this one thing on if you face elevated risk' that we've been asking for from Google.

And likely reflects some learning after Google watched Apple 's Lockdown Mode play out. I see a lot of value in this..

Here are some features I'm excited to see play out:

The Intrusion Logging feature is interesting & is going to impose substantial cost on attackers trying to hide evidence of exploitation. Logs get e2ee encrypted into the cloud. This one is spicy.

The Offline Lock, Inactivity Reboot & USB protection will frustrate non-consensual attempts to physically grab device data.

Memory Tagging Extension is going to make a lot of attack & exploitation categories harder.

2G Network Protection & disabling Auto-connect to insecure networks are going to address categories of threat from things like IMSI catchers & hostile WiFi.

I'm curious about some other features such as:

Spam & Scam detection: Google messages feature that suggests message content awareness and some kind of scanning.

Scam detection for Phone by Google is interesting & coming later. The way it is described suggests phone conversation awareness. This also addresses a different category of threat than the stuff above. I can see it addressing a whole category of bad things that regular users (& high risk ones too!) face. Will be curious how privacy is addressed or if this done purely locally. Getting messy: Friction points? I see Google thinking these through, but I'm going to add a potential concern: what will users do when they encounter friction? Will they turn this off & forget to re-enable? We've seen users turn off iOS Lockdown Mode when they run into friction for specific websites or, say, legacy WiFi. They then forget to turn it back on. And stay vulnerable.

Bottom line: users disabling Apple's Lockdown Mode for a temporary thing & leaving it off because they forget to turn it on happens a lot. This is a serious % of users in my experience...

And should be factored into design decisions for similar modes. I feel like a good balance is a 'snooze button' or equivalent so that users can disable all/some features for a brief few minute period to do something they need to do, and then auto re-enable.

Winding up:

I'm excited to see how Android Advanced Protection plays with high risk users' experiences. I'm also super curious whether the spam/scam detection features may also be helpful to more vulnerable users (think: aging seniors)...

Niche but important:

Some users, esp. those that migrated to security & privacy-focused Android distros because of because of the absence of such a feature are clear candidates for it... But they may also voice privacy concerns around some of the screening features. Clear communication from the Google Security / Android team will be key here.

@ b83a28b7:35919450

This article was originally part of the sermon of Plebchain Radio Episode 111 (May 2, 2025) that nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqpqtvqc82mv8cezhax5r34n4muc2c4pgjz8kaye2smj032nngg52clq7fgefr and I did with nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skuep0qyt8wumn8ghj7ct4w35zumn0wd68yvfwvdhk6tcqyzx4h2fv3n9r6hrnjtcrjw43t0g0cmmrgvjmg525rc8hexkxc0kd2rhtk62 and nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqpq4wxtsrj7g2jugh70pfkzjln43vgn4p7655pgky9j9w9d75u465pqahkzd0 of the nostr:nprofile1qythwumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skuep0qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcqyqwfvwrccp4j2xsuuvkwg0y6a20637t6f4cc5zzjkx030dkztt7t5hydajn

Listen to the full episode here:

<<https://fountain.fm/episode/Ln9Ej0zCZ5dEwfo8w2Ho>>

---

Bitcoin has always been a narrative revolution disguised as code. White paper, cypherpunk lore, pizza‑day legends - every block is a paragraph in the world’s most relentless epic. But code alone rarely converts the skeptic; it’s the camp‑fire myth that slips past the prefrontal cortex and shakes hands with the limbic system. People don’t adopt protocols first - they fall in love with protagonists.

Early adopters heard the white‑paper hymn, but most folks need characters first: a pizza‑day dreamer; a mother in a small country, crushed by the cost of remittance; a Warsaw street vendor swapping złoty for sats. When their arcs land, the brain releases a neurochemical OP_RETURN which says, “I belong in this plot.” That’s the sly roundabout orange pill: conviction smuggled inside catharsis.

That’s why, from 22–25 May in Warsaw’s Kinoteka, the Bitcoin Film Fest is loading its reels with rebellion. Each documentary, drama, and animated rabbit‑hole is a stealth wallet, zipping conviction straight into the feels of anyone still clasped within the cold claw of fiat. You come for the plot, you leave checking block heights.

---

Here's the clip of the sermon from the episode:

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpwp69zm7fewjp0vkp306adnzt7249ytxhz7mq3w5yc629u6er9zsqqsy43fwz8es2wnn65rh0udc05tumdnx5xagvzd88ptncspmesdqhygcrvpf2

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Die zwei mächtigsten Krieger sind Geduld und Zeit. \ Leo Tolstoi

Zum Wohle unserer Gesundheit, unserer Leistungsfähigkeit und letztlich unseres Glücks ist es wichtig, die eigene Energie bewusst zu pflegen. Das gilt umso mehr für an gesellschaftlichen Themen interessierte, selbstbewusste und kritisch denkende Menschen. Denn für deren Wahrnehmung und Wohlbefinden waren und sind die rasanten, krisen- und propagandagefüllten letzten Jahre in Absurdistan eine harte Probe.

Nur wer regelmäßig Kraft tankt und Wege findet, mit den Herausforderungen umzugehen, kann eine solche Tortur überstehen, emotionale Erschöpfung vermeiden und trotz allem zufrieden sein. Dazu müssen wir erkunden, was uns Energie gibt und was sie uns raubt. Durch Selbstreflexion und Achtsamkeit finden wir sicher Dinge, die uns erfreuen und inspirieren, und andere, die uns eher stressen und belasten.

Die eigene Energie ist eng mit unserer körperlichen und mentalen Gesundheit verbunden. Methoden zur Förderung der körperlichen Gesundheit sind gut bekannt: eine ausgewogene Ernährung, regelmäßige Bewegung sowie ausreichend Schlaf und Erholung. Bei der nicht minder wichtigen emotionalen Balance wird es schon etwas komplizierter. Stress abzubauen, die eigenen Grenzen zu kennen oder solche zum Schutz zu setzen sowie die Konzentration auf Positives und Sinnvolles wären Ansätze.

Der emotionale ist auch der Bereich, über den «Energie-Räuber» bevorzugt attackieren. Das sind zum Beispiel Dinge wie Überforderung, Perfektionismus oder mangelhafte Kommunikation. Social Media gehören ganz sicher auch dazu. Sie stehlen uns nicht nur Zeit, sondern sind höchst manipulativ und erhöhen laut einer aktuellen Studie das Risiko für psychische Probleme wie Angstzustände und Depressionen.

Geben wir negativen oder gar bösen Menschen keine Macht über uns. Das Dauerfeuer der letzten Jahre mit Krisen, Konflikten und Gefahren sollte man zwar kennen, darf sich aber davon nicht runterziehen lassen. Das Ziel derartiger konzertierter Aktionen ist vor allem, unsere innere Stabilität zu zerstören, denn dann sind wir leichter zu steuern. Aber Geduld: Selbst vermeintliche «Sonnenköniginnen» wie EU-Kommissionspräsidentin von der Leyen fallen, wenn die Zeit reif ist.

Es ist wichtig, dass wir unsere ganz eigenen Bedürfnisse und Werte erkennen. Unsere Energiequellen müssen wir identifizieren und aktiv nutzen. Dazu gehören soziale Kontakte genauso wie zum Beispiel Hobbys und Leidenschaften. Umgeben wir uns mit Sinnhaftigkeit und lassen wir uns nicht die Energie rauben!

Mein Wahlspruch ist schon lange: «Was die Menschen wirklich bewegt, ist die Kultur.» Jetzt im Frühjahr beginnt hier in Andalusien die Zeit der «Ferias», jener traditionellen Volksfeste, die vor Lebensfreude sprudeln. Konzentrieren wir uns auf die schönen Dinge und auf unsere eigenen Talente – soziale Verbundenheit wird helfen, unsere innere Kraft zu stärken und zu bewahren.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

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

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Bitcoin has always been rooted in freedom and resistance to authority. I get that many of you are conflicted about the US Government stacking but by design we cannot stop anyone from using bitcoin. Many have asked me for my thoughts on the matter, so let’s rip it.

Concern

One of the most glaring issues with the strategic bitcoin reserve is its foundation, built on stolen bitcoin. For those of us who value private property this is an obvious betrayal of our core principles. Rather than proof of work, the bitcoin that seeds this reserve has been taken by force. The US Government should return the bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex and the Silk Road.

Using stolen bitcoin for the reserve creates a perverse incentive. If governments see bitcoin as a valuable asset, they will ramp up efforts to confiscate more bitcoin. The precedent is a major concern, and I stand strongly against it, but it should be also noted that governments were already seizing coin before the reserve so this is not really a change in policy.

Ideally all seized bitcoin should be burned, by law. This would align incentives properly and make it less likely for the government to actively increase coin seizures. Due to the truly scarce properties of bitcoin, all burned bitcoin helps existing holders through increased purchasing power regardless. This change would be unlikely but those of us in policy circles should push for it regardless. It would be best case scenario for American bitcoiners and would create a strong foundation for the next century of American leadership.

Optimism

The entire point of bitcoin is that we can spend or save it without permission. That said, it is a massive benefit to not have one of the strongest governments in human history actively trying to ruin our lives.

Since the beginning, bitcoiners have faced horrible regulatory trends. KYC, surveillance, and legal cases have made using bitcoin and building bitcoin businesses incredibly difficult. It is incredibly important to note that over the past year that trend has reversed for the first time in a decade. A strategic bitcoin reserve is a key driver of this shift. By holding bitcoin, the strongest government in the world has signaled that it is not just a fringe technology but rather truly valuable, legitimate, and worth stacking.

This alignment of incentives changes everything. The US Government stacking proves bitcoin’s worth. The resulting purchasing power appreciation helps all of us who are holding coin and as bitcoin succeeds our government receives direct benefit. A beautiful positive feedback loop.

Realism

We are trending in the right direction. A strategic bitcoin reserve is a sign that the state sees bitcoin as an asset worth embracing rather than destroying. That said, there is a lot of work left to be done. We cannot be lulled into complacency, the time to push forward is now, and we cannot take our foot off the gas. We have a seat at the table for the first time ever. Let's make it worth it.

We must protect the right to free usage of bitcoin and other digital technologies. Freedom in the digital age must be taken and defended, through both technical and political avenues. Multiple privacy focused developers are facing long jail sentences for building tools that protect our freedom. These cases are not just legal battles. They are attacks on the soul of bitcoin. We need to rally behind them, fight for their freedom, and ensure the ethos of bitcoin survives this new era of government interest. The strategic reserve is a step in the right direction, but it is up to us to hold the line and shape the future.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Recently we have seen a wave of high profile X accounts hacked. These attacks have exposed the fragility of the status quo security model used by modern social media platforms like X. Many users have asked if nostr fixes this, so lets dive in. How do these types of attacks translate into the world of nostr apps? For clarity, I will use X’s security model as representative of most big tech social platforms and compare it to nostr.

The Status Quo

On X, you never have full control of your account. Ultimately to use it requires permission from the company. They can suspend your account or limit your distribution. Theoretically they can even post from your account at will. An X account is tied to an email and password. Users can also opt into two factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of protection, a login code generated by an app. In theory, this setup works well, but it places a heavy burden on users. You need to create a strong, unique password and safeguard it. You also need to ensure your email account and phone number remain secure, as attackers can exploit these to reset your credentials and take over your account. Even if you do everything responsibly, there is another weak link in X infrastructure itself. The platform’s infrastructure allows accounts to be reset through its backend. This could happen maliciously by an employee or through an external attacker who compromises X’s backend. When an account is compromised, the legitimate user often gets locked out, unable to post or regain control without contacting X’s support team. That process can be slow, frustrating, and sometimes fruitless if support denies the request or cannot verify your identity. Often times support will require users to provide identification info in order to regain access, which represents a privacy risk. The centralized nature of X means you are ultimately at the mercy of the company’s systems and staff.

Nostr Requires Responsibility

Nostr flips this model radically. Users do not need permission from a company to access their account, they can generate as many accounts as they want, and cannot be easily censored. The key tradeoff here is that users have to take complete responsibility for their security. Instead of relying on a username, password, and corporate servers, nostr uses a private key as the sole credential for your account. Users generate this key and it is their responsibility to keep it safe. As long as you have your key, you can post. If someone else gets it, they can post too. It is that simple. This design has strong implications. Unlike X, there is no backend reset option. If your key is compromised or lost, there is no customer support to call. In a compromise scenario, both you and the attacker can post from the account simultaneously. Neither can lock the other out, since nostr relays simply accept whatever is signed with a valid key.

The benefit? No reliance on proprietary corporate infrastructure.. The negative? Security rests entirely on how well you protect your key.

Future Nostr Security Improvements

For many users, nostr’s standard security model, storing a private key on a phone with an encrypted cloud backup, will likely be sufficient. It is simple and reasonably secure. That said, nostr’s strength lies in its flexibility as an open protocol. Users will be able to choose between a range of security models, balancing convenience and protection based on need.

One promising option is a web of trust model for key rotation. Imagine pre-selecting a group of trusted friends. If your account is compromised, these people could collectively sign an event announcing the compromise to the network and designate a new key as your legitimate one. Apps could handle this process seamlessly in the background, notifying followers of the switch without much user interaction. This could become a popular choice for average users, but it is not without tradeoffs. It requires trust in your chosen web of trust, which might not suit power users or large organizations. It also has the issue that some apps may not recognize the key rotation properly and followers might get confused about which account is “real.”

For those needing higher security, there is the option of multisig using FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold). In this setup, multiple keys must sign off on every action, including posting and updating a profile. A hacker with just one key could not do anything. This is likely overkill for most users due to complexity and inconvenience, but it could be a game changer for large organizations, companies, and governments. Imagine the White House nostr account requiring signatures from multiple people before a post goes live, that would be much more secure than the status quo big tech model.

Another option are hardware signers, similar to bitcoin hardware wallets. Private keys are kept on secure, offline devices, separate from the internet connected phone or computer you use to broadcast events. This drastically reduces the risk of remote hacks, as private keys never touches the internet. It can be used in combination with multisig setups for extra protection. This setup is much less convenient and probably overkill for most but could be ideal for governments, companies, or other high profile accounts.

---

Nostr’s security model is not perfect but is robust and versatile. Ultimately users are in control and security is their responsibility. Apps will give users multiple options to choose from and users will choose what best fits their need.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

In much of the world, it is incredibly difficult to access U.S. dollars. Local currencies are often poorly managed and riddled with corruption. Billions of people demand a more reliable alternative. While the dollar has its own issues of corruption and mismanagement, it is widely regarded as superior to the fiat currencies it competes with globally. As a result, Tether has found massive success providing low cost, low friction access to dollars. Tether claims 400 million total users, is on track to add 200 million more this year, processes 8.1 million transactions daily, and facilitates $29 billion in daily transfers. Furthermore, their estimates suggest nearly 40% of users rely on it as a savings tool rather than just a transactional currency.

Tether’s rise has made the company a financial juggernaut. Last year alone, Tether raked in over $13 billion in profit, with a lean team of less than 100 employees. Their business model is elegantly simple: hold U.S. Treasuries and collect the interest. With over $113 billion in Treasuries, Tether has turned a straightforward concept into a profit machine.

Tether’s success has resulted in many competitors eager to claim a piece of the pie. This has triggered a massive venture capital grift cycle in USD tokens, with countless projects vying to dethrone Tether. Due to Tether’s entrenched network effect, these challengers face an uphill battle with little realistic chance of success. Most educated participants in the space likely recognize this reality but seem content to perpetuate the grift, hoping to cash out by dumping their equity positions on unsuspecting buyers before they realize the reality of the situation.

Historically, Tether’s greatest vulnerability has been U.S. government intervention. For over a decade, the company operated offshore with few allies in the U.S. establishment, making it a major target for regulatory action. That dynamic has shifted recently and Tether has seized the opportunity. By actively courting U.S. government support, Tether has fortified their position. This strategic move will likely cement their status as the dominant USD token for years to come.

While undeniably a great tool for the millions of users that rely on it, Tether is not without flaws. As a centralized, trusted third party, it holds the power to freeze or seize funds at its discretion. Corporate mismanagement or deliberate malpractice could also lead to massive losses at scale. In their goal of mitigating regulatory risk, Tether has deepened ties with law enforcement, mirroring some of the concerns of potential central bank digital currencies. In practice, Tether operates as a corporate CBDC alternative, collaborating with authorities to surveil and seize funds. The company proudly touts partnerships with leading surveillance firms and its own data reveals cooperation in over 1,000 law enforcement cases, with more than $2.5 billion in funds frozen.

---

The global demand for Tether is undeniable and the company’s profitability reflects its unrivaled success. Tether is owned and operated by bitcoiners and will likely continue to push forward strategic goals that help the movement as a whole. Recent efforts to mitigate the threat of U.S. government enforcement will likely solidify their network effect and stifle meaningful adoption of rival USD tokens or CBDCs. Yet, for all their achievements, Tether is simply a worse form of money than bitcoin. Tether requires trust in a centralized entity, while bitcoin can be saved or spent without permission. Furthermore, Tether is tied to the value of the US Dollar which is designed to lose purchasing power over time, while bitcoin, as a truly scarce asset, is designed to increase in purchasing power with adoption. As people awaken to the risks of Tether’s control, and the benefits bitcoin provides, bitcoin adoption will likely surpass it.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

One of the most common criticisms leveled against nostr is the perceived lack of assurance when it comes to data storage. Critics argue that without a centralized authority guaranteeing that all data is preserved, important information will be lost. They also claim that running a relay will become prohibitively expensive. While there is truth to these concerns, they miss the mark. The genius of nostr lies in its flexibility, resilience, and the way it harnesses human incentives to ensure data availability in practice.

A nostr relay is simply a server that holds cryptographically verifiable signed data and makes it available to others. Relays are simple, flexible, open, and require no permission to run. Critics are right that operating a relay attempting to store all nostr data will be costly. What they miss is that most will not run all encompassing archive relays. Nostr does not rely on massive archive relays. Instead, anyone can run a relay and choose to store whatever subset of data they want. This keeps costs low and operations flexible, making relay operation accessible to all sorts of individuals and entities with varying use cases.

Critics are correct that there is no ironclad guarantee that every piece of data will always be available. Unlike bitcoin where data permanence is baked into the system at a steep cost, nostr does not promise that every random note or meme will be preserved forever. That said, in practice, any data perceived as valuable by someone will likely be stored and distributed by multiple entities. If something matters to someone, they will keep a signed copy.

Nostr is the Streisand Effect in protocol form. The Streisand effect is when an attempt to suppress information backfires, causing it to spread even further. With nostr, anyone can broadcast signed data, anyone can store it, and anyone can distribute it. Try to censor something important? Good luck. The moment it catches attention, it will be stored on relays across the globe, copied, and shared by those who find it worth keeping. Data deemed important will be replicated across servers by individuals acting in their own interest.

Nostr’s distributed nature ensures that the system does not rely on a single point of failure or a corporate overlord. Instead, it leans on the collective will of its users. The result is a network where costs stay manageable, participation is open to all, and valuable verifiable data is stored and distributed forever.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Payjoin allows the sender and receiver of an on-chain payment to collaborate and create a transaction that breaks on-chain heuristics, allowing a more private transaction with ambiguous payment amount and UTXO ownership. Additionally, it can also be used for UTXO consolidation (receiver saves future fees) and batching payments (receiver can make payment(s) of their own in the process of receiving one), also known as transaction cut-through. Other than improved privacy, the rest of the benefits are typically applicable to the receiver, not the sender.

BIP-78 was the original payjoin protocol that required the receiver to run a endpoint/server (always online) in order to mediate the payjoin process. Payjoin adoption has remained pretty low, something attributed to the server & perpetual online-ness requirement. This is the motivation for payjoin v2.

The purpose of the one-pager is to analyse the protocol, and highlight the UX issues or tradeoffs it entails, so that the payjoin user flows can be appropriately designed and the tradeoffs likewise communicated. A further document on UX solutions might be needed to identify solutions and opportunities

The following observations are generally limited to individual users transacting through their mobile devices:

While users naturally want better privacy and fee-savings, they also want to minimise friction and minimise (optimise) payment time. These are universal and more immediate needs since they deal with the user experience.

Added manual steps

TL;DR v2 payjoin eliminates server & simultaneous user-liveness requirements (increasing TAM, and opportunities to payjoin, as a result) by adding manual steps.

Usually, the extent of the receiver's involvement in the transaction process is limited to sharing their address with the sender. Once they share the address/URI, they can basically forget about it. In the target scenario for v2 payjoin, the receiver must come online again (except they have no way of knowing "when") to contribute input(s) and sign the PSBT. This can be unexpected, unintuitive and a bit of a hassle.

Usually (and even with payjoin v1), the sender crafts and broadcasts the transaction in one go; meaning the user's job is done within a few seconds/minutes. With payjoin v2, they must share the original-PSBT with the receiver, and then wait for them to do their part. Once the the receiver has done that, the sender must come online to review the transaction, sign it & broadcast.

In summary,

In payjoin v1, step 3 is automated and instant, so delay 2, 3 =~ 0. As the user experiences it, the process is completed in a single session, akin to a non-payjoin transaction.

With payjoin v2, Steps 2 & 3 in the above diagram are widely spread and noticeable. These manual steps are separated by uncertain delays (more on that below) when compared to a non-payjoin transaction.

Delays

We've established that both senders and receivers must take extra manual steps to execute a payoin transaction. With payjoin v2, this process gets split into multiple sessions, since the sender and receiver are not like to be online simultaneously.

Delay 2 & 3 (see diagram above) are uncertain in nature. Most users do not open their bitcoin wallets for days or weeks! The receiver must come online before the timeout hits in order for the payjoin process to work, otherwise time is just wasted with no benefit. UX or technical solutions are needed to minimise these delays.

Delays might be exacerbated if the setup is based on hardware wallet and/or uses multisig.

Notifications or background processes

There is one major problem when we say "the user must come online to..." but in reality the user has no way of knowing there is a payjoin PSBT waiting for them. After a PSBT is sent to the relay, the opposite user would only find out about it whenever they happen to come online. Notifications and background sync processes might be necessary to minimise delays. This is absolutely essential to avert timeouts in addition to saving valuable time. Another risk is phantom payjoin stuff after the timeout is expired if receiver-side does not know it has.

Fee Savings

The following observations might be generally applicable for both original and this v2 payjoin version. Fee-savings with payjoin is a tricky topic. Of course, overall a payjoin transaction is always cheaper than 2 separate transactions, since they get to share the overhead.

Additionally, without the receiver contributing to fees, the chosen fee rate of the PSBT (at the beginning) drops, and can lead to slower confirmation. From another perspective, a sender paying with payjoin pays higher fees for similar confirmation target. This has been observed in a production wallet years back. Given that total transaction time can extend to days, the fee environment itself might change, and all this must be considered when designing the UX.

Of course, there is nothing stopping the receiver from contributing to fees, but this idea is likely entirely novel to the bitcoin ecosystem (perhaps payments ecosystem in general) and the user base. Additionally, nominally it involves the user paying fees and tolerating delays just to receive bitcoin. Without explicit incentives/features that encourage receivers to participate, payjoining might seem like an unncessary hassle.

Overall, it seems that payjoin makes UX significant tradeoffs for important privacy (and potential fee-saving) benefits. This means that the UX might have to do significant heavy-lifting, to ensure that users are not surprised, confused or frustrated when they try to transact on-chain in a privacy-friendly feature. Good, timely communication, new features for consolidation & txn-cutthrough and guided user flows seem crucial to ensure payjoin adoption and for help make on-chain privacy a reality for users.

---------------

Original document available here. Reach out at yashrajdca@proton.me, y_a_s_h_r_a_j.70 on Signal, or on reach out in Bitcoin Design discord.

https://stacker.news/items/981388

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

LegoGPT generates a LEGO structure from a user-provided text prompt in an end-to-end manner. Notably, our generated LEGO structure is physically stable and buildable.

Lego is something most of us knows. This is a opportuity to ask where is our creativity going? From the art of crafting figures to building blocks following our need and desires to have a machine thinking and building following step-by-step instructions to achieve an isolated goal.

Is the creative act then in the question itself, not anymore in the crafting? Are we just delegating the solution of problems, the thinking of how to respond to questions, to machines? Would it be different if delegated to other people?

Source: https://avalovelace1.github.io/LegoGPT/

https://stacker.news/items/981336

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Just another Ecash nutsnote design is a ew template for brrr.gandlaf.com cashu tocken printing machine and honoring Ecash ideator David Lee Chaum. Despite the turn the initial project took, we would not have Ecash today without his pioneering approach in cryptography and privacy-preserving technologies.

A simple KISS (Keep It Super Simple) Ecash nutsnote delivered as SVG, nothing fancy, designed in PenPot, an open source design tool, for slides, presentations, mockups and interactive prototypes.

Here Just another Nutsnote's current state, together with some snapshots along the process. Your feedback is more than welcome.

https://design.penpot.app/#/view?file-id=749aaa04-8836-81c6-8006-0b29916ec156&page-id=749aaa04-8836-81c6-8006-0b29916ec157&section=interactions&index=0&share-id=addba4d5-28a4-8022-8006-2ecc4316ebb2

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979728

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Has the architect Greg Chasen considered it when rebuilding the house just one year before the catastrophe? Apparently not! Another of his projects was featured on the Value of Architecture as properties with design integrity.

This is a super interesting subject. The historic character, livability, and modern disaster-resistance is a triangle where you often have to pick just one or two, which leads to some tough decisions that have major impacts on families and communities. Like one of the things he mentions is that the architect completely eliminated plants from the property. That's great for fire resistance, but not so great for other things if the entire town decides to go the same route (which he does bring up later in the video). I don't think there's any objectively right answer, but definitely lots of good (and important) discussion points to be had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbl_1qfsFXk

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979653

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

We asked members of the design community to choose an artifact that embodies craft—something that speaks to their understanding of what it means to make with intention. Here’s what they shared.

A vintage puzzle box, a perfectly tuned guitar, an AI-powered poetry camera. A daiquiri mixed with precision. A spreadsheet that still haunts muscle memory. Each artifact tells a story: not just about the thing itself, but about the choices of the creator behind it. What to refine, what to leave raw. When to push forward, when to let go. Whether built to last for generations or designed to delight in a fleeting moment, the common thread is that great craft doesn’t happen by accident. It’s made.

On the application of craft

Even the most experienced makers can benefit from building structure and intention into their practice. From sharpening your storytelling to designing quality products, these pieces offer practical ways to uplevel your craft.

Read more at https://www.figma.com/blog/craft-artifacts/

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979644

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Shanghai: Bus Stops Here

A new crowd-sourced transit platform allows riders to propose, vote on, and activate new bus lines in as little as three days.

From early-morning school drop-offs to seniors booking rides to the hospital, from suburban commuters seeking a faster link to the metro to families visiting ancestral graves, Shanghai is rolling out a new kind of public bus — one that’s designed by commuters, and launched only when enough riders request it.

Branded “DZ” for dingzhi, or “customized,” the system invites residents to submit proposed routes through a city-run platform. Others with similar travel needs can opt in or vote, and if demand meets the threshold — typically 15 to 20 passengers per trip — the route goes live.

More than 220 DZ routes have already launched across all 16 city districts. Through an online platform opened May 8, users enter start and end points, preferred times, and trip frequency. If approved, routes can begin running in as little as three days.

Continue reading at https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017072

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/979637

@ 04c3c1a5:a94cf83d

Testing Testing Testing

This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test This is just a test this is just a test this is just a test

Would love a test

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqg7waehxw309anx2etywvhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7ur0wp6kcctjqqspywh6ulgc0w3k6mwum97m7jkvtxh0lcjr77p9jtlc7f0d27wlxpslwvhau

| | | | | ------------------------ | - | - | | Quick'hthbdoiwenweuifier | | | | 1. Little | | |

ghtgehg

gwefjieqhf

MUCH BETTER

@ 5391098c:74403a0e

(Textículo em prosa erudita sobre a Ideologia Anarco-Capitalista-Cristã)

https://davipinheiro.com/01-escravos-da-cara-inchada/

A cultura #Woke apropriou-se da imagem sobre a #escravidão. Quando uma pessoa aculturada imagina um #escravo, vem em sua mente a imagem de um ser humano negro, magro e flagelado. Para quem enxerga além das cortinas da mentira, vem em sua mente a imagem de um ser humano de qualquer etnia, gordo e doente.

Democracia, péssimo regime de governo assim classificado pelo seu próprio idealizador: Platão em A República, é o grito da hienas de dentes arreganhados para ampliação do regime escravocrata fomentado pelos #GlobalistasSatanistas.

Um escravo da cara inchada é todo aquele ser humano ignorante inconsciente que alimenta esse sistema em troca de intoxicantes como flúor¹, cloro, glutamato monosódico, gordura trans, corantes, conservantes, refrigerantes, bebidas alcoólicas, psicotrópicos e remédios sintomáticos, tudo embrulhado com mentiras reiteradas.

Como consequência, após os 18 anos de idade o corpo do #EscravoDaCaraInchada sucumbe à tamanha intoxicação e passa a inchar, sendo fisicamente perceptível sua condição de escravo da cara inchada tanto à olho nú quando por reconhecimento facial de qualquer pseudo inteligência artificial.

O círculo vicioso da #EscravidaoDemocratica é tão simples e tosco como o “pão e circo romano”, Mesmo assim é muito difícil para o escravo da cara inchada perceber a própria condição tamanha é sua intoxicação física e mental.

Se um Anarco-Capitalista-Cristão (#Ancapcristão) chega para um escravo da cara inchada e explica sobre esses intoxicantes como instrumento de escravização, dificilmente o escravo da cara inchada irá acreditar pois diferentemente do antigo e aposentado chicote, o novo instrumento da escravidão não dói de imediato e os próprios efeitos da intoxicação impedem-no de raciocinar com clareza.

Portanto, para que os #GlobalistasSatanistas obtivessem sucesso na democratização da escravidão, tiveram que criar um chicote químico e uma ideologia favorável. Quanto às etapas utilizadas para formação dessa ideologia no inconsciente coletivo passo a elencar as 6 grandes mentiras em ordem cronológica:

(1ª etapa) Iluminismo: distanciamento de #Deus e seus ensinamentos, criação de sociedades secretas, exacerbação do ser humano perante o criador na tentativa de projetar o ser humano como seu próprio deus, tornando-o responsável sobre os rumos naturais do planeta. Assim formou-se a base ideológica para o materialismo, ambientalismo, feminismo, controle populacional e ideologia de gêneros;

(2ª etapa) Materialismo: perda do propósito espiritual e do sentido da vida², o que passa a importar são apenas as coisas materiais, acima inclusive do próprio ser humano. A perpetuação da espécie também fica em segundo plano. Assim formou-se a base ideológica para o ambientalismo, feminismo, controle populacional e ideologia de gêneros;

(3ª etapa) Ambientalismo: redução do ser humano à mero câncer do planeta superlotado, atribuído-lhe a responsabilidade por qualquer desastre natural. Assim formou-se a base ideológica para o controle populacional e ideologia de gêneros;

(4ª etapa) Feminismo: enfraquecimento do ser humano por meio da sua divisão em duas categorias: macho e fêmea, os quais são inimigos e não cooperadores. A ideia de igualdade de gêneros é tão antagônica que beira ao conflito cognitivo³: Eles querem separar para dizer que são iguais... Ora, como não pode haver diferenças entre os gêneros se eles são fisicamente e mentalmente diferentes? Nesse diapasão, mesmo não sendo os estados nacionais os arquitetos da escravidão democrática e sim meros fantoches dos globalistas satanistas, o voto feminino foi fundamental para aprovação de leis misândricas com o fito de acelerar a destruição da base familiar do escravo da cara inchada. Importante mencionar que a base familiar dos globalistas satanistas continua sendo patriarcal. Assim formou-se a base ideológica para o controle populacional e ideologia de gêneros;

(5ª etapa) Controle Populacional: “Crescei e multiplicai-vos” é o caralho, Deus não sabe de nada (Iluminismo), o que importa é o dinheiro e filho é caro (Materialismo), para que colocar mais um ser humano nesse planeta doente e superlotado (Ambientalismo), além disso o sexo oposto é meu inimigo (Feminismo). Essa é base ideológica que antecede a ideologia de Controle Populacional, ainda reforçada pela apologia à castração, já que em todas as mídias produzidas com patrocínio oculto de capital globalista satanista tentam normalizar a castração do homem (perda da capacidade de reprodução) desde em desenhos infantis até grandes produções cinematográficas, ora em tom de humor ora em tom de tortura. Assim os escravos da cara inchada do sexo masculino perderam sua identidade, essência e desejo de ser o que são, formando-se a base ideológica para o homossexualismo, ou seja, para a ideologia de gêneros.

(6ª etapa) Ideologia de Gêneros: É a cereja do bolo para os planos do Diabo (Anjo invejoso de Deus que quer destruir a maior criação: nós). Enquanto os globalistas satanistas, dentro de sua sábia ignorância, acreditam estarem chefiando a democratização da escravidão, na verdade também não passam de meros fantoches do Anjo Caído. Com a sexta e última etapa de mentiras para extinção da humanidade (#apocalipse) posta em prática através da Ideologia de Gêneros, fecha-se o ciclo vicioso de mentiras que se auto justificam: Se #Deus não presta, o que vale são os bens materiais, o ser humano é um câncer no planeta, o sexo oposto é inimigo e ter filhos é uma péssima ideia e ser homem másculo é crime, então ser #homossexual é a melhor opção, inclusive vamos castrar os meninos antes da puberdade sem o consentimento dos pais ou mães solo. Aqui também há uma grande bifurcação do círculo vicioso de mentiras, qual seja o gritante conflito cognitivo³: Se todos os homens deixarem de ser másculos, quem vai comer os #gays afeminados? Ou se todas as mulheres deixarem de ser femininas, quem as #sapatonas irão comer? E o pior, se todos passem a ser homossexuais quem vai perpetuar a espécie? Seremos extintos no lapso temporal de apenas uma geração, pois a fraudulenta medicina moderna jamais terá a capacidade de gerar bebês de chocadeira à tempo.

É interessante enxergar que mesmo os Globalistas Satanistas, dentro de sua sábia ignorância, acreditando estarem democratizando a escravidão em benefício próprio, na verdade apenas estão fomentando o apocalipse, ou seja sua própria extinção. Também não terão qualquer lugar especial no inferno, sinônimo de mal é mentira. Portanto os #GlobalistaSatanistas são meros fantoches do #Diabo enganador, tão submissos quanto o Escravo da Cara Inchada…

Interessante também enxergar que o livre arbítrio é uma condição obrigatória para independência da criação (anjo e ser humano). Todos somos livres para escolher entre o bem e o mal, se iremos ser escravos de #Deus ou escravos do Diabo. Se assim não fosse, inexistiria criação pois seríamos mera extensão da consciência do #Criador, em outras palavras: para que exista uma criação, essa deve ter a capacidade de decisão de forma independente, o chamado livre arbítrio.

Com base nisso, temos que não cabe à nos fazer qualquer revolução, tudo está normal, a luta entre o bem e o mal sempre irá existir pois um não existe sem o outro. Nos cabe apenas escolher o lado. Nesse contexto, tenho a seguinte mensagem destinada à você para encerrar o presente Textículo Anarco-Capitalista-Cristão:

------ > Se você for um ANARCO-CAPITALISTA-CRISTÃO passe esta palavra à diante para que a verdade atinja o maior número de ignorantes inconscientes possível;

------ > Se você for um GLOBALISTA SATANISTA, vai viver sua vida, desfrutar da própria fortuna e pare de ser fantoche o Diabo, mentiram para você: não terá qualquer lugar especial quando morrer;

------ > Se você for um ESCRAVO DA CARA INCHADA e não entendeu o que eu disse, por favor me pergunte ou debata comigo, terei o prazer em lhe ajudar a enxergar a verdade. Pare de trabalhar por dinheiro fiduciário, passe a aceitar #Monero e #Bitcoin em troca do seu trabalho, pois isso é o único jeito de sermos financeiramente livres, se tiver alguma dúvida sobre #criptomoedas me pergunte e terei o prazer e ensinar. Se ainda assim você se recusa a enxergar a verdade exposta aqui, por favor aceite #Monero e #Bitcoin quando for dar o seu cú. Ou melhor, cometa suicídio, já que você é um câncer no planeta, salve a natureza.

(Davi Pinheiro)

¹ - https://davipinheiro.com/teoria-da-conspiracao-o-fluor-na-agua-e-usado-para-controlar-mentes-revista-super-interessante-editora-abril/

² - https://davipinheiro.com/qual-o-sentido-da-vida/

³ - https://davipinheiro.com/entendendo-as-referencias-cruzadas-do-pensamento/

PREZADOS AMIGOS, DIVULGUEM ESTE ARTIGO. ABAIXO SEGUE A LISTA DOS 500 BRASILEIROS MAIS ATIVOS NO NOSTR NOS ÚLTIMOS MESES PARA TODOS SEGUIREM-SE ENTRE SI E FORTALECER NOSSA COMUNIDADE DE LÍNGUA BRASILEIRA (se você não estiver na lista interaja para ser adicionado):

npub1u2e0qzjsjw9suxcdkeqrydr07xzsyx8mzp469augc0a29aeasfdq8fx67q npub1xt25e4pakq6x4w44p9kw2vlfwv4zpc9hg7xsnrq53hl0za4ag2qs09cwcs npub17hgdpn9xnt5zyxlx8pz0uuus8d23pxwr9a5vq96nw5nawx20zxnsj6fym6 npub1arnth7tuxw060c74adaf08jam6kttn24wfdse9wyg2c7waycwezqszr2mz npub1qg8j6gdwpxlntlxlkew7eu283wzx7hmj32esch42hntdpqdgrslqv024kw npub10q0axre6n3ew64pen99x0qkrh70yxfx6w3grwvkhk4kz9dp8m3ssltvs6f npub1sf2se74xlzf7f7clm3dg28npaxghdy6pguzpsut30fjpwuaxrxcsrnhr57 npub19ychr8yknmje69r645sgd8j0epx2rdgdyl7feagcnmrwkaedzffqtrcznl npub1k86zp0778x7cjng50et5z76xdwxy0tgfn5amnrwrd6mda8uln4lq78ua23 npub13src792wxm8nrhqzu555uxuktfffzcqx78s3pc9zefcdjgwvm3pqsddz4j npub1uw04lzuqx42gk0xc4m8advfmuqlz8nv7dqpuyq4gcv8r304lwvnq2m5ew2 npub1fw5wsmfdj7ykmjfn0sl9qp533y7hx96h9lvplz6pmhd9mzwn9hjqvq2rfr npub1nkenffr9eslkzplds3lwcz7xeq67w6a9qcjlfsvspj7tnhuq3kgsram48g npub1w66drr2qta67gyt7la6fgglsdvk3xx3nndsz4k5wfcal8jq0ze7sqcxdpd npub12xq6exra99hg6tuefx3yysszqudaljvy6eyxqz8tpt7038gpaqus7lfuyy npub17tvf04z759dsyecdtmk70tevla7vua9e3sr88lgnl7put97764zq708q0m npub1rzajeq88urk58nh0n7gqknr2agrx34xu4en0k8hm43fl8h2khp6sk0v3y4 npub1yspe4ly5p9dlfv4vevm0evpag8ljkaay3x3clj8gtvxlsvpwrrrs6h47mx npub107a0nwr3lsj9kdy3jdq570jzcv95y0qzuuhrvcgrpsnq2h4xsclqzy7v4g npub14reqsqss7wp06k390a547pkqrlc0w6uzelm9gpwxze7p8z8x3awsuthvzz npub18fh6flnjt9aa3jlnp5k3kd9zr6v5mlpeczhdx4qheytfyyqfpe7s2y0lzm npub1lafcm7zm35l9q06mnaqk5ykt2530ylnwm5j8xaykflppfstv6vysxg4ryf npub1s00wyzkfrjcclawx225k7wrxd74369vxdcdhy88j89yhrxssfclqulxf93 npub1rmq4kl4dfvp4kt937f9mz60ywkwv467585vnesm3ctqz9krkksrqg4ran0 npub1d7r5su48a8m5k389fd6rwy9cvhlyycmg3pl2g60q5zmgvmr3xreq098mu2 npub1r8lsve0d5yezxq52fjj90kwz76xcweyxlx9uwhsrpd6gt7uk4edscl4fdr npub19ljjj23d7fgy0gujlnh26a293p6uwawrrnpg7jlqfnhnard322gssd2rnj npub1u484zct2rxyknscgnnxrwpuk3f2j679x8tdysvxh659whv99g35saq9xjt npub1gpd868cejawju35epkayavfkqfuykt3820xe678m2vqfqj8v7ges2t4umk npub172fwxt8nnauv2c6leevl0rq4mk87c5vu4mm4fqef58xt390jqxfs6ua7vz npub1gmdrkx4lgwzyqr6krqyykg9r2kpasftuu2x98ncvs9xz9cjhfgcsxns0xz npub1sfzc94dhlkrj6m9tdkle4glyazhtajjsj9qhjv279an06nr74uvqzka6js npub18rdvxdw773852gyl4kjkr5xmg44p9l0jywdk6cq8axl3k9yh59fsu3g8aj npub167h7xtt7tkfvr9mn9d09s4u6r4l0y7rr355jpjg55lg4mpdghsasa9c47v npub1q4qjda5zm33743dd4mewnx6j049hgry7ls4nvh54clcnax3wsnzqv7c5lw npub1mjckw2qsqemdnhz7ul63vpcd79fmar49r8y7fh0tffva767yx07qq68xkn npub1ry2uv7qwu840qx4fg38zzfrl6dfgaudn6d8s7trpf3sj8nx0vaaquj5qrj npub1zqw2ymcy9txda2wzuka7yx6vlyvuwe7k2pldxpxxx660nhf65tusxzdcp6 npub1fjr0qa7rdhll7cfpgdcsz5nry2gy92u7a8gr0ku390n69865ec0qxwcral npub1wc4rc9wxl2gfzxl384g0cw3f79nrms0sfdpe02y7aasy7c3we4sqd0qywr npub19x5l76266vfen827fudaampuuupkejg9vls88hld8nv4w4sq59lsqlal37 npub1gc24vefdu60d3e3yxg8mhu52hxxpcykesk85y8mez8llj23kpehszdmu3j npub1u9ja9ymqmaw7mn9tnmrsnpx0f9j6hs59kxd9de363jvadjamzd9qg3ek4k npub1lzt7pmhvg7hl23emv22g4d7cs9jyglkqpr7lf3n8rcz0evkacg2s6n4jjf npub1p22hyejtr60rdrmjvql5k8fyv8lkq8exzw5mkkx3qcwqcu6979aqvhpqlq npub15p6p9l5upa0y0aj5nwf7lnud2regh00az9u4a4fmgyh8ukyue8kq7xuzp7 npub187dlu8g04kk8adc309vwn3lxsj63fmaty5vmdyrsvzx2fcxg70pqfszj4z npub1adfs8z9rlk6dzwm44522ge0gf367t6s6x30nrulp0xq6wsglyxssxqwyva npub1wqh4j2lvkd0fz342he0jr2d8eqrjwlqsv42azw6utqnpkrjv72xqylx32z npub1n9e2cy50jk900hdzvxt4cjhn80qwzxuer93aylhfdc76gwksr2lsqt36ww npub1styn4qvw4h4s92pcntrffm5dhe889h3hanwjpv66r4ue7gd3xutqk9hpc6 npub157v53ahyyxh4mp38v363chz9lrrw8um9m0tyhqzjujz8m4pmr42s9sk9u8 npub1alq86fku99p0rgq6s0cwwe9lsa8vdvu4d6r7d6j6cyuysf2r76hsh9tt37 npub18cvuxxvd2a6gt76etnte5vtws7a5a4xeqgt03qcs0u46nfws0vzskrnwu9 npub1mlu4qvm8j7gqamukz98l832ghgktyj0whqrxfx89625m3p30haqq5racjk npub1l8tlpvn3kka3nm2qpk96amsuy2kr5kl9eusd54fpn3yjnefrnpaq2j5t9v npub1jtnuszgjayga0pzvm3t7z9pantcnyxzacu30mhvw4dk0lkkvhxrsgvfgw5 npub1z73hklrdpa0n5z663mvnu0afxhlegpt5exmkg9u0nmd32ktqs7fq3prv27 npub1tshn5e5h0ud3l6vegwrce2er2tuhxangx4yvx4q04uheznxxgp6qg9dx2n npub136aeqeuum2t8cjgfnpxwfkgf5e8fd95h39uqkenrr6u0yl3upg9skvkfq8 npub1pkjyqg0am9qyjwg772ue4hhshaf6gwgz4psnptlg9v8lk6st2naqct3ll5 npub1kvzyrn6zvvdh9jnvfzc6e86s0zpntvg0e9f0v340e59u2rut99zsuq9fl9 npub168dqt5c8ue3uj8ynlk0lhwalnp7uy39lvzf9tm09wy3htxwmw7qq5nerj4 npub1cajs9cz6r43rmn0y8v8cgeuuj2lfhftvxcq05f8efc22hr5fnwmshx0pvw npub1uu0qk8f7xv7egc6tf9kk3mkx99u2leldgzz0trl77uymvv8n8ahqtd6309 npub1t8a7uumfmam38kal4xaakzyjccht4y5jxfs4cmlj0p768pxtwu8skh56yu npub10wlfumja930vzz4jhh9vc6t3wy8ay7thg8mt9qcptlp5leqfmazqn79ee9 npub1tx8wamjvhaqme29rujkd4v978ck8d3ud7gxa9zzqtjftpfn9p5vs27a2lg npub1e5pneqe2je07e5sk00g8urqa66eljg74t4llv4htp6vq5f8kv2zsqrtway npub1nk7gygwkcfpf9hdjhkgyqszcgwyzmcrqhd9tr7zzczkm5ga79xusmm5qjt npub1p3pna34zku4fqe9mzyvhhffladjjxcug7jn20wm5rnccpjezn4ks0zaw4u npub1j4vyl5kadajpgxh2wrnfk2wvg25jhnv78s0mrs6ckuhft9uzqe7s9wpcgc npub1hfg3tsmmp7g3u5cw6mzg0n9andehmgel6jug486eppsr0rqx4a3qlp7yfm npub1zks89kfxmxv0s4sa7rj8yyd6ld8ncsqusm993678vq9ut73hn7uqhmecsf npub1hzt3p8ap8s4nnqjhha37z5q3jdc9lfg90js0crmg8u5lncnaqpzsdn75p5 npub12em9q547gfga2tkhuzc65ufrn5h9ndu270d7xnh0nkcz2gtvq4sqwutpy3 npub12fh76ppgs5g2srtvgewe9fprdsk2y6g42wf0sg2y0ucjxqq9l0dsy5n8wl npub1arjgv76ld978cya3k6xz24nuxkuezuqrsmy73x0gaxdlu7pxv4lq8npp2g npub1zpmtwh0esa4esnc4p6rn5vhx7wcfw8z0ky8nzczj6k46drsmm47s0zzlyh npub156zse25dzgt65kq472nfkfpwgqvf6vuw8ur0s0ny7zmzw4xqd68q3p4sem npub1pwyy6rwh9smlurdmfg7yy2lce43jlv9ac7l9zay723dyfx4m649ql85u04 npub13j4jtgrm0dtsfzecx4khzz5a8ykgdd374qewewj0ksfmenps67lqz2yr8a npub1dmdlkhqnzmde0ultsq72hnn8h6gjfrkfeud4hecjg8fg8pugzctsjwqas0 npub1yqq7mwccr6wv7vmhehgh4n9kwn55r9gneydhdu6249pntguacegsjgwevp npub1u79u7zxlz2flmwpdt59xsvv5syreavzdyu9llkg07swtf24a4ayq5g0uud npub1eezyd5p7n9vse3yv5k8vh068dutpjf7d9zuk6azegeh5ypvp270qqr8fam npub1s0p3y6rvmt5m6jf6zt96kl0c80x0fy396d8h3cvtsxpqq7lf7wwsgw780n npub1kcf4p6e8k0rkjtaaghu765647z58qu0wfpgxnqptlwg2pm30skzsm2mct0 npub10uqpae32d6t4xhcgmzkc5gkna3hf9xclpzf3q6kfusz5q8j5ruqs5tdemg npub1jldq9dk8kgtlr3akv8re00znkfyzq59t0yceuu6q0tdfxzmusarsfxfunp npub1ksp960nd2vhxxp4lw7unnhujy6mknd0mpw2sh7xuj4m963a2u03qw776l8 npub188qkhpvqhne68rwu878jta5a8uh3vl4mcmfp44nppydfz0td9tqqa5h3cm npub1e008u7wmf0gppsnzupclhzh4mexp90addmdu0wu9glyk0y6msvxskyd3yq npub1crtd3zn3ek0cwne036s0xfqgs6ywuutqdcwxl5k4csv57jsmlgfsjq9039 npub1u4r4hx3y820p8g00u65tpggk2rd5qkd0d3ukt2yvgwyhcd0qvymqweyx75 npub18e7t2damcrfe60empcnye5z896wf9fk478rgrdcawvv23hqtd8es3yg772 npub1s5uqfqur0jlnp9z32ag90e9p5y60z0e8ruryun6u8gy9c38s7caqqqjxvt npub1q9fawsk02d7ffc47l92peuasy9q23ganvs00aqfagxz9rgk5g3usy92n3g npub18qhe55gump3d8ff2xzugpeaxkq6gfc498hr6at2jlsert0h9qkvqquqmve npub1cj9w34dn6nyazvhtq9srms5rf9rj4tapmqlwc5d5k3cwk34vy8dqewkvj6 npub1wvkx5ckpcxmxvc9wd0q576qssle3ed40c4z5rpetwy8fqssq8k3qdhh3yl npub1wnpc03cvexrv7tqnz4amk5zpyxw30nat3xav8nna89j92h25q53sls0g5w npub1938qus3z7jxs4u5x6gpyf7pwavnvnvrhmlfv2jqryy43qf0mdgpqlrtyfq npub1gnvha9zemx47e3paehu59ssqjkkpkc0n6ugdufmkl9ahgd3qhajs6mfs4m npub1cha5p8ytujflljhet2k34sctnqyl3n5w74wnuy7c6dvyv870twas9xnugj npub1h4d7986rjexvgaqsv8zm4s88dekkacs9uadtad6zp8n38nkdszysj45nmc npub1wcuv2wqn3uypzx7f98vavt2gqz4f4qkzm28fgj4qpwgj3yfjghks0patgl npub14hq5lgadtyy9dhvtszq46dnl0s0xwdddqr7e32rdqqhma8a4xhsspxjjzu npub17rzgm20v9hf4m2hemlau5fzepyanwd5h3zxc0wkwq7y38s3g8uqs49lrut npub1l5sgjcjruwec2y2lxd23vj34qe2kkxyqnact76tsq5kzdtcmke0s4cz0uu npub1ylw08gevzgvwasypcs2lvmssfqyt46xzgul7lwvkssm76ehgq47qrn4xxk npub13t2th7tr0uxwc8mfkkr5dqmfrg5hmmdfnfjfhs4z2xal9z6hpe9q6xn9ph npub1239p46pv99lt94yfzu4xkh4u3vqr2k7rnmcc8zz64p6m8g0mva8qcxr0hj npub1r2eehghv6syvdhezrlln25fnz90clgdkcagqw87c9r735zlnhuaq8dpvwp npub1sd5wp8ufsttwk3c575gnakufgaeg3x4f4r5d84pun9n09yr7zq8s735ezh npub18txjwp7dj9hjwk972c32sj5xmngnutguvtg2r66a3g5rgw2s88xq3799uq npub1247x2zmsp8e766cy39gkuzywfq6ea89wd6sgvuh8lywrrvzvdqtsv9573z npub1mu2tx4ue4yt7n7pymcql3agslnx0zeyt34zmmfex2g07k6ymtksq7hansc npub152wtu2y9a5wlz74v88ahls2xq0g493gz5jx0wat9vfgxqzjfzl6qdazlty npub18yyc9l68tk6zsq63wmnzf3862l3xfckds38tq44egwl5l4g0nqeszhj50p npub15rdytrwdsc62qmvsc28xhzdxs5u35utlexg3tc3mtzm23ka4hzmsthe64f npub13je2r5t0s4uszds4lc5e87n77xngluwkjt0hesduvch0vk206gcsa0d03t npub10jjcalyj6a67qfxrax2mwpmsnrlles6qhk23j0dyc76h27gag05syya4qn npub155kdyaltpxaek29wkeza9prkr0t398ayn24wlp6pg68z57s8l67qka6ly8 npub1uk5ne4u0ey8s8tg8czceg70yw9jlzvk74y804wd3vaa3ncm5l9tsl2cjqc npub1q09ysz8xhfe0x0n2y77u6xem9whtsk5hgswz7s0lrj9znn8eksqqzzpsyy npub1rm8uwmhs7s9n3jqzzd92mwwgr8gca4p9x0u8vu8m5n5eppqj88fstspqh6 npub1e8antmtxy0vs2pjd6kah99lpy44ztads4m0udpf07vauvr7larzsf76w9j npub1e0ngk7s4nygt46cpmdrc63f3mfgjcp8edxh0f8vpp6zd5hwax4qq0mykcp npub1rksqdj6tpjx4ddcyc9v3jw458u9y83hk789jqy2j8h58jusv0mgscx389d npub1q2f2nlq5kxthrcsww2zmytyzal325gsvrv0aeg8fqj54z4kyrxgsylesz9 npub100t4hmfxs467q3cwqd5f3sej9zhm2edd3kcn57hj0kag3n49geusm5zt87 npub13et8ay8ny99mygd8ymznczusrhfrhhzzs8jdlep9q98r8uway9asl62v4r npub1qeydnlt70d29q3axc3h5v3spfntl74jukw9r6zy9s8ms6a82mupqgnr2y5 npub1n9hr9s73atxmjm0muz45ghwutvf2kc00lq2fa58rm9y80mpdqxmq73mdc0 npub145cgkka2733cmxn86khjshwyxz6ahgjp0ek9gp3fc2k7y3penkqq45ccpu npub1z24p8ghllrl4jxyw8juggm3cfrpn8vvfxxsjzjj4tuaz0qfkeqkstnk760 npub1h6mtmjw2au827vs99zlykn0tdhm3hpyffjgnaq8fsvjzem430hesd3zw5p npub13u9wq6td5qvj2dajmkjplz0ytvt4j7zvuyjg6kl9xqt5wznqghvqrptnlq npub1x7j0x34k2cguw8qk07hlgtpcdd22k0p4nfmuy3sk53mw7n5p4dws97mh3q npub1rlgz4nrqjvy7skd640reu9f9ckv5gzg4dmheeuq4u9dux42t7lys88svf3 npub1j5peadcc3as7ht6tszt47z2z3rec5py39y23cemrs47czyfxddnsskqnav npub1ymjhm0kxwldyx3f599d0cjvpcwdyfw7rmruyn8m2qnfhlu8mn4mspdwhqk npub1gaqn62wk22gesxfczv4q30kg3e2f6cqzdml645rwdyas6uaz3wdqexzlgl npub1z9vh6x3h5d99wvrjxw036ehg27cc37837f7dz4lr933euzu4pt3qn5874u npub1axy5sgkdz50hqrt266cl95qp7e5n9q6qmxguj0ry6mhpmu23t80s9nvqug npub1yvjmvxh2jx07m945mf2lu4j5kswr0d63n0w6cjddj3vpkw4unp4qjarngj npub1993fqzsar7lydy6lc8sztj5pxzeckttsf7m7dzjpcfvuu44uavksdks9p7 npub16s7exzaa4le983mjvnw7jfatum0jfxqtpfk2uqdel3c4q97uqznst6hyar npub15mptsgelg8rn5tjw5ltmdy8vmglws4fulr0kaghpv7t2jj8qzjks2mecva npub1yjvs58t4tgnmn98m4y2s64jferzv77p037zmwed8wzdful29a6esyajtwa npub1ctmkhtvw7rwk425sm4mqx6ak86aama7c6z8yxczfhgkwfv2fq7xq4mcr38 npub1f9jys8kppch9sceykam7p7uecpyam7ajm87wrgnndhjtj6jlp5vqe7y207 npub1k67tmzt34d6klra3ykrhkpvu0y8g8rlzv0egpgrry0xxcauxqzestwyz59 npub1x49ytzhkslwq6680jqsng7dy79vh8alsqpapr73m3akn0qerhj3ql7s2w3 npub1m2us7cgdufhg30yw6kawugwt5slp8kh9ed88dn7q5gtq5y20f95s9s25vt npub13sdds5pcp344k5mhfch7ltc4a8737uxqw9c47wfe08kkrnm3rhssm60637 npub1qfamw8qmsekxxu8pj5kfa960sgwsc86wys84gqxkzkzld8e6hk3qtvv7kq npub1tsxemx456uadxs4nsqenmquvws53290eg2gejrhvx7w965c779mslf7pds npub1ymxlmrd2yd59g7x4uejzsgmn4xlglu0schl39m2mjx5nzfzl2hcs73hn6g npub1qd05jn0jxlzplx33xjtzstvgeus9dk9405kwqf79vu00czwyvghqf08md5 npub1n5sl69j0w6c79tut2anqf69tkfevr065kzjt4n2rv2gres3q45ysmnj5nc npub10qjw7zw8m6yq4sr53watq4u8y47eef28jsyd0tmyhyfy4pjhntgqva7d9t npub1k6n2ghwu0afld0tnl2p43q7wtu2u9hln6e89ruv9a2y5deej06dskek6xy npub1ax4szvq26em2klfqj6hr38009x6k6m7nhe2z7mq0xs4xszetxe2s6964q4 npub1645w5cevetsz2364mss575panjuaa5ffh89ax4tp6u7x0tr2xlhsc29g25 npub1ys9j7sws8vccfwjctlqu7kx2hlfmkcxmjxmdttfl29edxv6xgelqkaffe4 npub1h4fnky04vkfkyac8shhmy0fwkrhuha65c5ec2ggvv03zv7pm64ls9x5vag npub1ueenpne5qhkvr4l9rw3c2ls2f6lgm7gh7f7ssl73l5yqt7um6uwsyatgml npub1krcpj4r4gp28vswfc4gztr5gku58c2eyhll47tyz5y2hhl6jyjwqduv9mr npub125nh0nkr0czuzkpjkqvjwc7mxuuvusr4n7a3kthjyfeer70eac0qpy5lsx npub1qcr5atkc2u04wx80pdyfnnwrttrw0taaz8hst3qt573j44yzxcvqkl339x npub1x96qzppsymujfyzn4dmkl08qgcr3aw7f2tt0xlmgyudfaggeq7zsh0yghv npub1l56z85xvaplh3033l8h2x9thypamu0d2hyqnxkw0ujuntqm8asaqh99sza npub1wh30wunfpkezx5s7edqu9g0s0raeetf5dgthzm0zw7sk8wqygmjqqfljgh npub1kqd90mglkp0ltmc5eacd0claqvnayaklkvzkdhx7x84w9uavplxszvrlwd npub1ly9cmpxs5kyrhnc946rlxmyj397pvcp3606zgvh3kvukmqveaxmqgwdwct npub1papvv8nyg68m73wae3u25lvxw5wfz2htpzk7j85z8yng3xqqvntqc5n9vf npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 npub16y2de3wvy2xgj3238r8h8g96hwtqsfm72sxcfw2t4c5xfjwnm4ms5y8uyd npub1ln4q6lzdwzxnvuv0a2gnfcxrfhwyfpcrp8tj5a403mwptq8r8clsq2znta npub1e0jya9z5wu68dzgxqeg7gal9ytgwvr63evtchv4a4wr8u5dcvs6s6vfwgm npub158dcjddhtq29ezyd3j5qyc70xyzyzujg02kcrla706fs52zcahaszql9ha npub1gayzxecnek73hm695d8tu94n2q3xnlucu9gwr2zqnql090rkautqq7ne7s npub1hvtyspm7n7nea59lhe2fdvwd0rqw7de20fl365wklsg4jsmrpwrqe6yaeh npub1hsr44v6satu5qkjcua36u8a8ng7fhh9ljv8mmnhvkf0a6407nhtq2k4ths npub18s8ym4ajt3rfwa0yn39m70k603j8a7wkhylhewzcjhtfheu8dnrqzwv677 npub1zdwjkqtwkst8y3mjj848hjh7tuqwqp7uvcfxzrl43gyx2k7pkz2s4p88cz npub1xq0pc34qq99yawjxl7rsqx7wgs4x3088tkwwle5kz3jqwf0ggyuqxx5et7 npub1dgx9jmq5sn4w96qnrgps7f5egjfpu5npnswazsaq98ryafkdjucshaaej8 npub1s6ms8dqxc4s2e6yawg20lkrpk9dxazz9qsaernpxndc2axua26rsva6lha npub19rxp2h2c96h9y79nhsu8p9yn4f79k8q76z40v8x6g0j8mcmex7jsu4whlq npub1fnvuz4rad0sc6ueflq33kj242hqe65da40zug7u5nryvjdeg0xqsl4y86t npub1e2d8f64kaxepfqncve7gy72vam3h66vmfwaqnalekv8zmh3qar4sz34p0k npub1krahyq9me8aglq54cfffylgnj0sy0q02emv9zr4csc94kz3qajxsmwu7lj npub1qn8rpsky3t8v5dn30rycfwpktwclm544nlef98tg23drgk022a4qtzekjd npub14p529xk3dmtyqp25slasulxx5p6yu2js6lz0072qu77c54cz6pesq2qsuv npub1mxlypddvhxdatdjdh2twejz7d8lkf90350f2zhzcunhmu7pgw9yq9033ss npub18lav8fkgt8424rxamvk8qq4xuy9n8mltjtgztv2w44hc5tt9vets0hcfsz npub160mrpl505fmse22eue6v23k4u4z0yyw37hpf3j73z97jtq50rapqx9q0ac npub1ve32zawsazgn9ukyr0trw4u5zk5z9ravgq9g06ml4gfzuvuzrvyq2mfzr3 npub1c0dysexhhd09e65rvmeecx0dpn6c7lq4yp99f3h4ktnr4vvrez5ql3h0y0 npub1758748kzgkp5vrt2u8vdgx462kt9f5p2x84xwljm4svadq9xc84sl9yk27 npub1rg7x6lh3zurejwnhxljdh8td2uhnhucx3jhle565eh7x94aqn03qrwrm9s npub14nefrmsdvn72qq5f3zqpdsh068ufk02e3t79ukga457p0v796chq7xrakx npub1l04nl239dn9wps24a753xq38h3wtlaa7vxmqatf9y0g6vzae6u0s27vwl8 npub1mezldzxnv6lszd7vlh60k0cqgxca7s08x5akyvln9fhz58jyfzsscyepuv npub1a76u90rr5tfdn9vf3sg574g0vftz4p5vu5r9t57c9atpwt64jkps0h4qya npub18g9zwmrdjcf6mkz7zpavmcx46r3h9ydxv2urwc9kqvha7vzght6swffxry npub12y8v5es4g8ynms5495l448977l25puf39wj9has66f7yg8xkhakqn89g0n npub1gustav0kvwh9zlz22ns7y6utwt3s2747mh5s6ja7v622tl09megq9heczp npub1t62k7smt3nad7s3rzhkrcvzlmheerk8p3qrpjwj32c9lzfmz5ksqaegpck npub1cuvc5stpvpeljeveqlk9u6tp3z3qams2w9r3s72hy0ufxudlz4fqu3x5jv npub1g8henaumhfjngrkpp7g7urz420hdzcx2hnh9grf2r7g3sxtur6es8uucpq npub187c8yedmqmss7fxtzqya4vphfkazl04lvrz7cp5xghhwzjduc4rqkcwd0t npub1vg9lk42rxugcdd4n667uy8gmvgfjp530n2307q9s93xuce3r7vzsel8885 npub1nkl720g0fuvzt4dqm5xxjet2lnm95z5fv4k3jvgz5jhnvhe2lehs98d9kr npub1l74p0yq6uzce4v4ntvvj9zcx03rc75g8gn0ajsccxzwyunv9m6tqwjlh45 npub1tl2pwveluev0jcmm973x87qt0uy20hxnyrcwefxv3nkv9kpxmzgs5pl9th npub18zhn7vrv94vy26vsf677uyxxvs29t2da492xs3xnxl45sszvh5psw9vpuv npub18z4uprsemsf4tcxdnfc8q2esk36g5rleqp6mw9ealtn2kmv8pxjswswrvz npub1wl8u4wfqsdz5m9ey0vvzh4y05mcpk2lm2xhhpw3uzs3878c2mw9sr2ksxk npub1ejp9v82302mth0k3nlanyh4zm4tskvg9yk2hp5fjun0g7uc47n0s0q07vf npub103wzz5eeegcwzrchje02m4rcxqxqtz2rauefhdshmtzd9xjxxdnqm5kd9u npub1k9mx4t56d6jsm658mmnwv7uvxl9edflkelpu4llgwrlc220d9qlqcyhueq npub10x8de2sz6apxnju8wwtqx00sjkeqj22kcjjfajsa9hj77492hkhs4g287f npub1q24ugzmm8ptkyq3gwukkl680kyftmlk3cmqu49x7yy4zuv94a3cqlhw8ld npub13xd3wejhu3xy5hmzgd0ymc9apee7ett6my4xsug5ya0z2f650n4qaf9f8z npub1vxd0dfst8ljvwva2egrpc53ve8ru78v8aaxfpravchkexmfmmu3sqnrs50 npub1nnyqvvr992hn3umzgehppzt49vhm9u4vet9zhzks4wq2a34ehv6qm6wkx8 npub1467z25r4x9xj6xgrgsk6a9gytdy0qp8xuupplxyunzfp5esk2uys4gm0a7 npub1w48530djsgja5d63k27mr8krx3xg63qvrjhczfwqgtmml4kgxw3qpcfwvj npub1ymldfnyvl2u5efjkdlqhpjruhv345qtesj9jf22paxmgj50nfxes3k4wqd npub1mqn5acr09lls33wapadkdf27t9v87h22jf53c473wzpkgld6z7hs72mwzd npub1y7yvamgvwdt6h8skh5yf5phn25yt7c6qcpclgpd0nglsy3f5uu2qu47fad npub1q5jxvccuds9wmpqhr7p770y4ewqcfr2dehqarm5alhm4hpgvrj6qtm2qhm npub17nd4yu9anyd3004pumgrtazaacujjxwzj36thtqsxskjy0r5urgqf6950x npub1k2teldhmj7d53732ekcs5ta0qpjsj9fhwc2e5ve5wljqpxht5mfstxx3qw npub1cn4t4cd78nm900qc2hhqte5aa8c9njm6qkfzw95tszufwcwtcnsq7g3vle npub12xm5ax6rqp3n9n0lwlja22lpfuwc6g63a76p5kdxuszqnn4ut2ssj2k7jn npub170d8w0jjdcjuh70lq5ppr0pcy7cfuxj6hpr00tm4et3v53j8pvrqj0chu7 npub1fs3n5u75kmtfgzzuy5ms5qexchv7kz3altj7e2uzl79ygf2nn0nsv2sdjg npub1y8hsmp2pxadwf09g22zsjla6xu8hu4qttgcwte6kwrqkv70e69zqvtfqyr npub1rtjk5n3cgdepj95wylpy4h6etg2jel3erpn8px9wxys8tuueeeushu5jyg npub1m0lr5fdjrhhwxl7dev4h7c5yvruz2vp949tun5zmulxuktcm0fusy0gg5r npub1ur6emzgy0wrg5xyvtm7khy7a3sttv4jrhpcc3px6mp2z8pkxphwsyy6kg3 npub1efyfeevwrtxnmncs8767p66wxwulm0wd85cszksw6n6uw2qtca6qzfvgyx npub154efugcrxmttmnp5cfxpnhgwglvxswsxh6d84jcj0a865a7s4jgsrrun7f npub16erzcypvccc08a6z6l6gw830zj7m743ah3gtc85rcjhfqmqjccksce7jej npub1jpxn8d3x0p8cdxvxzafpcpqwsfnvgntywhgne9w085fzu2mjjw7qldgdg0 npub165llzjv9ux2s3ezx5k6l4mzhvly9n8gyzhx5p7v4499heee4w4fsvhnu5w npub1mcgm982av268z989lv9h23f0w733wxecqhjjw5l4dvzdjgl0gu8sdss2v5 npub1z3adf0m2c2mul0vtpru4f5uzghn746xyf2udxv63de2ckcmg697qqmjnvn npub1520n32u3r68qtlw5nykxegtxkdt09rpk7h52laectc4qvdcde34s2u9qsw npub122fgydglyvhzr753e0l6k092x8h5k4ev0g9v90lpgje597srk6gs420cc3 npub1xngvle6vzkusezsxs35kgulf6s0usjxej3qvs4kczezy6q0war5sxmumdn npub16umw99z8jm5r55neprqmvlrsqzwklernxnczam2xu5q5fwjaj2kqttgcvd npub12aa8fnjcp84epqtmhtnc4w2fah9tfyrews76nd8hqltpedf4l75s5x6lg8 npub12mllp29adf2fw0eeahmseczcu3y4625qyn3v4uwfvkpzlshnmj3qs903ju npub1l8qw5av3039qhefprytlm7fg8kyyc0luy8yk2prk2l8wc38gf86qzw7nnm npub1nwrrty92erpe8th9wv4u9l9f20pqqh872kwjmejc6mu9hfnzumfqk5fua4 npub13qhkp54f8w0vgql3lqukvk9pduhef099hx0azmzupuhxevjayy9qsfg266 npub12jyfh0sy02ku5p3zg6hhfvph4zphl3y5jqfk9skaqa59z7pmfh0qqyn9mn npub1t8pha5vxkct4mlhskzz4pshvwznsma5646nmzz5gcth06mth0hfsuleyrc npub17ptx9z8mnyw2vd8as0nyh40gtvyydufme8peweh72ax9kpxrqzxqmnsxpq npub1lzh4pgufkx4xq675fujac9mmxs5zmf8ffucetgp02vep5eae3acqwez9kx npub1gnrfjvjmu3jucpmkvj6ptmdxcj766hwcrekjeuzlwtcqrqmyszvs3pr7lj npub1gazxqfx8ldqkgaldz3hlwed2h3nwzfmwavkxp3s9j36qhfzeladsmfe0a3 npub1xc5c7srsajcem7s8x0sndqsu6yqe36xzu2kdnu0cky353x6tkreqx4lsgg npub17kytlyvd28tvpz9u8z2mrr3pq503pmvtv46qskjccfch9vwqhadsregenj npub1vcq8nv3lctr8ctk2dp7h3e0su4f7gklgx4dlm2375l6u69hvuh6syj3d9l npub1v6xa5avwqkyqwzmfhu0ul4cm892txq4jnxmxsvgt5pnralqj9upsnmsnu4 npub1m986jhedeq7xxe8ukxc3dqwqzcz0ue9fra6m0t2zpvp8yezkeexscz7ena npub1yftkt6shs2fls0djxzww2nc7t96x6uxq490qw860ssfda755pc0q6emnz3 npub1rl5s8caaq8vsjfhxnmmmguxryug2f2has0kg5gzedepzle8quncqn9patu npub1ucsl4dgwslalsgje4es7jefqexlsf678wrhvu8q59e3djzgl7krqf2hnad npub1hvzkl03x7z8fews3cc5h99mxtze83rwxunre2687hcdy0zqn0cssnszrkx npub1q884swxynxp5dt467g0v3gk6t89tgd3r90pgdwcvxtlnjf2l3jtswgwvcc npub169jj88ry88e7f6cmcngcz8mu67ak6q6u2pgtcae6wa4ju00z8gts8hac60 npub1ahfkmjuzqcngqule5c4eq3cucxd65dpkp0sguzzsr2duxwlx9guq86x8en npub14xcy30kssvtpj29f40rk2kk5d2heumaxnz77ahkuejwepqngy9nsewgz0e npub13jpmntdr2k04x76f0c76syf3za42esn2nnd6kumc2cwyltmtje0se6mvqj npub1us9tzl0zc0ggfqw6348wyctck7mmh34w0hpn2rs236akusx7ltjq5s8gtq npub1eykpylvevzagq8jm8jutf2pmjnnelmyuc56a66v9g7ttcth5kfsq6vllrz npub14r294afl5jqgvj4hlfpj3dvyxenxh4vuhepn68zdurcas5r5xy2q5ydufe npub14n46ruge3mmv72xeyjw5zl4cec6dykrme78plmm0zmpnclcptqzq7kct5u npub1yvw87p6d2rmd3lqdp3c6npjhunpra9huxnl8c30rxjw8tnwd292s3jusa9 npub10agmu2vwed988jdxs8cewppw5jvk0xtvh9vdyguttuhugu930fdsdcsdp4 npub1gyu3h0kmqmecf6044q5r88vu5vtf5u6rekh9yazxrtejfexct0lq5zpudc npub1kstv7m2flm703dmufltz4l4lkm3pptl0zdqjvkx8ap3aagttkd4s8d5pa8 npub1rc56x0ek0dd303eph523g3chm0wmrs5wdk6vs0ehd0m5fn8t7y4sqra3tk npub1mlf37lk424pxrstpdhxqp04v637kjyashaj4ea73gfz86yr4gdzq3mjtav npub177xlld4katf3aardam7qpu88l0ttvyde739qcvjdjynweqnncuqqvxmfdc npub1ykfmyfwtanmhvp06wn3ggwm0gl0v5v2ftmnkmhz6swl2x4ur9udq7ld2fy npub1a5pl548ps6qdkpzpmlgkhnmh2hpntpk2gk3nee08e5spp5wzr3qqk7glwn npub19gskj4eqgjgjrwjw5zhu9rddnrqfq59slm5fa5a9crun9wm2qlyqccyh6h npub1ujxurwzpfrxsprf0urqfxpp0qpm2yrpneat4udg7e0v560nzw3asml0d9z npub1ep6wcd256kvsdxey2ylycrpvmf9wnsqvg46kzqrhuw2akxj020kqvkq9hc npub1pumdyz7qfu0suamv4nrl0vcg574dtl5mwazva6nyjxhpwc4ccxxqca3ane npub147d47sem878zwqln7k9y8y3273v29ase4r7lk5yeta62xk3t739qu5n8zd npub18jzu9qrrmhhwk57zqhfffymy7hq8vrncxnvl0sutu5y2lhr456sssgsesp npub1wmnvcv3ycqmtfsysmrnkyckja8dc9nt5sgf60rrel339v8chtgnq4p5w26 npub1tc07sk67d2rs8x90fpg9x727ulzknw7xjyk4lds7pkzauw2tqntqpzs9dq npub15h8pr8t0l6ya275k42cwwhrfu6z6vk6qydkdn55p6wn4f424s2qsasdczc npub1l0j7srkgmdwy8839st2hn8f9utlgh9vtrm04jksh8tsu32h5vpms9k7zqa npub1p9auvqfn3dtrjnwkhxdvvk6xn3tt8aa2uv4dh2af42nv9z8nh0msrjvmhp npub1lnjp9d8xz5zguufe257vtx59kgjuxxufv0fjnplwcfncvpc7vahscraxv3 npub1mhp87q9axdlwh9ac3p7drg9z764mxwe27xvxm7x704l9dykfy9xqrgmxdq npub1253ehcqxctt4ps8kjfmhqje965v8gtzn7c6gtq02c3kqvtxmsx4qv9my05 npub1gk0yyk54t6ptq5m7hygy8rvc98pq9zz5uhusz9ht6yxcpmvsr59qg5ptts npub1828ey4s37t3dlwjmgsa05zafvdlsfsa3lu5vlk5cdx0a3zppv7nq987tnk npub1h6h3jwx3fvz9sanmg5yx6rutmggsnz5t09t795yf4jk4dqsfyq3q47kcxr npub1cw2epa68jpmy384t7vn0suvd3mxnk5s02ap6fcwg0x6jqy4lhdpsfg84uq npub172g2zwq6vkerg02urweyt2daa0huavn6ghcr4gxt93lmhvnzan0snuwkc7 npub1awwrv77yu0x9rvuaq55ppntc52rhxt0w9t32zkyw2jszvmgsqnkq2f3lpm npub12p25mnqkunnhup0sk6ky0vvtq5pnkapezx8kh689dv2vl2wnp2vquyfw5s npub106yj5wlntf5els6w5cw3gwmsgh4yu7vs0lrpw4c0uzkq3rqmkkgqg7rgpe npub1a4u7yc39v6fvr48a3skz9gwdzl76hf499mk96x703nzc23mdqq2qe84e0k npub1fc72tcwhr5fhcmcczzld6femwd7d7uhqwjw8rp5w9enxj52xjqxsmpgv04 npub14h5r077z3edgts6wl2me5vk52x5se6nnhry0ldfzua872ggcxw9slkd3fd npub1xlngepdt5qz752x9423gnvj2gk92j55qsdhm7mrtmju7x36pwnxqg4sypx npub1rl9wszqmsqduzjagewq302qfadjy4mt5vw5zvm8xdamvp3d0nm3sr88s7e npub1ayvrrlpygam2ruyx2lhtkvgjc53wjd3vvvs0ysjqh3pwhryaju7qd60eq3 npub143mkh6lvtrha7w7pjw32ujkljc9ell9wpyvd707nahqy0rt62kws4wlyhl npub157rwfe8a4gffdcx5ca56q2qsvpp3z757674lkwca5ud9j9pdcnaqct6p2h npub12z3w5jynqn3pjt73kqz6wkueygrvt57qfwgxy5u5pmn0uqutdwdq5jpd8w npub1zfrc4u0dnph8flpqar5r5lv3gpn7qafhlh35zpcm8e6ex4k24snqhx69js npub1rvww8nakj7rgz59jdqlswdmvjn0cd46q2h4y00wuaquwyn383fysxlpyxt npub12knmfzy88xpc4dhuly50tlhcnar07c4pd3w9pfpd4lnssmwhvtrsgq2ez4 npub1705am22u3tep8vvdwkqex0jm9pazhmqqyxvaqzcnv76m53xed0xqeetuva npub1q0k8epddegnec4kj0j3rew9yel0jsrp82sd2new0zy3m9pcfgqas4r5yp7 npub1fcj3en06ajdm09y3twytsrnd9n7yqayt9e9xuutqdrwnqu85t6nqt7rz5p npub1jvej78jr00s94gdyct9md9x2ljtjr0jhej5c4mm7cejp39dwgu6slkmju6 npub1mp0jgd4gaj5hhw99lfwxufl0k50m398jcneqsp940sjzz32skmzqw5uuat npub13u8pyc0azav54a9gg0py5khrmd8er6ac55kvag72h43r4q8s7nnqsqsy4t npub1ajan43fcllaxc589juls8pef90cgdya0p0en38h55fal42nlgkrsvltfdv npub1pvn0tyrrrv86xpydzq6ppeyyuh3zut263m82emdfmydn37qa6x5qmh8khc npub1pfx4fj43y5j27ywgj02axnyup0eujtk3g6r4ug2n4nvfsa2kpl0qwvtah5 npub1rpx2y7u00jmsvwt8zlkztajmk3e5se89vhnswsz4suuyg4a3fx2ses6lkk npub10jhpwcdsc6mrfs8audcdds2x5txdagru9835f3drthzaumxurduq6esrnm npub1narc0ect9jf0ffnvcwg8kdqlte69yxfcxgxwaq35eygw42t3jqvq4hxv0r npub1yrffsyxk5hujkpz6mcpwhwkujqmdwswvdp4sqs2ug26zxmly45hsfpn8p0 npub10ua5vjul7d3rvvzg2psvhk36w7gpx8zn8xncqw773l4hnf0pkp4qccymjg npub14fzrwpygf69t0e9snrk2ms7ltn8u4dnvunl6d98zkrgdzf256exqa3j6rj npub1x8vkne5rx99wzup65m7gpmhmgsa80d3dscp8hafrwj70zxzkyexqttjd5x npub1643y7m94wwu30awq5djh7lkqj48evpz944yetgzhssmykkh93zlsz22hhs npub15pkupvdv7hmcjumlrx5yjmcwy2f9fl9fmsa9mx7qjlau8k59rxusq2v0ny npub15wnjy9pfx5xm9w2mjqezyhdgthw3ty4ydmnnamtmhvfmzl9x8css6kt8fs npub1saygqd4rdf8edlm3r45cexr97zndj3254lxyz9dejjlztscvndcqhcky0f npub14neap59th00w9keu9uffpal72dxyex5u7vc8pwsuqrdxes2mkrascnlukg npub1nyzep3atafwfrnq7346dmx7kjhqsrza936rnvnlkv25fzd09gxpqw3gg6v npub1chgzxyqjnvv7ryuf095cswtym37jummaqme42dfez8q25h4l734s9xdl08 npub1gp0cpreej8amtmmd4zn72hvgr4d4tgdhg3vpe0m4yxzqz7skg5eq47jmuc npub10gp3mv09aet40plum7f4pllyc8g8u4thq8mkkwymdcct3schagvq6fuh49 npub143jqpdq583jd7t4ucfkr9wzug9h3904vcng0vymyley0dx43vv8ssk2gc7 npub1z8y57drslgthaefkvya7kmqcdm9c20uutz336j9hp4frkrg32nwq9g4ju8 npub12er2cnsfzc3d5ceggpjazwx9a5cwna4atxslkwe8975lp3fuy6gs6s36tk npub1cpxjrlnhfmcclcsly5c0dvrgvl5nsctzxpp4s9f2nh4qeq50mwsq4089fc npub17dhclpvjmlkhlgkh04sc2296wj0veae79fq8dkwr5efvlz6vt79qgyqztn npub1gm7vxd6yjqsjx49ddqgyflllpjuhduqch79jlp07upsh3uf6q47qsm4xlv npub1d8h26etwdx6ws4afflra7reqwtvjsm7u8zn7jz0w5q0ah4tgx3rsga3axt npub18trgdajss33u25jvk0g2yv6lxr7s7k2dlkkku6eqq7m4hrc6aazshusdhj npub17s290m08ukaz9j3nhyuj5w2zyxtdzdqvrvsgv65c7ckcxshjrxrs6wnfhy npub1jlu3zyj7f2hacdrrmy7jpny9f7nnvuxt2flrasjtmgut90502xqqtsx4rf npub1vwcy6na4rcx6r43fqyxkhzzdvqufctnx06ywvrnajmq9p3mu27yqxy04ch npub1ea35pc7pqg2uvstspd0ljlu09t580qc942n5eevvmkrv6huchffspl8087 npub1jxl2tnvnv9gycsy64aze295c3a529lx5sfmzlktf5lxuw805g5wqew0z0n npub1l885a986vy3sj3watelhdwea74jxhy8688ju4h2c8wz2e94tcd2sl7qjy9 npub1uy7tnhwxsr0tc8eexksandgcct5wtua2xazvl2gfyy5n86p9sdvq7nwdzc npub12wm6zfgan2v2jc5tknkjsj9d64qfk6y4ggu32f9tgnu0mpuz26uqctkvly npub19hvj2zeg7ck8cj2p2az5y0gplllhgzzdu0khu5fhnpfmum5jspeqqcdjej npub1cqykgt4enf0ce9v36kjzugx94l6tp8dd5k8ktfgga9ahgs2mzess82r6sm npub1th77tvx7c3l9qgxql4grcllh9qahyfvz65ruplrf6kh0sfzuya0stmendl npub1w98zr2sevkqle6lmt7u503ewclhzs2cdq94ke4mw7kmpxy2u9y5s6fe9yy npub1c999aq8sl4fmw8an6hfj5lfhuneqc35seffqs6938hxajr2jq6rquyvp6l npub13tnrml3s46xswsk8l2p4tv8cdmnpkvrk4p32828jwce7puefc0kq8jlf2d npub126v86pztd6emjtkwxe8jj8sa8f0m9wcavsd4j0raemdxksegfg3qfaan6r npub1uz9f979gqjj0ymul0kqq79g8gtelwe6rs276jm7qnaffmn545h7suw6nhl npub165h57grx6hjw0grfcw805srfxl53ggcsl3mmhagmp7rg8x80ehasytgw9y npub1re764kr23sa6d2ld6fhukthcwgnwvsrahe92zq42kpdu3lm05sjqwjchtt npub1m0l0harjth9sses5h0r2slf7l4wws4clgt88s6n23ct2kd2xdkusf8nqjj npub1a8w23gjnfv0f0qzjpfeqg7yc5ddf4c8m8jks50l84lrv7h52jhgqq734am npub178p8fw0spjry5824n5wv96rfre8lq4r30ysyctfspzy97n3tl0nqcg5hzj npub1yhyc5znlka36gx496q2lmqhyttlef7lpkx790vjmsh2xfacdeu6q9zu2sd npub1h7mp8nd39hzxywqdl28rm2du9j2jhcarmsmakmulm6z7fc4lx6eqqaxh7q npub1dvqg5278etemtvxl59ahcey8cywrcl0krhpu8dt9s70mgwjar3jsqh5ywp npub1dpm87jq8zpgrvq2thr80chmjjrj0tww7q3hx9kq7wpzq2aayqxdq9a76um npub1l506tlst4adydg0tkshynjw6dsk5ukjvpzr67y9vas8v3nzxylssq6p0j5 npub1pe493zu4ax53pthcsfff7uehwppc9w6peashtyu972ey2szdeheqxcfk5k npub1kuxfh7e9fds89qzzzfjrh6c80d46jstqnm2q29wekyykr4mk0zvss3yn27 npub1gwx22vu2yzm8eq95nvvmgvpax04u96gq4r8rgqqf9pgsheu2lz4q429cus npub1n8ahhlw8trcpwkqdcetl5pgqvrxcfvgrtj037zlflrnqymq5f40qhnwpd9 npub1ujr9zwz8h7xtkvp4pn6aslguqvks43h8ej2z2g86snff0h4xxmuqjzcwy7 npub1vm4s0uqkydaqzt44dyt38p5spltl6637sxrfxswmr6k883f5a0ds8taxyl npub1zqvtnvxrdpg5vwh5alpx0m567092m2ltynqxlk004976tgc6syqsg9rcv4 npub1ld5xqfflwy6txghaaef2d4rnyzkvwvz2crncmtvhq93xxsqvzqtqzdx4yp npub1er2xa679095y03xlcmycgg4r93nluqpluye44h0ndxdy6k5uxcdsqwtqkf npub16jde9ylpry7pyau6svgqktdes242ynfk9snfafh8gq3r3fj5xfus44xm32 npub1zqgjtt2ayahsuxzp3cg7h8qwt6ev7phz9x02ktc0gdlwz70n23nsla0sph npub1h9c96qqmcupyvtq30d0xvp97h2cx966gz8n55cqgd24hgzvz047s6hxyd4 npub1h955atshn3faxg5r40p4achtxg3q832h0agjn24sf63tnkg5ezfq0fnr0n npub1ker60jkxmxjmft468v5wzth5757v2end6wzd4xn67jyej8taj4zsyp7tqy npub1ddjzjva20mwp9xals7v0nh3devvjewevkkrqrsglyhnwa59ctswq6kzdys npub1wtvrnst9hus9pvz3m95pusfjzq4z5zly3w4lehulh6xc8dajl60qsrjg5a npub1hl07ukzg0xk7gj6ejr5k5e6gmakt9tnu5r07f543ce6e7sa7dc0qv0kcun npub16dana9qsfpf48ccyqwvl8jlw6k5u8adly9ph76z0ftrs88lf7vtsrzlu5s npub1fyd0awkakq4aap70ual7mtlszjle9krffgwnsrkyua2frzmysd8qjj8gvg npub1saessfmtu5xwnwh60e0rwnj0e067npv6yxgc7d96algqqart056s5gkuqh npub1lylzl87mst3swjtj97j8aajyfmaqctaylgw9et5agyp3rl42y5as87k86d npub1z324cpkjv9ay5fanw7rex5847dy7h3ndvaej2hy2vmc7r8c35res3x2kje npub13zlwh0n00pja6dkw6htamu6sl8668hpgr45y5lnmnmvt92g3laysqqsatw npub1u2ukfds6k42qwufd9xd5l535lxt3g2zet9rmmlhagtjxg6t8e6asmx0w6c npub1ezeah83hkpsguazn70rmkmfwh864wdejv7h7q7tsuq46wquelelqu8fr7h npub1pvuu3ms6vlu7lmysggjuuz6ctsuyjdmy3uhlywg7jxdewvtr7rgqakhnsl npub1vny9x6jl2cmvhva8m9gq05z0vf2tar3vy72503hvuru0pxtnz2vq9v0fyg npub1s9s55cwl2m6cd5czukune4y02gecrn7m2tukj8zt4epheaqlk7wqsd753t npub1qvwpwvdvq4hckarg9ekldnvzza0shka85fk24uuh606vhg4l2grsuw808l npub15ksrns0fw4l8heral0hst3szmvpka67a94xxjcm3ddlpx7hcn7eqhwfkrd npub1zkrdvkmnx0sv7d8hyd0ma22lfvvphhd33d0qs3sg7lrtrv0xdv9sa7gy52 npub1nknxhegrddacazt8sax6cr2h0r9sht6ajmq3s82vjhg54ey2rfhsumhe3c npub107swly8y0ert2upsevqk8fqw9tvacfvuygw55qcv4s2eav6f0axslhmymt npub1a9a2l7jqqxa9mwrw034lcnuhcsncg905sl03ava49md55t4awewsvvzz87 npub1yudjcmkasasju6znprl3rpyp39xa3uk4g6sfrv3wxestqsehs3eq7z5f8r npub1cy3a6gug0t4jrl8plq393cjjxwtg6cewcuek0n0hkww4h567dnts0ft0dy npub19jxz6jynvhlwzmfyhmn5tzymdff0zuq8jkg2mq268a5045f6favswaxu2q npub1uvx00x8svjwma2zhddwpthyke6zc3rrxqg5gj8mxdjv77zvwmz2qgw603z npub1ewe3r7x8qemdh7v30gndpamgrmu0k6nu4twyt62r6ukvkvmpgkls24272j npub1deexjnst5g52wh9kmqr4hy3wzhh0gspujs2nc6m0l892rzj788uq5gcpq2 npub16qsq63pgxyw5vz6847y9w4cau0fmvhykw7uy04p50u5muulc6kwqn706mz npub12cfje6nl2nuxplcqfvhg7ljt89fmpj0n0fd24zxsukja5qm9wmtqd7y76c npub1nu0yladm9rr6wsz8w3v995gcxl88vqcdnp8uv3zp3xk978d3658s8kvmhm npub1dn5cj3n85c085yqry7wle93uhrqtkf9m2zwqgt8c233js0lt9ugsdr7zzt npub1vudm0xsx4cv3zkvvq7k5836tnkv64q0h7uudnwujr4a4l9zc2p9s0x8url npub12c68tkshmelhtrd7ye5fqg3gwttd33ly7gzxkwh2u4qt008nu7gstf7x0p npub1dc9p7jzjhj86g2uqgltq4qvnpkyfqn9r72kdlddcgyat3j05gnjsgjc8rz npub1dmqa9kg8nke7fc88p760zd8crrqupl4w5lflhgs0jgh4n3slmdjsql67zc npub13q2vzsfemle9cpxj875tz0vcwqe6r8sy05fd62jcd3xuxjeqj6ksze4xl8 npub16merj2xt59t43djfx8vf4fzhc6nd4v9hlsv8ej8xfl3327yr3vzqu8zjt4 npub15dqlghlewk84wz3pkqqvzl2w2w36f97g89ljds8x6c094nlu02vqjllm5m npub1kqnfgpzt3jxh69ma394r0azyurd6h3dehpw7lzvl0vv3n7kv4a0s3305z2 npub1g6jjgu06nctv74e96u84jux6vxm3ezncjh7tyquvm66jug02xvzqmqu08l npub1efk5xdyrs6e4lqfm7crut2ssdnhu54d9egswq6smt62v0llj37vsprp0r9 npub1j2gc7kt42rwf5q37dmm2k29rqxscdqt2vyfn0xgju32v329jfpdqmkq0xk npub15lymwv6mdpdc3j8zxf3qzq33j2lyntst9v83ukqpa0tzkdtae28sgef05j npub189ts86gs5xw5w2mcz0na5vkz4cseam7jnkjwwqswrj56v9x776lshjqa8m npub1cgf0yeja9tlkfq248l09hkf4kfjfyaup50laen46ucv8gf0puy0qlpxlh5 npub15r0z9mrt0nxzq5fzxysqusm32r9krljq8gh55xnavdyllk6gdxjsj36uc5 npub1qa0lj0jktem67zaazrvpgrf23qdcj3cw9u6j5ct55mg447tqnftshv420v npub1yxfjljjd3apsrvzlkww525jfvdsvuwcs3n23wpmy2txtsppzvmtsgxur33 npub1gv8juwhat4xkl734q684n6vvv8sn5k2dvm8a0wnckyw50zajdvhse8rd3j npub14tj8zkwatnjq4rlnruj53676thre3uss9tg8e23a6w4ewuzus60qe4qg6r npub1ylf8w68g5dkfqwjpdvsy42d2cwqnajswrhz323chsc7gnz400chqfmzdm5 npub1rhgqj4urjf5uw9y3npnvvst2hhmcdqghd26fzwgc4s5ptkq24d4s2525ja npub1lzmdnlsaysc5m040q5q8nlgmquldtxzgllegsg6z2n0engaxwp8szsswed npub1vr3860267yxktugg5q034j9xh3xjaxnlawvas6wqa5kw6zxhgcdq6u2yzr npub1q6ygq585gcs2m6egv67yv3a036jhry8zu93wk2uk68e3smdafl5q4sl54r npub1vy0g338hw6w6rn2fsv5s92nx47u6gle8v50ypxwj6k2hsj9p344s95e8r5 npub14k0ws2m8f5jfrae4a7smtmwgx0quhhl58z4rpd8hs9ar8mlx78ys0seswh npub1qahmtyz5pr385kqmvxqf0a4004cx6ncvnj2829rvjf0rs5ujanhs2ssgvv npub18wamvs6p7dslshavd24kv2gy72e5jck9lgm3f3e3f8udja3ramcqvrzg6q npub1njtezc8lznuj5ws6yvz6x324lzn2ct907s8vlwnxqph30m0gqd0qvpvr07 npub1vgppgksgzs7je6xueqqvkpn4gqmcn3nl96famz34zfhqzq286mdqqmecmx npub1w6nj3y6wsv9kfjev4jjdghsg9ajcjq2gtec4qfpmgcmkzljl4yps8r0gwq npub10l6udyczpjzg4wcer9mje4zkcf2hhus8cswhycwaxfanepc7fz6s0q7u4a npub1cwevvvcurkfg5wjtnftret2j7ldv4lg3x35sty0pm546p6jx0g8q9fa055 npub1v5t0xmnrcap5rah8cm8mrqkp0rmuv4mslrlm3ldwkr39fzy56mas7wvr3f npub1w2vm583yvalnc02ngh6rxhn4ekp8m0xysmrzr6s7ufdwmu9r9qxsqdg0ng npub14va2v0yaprmt0nn0qk7ga6jujfk6pdrfwv0kxj76a5ymp8dfdy2s5ehfdd npub1ztdt0nvu8324tg40g4ts8d6englps8w6574zyq2gkdvcrx364y0qd9x9za npub15qskvuagmaznzc3pea7vxh0890ycfzxxdx537gef5wl6cunan3tsdkld4r npub10vmwytmy0pypy2c0f5zen8auvl7ku5dnk53vaw3ddplw2fl9r9wq4hmr5r npub1crqgm8qg9kplm9rlwfj7uxdzdtanq6rfu9unkt4ckd8r7fn7q36s0az8tt npub1x7fj44hzhjdcw2jwpylllpdgeh9yqqt7fg35ucfaywnw68tctv7qntw8qu npub1rj46xc5tssyk67ma9sslqqt90d597uuqx6v7tprv8alt9enk6v0qyvgn65 npub1y9a3x4e4zf6fu2w0cyyx9r2pmm6qtzrv4sallyznflamhplz3jyq0gq7gp npub1ukm78z9nzr0vnq7nqn8tvx95htttj2f48n99n9nqlky547rwzyrqk08am8 npub1p93m0semtesnsm2fjjd0p5kwl8gpwdqsnfq920zqyhfcc3j4nddsygyk5p npub1rgtl4ay7dcnud25enknv9230r3u5dmu3h3c7mj38jamrz4g3vf8qj5cszy npub19ajcupesc6zcpt0tlg6jv2l4w6wnpx985x735445fvla4w9zqqkss69s06 npub1kpyx8lxklwtd6n496rqgu8kq2k3yh2svlzr5sz3jlxlnphc6tcwq8kllrw npub1sg3qz6633ajzfg7w9ptmk0hf8ckl9jvv4zh6ttxt39jne36wnpnqyzk3vn npub1h5e0y6r2tagu4cygnfggzcfrt4afarvcvvcgqmpzyv605g4n89nqhlf2e2 npub1n6rffa4wqh3hcuurlf298dx8j59wxkmjth87adc7ektxnmpgxwgszk7scj npub17ml9y86nfg65h68pumfkclr3ay24pcfduu06j2jfp4pz2yjcpcjqv04fu3 npub1rkz86wjvey3vgdy2pau5ulpzdmxyzq4g8xp9cd3tu6kqmzpqcppseazx4s npub1c664gerrwlc3rlm6nnm73uc2kjyd0f7zaellshxyfdrludtmcf4q3adztu npub1zp0ys9ysfyrjvuxpwhvyevgphkmluynreun7fg2jeuu9xtsjwa4shlqhhn npub1fp0w2jd6e9l6pd3akr630d8gkcn39t2vep7u3ac5265fezu2fnvqjxpa2s npub1jz8k5nl4978lnhghlzeenp3nmfyvykqw5pjp620jj5qft8vqh44qp6pjk8 npub18vay956v7zs5qtgc65mvn54v96cuvqv6j9fmu4cgfjqkt5vjuvjsc47nzf npub1kgpnq8ycudaq8d7fym033hgdarz3ktvcws8nxt7p9rnfv98j7cdqftrga8 npub10wdzfpdpgyzxj8a4xtf5dux5z8065pan7xrcjh6gd6plj39qzycssepffr npub1ew3rlwvtmxw903gnqx92zar5dcyd47pjjure7ut2wngyz003ff8q0x0frx npub18urkgk8wrf0esedp8gy57670q5qxry22yce7rwrnvvrur736p3pspy6upf npub1pp8mxtdgamg65wfvrtp56v5lnyvv2kmx45cxd5m9dgcdjqqy5ysq5qasy3 npub1y5vlh9z98stts0rc5mlufellseuwjtyaa5jhewjqugnzdwt7yvgs0ydryw npub1gcxzte5zlkncx26j68ez60fzkvtkm9e0vrwdcvsjakxf9mu9qewqlfnj5z npub1x0r5gflnk2mn6h3c70nvnywpy2j46gzqwg6k7uw6fxswyz0md9qqnhshtn npub1lc6c4ukssmuf678py7k6thmlk8c4a52l9zx4thec48ve2qmcdqys22jt95 npub1h28yvj0mj692wpwruqdhyjngcfh4la7gaygrent6a3wwqjxcah7qnt92e7 npub16g85fanyh8sq48yjfq0smqm297yw76yxlcdvjq7hkuvm7xjjhn5saads2f npub1xc2plng44tlj2smv65e53sf3uaqf56c5gajktyu8zxn2p70jrxcq230nt9 npub15l8sfm30uwns8qrcajs99narc4ex65ujt5sky4zx3dpjhnnk2szsqu40n5 npub126u9v4tqg79hxx569wyq207q68j4vn4yme8he007kqfg36va8r8s4qvqs4 npub1stv2q4hwrk6ggvw3hxju8hjakly4ev9wt5tn8gnl9cpaqt8799yqj58ygn npub18yffjalmcfn4x0x0jpj3xm8g6vdx8rp2jd4dhnpr7e3xpemxlmas9w0q8u npub1wmmlxqv8l6aks90jvnetvwkk2hqd7pmqzk8hq6v0tkjrpqdvm8tq0exs5c npub1z8v0x60ukxsk00zz5s2uqgvlg6p8dhunnz3fn6wtnw48xg7p3wvsgmnduu npub1vukz6scwfq55vqjpv3z52theg0lwkrz6kncwc3rfkczl3ukafsfqfnw368 npub1kujyqe2m5w9895kfx7agwjag0xperd0efnxzfellux0xuj5es28q09lucn npub1j3tn5wdn82tmlgvcmhtm0fwzqpwx86pdgr3538rh7asdvkas2ktsqlnxpf npub1g7tavhda0yc8857nj22feuytgxskg4dlpfyql6r2d99egajrss7ssq730z npub1fsyfqrleejgdmck8rxd64wkhdefjthu6lgm8eg99r9xxsl9hespsnmfhvv npub1mevkncsv484u9nue4apgl6ue2644x4m57y9cmztnvwpvs0tnduysg3vdsw npub1a2mj00469ng4xy87nucds99e7m5djh4pe3rpluvhcnaat48gpeysj0gy8v npub1ggfzdxa8xrrzhaut6venkrmjtw8wl25y6l0wramkc7d4dlyaflzsxxrfcq npub1f945c6sqw2d2aqktvjrjtu9uca9wdd6ua5e0a560jak90rr5ha0q3tj4cx npub1x3j34yuj6d9ln5ryuw0ncy97aa6ttc5wwyxqwvjrz7mg039t6l5qd4ewrm npub1d0jucp5jqt799kjuqxzs4cj377tew43dpcr60fzyvcltc5jemtcqryyvcy npub1m6keqpkqfp0uzxdzm2q0rdw6pzxuln98rzla0zzywwdzgcyw2rpq56p4d8 npub1p8ymvhgtsyhyqk4y35xlup20trde4pa69pxf45hdxc74zdkyhfvq3narwh npub17n7fe8p607xgzj2hzft5dsqvsus7mm3y0ceq0ta9a30s9akatq5sqh9y58 npub1he7j4yt7ad6kd07ynqk9qmhfqflw642qkjagqvn2eektqrl90fcs6dlraq npub1mryqu5cffjqpyykvmfjx3js8j0m0850v56dx24lhyqgf2uhl5npsk9xj7y npub17natddjkmse4z8frh7ysynwtzanzmvs9d76c5r53546wsnzs25gqfdeqey npub1ywcw97xsl93l0mqmdpshqx4yu507xqa8zy8p3l8vrkgkek90wm7qjhp74e npub1d9f66fpawpeyrdh9jkyccfdgut6u9ghufwly5gyttfy790mp88sqgx5v98 npub1cx5js2ma5gf7fqn7yv8sjtezvg3agfth7yyxhwywtqypkat493ksjm7yr8 npub1ykrmhyqc0mjhdf5mzuz37g3jkt5ma7v0uesmuyvhueaqs5ysfres02hqjd npub13k3ynlhc2ret9nvzamj4cgrnq9fx3uzyx8ral84tjtk5pmxqpcysdzrzgt npub1jdaa64eyuql4hd0244mp7z7n82egpmt2d79ny9avjufkpm5gz46shcdfng npub1ne99yarta29qxnsp0ssp6cpnnqmtwl8cvklenfcsg2fantuvf0zqmpxjxk npub1klwact0ar00r9uer7tzh2zq0ytx3f552tt8qavszdhvu6vpv3uzqwpkjqz npub124rja8qp7dartasr9wdh3kk78phxunzhmq8ar5ryd2anj2qwtcnsz3tuhs npub1c7kdmhhae7x40q8zq9eudgqm9wgz0q3av4nrgaqe2qqphqmqvczqhee447

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

Prelude

I wrote this post differently than any of my others. It started with a discussion with AI on an OPSec-inspired review of separation of powers, and evolved into quite an exciting debate! I asked Grok to write up a summary in my overall writing style, which it got pretty well. I've decided to post it exactly as-is. Ultimately, I think there are two solid ideas driving my stance here:

1. Perfect is the enemy of the good
2. Failure is the crucible of success

Beyond that, just some hard-core belief in freedom, separation of powers, and operating from self-interest.

Intro

Alright, buckle up. I’ve been chewing on this idea for a while, and it’s time to spit it out. Let’s look at the U.S. government like I’d look at a codebase under a cybersecurity audit—OPSEC style, no fluff. Forget the endless debates about what politicians should do. That’s noise. I want to talk about what they can do, the raw powers baked into the system, and why we should stop pretending those powers are sacred. If there’s a hole, either patch it or exploit it. No half-measures. And yeah, I’m okay if the whole thing crashes a bit—failure’s a feature, not a bug.

The Filibuster: A Security Rule with No Teeth

You ever see a firewall rule that’s more theater than protection? That’s the Senate filibuster. Everyone acts like it’s this untouchable guardian of democracy, but here’s the deal: a simple majority can torch it any day. It’s not a law; it’s a Senate preference, like choosing tabs over spaces. When people call killing it the “nuclear option,” I roll my eyes. Nuclear? It’s a button labeled “press me.” If a party wants it gone, they’ll do it. So why the dance?

I say stop playing games. Get rid of the filibuster. If you’re one of those folks who thinks it’s the only thing saving us from tyranny, fine—push for a constitutional amendment to lock it in. That’s a real patch, not a Post-it note. Until then, it’s just a vulnerability begging to be exploited. Every time a party threatens to nuke it, they’re admitting it’s not essential. So let’s stop pretending and move on.

Supreme Court Packing: Because Nine’s Just a Number

Here’s another fun one: the Supreme Court. Nine justices, right? Sounds official. Except it’s not. The Constitution doesn’t say nine—it’s silent on the number. Congress could pass a law tomorrow to make it 15, 20, or 42 (hitchhiker’s reference, anyone?). Packing the court is always on the table, and both sides know it. It’s like a root exploit just sitting there, waiting for someone to log in.

So why not call the bluff? If you’re in power—say, Trump’s back in the game—say, “I’m packing the court unless we amend the Constitution to fix it at nine.” Force the issue. No more shadowboxing. And honestly? The court’s got way too much power anyway. It’s not supposed to be a super-legislature, but here we are, with justices’ ideologies driving the bus. That’s a bug, not a feature. If the court weren’t such a kingmaker, packing it wouldn’t even matter. Maybe we should be talking about clipping its wings instead of just its size.

The Executive Should Go Full Klingon

Let’s talk presidents. I’m not saying they should wear Klingon armor and start shouting “Qapla’!”—though, let’s be real, that’d be awesome. I’m saying the executive should use every scrap of power the Constitution hands them. Enforce the laws you agree with, sideline the ones you don’t. If Congress doesn’t like it, they’ve got tools: pass new laws, override vetoes, or—here’s the big one—cut the budget. That’s not chaos; that’s the system working as designed.

Right now, the real problem isn’t the president overreaching; it’s the bureaucracy. It’s like a daemon running in the background, eating CPU and ignoring the user. The president’s supposed to be the one steering, but the administrative state’s got its own agenda. Let the executive flex, push the limits, and force Congress to check it. Norms? Pfft. The Constitution’s the spec sheet—stick to it.

Let the System Crash

Here’s where I get a little spicy: I’m totally fine if the government grinds to a halt. Deadlock isn’t a disaster; it’s a feature. If the branches can’t agree, let the president veto, let Congress starve the budget, let enforcement stall. Don’t tell me about “essential services.” Nothing’s so critical it can’t take a breather. Shutdowns force everyone to the table—debate, compromise, or expose who’s dropping the ball. If the public loses trust? Good. They’ll vote out the clowns or live with the circus they elected.

Think of it like a server crash. Sometimes you need a hard reboot to clear the cruft. If voters keep picking the same bad admins, well, the country gets what it deserves. Failure’s the best teacher—way better than limping along on autopilot.

States Are the Real MVPs

If the feds fumble, states step up. Right now, states act like junior devs waiting for the lead engineer to sign off. Why? Federal money. It’s a leash, and it’s tight. Cut that cash, and states will remember they’re autonomous. Some will shine, others will tank—looking at you, California. And I’m okay with that. Let people flee to better-run states. No bailouts, no excuses. States are like competing startups: the good ones thrive, the bad ones pivot or die.

Could it get uneven? Sure. Some states might turn into sci-fi utopias while others look like a post-apocalyptic vidya game. That’s the point—competition sorts it out. Citizens can move, markets adjust, and failure’s a signal to fix your act.

Chaos Isn’t the Enemy

Yeah, this sounds messy. States ignoring federal law, external threats poking at our seams, maybe even a constitutional crisis. I’m not scared. The Supreme Court’s there to referee interstate fights, and Congress sets the rules for state-to-state play. But if it all falls apart? Still cool. States can sort it without a babysitter—it’ll be ugly, but freedom’s worth it. External enemies? They’ll either unify us or break us. If we can’t rally, we don’t deserve the win.

Centralizing power to avoid this is like rewriting your app in a single thread to prevent race conditions—sure, it’s simpler, but you’re begging for a deadlock. Decentralized chaos lets states experiment, lets people escape, lets markets breathe. States competing to cut regulations to attract businesses? That’s a race to the bottom for red tape, but a race to the top for innovation—workers might gripe, but they’ll push back, and the tension’s healthy. Bring it—let the cage match play out. The Constitution’s checks are enough if we stop coddling the system.

Why This Matters

I’m not pitching a utopia. I’m pitching a stress test. The U.S. isn’t a fragile porcelain doll; it’s a rugged piece of hardware built to take some hits. Let it fail a little—filibuster, court, feds, whatever. Patch the holes with amendments if you want, or lean into the grind. Either way, stop fearing the crash. It’s how we debug the republic.

So, what’s your take? Ready to let the system rumble, or got a better way to secure the code? Hit me up—I’m all ears.

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

You don’t have to be a type designer to appreciate what goes into the design of a letterform. In fact, even if you’re just a humble graphic designer, you should have a basic knowledge of what constructs the type you employ.

Typography, for all its concepts, expectations, implications, connotations and artistry, is, ultimately, a system. Just like a body has bones and muscles, every letterform has parts that give it shape, rhythm, and character.

If you're a creative working with type, learning the names of these parts helps you communicate clearly, better analyze your work and others, and design with precision. Everything comes down to a foundational understanding of the anatomy of the letterform and its essential component. So let’s help you with that.

Pangram Pangram Foundry is where the art of typography meets unparalleled craftsmanship. Established in 2018 by designer Mat Desjardins, Pangram Pangram has swiftly risen to become a globally recognized independent type foundry, admired and trusted by industry peers and the design community alike.

Read more about the anatomy of fonts at https://pangrampangram.com/blogs/journal/anatomy-of-the-letterform

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/978828

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Steve Jobs sent me an email saying “Great idea, thank you."

Wait, what? What was the great idea?

new guy at NeXT In October of 1991, I was a new Systems Engineer at NeXT. NeXT, of course, was the company Steve Jobs had founded after leaving Apple in 1985, and which eventually merged back into Apple in 1996. I was one of three employees in Canada, and I think NeXT had about 400 people total.

NeXTMail Mail on the NeXT Computer was pretty amazing in 1991. Multimedia! Fonts! Attachments! Sounds! It’s hard to overstate how cool that was compared to the command line email everybody was used to. Every NeXT user got this email from Steve when they started up their computer.

That message included an attachment of what NeXT called Lip Service, the crazy idea that you could embed an audio file inside an email message. Crazy.

i have an idea

NeXT automatically set everybody up with a first-initial last-name address in the usual way, so I was shayman@next.com, and the big guy was sjobs@next.com.

A few colleagues had somehow acquired cooler email aliases - single letter things, or their first name, or a nickname or an easier to spell version, or whatever. Turns out NeXT had set up some sort of form where you could request an email alias that would redirect to whatever your real email address was.

I also noticed that even though there were seven or eight people at NeXT named Steve, nobody was using the email alias steve@next.com.

So late one Friday night, two weeks into the job, I figured, naively, what the heck, nobody else seems to want it, so I filled in the form asking for steve@next.com to be forwarded to me, shayman@next.com.

In the back of my mind was a vague idea that maybe somebody would have to approve this. But no, it all got set up automatically, and …

Continue reading at https://blog.hayman.net/2025/05/06/from-steve-jobs-great-idea.html

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/978825

@ c066aac5:6a41a034

I’m drawn to extremities in art. The louder, the bolder, the more outrageous, the better. Bold art takes me out of the mundane into a whole new world where anything and everything is possible. Having grown up in the safety of the suburban midwest, I was a bit of a rebellious soul in search of the satiation that only came from the consumption of the outrageous. My inclination to find bold art draws me to NOSTR, because I believe NOSTR can be the place where the next generation of artistic pioneers go to express themselves. I also believe that as much as we are able, were should invite them to come create here.

My Background: A Small Side Story

My father was a professional gamer in the 80s, back when there was no money or glory in the avocation. He did get a bit of spotlight though after the fact: in the mid 2000’s there were a few parties making documentaries about that era of gaming as well as current arcade events (namely 2007’sChasing GhostsandThe King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters). As a result of these documentaries, there was a revival in the arcade gaming scene. My family attended events related to the documentaries or arcade gaming and I became exposed to a lot of things I wouldn’t have been able to find. The producer ofThe King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters had previously made a documentary calledNew York Dollwhich was centered around the life of bassist Arthur Kane. My 12 year old mind was blown: The New York Dolls were a glam-punk sensation dressed in drag. The music was from another planet. Johnny Thunders’ guitar playing was like Chuck Berry with more distortion and less filter. Later on I got to meet the Galaga record holder at the time, Phil Day, in Ottumwa Iowa. Phil is an Australian man of high intellect and good taste. He exposed me to great creators such as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Shakespeare, Lou Reed, artists who created things that I had previously found inconceivable.

I believe this time period informed my current tastes and interests, but regrettably I think it also put coals on the fire of rebellion within. I stopped taking my parents and siblings seriously, the Christian faith of my family (which I now hold dearly to) seemed like a mundane sham, and I felt I couldn’t fit in with most people because of my avant-garde tastes. So I write this with the caveat that there should be a way to encourage these tastes in children without letting them walk down the wrong path. There is nothing inherently wrong with bold art, but I’d advise parents to carefully find ways to cultivate their children’s tastes without completely shutting them down and pushing them away as a result. My parents were very loving and patient during this time; I thank God for that.

With that out of the way, lets dive in to some bold artists:

Nicolas Cage: Actor

There is an excellent video by Wisecrack on Nicolas Cage that explains him better than I will, which I will linkhere. Nicolas Cage rejects the idea that good acting is tied to mere realism; all of his larger than life acting decisions are deliberate choices. When that clicked for me, I immediately realized the man is a genius. He borrows from Kabuki and German Expressionism, art forms that rely on exaggeration to get the message across. He has even created his own acting style, which he calls Nouveau Shamanic. He augments his imagination to go from acting to being. Rather than using the old hat of method acting, he transports himself to a new world mentally. The projects he chooses to partake in are based on his own interests or what he considers would be a challenge (making a bad script good for example). Thus it doesn’t matter how the end result comes out; he has already achieved his goal as an artist. Because of this and because certain directors don’t know how to use his talents, he has a noticeable amount of duds in his filmography. Dig around the duds, you’ll find some pure gold. I’d personally recommend the filmsPig, Joe, Renfield, and his Christmas film The Family Man.

Nick Cave: Songwriter

What a wild career this man has had! From the apocalyptic mayhem of his band The Birthday Party to the pensive atmosphere of his albumGhosteen, it seems like Nick Cave has tried everything. I think his secret sauce is that he’s always working. He maintains an excellent newsletter calledThe Red Hand Files, he has written screenplays such asLawless, he has written books, he has made great film scores such asThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the man is religiously prolific. I believe that one of the reasons he is prolific is that he’s not afraid to experiment. If he has an idea, he follows it through to completion. From the albumMurder Ballads(which is comprised of what the title suggests) to his rejected sequel toGladiator(Gladiator: Christ Killer), he doesn’t seem to be afraid to take anything on. This has led to some over the top works as well as some deeply personal works. Albums likeSkeleton TreeandGhosteenwere journeys through the grief of his son’s death. The Boatman’s Callis arguably a better break-up album than anything Taylor Swift has put out. He’s not afraid to be outrageous, he’s not afraid to offend, but most importantly he’s not afraid to be himself. Works I’d recommend include The Birthday Party’sLive 1981-82, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’The Boatman’s Call, and the filmLawless.

Jim Jarmusch: Director

I consider Jim’s films to be bold almost in an ironic sense: his works are bold in that they are, for the most part, anti-sensational. He has a rule that if his screenplays are criticized for a lack of action, he makes them even less eventful. Even with sensational settings his films feel very close to reality, and they demonstrate the beauty of everyday life. That's what is bold about his art to me: making the sensational grounded in reality while making everyday reality all the more special. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is about a modern-day African-American hitman who strictly follows the rules of the ancient Samurai, yet one can resonate with the humanity of a seemingly absurd character. Only Lovers Left Aliveis a vampire love story, but in the middle of a vampire romance one can see their their own relationships in a new deeply human light. Jim’s work reminds me that art reflects life, and that there is sacred beauty in seemingly mundane everyday life. I personally recommend his filmsPaterson,Down by Law, andCoffee and Cigarettes.

NOSTR: We Need Bold Art

NOSTR is in my opinion a path to a better future. In a world creeping slowly towards everything apps, I hope that the protocol where the individual owns their data wins over everything else. I love freedom and sovereignty. If NOSTR is going to win the race of everything apps, we need more than Bitcoin content. We need more than shirtless bros paying for bananas in foreign countries and exercising with girls who have seductive accents. Common people cannot see themselves in such a world. NOSTR needs to catch the attention of everyday people. I don’t believe that this can be accomplished merely by introducing more broadly relevant content; people are searching for content that speaks to them. I believe that NOSTR can and should attract artists of all kinds because NOSTR is one of the few places on the internet where artists can express themselves fearlessly. Getting zaps from NOSTR’s value-for-value ecosystem has far less friction than crowdfunding a creative project or pitching investors that will irreversibly modify an artist’s vision. Having a place where one can post their works without fear of censorship should be extremely enticing. Having a place where one can connect with fellow humans directly as opposed to a sea of bots should seem like the obvious solution. If NOSTR can become a safe haven for artists to express themselves and spread their work, I believe that everyday people will follow. The banker whose stressful job weighs on them will suddenly find joy with an original meme made by a great visual comedian. The programmer for a healthcare company who is drowning in hopeless mundanity could suddenly find a new lust for life by hearing the song of a musician who isn’t afraid to crowdfund their their next project by putting their lighting address on the streets of the internet. The excel guru who loves independent film may find that NOSTR is the best way to support non corporate movies. My closing statement: continue to encourage the artists in your life as I’m sure you have been, but while you’re at it give them the purple pill. You may very well be a part of building a better future.

@ d360efec:14907b5f

🚀📉 #BTC วิเคราะห์ H2! พุ่งชน 105K แล้วเจอแรงขาย... จับตา FVG 100.5K เป็นจุดวัดใจ! 👀📊

จากากรวิเคราะห์ทางเทคนิคสำหรับ #Bitcoin ในกรอบเวลา H2:

สัปดาห์ที่แล้ว #BTC ได้เบรคและพุ่งขึ้นอย่างแข็งแกร่งค่ะ 📈⚡ แต่เมื่อวันจันทร์ที่ผ่านมา ราคาได้ขึ้นไปชนแนวต้านบริเวณ 105,000 ดอลลาร์ แล้วเจอแรงขายย่อตัวลงมาตลอดทั้งวันค่ะ 🧱📉

ตอนนี้ ระดับที่น่าจับตาอย่างยิ่งคือโซน H4 FVG (Fair Value Gap ในกราฟ 4 ชั่วโมง) ที่ 100,500 ดอลลาร์ ค่ะ 🎯 (FVG คือโซนที่ราคาวิ่งผ่านไปเร็วๆ และมักเป็นบริเวณที่ราคามีโอกาสกลับมาทดสอบ/เติมเต็ม)

👇 โซน FVG ที่ 100.5K นี้ ยังคงเป็น Area of Interest ที่น่าสนใจสำหรับมองหาจังหวะ Long เพื่อลุ้นการขึ้นในคลื่นลูกถัดไปค่ะ!

🤔💡 อย่างไรก็ตาม การตัดสินใจเข้า Long หรือเทรดที่บริเวณนี้ ขึ้นอยู่กับว่าราคา แสดงปฏิกิริยาอย่างไรเมื่อมาถึงโซน 100.5K นี้ เพื่อยืนยันสัญญาณสำหรับการเคลื่อนไหวที่จะขึ้นสูงกว่าเดิมค่ะ!

เฝ้าดู Price Action ที่ระดับนี้อย่างใกล้ชิดนะคะ! 📍

BTC #Bitcoin #Crypto #คริปโต #TechnicalAnalysis #Trading #FVG #FairValueGap #PriceAction #MarketAnalysis #ลงทุนคริปโต #วิเคราะห์กราฟ #TradeSetup #ข่าวคริปโต #ตลาดคริปโต

@ eabee230:17fc7576

⚖️ຢ່າລືມສິ່ງທີ່ເຄີຍເກີດຂຶ້ນ ຮອດຊ່ວງທີ່ມີການປ່ຽນແປງລະບົບການເງິນຈາກລະບົບເງິນເກົ່າ ສູ່ລະບົບເງິນໃໝ່ມັນເຮັດໃຫ້ຄົນທີ່ລວຍກາຍເປັນຄົນທຸກໄດ້ເລີຍ ນ້ຳພັກນ້ຳແຮງທີ່ສະສົມມາດ້ວຍຄວາມເມື່ອຍແຕ່ບໍ່ສາມາດແລກເປັນເງິນລະບົບໃໝ່ໄດ້ທັງໝົດ ຖືກຈຳກັດຈຳນວນທີ່ກົດໝາຍວາງອອກມາໃຫ້ແລກ ເງິນທີ່ເຫຼືອນັ້ນປຽບຄືດັ່ງເສດເຈ້ຍ ເພາະມັນບໍ່ມີຢູ່ໃສຮັບອີກຕໍ່ໄປເພາະກົດໝາຍຈະນຳໃຊ້ສະກຸນໃໝ່ ປະຫວັດສາດເຮົາມີໃຫ້ເຫັນວ່າ ແລະ ເຄີຍຜ່ານມາແລ້ວຢ່າໃຫ້ຄົນລຸ້ນເຮົາຊຳ້ຮອຍເກົ່າ.

🕰️ຄົນທີ່ມີຄວາມຮູ້ ຫຼື ໃກ້ຊິດກັບແຫຼ່ງຂໍ້ມູນຂ່າວສານກໍຈະປ່ຽນເງິນທີ່ມີຢູ່ເປັນສິນສັບບໍ່ວ່າຈະເປັນທີ່ດິນ ແລະ ທອງຄຳທີ່ສາມາດຮັກສາມູນລະຄ່າໄດ້ເຮັດໃຫ້ເຂົາຍັງຮັກສາຄວາມມັ້ງຄັ້ງໃນລະບົບໃໝ່ໄດ້.

🕰️ໃຜທີ່ຕ້ອງການຈະຍ້າຍປະເທດກໍ່ຈະໃຊ້ສິ່ງທີ່ເປັນຊື່ກາງໃນການແລກປ່ຽນເປັນທີ່ຍ້ອມຮັບຫຼາຍນັ້ນກໍຄືທອງຄຳ ປ່ຽນຈາກເງິນລະບົບເກົ່າເປັນທອງຄຳເພື່ອທີ່ສາມາດປ່ຽນທອງຄຳເປັນສະກຸນເງິນທ້ອງຖິ່ນຢູ່ປະເທດປາຍທາງໄດ້.

🕰️ຈາກຜູ້ດີເມື່ອກ່ອນກາຍເປັນຄົນທຳມະດາຍ້ອນສັບສິນທີ່ມີ ບໍ່ສາມາດສົ່ງຕໍ່ສູ່ລູກຫຼານໄດ້. ການເກັບອອມເປັນສິ່ງທີ່ດີ ແຕ່ຖ້າໃຫ້ດີຕ້ອງເກັບອອມໃຫ້ຖືກບ່ອນ ຄົນທີ່ຮູ້ທັນປ່ຽນເງິນທີ່ມີຈາກລະບົບເກົ່າໄປສູ່ທອງຄຳ ເພາະທອງຄຳມັນເປັນສາກົນ.
ໃຜທີ່ເຂົ້າໃຈ ແລະ ມອງການໄກກວ່າກໍ່ສາມາດຮັກສາສິນສັບສູ່ລູກຫຼານໄດ້ ເກັບເຈ້ຍໃນປະລິມານທີ່ພໍໃຊ້ຈ່າຍ ປ່ຽນເຈ້ຍໃຫ້ເປັນສິ່ງທີ່ຮັກສາມູນລະຄ່າໄດ້ແທ້ຈິງ.

🕰️ເຮົາໂຊກດີທີ່ເຄີຍມີບົດຮຽນມາແລ້ວ ເກີດຂຶ້ນຈິງໃນປະເທດເຮົາບໍ່ໄດ້ຢາກໃຫ້ທັງໝົດແຕ່ຢາກໃຫ້ສຶກສາ ແລະ ຕັ້ງຄຳຖາມວ່າທີ່ຜ່ານມາມັນເປັນແບບນີ້ແທ້ບໍ່ ເງິນທີ່ລັດຄວາມຄຸມ ເງິນປະລິມານບໍ່ຈຳກັດ ການໃຊ້ກົດໝາຍແບບບັງຄັບ. ຖ້າຄອບຄົວຫຼືຄົນໃກ້ໂຕທີ່ຍູ່ໃນຊ່ວງເຫດການນັ້ນແຕ່ຕັດສິນໃຈຜິດພາດທີ່ບໍ່ປ່ຽນເຈ້ຍເປັນສິນສັບ. ນີ້ແມ່ນໂອກາດທີ່ຈະແກ້ໄຂຂໍ້ຜິດພາດນັ້ນໂດຍຫັນມາສຶກສາເງິນແທ້ຈິງແລ້ວແມ່ນຍັງກັນແທ້ ເວລາມີຄ່າສຶກສາບິດຄອຍ.

fiatcurrency #bitcoin #gold #history #paymentsolutions #laokip #laostr

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Past week summary

From a Self Custody for Organizations perspective, after analyzing the existing protocols (Cerberus, 10xSecurityBTCguide and Glacier) and reading a bunch of relates articles and guides, have wrapped to the conclusion that this format it is good to have as reference. However, something else is needed. For example, a summary or a map of the whole process to provide an overview, plus a way to deliver all the information and the multy-process in a more enjoyable way. Not a job for this hackathon, but with the right collaborations I assume it's possible to: - build something that might introduce a bit more quests and gamification - provide a learning environment (with testnet funds) could also be crucial on educating those unfamiliar with bitcoin onchain dynamics.

Have been learning more and playing around practicing best accessibility practices and how it could be applied to a desktop software like Bitcoin Safe. Thanks to @johnjherzog for providing a screen recording of his first experience and @jasonb for suggesting the tools to be used. (in this case tested/testing on Windows with the Accessibility Insights app). Some insight shared have been also applied to the website, running a full accessibility check (under WCAG 2.2 ADA, and Section 508 standards) with 4 different plugins and two online tools. I recognize that not all of them works and analyze the same parameters, indeed they complement each other providing a more accurate review.

For Bitcoin Safe interface improvements, many suggestions have been shared with @andreasgriffin , including: - a new iconset, including a micro-set to display the number of confirmed blocs for each transaction - a redesigned History/Dashboard - small refinements like adding missing columns on the tables - allow the user to select which columns to be displayed - sorting of unconfirmed transactions - Defining a new style for design elements like mempool blocks and quick receive boxes You can find below some screenshots with my proposals that hopefully will be included in the next release.

Last achievement this week was to prepare the website https://Safe.BTC.pub, the container where all the outcomes f this experiment will be published. You can have a look, just consider it still WIP. Branding for the project has also been finalized and available in this penpot file https://design.penpot.app/#/workspace?team-id=cec80257-5021-8137-8005-eab60c043dd6&project-id=cec80257-5021-8137-8005-eab60c043dd8&file-id=95aea877-d515-80ac-8006-23a251886db3&page-id=132f519a-39f4-80db-8006-2a41c364a545

What's for next week

After spending most of the time learning and reading material, this coming week will be focused on deliverables. The goal as planned will be to provide: - Finalized Safe₿its brand and improve overall desktop app experience, including categorization of transactions and addresses - An accessibility report or guide for Bitcoin Safe and support to implement best practices - A first draft of the Self-Custody for Organizations guide/framework/protocol, ideally delivered through the website http://Safe.BTC.pub in written format, but also as FlowChart to help have an overview of the whole resources needed and the process itself. This will clearly define preparations and tools/hardwares needed to successfully complete the process.

To learn more about the project, you can visit: Designathon website: https://event.bitcoin.design/#project-recj4SVNLLkuWHpKq Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/903125802726596648/1369200271632236574 Previous SN posts: https://stacker.news/items/974489/r/DeSign_r and https://stacker.news/items/974488/r/DeSign_r

Stay tuned, more will be happening this coming week

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/977190

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Past week summary

From a Self Custody for Organizations perspective, after analyzing the existing protocols (Cerberus, 10xSecurityBTCguide and Glacier) and reading a bunch of relates articles and guides, have wrapped to the conclusion that this format it is good to have as reference. However, something else is needed. For example, a summary or a map of the whole process to provide an overview, plus a way to deliver all the information and the multy-process in a more enjoyable way. Not a job for this hackathon, but with the right collaborations I assume it's possible to: - build something that might introduce a bit more quests and gamification - provide a learning environment (with testnet funds) could also be crucial on educating those unfamiliar with bitcoin onchain dynamics.

Have been learning more and playing around practicing best accessibility practices and how it could be applied to a desktop software like Bitcoin Safe. Thanks to @johnjherzog for providing a screen recording of his first experience and @jasonbohio for suggesting the tools to be used. (in this case tested/testing on Windows with the Accessibility Insights app). Some insight shared have been also applied to the website, running a full accessibility check (under WCAG 2.2 ADA, and Section 508 standards) with 4 different plugins and two online tools. I recognize that not all of them works and analyze the same parameters, indeed they complement each other providing a more accurate review.

For Bitcoin Safe interface improvements, many suggestions have been shared with @andreasgriffin , including: - a new iconset, including a micro-set to display the number of confirmed blocs for each transaction - a redesigned History/Dashboard - small refinements like adding missing columns on the tables - allow the user to select which columns to be displayed - sorting of unconfirmed transactions - Defining a new style for design elements like mempool blocks and quick receive boxes You can find below some screenshots with my proposals that hopefully will be included in the next release.

Last achievement this week was to prepare the website https://Safe.BTC.pub, the container where all the outcomes f this experiment will be published. You can have a look, just consider it still WIP. Branding for the project has also been finalized and available in this penpot file https://design.penpot.app/#/workspace?team-id=cec80257-5021-8137-8005-eab60c043dd6&project-id=cec80257-5021-8137-8005-eab60c043dd8&file-id=95aea877-d515-80ac-8006-23a251886db3&page-id=132f519a-39f4-80db-8006-2a41c364a545

What's for next week

After spending most of the time learning and reading material, this coming week will be focused on deliverables. The goal as planned will be to provide: - Finalized Safe₿its brand and improve overall desktop app experience, including categorization of transactions and addresses - An accessibility report or guide for Bitcoin Safe and support to implement best practices - A first draft of the Self-Custody for Organizations guide/framework/protocol, ideally delivered through the website http://Safe.BTC.pub in written format, but also as FlowChart to help have an overview of the whole resources needed and the process itself. This will clearly define preparations and tools/hardwares needed to successfully complete the process.

To learn more about the project, you can visit: Designathon website: https://event.bitcoin.design/#project-recj4SVNLLkuWHpKq Discord channel: https://discord.com/channels/903125802726596648/1369200271632236574 Previous SN posts: https://stacker.news/items/974489/r/DeSign_r and https://stacker.news/items/974488/r/DeSign_r

Stay tuned, more will be happening this coming week

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/977180

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

I want to see Nostr succeed. If you can think of a way I can help make that happen, I’m open to it. I’d like your suggestions.

My schedule’s shifting soon, and I could volunteer a few hours a week to a Nostr project. I won’t have more total time, but how I use it will change.

Why help? I care about freedom. Nostr’s one of the most powerful freedom tools I’ve seen in my lifetime. If I believe that, I should act on it.

I don’t care about money or sats. I’m not rich, I don’t have extra cash. That doesn’t drive me—freedom does. I’m volunteering, not asking for pay.

I’m not here for clout. I’ve had enough spotlight in my life; it doesn’t move me. If I wanted clout, I’d be on Twitter dropping basic takes. Clout’s easy. Freedom’s hard. I’d rather help anonymously. No speaking at events—small meetups are cool for the vibe, but big conferences? Not my thing. I’ll never hit a huge Bitcoin conference. It’s just not my scene.

That said, I could be convinced to step up if it’d really boost Nostr—as long as it’s legal and gets results.

In this space, I’d watch for social engineering. I watch out for it. I’m not here to make friends, just to help. No shade—you all seem great—but I’ve got a full life and awesome friends irl. I don’t need your crew or to be online cool. Connect anonymously if you want; I’d encourage it.

I’m sick of watching other social media alternatives grow while Nostr kinda stalls. I could trash-talk, but I’d rather do something useful.

Skills? I’m good at spotting social media problems and finding possible solutions. I won’t overhype myself—that’s weird—but if you’re responding, you probably see something in me. Perhaps you see something that I don’t see in myself.

If you need help now or later with Nostr projects, reach out. Nostr only—nothing else. Anonymous contact’s fine. Even just a suggestion on how I can pitch in, no project attached, works too. 💜

Creeps or harassment will get blocked or I’ll nuke my simplex code if it becomes a problem.

https://simplex.chat/contact#/?v=2-4&smp=smp%3A%2F%2FSkIkI6EPd2D63F4xFKfHk7I1UGZVNn6k1QWZ5rcyr6w%3D%40smp9.simplex.im%2FbI99B3KuYduH8jDr9ZwyhcSxm2UuR7j0%23%2F%3Fv%3D1-2%26dh%3DMCowBQYDK2VuAyEAS9C-zPzqW41PKySfPCEizcXb1QCus6AyDkTTjfyMIRM%253D%26srv%3Djssqzccmrcws6bhmn77vgmhfjmhwlyr3u7puw4erkyoosywgl67slqqd.onion

@ c631e267:c2b78d3e

Information ohne Reflexion ist geistiger Flugsand. \ Ernst Reinhardt

Der lateinische Ausdruck «Quo vadis» als Frage nach einer Entwicklung oder Ausrichtung hat biblische Wurzeln. Er wird aber auch in unserer Alltagssprache verwendet, laut Duden meist als Ausdruck von Besorgnis oder Skepsis im Sinne von: «Wohin wird das führen?»

Der Sinn und Zweck von so mancher politischen Entscheidung erschließt sich heutzutage nicht mehr so leicht, und viele Trends können uns Sorge bereiten. Das sind einerseits sehr konkrete Themen wie die zunehmende Militarisierung und die geschichtsvergessene Kriegstreiberei in Europa, deren Feindbildpflege aktuell beim Gedenken an das Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs beschämende Formen annimmt.

Auch das hohe Gut der Schweizer Neutralität scheint immer mehr in Gefahr. Die schleichende Bewegung der Eidgenossenschaft in Richtung NATO und damit weg von einer Vermittlerposition erhält auch durch den neuen Verteidigungsminister Anschub. Martin Pfister möchte eine stärkere Einbindung in die europäische Verteidigungsarchitektur, verwechselt bei der Argumentation jedoch Ursache und Wirkung.

Das Thema Gesundheit ist als Zugpferd für Geschäfte und Kontrolle offenbar schon zuverlässig etabliert. Die hauptsächlich privat finanzierte Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) ist dabei durch ein Netzwerk von sogenannten «Collaborating Centres» sogar so weit in nationale Einrichtungen eingedrungen, dass man sich fragen kann, ob diese nicht von Genf aus gesteuert werden.

Das Schweizer Bundesamt für Gesundheit (BAG) übernimmt in dieser Funktion ebenso von der WHO definierte Aufgaben und Pflichten wie das deutsche Robert Koch-Institut (RKI). Gegen die Covid-«Impfung» für Schwangere, die das BAG empfiehlt, obwohl es fehlende wissenschaftliche Belege für deren Schutzwirkung einräumt, formiert sich im Tessin gerade Widerstand.

Unter dem Stichwort «Gesundheitssicherheit» werden uns die Bestrebungen verkauft, essenzielle Dienste mit einer biometrischen digitalen ID zu verknüpfen. Das dient dem Profit mit unseren Daten und führt im Ergebnis zum Verlust unserer demokratischen Freiheiten. Die deutsche elektronische Patientenakte (ePA) ist ein Element mit solchem Potenzial. Die Schweizer Bürger haben gerade ein Referendum gegen das revidierte E-ID-Gesetz erzwungen. In Thailand ist seit Anfang Mai für die Einreise eine «Digital Arrival Card» notwendig, die mit ihrer Gesundheitserklärung einen Impfpass «durch die Hintertür» befürchten lässt.

Der massive Blackout auf der iberischen Halbinsel hat vermehrt Fragen dazu aufgeworfen, wohin uns Klimawandel-Hysterie und «grüne» Energiepolitik führen werden. Meine Kollegin Wiltrud Schwetje ist dem nachgegangen und hat in mehreren Beiträgen darüber berichtet. Wenig überraschend führen interessante Spuren mal wieder zu internationalen Großbanken, Globalisten und zur EU-Kommission.

Zunehmend bedenklich ist aber ganz allgemein auch die manifestierte Spaltung unserer Gesellschaften. Angesichts der tiefen und sorgsam gepflegten Gräben fällt es inzwischen schwer, eine zukunftsfähige Perspektive zu erkennen. Umso begrüßenswerter sind Initiativen wie die Kölner Veranstaltungsreihe «Neue Visionen für die Zukunft». Diese möchte die Diskussionskultur reanimieren und dazu beitragen, dass Menschen wieder ohne Angst und ergebnisoffen über kontroverse Themen der Zeit sprechen.

Quo vadis – Wohin gehen wir also? Die Suche nach Orientierung in diesem vermeintlichen Chaos führt auch zur Reflexion über den eigenen Lebensweg. Das ist positiv insofern, als wir daraus Kraft schöpfen können. Ob derweil der neue Papst, dessen «Vorgänger» Petrus unsere Ausgangsfrage durch die christliche Legende zugeschrieben wird, dabei eine Rolle spielt, muss jede/r selbst wissen. Mir persönlich ist allein schon ein Führungsanspruch wie der des Petrusprimats der römisch-katholischen Kirche eher suspekt.

[Titelbild: Pixabay]

---

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

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

Before I saw those X right-wing political “influencers” parading their Epstein binders in that PR stunt, I’d already posted this on Nostr, an open protocol. 

“Today, the world’s attention will likely fixate on Epstein, governmental failures in addressing horrific abuse cases, and the influential figures who perpetrate such acts—yet few will center the victims and survivors in the conversation. The survivors of Epstein went to law enforcement and very little happened. The survivors tried to speak to the corporate press and the corporate press knowingly covered for him. In situations like these social media can serve as one of the only ways for a survivor’s voice to be heard. 

It’s becoming increasingly evident that the line between centralized corporate social media and the state is razor-thin, if it exists at all. Time and again, the state shields powerful abusers when it’s politically expedient to do so. In this climate, a survivor attempting to expose someone like Epstein on a corporate tech platform faces an uphill battle—there’s no assurance their voice would even break through. Their story wouldn’t truly belong to them; it’d be at the mercy of the platform, subject to deletion at a whim. Nostr, though, offers a lifeline—a censorship-resistant space where survivors can share their truths, no matter how untouchable the abuser might seem. A survivor could remain anonymous here if they took enough steps. 

Nostr holds real promise for amplifying survivor voices. And if you’re here daily, tossing out memes, take heart: you’re helping build a foundation for those who desperately need to be heard.“

That post is untouchable—no CEO, company, employee, or government can delete it. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t take it down myself. The post will outlive me on the protocol. 

The cozy alliance between the state and corporate social media hit me hard during that right-wing X “influencer” PR stunt. Elon owns X. Elon’s a special government employee. X pays those influencers to post. We don’t know who else pays them to post. Those influencers are spurred on by both the government and X to manage the Epstein case narrative. It wasn’t survivors standing there, grinning for photos—it was paid influencers, gatekeepers orchestrating yet another chance to re-exploit the already exploited.

The bond between the state and corporate social media is tight. If the other Epsteins out there are ever to be unmasked, I wouldn’t bet on a survivor’s story staying safe with a corporate tech platform, the government, any social media influencer, or mainstream journalist. Right now, only a protocol can hand survivors the power to truly own their narrative.

I don’t have anything against Elon—I’ve actually been a big supporter. I’m just stating it as I see it. X isn’t censorship resistant and they have an algorithm that they choose not the user. Corporate tech platforms like X can be a better fit for some survivors. X has safety tools and content moderation, making it a solid option for certain individuals. Grok can be a big help for survivors looking for resources or support! As a survivor, you know what works best for you, and safety should always come first—keep that front and center.

That said, a protocol is a game-changer for cases where the powerful are likely to censor. During China's # MeToo movement, survivors faced heavy censorship on social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat, where posts about sexual harassment were quickly removed, and hashtags like # MeToo or "woyeshi" were blocked by government and platform filters. To bypass this, activists turned to blockchain technology encoding their stories—like Yue Xin’s open letter about a Peking University case—into transaction metadata. This made the information tamper-proof and publicly accessible, resisting censorship since blockchain data can’t be easily altered or deleted.

I posted this on X 2/28/25. I wanted to try my first long post on a nostr client. The Epstein cover up is ongoing so it’s still relevant, unfortunately.

If you are a survivor or loved one who is reading this and needs support please reach out to: National Sexual Assault Hotline 24/7 https://rainn.org/

Hours: Available 24 hours

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Finale: once the industry-standard of music notation software, now a cautionary tale. In this video, I explore how it slowly lost its crown through decades of missed opportunities - eventually leading to creative collapse due to various bureaucratic intrigues, unforeseen technological changes and some of the jankiest UI/UX you've ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqaon6YHzaU

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/976219

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

---

For generations before generative text, writers have used the em dash to hop between thoughts, emotions, and ideas. Dickens shaped his morality tales with it, Woolf’s stream-of-consciousness flowed through it, Kerouac let it drive his jazz-like prose. Today, Sally Rooney threads it through her quiet truths of the heart.

---

---

But this beloved punctuation mark has become a casualty of the algorithmic age. The em dash has been so widely adopted by AI-generated text that even when used by human hands, it begs the question: was this actually written or apathetically prompted?

---

---

The battle for the soul of writing is in full swing. And the human fightback starts here. With a new punctuation mark that serves as a symbol of real pondering, genuine daydreaming, and true editorial wordsmithery. Inspired by Descartes’ belief that thinking makes us human, the am dash is a small but powerful testament that the words you’ve painstakingly and poetically pulled together are unequivocally, certifiably, and delightfully your own.

---

---

Let's reclain writig from AI—oneam dash at time.

Download the fonts:

— Aereal https://bit.ly/3EO6fo8 — Times New Human https://bit.ly/4jQTcRS

---

---

Learn more about the am dash

https://www.theamdash.com

---

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/976218

@ 57d1a264:69f1fee1

Consider the following two charts from A History of Clojure which detail the introduction and retention of new code by release for both Clojure and for Scala.

While this doesn't necessarily translate to library stability, it's reasonable to assume that the attitude of the Clojure maintainers will seep into the community. And that assumption is true.

Consider a typical Javascript program. What is it comprised of? Objects, objects, and more objects. Members of those objects must be either introspected or divined. Worse, it's normal to monkeypatch those objects, so the object members may (or may not) change over time.

Now, consider a typical Clojure program. What is it comprised of? Namespaces. Those namespaces contain functions and data. Functions may be dynamically generated (via macros), but it is extremely rare to "monkeypatch" a namespace. If you want to know what functions are available in a namespace, you can simply read the source file.

Continue reading https://potetm.com/devtalk/stability-by-design.html

originally posted at https://stacker.news/items/976215

@ 4925ea33:025410d8

1. O que é um Aromaterapeuta?

O aromaterapeuta é um profissional especializado na prática da Aromaterapia, responsável pelo uso adequado de óleos essenciais, ervas aromáticas, águas florais e destilados herbais para fins terapêuticos.

A atuação desse profissional envolve diferentes métodos de aplicação, como inalação, uso tópico, sempre considerando a segurança e a necessidade individual do cliente. A Aromaterapia pode auxiliar na redução do estresse, alívio de dores crônicas, relaxamento muscular e melhora da respiração, entre outros benefícios.

Além disso, os aromaterapeutas podem trabalhar em conjunto com outros profissionais da saúde para oferecer um tratamento complementar em diversas condições. Como já mencionado no artigo sobre "Como evitar processos alérgicos na prática da Aromaterapia", é essencial ter acompanhamento profissional, pois os óleos essenciais são altamente concentrados e podem causar reações adversas se utilizados de forma inadequada.

---

2. Como um Aromaterapeuta Pode Ajudar?

Você pode procurar um aromaterapeuta para diferentes necessidades, como:

✔ Questões Emocionais e Psicológicas

Auxílio em momentos de luto, divórcio, demissão ou outras situações desafiadoras.

Apoio na redução do estresse, ansiedade e insônia.

Vale lembrar que, em casos de transtornos psiquiátricos, a Aromaterapia deve ser usada como terapia complementar, associada ao tratamento médico.

✔ Questões Físicas

Dores musculares e articulares.

Problemas respiratórios como rinite, sinusite e tosse.

Distúrbios digestivos leves.

Dores de cabeça e enxaquecas. Nesses casos, a Aromaterapia pode ser um suporte, mas não substitui a medicina tradicional para identificar a origem dos sintomas.

✔ Saúde da Pele e Cabelos

Tratamento para acne, dermatites e psoríase.

Cuidados com o envelhecimento precoce da pele.

Redução da queda de cabelo e controle da oleosidade do couro cabeludo.

✔ Bem-estar e Qualidade de Vida

Melhora da concentração e foco, aumentando a produtividade.

Estímulo da disposição e energia.

Auxílio no equilíbrio hormonal (TPM, menopausa, desequilíbrios hormonais).

Com base nessas necessidades, o aromaterapeuta irá indicar o melhor tratamento, calculando doses, sinergias (combinação de óleos essenciais), diluições e técnicas de aplicação, como inalação, uso tópico ou difusão.

---

3. Como Funciona uma Consulta com um Aromaterapeuta?

Uma consulta com um aromaterapeuta é um atendimento personalizado, onde são avaliadas as necessidades do cliente para a criação de um protocolo adequado. O processo geralmente segue estas etapas:

✔ Anamnese (Entrevista Inicial)

Perguntas sobre saúde física, emocional e estilo de vida.

Levantamento de sintomas, histórico médico e possíveis alergias.

Definição dos objetivos da terapia (alívio do estresse, melhora do sono, dores musculares etc.).

✔ Escolha dos Óleos Essenciais

Seleção dos óleos mais indicados para o caso.

Consideração das propriedades terapêuticas, contraindicações e combinações seguras.

✔ Definição do Método de Uso

O profissional indicará a melhor forma de aplicação, que pode ser:

Inalação: difusores, colares aromáticos, vaporização.

Uso tópico: massagens, óleos corporais, compressas.

Banhos aromáticos e escalda-pés. Todas as diluições serão ajustadas de acordo com a segurança e a necessidade individual do cliente.

✔ Plano de Acompanhamento

Instruções detalhadas sobre o uso correto dos óleos essenciais.

Orientação sobre frequência e duração do tratamento.

Possibilidade de retorno para ajustes no protocolo.

A consulta pode ser realizada presencialmente ou online, dependendo do profissional.

---

Quer saber como a Aromaterapia pode te ajudar? Agende uma consulta comigo e descubra os benefícios dos óleos essenciais para o seu bem-estar!

@ d360efec:14907b5f

Disclaimer: * การวิเคราะห์นี้เป็นเพียงแนวทาง ไม่ใช่คำแนะนำในการซื้อขาย * การลงทุนมีความเสี่ยง ผู้ลงทุนควรตัดสินใจด้วยตนเอง

@ 6e0ea5d6:0327f353

"Malcolm Forbes recounts that a lady, wearing a faded cotton dress, and her husband, dressed in an old handmade suit, stepped off a train in Boston, USA, and timidly made their way to the office of the president of Harvard University. They had come from Palo Alto, California, and had not scheduled an appointment. The secretary, at a glance, thought that those two, looking like country bumpkins, had no business at Harvard.
— We want to speak with the president — the man said in a low voice.
— He will be busy all day — the secretary replied curtly.
— We will wait.
The secretary ignored them for hours, hoping the couple would finally give up and leave. But they stayed there, and the secretary, somewhat frustrated, decided to bother the president, although she hated doing that.
— If you speak with them for just a few minutes, maybe they will decide to go away — she said.
The president sighed in irritation but agreed. Someone of his importance did not have time to meet people like that, but he hated faded dresses and tattered suits in his office. With a stern face, he went to the couple.
— We had a son who studied at Harvard for a year — the woman said. — He loved Harvard and was very happy here, but a year ago he died in an accident, and we would like to erect a monument in his honor somewhere on campus.

— My lady — said the president rudely —, we cannot erect a statue for every person who studied at Harvard and died; if we did, this place would look like a cemetery.

— Oh, no — the lady quickly replied. — We do not want to erect a statue. We would like to donate a building to Harvard.

The president looked at the woman's faded dress and her husband's old suit and exclaimed:

— A building! Do you have even the faintest idea of how much a building costs? We have more than seven and a half million dollars' worth of buildings here at Harvard.

The lady was silent for a moment, then said to her husband:

— If that’s all it costs to found a university, why don’t we have our own?

The husband agreed.

The couple, Leland Stanford, stood up and left, leaving the president confused. Traveling back to Palo Alto, California, they established there Stanford University, the second-largest in the world, in honor of their son, a former Harvard student."

Text extracted from: "Mileumlivros - Stories that Teach Values."

Thank you for reading, my friend! If this message helped you in any way, consider leaving your glass “🥃” as a token of appreciation.

A toast to our family!

@ 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

@ 4857600b:30b502f4

Mitch McConnell, a senior Republican senator, announced he will not seek reelection.

At 83 years old and with health issues, this decision was expected. After seven terms, he leaves a significant legacy in U.S. politics, known for his strategic maneuvering.

McConnell stated, “My current term in the Senate will be my last.” His retirement marks the end of an influential political era.

@ 94a6a78a:0ddf320e

Nostr is a revolutionary protocol that enables decentralized, censorship-resistant communication. Unlike traditional social networks controlled by corporations, Nostr operates without central servers or gatekeepers. This openness makes it incredibly powerful—but also means its success depends entirely on users, developers, and relay operators.

If you believe in free speech, decentralization, and an open internet, there are many ways to support and strengthen the Nostr ecosystem. Whether you're a casual user, a developer, or someone looking to contribute financially, every effort helps build a more robust network.

Here’s how you can get involved and make a difference.

---

1️⃣ Use Nostr Daily

The simplest and most effective way to contribute to Nostr is by using it regularly. The more active users, the stronger and more valuable the network becomes.

✅ Post, comment, and zap (send micro-payments via Bitcoin’s Lightning Network) to keep conversations flowing.\ ✅ Engage with new users and help them understand how Nostr works.\ ✅ Try different Nostr clients like Damus, Amethyst, Snort, or Primal and provide feedback to improve the experience.

Your activity keeps the network alive and helps encourage more developers and relay operators to invest in the ecosystem.

---

2️⃣ Run Your Own Nostr Relay

Relays are the backbone of Nostr, responsible for distributing messages across the network. The more independent relays exist, the stronger and more censorship-resistant Nostr becomes.

✅ Set up your own relay to help decentralize the network further.\ ✅ Experiment with relay configurations and different performance optimizations.\ ✅ Offer public or private relay services to users looking for high-quality infrastructure.

If you're not technical, you can still support relay operators by subscribing to a paid relay or donating to open-source relay projects.

---

3️⃣ Support Paid Relays & Infrastructure

Free relays have helped Nostr grow, but they struggle with spam, slow speeds, and sustainability issues. Paid relays help fund better infrastructure, faster message delivery, and a more reliable experience.

✅ Subscribe to a paid relay to help keep it running.\ ✅ Use premium services like media hosting (e.g., Azzamo Blossom) to decentralize content storage.\ ✅ Donate to relay operators who invest in long-term infrastructure.

By funding Nostr’s decentralized backbone, you help ensure its longevity and reliability.

---

4️⃣ Zap Developers, Creators & Builders

Many people contribute to Nostr without direct financial compensation—developers who build clients, relay operators, educators, and content creators. You can support them with zaps! ⚡

✅ Find developers working on Nostr projects and send them a zap.\ ✅ Support content creators and educators who spread awareness about Nostr.\ ✅ Encourage builders by donating to open-source projects.

Micro-payments via the Lightning Network make it easy to directly support the people who make Nostr better.

---

5️⃣ Develop New Nostr Apps & Tools

If you're a developer, you can build on Nostr’s open protocol to create new apps, bots, or tools. Nostr is permissionless, meaning anyone can develop for it.

✅ Create new Nostr clients with unique features and user experiences.\ ✅ Build bots or automation tools that improve engagement and usability.\ ✅ Experiment with decentralized identity, authentication, and encryption to make Nostr even stronger.

With no corporate gatekeepers, your projects can help shape the future of decentralized social media.

---

6️⃣ Promote & Educate Others About Nostr

Adoption grows when more people understand and use Nostr. You can help by spreading awareness and creating educational content.

✅ Write blogs, guides, and tutorials explaining how to use Nostr.\ ✅ Make videos or social media posts introducing new users to the protocol.\ ✅ Host discussions, Twitter Spaces, or workshops to onboard more people.

The more people understand and trust Nostr, the stronger the ecosystem becomes.

---

7️⃣ Support Open-Source Nostr Projects

Many Nostr tools and clients are built by volunteers, and open-source projects thrive on community support.

✅ Contribute code to existing Nostr projects on GitHub.\ ✅ Report bugs and suggest features to improve Nostr clients.\ ✅ Donate to developers who keep Nostr free and open for everyone.

If you're not a developer, you can still help with testing, translations, and documentation to make projects more accessible.

---

🚀 Every Contribution Strengthens Nostr

Whether you:

✔️ Post and engage daily\ ✔️ Zap creators and developers\ ✔️ Run or support relays\ ✔️ Build new apps and tools\ ✔️ Educate and onboard new users

Every action helps make Nostr more resilient, decentralized, and unstoppable.

Nostr isn’t just another social network—it’s a movement toward a free and open internet. If you believe in digital freedom, privacy, and decentralization, now is the time to get involved.

@ 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

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

intro

The Russian state made me a Bitcoiner. In 1991, it devalued my grandmother's hard-earned savings. She worked tirelessly in the kitchen of a dining car on the Moscow–Warsaw route. Everything she had saved for my sister and me to attend university vanished overnight. This story is similar to what many experienced, including Wences Casares. The pain and injustice of that time became my first lessons about the fragility of systems and the value of genuine, incorruptible assets, forever changing my perception of money and my trust in government promises.

In 2014, I was living in Moscow, running a trading business, and frequently traveling to China. One day, I learned about the Cypriot banking crisis and the possibility of moving money through some strange thing called Bitcoin. At the time, I didn’t give it much thought. Returning to the idea six months later, as a business-oriented geek, I eagerly began studying the topic and soon dove into it seriously.

I spent half a year reading articles on a local online journal, BitNovosti, actively participating in discussions, and eventually joined the editorial team as a translator. That’s how I learned about whitepapers, decentralization, mining, cryptographic keys, and colored coins. About Satoshi Nakamoto, Silk Road, Mt. Gox, and BitcoinTalk. Over time, I befriended the journal’s owner and, leveraging my management experience, later became an editor. I was drawn to the crypto-anarchist stance and commitment to decentralization principles. We wrote about the economic, historical, and social preconditions for Bitcoin’s emergence, and it was during this time that I fully embraced the idea.

It got to the point where I sold my apartment and, during the market's downturn, bought 50 bitcoins, just after the peak price of $1,200 per coin. That marked the beginning of my first crypto winter. As an editor, I organized workflows, managed translators, developed a YouTube channel, and attended conferences in Russia and Ukraine. That’s how I learned about Wences Casares and even wrote a piece about him. I also met Mikhail Chobanyan (Ukrainian exchange Kuna), Alexander Ivanov (Waves project), Konstantin Lomashuk (Lido project), and, of course, Vitalik Buterin. It was a time of complete immersion, 24/7, and boundless hope.

After moving to the United States, I expected the industry to grow rapidly, attended events, but the introduction of BitLicense froze the industry for eight years. By 2017, it became clear that the industry was shifting toward gambling and creating tokens for the sake of tokens. I dismissed this idea as unsustainable. Then came a new crypto spring with the hype around beautiful NFTs – CryptoPunks and apes.

I made another attempt – we worked on a series called Digital Nomad Country Club, aimed at creating a global project. The proceeds from selling images were intended to fund the development of business tools for people worldwide. However, internal disagreements within the team prevented us from completing the project.

With Trump’s arrival in 2025, hope was reignited. I decided that it was time to create a project that society desperately needed. As someone passionate about history, I understood that destroying what exists was not the solution, but leaving everything as it was also felt unacceptable. You can’t destroy the system, as the fiery crypto-anarchist voices claimed.

With an analytical mindset (IQ 130) and a deep understanding of the freest societies, I realized what was missing—not only in Russia or the United States but globally—a Bitcoin-native system for tracking debts and financial interactions. This could return control of money to ordinary people and create horizontal connections parallel to state systems. My goal was to create, if not a Bitcoin killer app, then at least to lay its foundation.

At the inauguration event in New York, I rediscovered the Nostr project. I realized it was not only technologically simple and already quite popular but also perfectly aligned with my vision. For the past month and a half, using insights and experience gained since 2014, I’ve been working full-time on this project.

@ 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

@ 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

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

My favorite line in any Marvel movie ever is in “Captain America.” After Captain America launches seemingly a hopeless assault on Red Skull’s base and is captured, we get this line:

“Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait, but I must say, you do it better than anyone.”

Yesterday, I came across a comment on the song Devil Went Down to Georgia that had a very similar feel to it:

America has seemingly always been arrogant, in a uniquely American way. Manifest Destiny, for instance. The rest of the world is aware of this arrogance, and mocks Americans for it. A central point in modern US politics is the deriding of racist, nationalist, supremacist Americans.

That’s not what I see. I see American Arrogance as not only a beautiful statement about what it means to be American. I see it as an ode to the greatness of humanity in its purest form.

For most countries, saying “our nation is the greatest” is, in fact, twinged with some level of racism. I still don’t have a problem with it. Every group of people should be allowed to feel pride in their accomplishments. The destruction of the human spirit since the end of World War 2, where greatness has become a sin and weakness a virtue, has crushed the ability of people worldwide to strive for excellence.

But I digress. The fears of racism and nationalism at least have a grain of truth when applied to other nations on the planet. But not to America.

That’s because the definition of America, and the prototype of an American, has nothing to do with race. The definition of Americanism is freedom. The founding of America is based purely on liberty. On the God-given rights of every person to live life the way they see fit.

American Arrogance is not a statement of racial superiority. It’s barely a statement of national superiority (though it absolutely is). To me, when an American comments on the greatness of America, it’s a statement about freedom. Freedom will always unlock the greatness inherent in any group of people. Americans are definitionally better than everyone else, because Americans are freer than everyone else. (Or, at least, that’s how it should be.)

In Devil Went Down to Georgia, Johnny is approached by the devil himself. He is challenged to a ridiculously lopsided bet: a golden fiddle versus his immortal soul. He acknowledges the sin in accepting such a proposal. And yet he says, “God, I know you told me not to do this. But I can’t stand the affront to my honor. I am the greatest. The devil has nothing on me. So God, I’m gonna sin, but I’m also gonna win.”

Libertas magnitudo est

@ e3ba5e1a:5e433365

I got into a friendly discussion on X regarding health insurance. The specific question was how to deal with health insurance companies (presumably unfairly) denying claims? My answer, as usual: get government out of it!

The US healthcare system is essentially the worst of both worlds:

• Unlike full single payer, individuals incur high costs
• Unlike a true free market, regulation causes increases in costs and decreases competition among insurers

I'm firmly on the side of moving towards the free market. (And I say that as someone living under a single payer system now.) Here's what I would do:

• Get rid of tax incentives that make health insurance tied to your employer, giving individuals back proper freedom of choice.
• Reduce regulations significantly.

• In the short term, some people will still get rejected claims and other obnoxious behavior from insurance companies. We address that in two ways:

  1. Due to reduced regulations, new insurance companies will be able to enter the market offering more reliable coverage and better rates, and people will flock to them because they have the freedom to make their own choices.
  2. Sue the asses off of companies that reject claims unfairly. And ideally, as one of the few legitimate roles of government in all this, institute new laws that limit the ability of fine print to allow insurers to escape their responsibilities. (I'm hesitant that the latter will happen due to the incestuous relationship between Congress/regulators and insurers, but I can hope.)

Will this magically fix everything overnight like politicians normally promise? No. But it will allow the market to return to a healthy state. And I don't think it will take long (order of magnitude: 5-10 years) for it to come together, but that's just speculation.

And since there's a high correlation between those who believe government can fix problems by taking more control and demanding that only credentialed experts weigh in on a topic (both points I strongly disagree with BTW): I'm a trained actuary and worked in the insurance industry, and have directly seen how government regulation reduces competition, raises prices, and harms consumers.

And my final point: I don't think any prior art would be a good comparison for deregulation in the US, it's such a different market than any other country in the world for so many reasons that lessons wouldn't really translate. Nonetheless, I asked Grok for some empirical data on this, and at best the results of deregulation could be called "mixed," but likely more accurately "uncertain, confused, and subject to whatever interpretation anyone wants to apply."

https://x.com/i/grok/share/Zc8yOdrN8lS275hXJ92uwq98M

@ 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

@ 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

@ 21ffd29c:518a8ff5

• What Are Homestead Chickens?
  Homestead chickens are domesticated fowl kept by homeowners to provide eggs and companionship. They play a vital role in the homestead ecosystem.

Why Water is Essential in Cold Weather - Hydration Basics:
Chickens don't drink much water naturally but need it for hydration, especially during cold weather when metabolic rates increase. - Environmental Factors:
Cold weather can lead to ice buildup on water sources. Chickens benefit from having access to fresh water year-round.

Maintaining Accessible Water Sources - Shallow Troughs:
Use shallow troughs instead of deep containers to minimize ice formation and ensure constant water supply. - Automatic Feeders:
Consider installing automatic feeders for convenience, especially in unpredictable weather conditions. - Multiple Water Sources:
Provide multiple water sources to prevent competition and ensure all chickens have access.

Preventing Ice Buildup - Floating Shallow Troughs:
Opt for troughs that sit above the ground to avoid ice buildup. Ensure they're placed where they can't freeze completely. - Regular Checks:
Inspect water sources regularly to remove ice and debris, maintaining accessibility for chickens.

Best Practices for Watering Chickens - Waterers Designed for Cold Weather:
Use waterers made of stainless steel or plastic that can withstand cold temperatures. - Seasonal Adjustments:
During extreme cold spells, supplement with a small amount of fresh water to aid in drinking.

Conclusion - Key Takeaways:
Providing proper water is crucial for the health and well-being of homestead chickens during cold weather. Maintaining accessible, shallow water sources prevents issues like ice buildup and ensures hydration.

Final Thoughts - Sustainability Considerations:
While chickens don't drink much, ensuring they have water supports their overall health and sustainability efforts. - Environmental Impact:
Thoughtful water management can reduce water usage, promoting eco-friendly practices on the homestead.

@ 0fa80bd3:ea7325de

![[yedinaya-rossiya-bear.png]]

1️⃣ Be where the bear roams. Stay in its territory, where it hunts for food. No point setting a trap in your backyard if the bear’s chilling in the forest.

2️⃣ Set a well-hidden trap. Bury it, disguise it, and place the bait right in the center. Bears are omnivores—just like secret police KGB agents. And what’s the tastiest bait for them? Money.

3️⃣ Wait for the bear to take the bait. When it reaches in, the trap will snap shut around its paw. It’ll be alive, but stuck. No escape.

Now, what you do with a trapped bear is another question... 😏

@ 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

@ 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

@ 3ae7fdae:f8d4b19d

Lifting the Curtain on Power and Scandal

The Illusion of Power and TrustIn the modern world, the line between trust and skepticism is razor-thin, especially when it comes to powerful figures and organizations. They present polished facades, dazzling us with promises of stability, innovation, or in Disney’s case, enchantment. Yet, the revelations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s network reminded us that power is often far more complex than it appears. This scandal became a litmus test for public trust and fueled questions about who, or what, might be entwined in hidden truths.

When Epstein's crimes were exposed, they revealed not just the horrifying details of exploitation, but also the unsettling reach of his influence. As the media peeled back the layers of his associations, public attention naturally shifted to recognizable names and institutions, including Disney. How could a company that represented childhood innocence, with castles and fairy tales, find itself whispered about in the same breath as Epstein’s infamous circle? This segment examines the roots of that question and the facts that illuminate its plausibility or dismiss it.

Epstein: A Man Who Mastered Access to PowerJeffrey Epstein was more than just a financier—he was a gatekeeper to influence. His lifestyle and operations were an entangled web of charm, manipulation, and wealth, meticulously designed to secure him a place among the powerful. Investigative articles by The Guardian and The New York Times depict Epstein as a social engineer, curating relationships that ranged from politicians and royalty to scientists and celebrities.

Court documents and deposition testimonies during Epstein’s trial confirmed that his homes and private jet were hubs for connecting with influential figures. This access did not come without consequence; it cemented him as both a source of curiosity and, later, fear. Public records, such as those scrutinized in The Washington Post, indicated his involvement with many high-profile individuals. Yet, the details of these relationships varied—some guests were casual acquaintances, others, confidants.

The Infamous Flight LogsThe flight logs of Epstein’s private jet, colloquially known as the "Lolita Express," became a centerpiece for public scrutiny. Released through court orders and accessed by journalists, these logs listed names that triggered a cascade of questions. Guests ranged from prominent business executives to entertainment figures, sparking a debate over whether mere association implied complicity or deeper connections. This fueled the narrative that Epstein’s reach was far more extensive than previously understood, implicating industries where entertainment, power, and trust intersected.

The Role of Speculation in Public DiscourseAs soon as these flight logs surfaced, discussions surged online and across media platforms. The presence of any entertainment figure in Epstein’s orbit raised an eyebrow and, in many cases, invited a leap of logic: if influential media personalities were tied to him, could companies known for entertainment and global reach, like Disney, have hidden associations as well? This hypothesis, though lacking concrete evidence, found fertile ground among those predisposed to distrust large, seemingly untouchable institutions.

It’s crucial to dissect why Disney, specifically, became a subject of speculation. On one hand, its status as an omnipresent media empire makes it an easy target for conspiracy theories that thrive on the juxtaposition of light (Disney’s brand) and darkness (Epstein’s crimes). On the other, it speaks to a larger societal impulse to find cracks in the foundations of those we consider infallible. The idea that even the most beloved entities might harbor hidden truths appeals to a deep-seated desire for transparency and accountability.

The Catalyst of Public CuriosityThe timing of Epstein’s exposure was a critical factor. His arrest and subsequent death in 2019 coincided with a period marked by rising distrust in institutions, fueled by political and social upheavals globally. Social media platforms amplified this distrust, creating echo chambers where half-truths and speculative narratives merged seamlessly with confirmed facts.

It is here that Disney’s name began to surface not as an accused, but as a speculative point in discussions. The reasoning often pointed to a "guilt by association" logic: if the powerful dined, flew, or partied with Epstein, then it was worth questioning the circles in which those powerful entities moved, even without direct evidence. This leap from speculation to assumption reflects a pattern that sociologists recognize as part of conspiracy theory psychology—where a lack of clear answers invites the mind to fill in gaps, often with what feels most compelling.

Reframing the Public’s QuestionsThe real question becomes: why does this speculation hold such sway, even when evidence is scarce? Part of the answer lies in precedent. History is replete with instances where institutions that seemed above reproach were later implicated in hidden misdeeds, from financial frauds to abuse scandals within trusted organizations. This collective memory primes the public to believe that beneath any glittering surface could lie a dark, concealed underbelly.

Disney’s position as an icon of childhood and innocence adds another layer to this narrative. To imagine that such a symbol could be tainted by proximity to someone like Epstein is not just shocking—it’s fascinating. It strikes at the core of what we hold sacred, making it an irresistible topic of conversation and investigation.

Why This MattersUnderstanding why names like Disney are brought into these discussions without verified evidence is essential. It helps differentiate between warranted inquiry and unsupported speculation, allowing us to approach these narratives critically. Addressing this head-on does not only clear the air but strengthens the foundation upon which valid criticism and accountability are built.

A Note on EvidenceAs we move deeper into this exploration, it’s critical to emphasize that while Epstein’s connections to high-profile figures are thoroughly documented, there remains no evidence tying Disney, as an organization, to his operations. Still, the fascination with the “what-ifs” continues, driven by our collective quest for understanding power, secrecy, and the thin line between public and private lives.

The next segment will dive into Epstein’s proven network, unraveling the extent of his influence and why it has been the breeding ground for questions involving the world’s most trusted corporations.

Epstein’s Documented Network

The Web of Power: A Portrait of InfluenceJeffrey Epstein’s network was not merely a collection of acquaintances; it was a curated gallery of the world’s most influential figures, built on calculated relationships and strategic connections. Epstein wielded this network with the precision of a skilled operator, bridging disparate realms of society—politics, academia, business, and media. Investigative reporting by sources such as The New York Times and The Guardian exposed how Epstein maintained access to individuals who shaped policy, managed wealth, and crafted the narratives of popular culture.

Court records, testimonies, and detailed analyses of his interactions revealed that Epstein was adept at placing himself at the center of elite circles. His estates, from Manhattan townhouses to private islands, hosted events that blurred the lines between social gatherings and strategic networking. This chapter delves into the proven extent of Epstein’s reach and why it sparked questions about connections to corporations and public institutions, including Disney.

Flight Logs: The Proof and the SparkThe flight logs from Epstein’s private jet, the infamous "Lolita Express," were among the most illuminating pieces of evidence in mapping his connections. These logs, legally obtained and examined by journalists, painted a picture of Epstein’s influence stretching across industries. High-profile figures were listed, including financiers, political leaders, and entertainment personalities. The presence of notable names triggered waves of speculation—if Epstein had access to such power players, how many more remained unnamed but entangled?

The Guardian and The Washington Post reported that these flights were not just transportation but often involved visits to Epstein’s various properties, known for their opulence and the dark rumors surrounding them. While these logs confirmed that many public figures knew Epstein, the depth and nature of their associations varied widely, from casual acquaintance to deeper involvement.

The Limits of the KnownDespite the breadth of documented connections, there was no verifiable evidence linking Disney as an entity to Epstein’s circle. What the flight logs and guest lists revealed was a man deeply embedded in networks of power, yet even within these proven associations, context was crucial. For instance, some guests, confirmed by court records and investigative articles, were shown to have attended public events or engaged in business unrelated to Epstein’s criminal activities.

The distinction between documented presence and complicity is where the narrative often splinters. The leap from association to implication fueled public debate and conspiracy theories. This was especially true when figures from media and entertainment, sectors known for influencing public sentiment and childhood memories, appeared on the periphery of Epstein’s activities.

Epstein’s Parties and Gatherings: The Elite’s Shadowed StageEpstein’s parties were legendary, drawing attendees from the highest echelons of influence. These gatherings were not casual mixers but orchestrated showcases of power. Reports from court depositions and firsthand accounts highlighted how Epstein leveraged these events to cement alliances and reinforce his status as a gatekeeper to the elite. Some testimonies even described how these events served as platforms for discussing investments, politics, and global initiatives, reinforcing Epstein’s perceived omnipotence.

High-Profile Confirmations and Their ImplicationsSeveral prominent individuals were indeed verified as having ties to Epstein, raising legitimate questions about the extent of their knowledge or involvement. These names included politicians, royalty, and entertainment figures. The ambiguity surrounding these associations allowed theories to flourish. The sheer presence of influential names on Epstein’s guest lists raised the question: If these individuals were implicated, what about the institutions they represented or the circles they moved within?

This was a turning point for public speculation. The logic extended: if an individual from a major media company or entertainment empire like Disney was even remotely connected, could that implicate the company itself? The answer, according to existing court records and credible investigations, remained no. Yet, the absence of direct evidence did not stop speculation; in many cases, it intensified it.

Why Disney Was Brought Into the ConversationDisney’s reputation as a family-friendly giant contrasted starkly with the dark nature of Epstein’s activities, making it an unlikely yet intriguing topic for public discourse. While some entertainment figures appeared on Epstein’s flight logs or were rumored to have interacted with him, investigations have not yielded any proof of corporate-level involvement. However, public fascination persisted, bolstered by the broader questions Epstein’s connections evoked.

It’s worth noting that corporations like Disney, with their vast reach and unparalleled influence, naturally become focal points when discussions of hidden truths arise. The mere idea that such an iconic entity could be associated with real-world shadows captures the imagination and fuels stories that, while lacking proof, thrive on the “what-ifs” that echo through media and online forums.

How Public Perception Shapes the NarrativeSociologists studying the psychology of conspiracy theories point out that the human mind tends to fill gaps in knowledge with what feels most plausible or compelling. When figures from reputable media or entertainment companies are tied, even tangentially, to a scandal as vast as Epstein’s, it challenges the boundaries of trust. This is exacerbated when concrete answers remain elusive, leading to a cycle where suspicion feeds speculation.

The public’s thirst for accountability, especially in the wake of uncovered scandals involving powerful institutions, is both a force for truth and a catalyst for assumptions. In Epstein’s case, the proven reach of his influence and the confirmed involvement of significant figures were enough to trigger the question of how many untold stories lay beneath.

What We Know vs. What We ImagineThe narrative surrounding Epstein’s documented network shows us that while connections can be verified and associations noted, the leap to implicating entire organizations like Disney requires more than names on a list or rumors. It requires evidence that has, thus far, not been presented in any court or investigation. The proven facts are compelling enough: Epstein’s influence was extensive, his ties to power irrefutable. Yet, without direct links, the conversations about specific corporate involvement remain speculative.

In the next segment, we will explore why Disney’s reputation makes it a prime target for such speculation and how its historical handling of public crises plays into these narratives.

Disney – The Symbol of Trust and Target of Suspicion

Why Disney? The Paradox of a Trusted InstitutionDisney’s legacy is built on a foundation of storytelling, dreams, and the belief in happy endings. For nearly a century, the company has woven itself into the fabric of childhoods, becoming synonymous with innocence and magic. This legacy, however, has a dual edge. As the public's trust in institutions erodes and hidden truths are revealed in other sectors, Disney’s position as an untouchable cultural icon makes it both a beacon of light and a potential target for suspicion.

The Symbolism of Disney’s BrandDisney represents more than just a company; it embodies an idea—a refuge where imagination and wonder reign. But this same image that has made Disney a household name also contributes to the paradox of suspicion it faces. When an organization is seen as larger than life, transcending generations and continents, the notion that it could have skeletons in its closet becomes a tantalizing thought. The juxtaposition of innocence with possible shadows creates a narrative that is compelling and worth exploring, even if it remains speculative.

This paradox of Disney as both a trusted symbol and a target for scandal reflects a broader trend. Major corporations that hold influence in our everyday lives—particularly those that shape childhood memories and societal values—are natural focal points when scandals involving power, influence, and exploitation arise. The idea that a company with as much reach as Disney could be connected, however tangentially, to figures like Epstein feeds into this pattern.

Documented Misconduct and Public ReactionsThere have been verified cases involving Disney employees engaging in misconduct, which have been reported by media outlets such as NBC News and local news channels. These incidents, though not systemic and unrelated to Epstein’s network, show how the actions of a few can impact public perception of an entire organization. Examples include arrests for crimes involving minors or inappropriate behavior, isolated events that Disney has publicly addressed through statements and cooperation with law enforcement.

However, these incidents were sufficient to plant seeds of doubt in some minds. Even when addressed swiftly and in line with corporate protocols, such cases reveal a vulnerability: the company’s image can be tarnished not just by its policies, but by the misdeeds of individuals who wear its badge.

The Fuel for SpeculationThe Epstein case acted as a catalyst for looking beyond the obvious, particularly in the context of powerful organizations. If political leaders, financiers, and cultural icons could be connected to Epstein’s circle, why not wonder about the involvement of a company with as vast a presence as Disney? While investigations by trusted outlets have shown no direct corporate link, the sheer scope of Epstein’s influence suggested that any entity known for associating with the powerful could be implicated.

This speculation was not helped by Disney’s approach to public relations. The company’s PR strategies, while sophisticated and generally effective, often prioritize message control over transparency. In a world where silence can be seen as complicity, this strategy sometimes backfires, leading to more questions than answers.

Public Distrust and Historical ContextThe public’s fascination with uncovering hidden truths within major institutions is not unfounded. History is replete with cases where seemingly trustworthy organizations were later found to have concealed scandals. From corporate frauds to abuses within religious institutions, these stories have taught the public that innocence is not immune to corruption. This backdrop primes society to believe that even the most beloved entities, like Disney, could harbor secrets.

Sociologists and media analysts argue that this distrust is a byproduct of what they term the “betrayal effect”—where past disappointments with trusted institutions lower the threshold for believing that betrayal could be lurking everywhere. Disney, with its spotless public image and vast influence, becomes an especially juicy target for such theories. The leap from real cases of employee misconduct to more systemic accusations, however, is where evidence often falls short.

The Role of Social Media and Echo ChambersThe digital age has amplified how speculation morphs into perceived truth. Platforms like Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook allow theories to spread quickly, often outpacing fact-checking and nuanced analysis. Discussions that might once have been confined to fringe circles now gain mainstream attention, especially when they involve powerful figures or beloved brands.

In the context of Epstein’s exposure, this meant that any high-profile connection or name could become part of a broader narrative of guilt by association. The fact that Disney, as a corporation, appeared in speculative discussions alongside verified names from Epstein’s logs was enough for some to draw connections, even without direct evidence.

Reputation Management and PerceptionDisney’s approach to crises and controversies has long involved careful reputation management. From its response to legal issues to how it handles employee-related incidents, the company employs sophisticated PR strategies to mitigate damage and maintain its standing. This is standard practice for global brands; however, the public’s interpretation can be different. Strategic silence or tightly controlled statements can come across as evasive, fueling theories that there is something more to hide.

For a company like Disney, which operates at the intersection of family values and global corporate power, the stakes are high. The expectation isn’t just for entertainment but for upholding the moral high ground. When speculation links Disney to scandals, no matter how peripherally, it chips away at this carefully crafted image.

Why Address This Now?The speculation around Disney and Epstein underscores a crucial point about the nature of public inquiry and corporate reputation. It is not enough for companies to rely solely on public relations strategies that worked in the past. The demand for transparency is greater than ever, and silence, even when warranted, can erode trust.

Disney’s role in the public consciousness means that even baseless theories need addressing. By understanding why these narratives gain traction, both companies and the public can engage in more meaningful dialogues about accountability, proof, and trust.

The next segment will delve into how the public navigates between confirmed facts and conspiratorial whispers, exploring why certain theories stick and what it means for how we view powerful organizations.

Separating Fact from Conspiracy

The Thin Line Between Evidence and Speculation In the age of information, where facts are readily available yet often overshadowed by conjecture, separating truth from conspiracy is both an art and a necessity. When powerful entities like Disney find themselves drawn into discussions of hidden networks and scandals involving figures such as Jeffrey Epstein, it highlights a broader societal challenge: how do we differentiate between what is proven and what is assumed? This segment dissects the interplay of evidence, theory, and the psychological factors that drive our need to seek connections.

The Basis of Public Suspicion Public trust in large institutions has waned over decades, driven by a series of high-profile betrayals. From corporate frauds that shattered economies to scandals involving trusted religious or educational institutions, society has learned that power often conceals flaws and, in some cases, criminal actions. According to research published in the Journal of Communication, this erosion of trust leads to a phenomenon known as confirmation bias—the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or suspicions.

The Epstein case provided fertile ground for such biases. The verified details of Epstein’s operations—the private jet, the exclusive parties, the high-profile guests—were enough to prompt a collective re-examination of how far his reach extended. While many of his associations were proven to be casual or professional in nature, the public’s hunger for deeper revelations ensured that speculation would thrive in areas where clarity was lacking.

The Role of Real Connections Epstein’s documented network included figures from politics, academia, finance, and media. The release of flight logs and court documents revealed that powerful individuals attended his events and interacted within his sphere. This factual basis, verified by investigative reporting from The New York Times, The Guardian, and other reputable sources, provided legitimacy to the idea that Epstein’s influence was pervasive. However, the extent to which these relationships were innocent or complicit was not uniformly clear.

This ambiguity created a vacuum where speculation could flourish. Public attention shifted from individuals named in the logs to the institutions and industries they represented. It was here that major corporations, including Disney, entered the discourse—not because of documented ties, but because of their visibility and influence.

The Psychology Behind Linking Power and Scandal To understand why theories about Disney’s potential involvement in Epstein’s network persist, it is essential to examine the psychology of conspiracy. Sociological and psychological studies indicate that people are naturally inclined to question narratives when they feel that the truth is being withheld. The more powerful or untouchable an institution seems, the more likely it is to be suspected of hiding something significant.

Disney’s image as a global giant that molds childhoods and shapes culture makes it an appealing target for such theories. The company’s public persona as a bastion of family values and innocence stands in stark contrast to any whispers of scandal or misconduct. This contrast alone provides fertile ground for stories to grow, even in the absence of solid proof.

Confirmed Misconduct vs. Conspiracy It is important to acknowledge that Disney, like any large corporation, has faced incidents involving employee misconduct. News reports from outlets such as NBC News have documented cases where employees were arrested for inappropriate conduct involving minors. These cases, while serious and handled with appropriate legal responses, were isolated incidents. No evidence points to these cases being part of a larger, systemic issue within the company or connected to external figures like Epstein.

However, the very existence of these incidents is often enough to keep theories alive. Public perception does not always differentiate between an individual’s actions and the culture of the organization they work for. When these incidents coincide with broader conversations about power and secrecy, they feed into narratives that imply guilt by association.

The Amplifying Power of Social Media The role of social media in shaping and amplifying conspiracy theories cannot be overstated. Platforms like Twitter and Reddit have created spaces where facts, opinions, and theories coexist with little separation. When the Epstein scandal broke, social media was flooded with discussions, many of which featured a mix of verifiable information and speculative connections. The absence of direct evidence linking companies like Disney to Epstein did not deter users from proposing connections based on circumstantial evidence and “what-if” scenarios.

This phenomenon, described by media analysts as the “echo chamber effect,” allows theories to gain credibility through repetition rather than proof. As theories are shared, retweeted, and commented on, they accumulate a sense of legitimacy that belies their origins.

Why Certain Theories Stick Certain theories persist because they tap into deep-seated fears and the knowledge that the powerful often operate beyond the reach of conventional accountability. High-profile scandals involving powerful figures—whether in business, politics, or entertainment—reinforce the belief that more may be hidden just out of reach. Epstein’s network was confirmed to include names that were once considered untouchable, which validated the idea that hidden truths could surface anywhere.

Disney’s name appearing in speculative discussions highlights the intersection of innocence and power. It reflects a societal expectation that if one pillar of influence is shown to be compromised, others may be as well. This expectation, however, must be tempered with critical thinking and an examination of evidence.

The Need for Discernment Understanding the difference between fact and theory is crucial for informed dialogue. Public scrutiny is essential for accountability, but it must be balanced with discernment. While Epstein’s known associations spanned many sectors, and while individuals from the entertainment industry were involved in his circle, the leap to implicating entire organizations like Disney has not been supported by verified investigations.

The Reality Check Here’s what we know:

Documented Facts: Epstein’s network included influential figures, confirmed by court records and journalistic investigations. Disney’s Position: While Disney has faced isolated cases of employee misconduct, no substantial evidence ties the company as an institution to Epstein’s criminal activities. Public Perception: Theories are fueled by a combination of legitimate distrust in powerful institutions and the psychological need to connect the dots, even when the evidence does not support it. In the next segment, we will explore how media control and the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) contribute to the public’s perception of secrecy and whether this perception is warranted.

Media Control and NDAs – Protecting Power or Ensuring Silence?

The Strategy of Silence in Crisis Management When powerful organizations face potential scandal or crises, the first line of defense is often control—control over the narrative, control over information, and control over public perception. This strategy, while effective in mitigating immediate damage, can backfire by fostering an aura of secrecy that leads to suspicion. Disney, like many other global corporations, has historically employed these tactics, particularly through the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and strategic public relations (PR) campaigns. But do these measures protect legitimate corporate interests, or do they simply fuel theories that there is more being hidden?

Understanding the Role of NDAs NDAs are legal tools designed to maintain confidentiality and protect business interests. In most cases, their use is standard practice, whether to protect trade secrets, secure settlements, or manage sensitive internal matters. However, when NDAs intersect with scandals involving powerful individuals or organizations, they can become symbols of enforced silence. A report from the Harvard Business Review highlights that while NDAs are often employed for legitimate purposes, their misuse—especially when used to silence allegations of misconduct—has cast a shadow over their intent.

Disney has used NDAs in its corporate dealings, as have many in the media and entertainment sectors. This is not in itself suspicious; however, the mere presence of NDAs in a company’s arsenal can contribute to a narrative of secrecy, especially when paired with limited transparency during controversies.

The Case of High-Profile Secrecy The Epstein scandal showed how the use of NDAs and strategic silence could be perceived in a different light. When influential figures and companies were linked to his circle, silence from those implicated was interpreted by many as an attempt to avoid deeper inquiry. While Disney has not been tied to Epstein’s activities through verified evidence, its use of NDAs in unrelated circumstances and its approach to handling public controversies have made it a recurring subject in theories about hidden truths.

For example, Disney’s meticulous control over its brand image means that it often handles internal issues privately, releasing carefully crafted statements that address public concerns without divulging specifics. This approach, while protective, sometimes has the unintended consequence of making the public wonder what is not being said.

The Intersection of PR and Public Perception Public relations are designed to safeguard a company’s image, ensuring that responses to any negative news are swift and tightly managed. Disney’s PR machine is among the most sophisticated, capable of steering narratives and maintaining its reputation as an entertainment titan. This strategic control has allowed Disney to weather crises that might have permanently damaged lesser brands. However, in the context of a scandal as sprawling and notorious as Epstein’s, such control is perceived differently.

When the Epstein story broke and high-profile connections came to light, companies with any tenuous ties activated their crisis management protocols. For some, this meant issuing vague statements or refusing to comment altogether. To the public, this read as silence—a strategic choice that seemed suspicious when paired with known instances of NDAs being used to keep serious allegations quiet in other industries. The #MeToo movement, for instance, revealed how NDAs were used by some media companies to shield powerful perpetrators of harassment, showing that these tools can sometimes contribute to a culture of concealment.

Silence as Complicity? For a company like Disney, known for its polished public image, silence during times of widespread speculation can amplify suspicions. The question becomes: Is silence an act of protection or complicity? While NDAs are often used to manage settlements or protect internal processes, the fact that they prevent full transparency can make even innocent parties appear as if they have something to hide.

Experts in crisis communication argue that silence may protect the brand short-term but can erode trust long-term. Disney’s approach to handling public perception, from managing employee misconduct cases to addressing larger social controversies, often involves strategic responses that give the public enough information to stay satisfied but not enough to quell the more skeptical voices. This is standard practice but becomes contentious when the public is searching for accountability.

The Impact of Strategic Silence on Public Trust Media and communication studies have shown that transparency is increasingly becoming a measure of trustworthiness for corporations. In an era where the public demands answers and alternative media thrive on filling in gaps left by corporate PR, the stakes for maintaining trust are higher than ever. The use of NDAs and controlled statements can protect a company’s interests, but it also contributes to a perception of secrecy that feeds public doubt.

Disney’s balancing act—protecting its brand while managing incidents behind closed doors—reflects a broader industry trend. Corporations that prioritize narrative control must now reckon with an environment where even a hint of concealment can lead to damaging speculation. The Epstein case amplified this issue, putting the spotlight on how major organizations handle proximity to scandal, even if only by association.

Navigating the Perception The real challenge for Disney and similar companies lies in navigating the fine line between protecting their interests and fostering trust. Complete transparency can be risky, but strategic silence risks becoming complicit silence in the eyes of the public. This duality—where necessary protection measures are perceived as proof of hidden wrongdoing—is why entities like Disney find themselves caught up in discussions about figures like Epstein, despite the absence of concrete evidence.

The Takeaway for Institutions and the Public Understanding the role of NDAs and PR in managing public crises helps frame why powerful companies might become targets of suspicion. While the use of these tools is standard and often justified, their impact on public perception can’t be ignored. For the public, recognizing the difference between warranted inquiry and overreach is key to maintaining productive scrutiny without falling into the trap of baseless theories.

The next segment will focus on what these perceptions mean for society as a whole and why the pursuit of transparency and trust must be a collective endeavor.

Beyond the Shadows – A Call to Unity

The Complex Path to UnderstandingIn an age where trust in powerful institutions is fraying, and access to information is both a blessing and a burden, our approach to truth becomes more critical than ever. The discussions surrounding figures like Jeffrey Epstein and corporations like Disney are not just about scandal; they are about how we, as a society, confront power, secrecy, and transparency. This segment is a call to unite in the pursuit of truth—not through a divisive lens, but with collective discernment and an unwavering commitment to evidence and integrity.

The Lessons from HistoryHistory teaches us that institutions once seen as untouchable can harbor hidden truths. The exposure of corporate frauds, systemic abuses, and cover-ups within trusted sectors has shaped a society that questions everything. The Epstein scandal underscored this, revealing a network of power that reached further than many dared to imagine. Yet, while it validated the public’s instinct to question, it also highlighted a key challenge: differentiating between grounded inquiry and baseless theory.

Disney’s name appearing in speculative discussions about Epstein points to a broader pattern—our collective desire to ensure that those who hold power are not above scrutiny. But as we demand accountability, we must also unite in the practice of informed skepticism. The leap from isolated cases of misconduct or association to implicating entire organizations requires evidence, not just conjecture. This distinction is where we, as a society, must find common ground.

The Role of TransparencyTransparency has become the cornerstone of public trust. Organizations that handle controversies behind closed doors risk damaging their credibility. For companies like Disney, known for protecting their brand with meticulous care, the challenge is clear: find a balance between safeguarding legitimate interests and providing enough transparency to maintain public trust.

The use of NDAs, strategic silence, and controlled narratives may shield brands in the short term, but they can erode trust in the long run. Studies in crisis communication emphasize that openness, even when it exposes vulnerabilities, can reinforce loyalty and confidence among stakeholders. In the context of Epstein and the persistent whispers about powerful corporations, this lesson is especially relevant.

A Collective Call to ClarityThe pursuit of truth is not just the responsibility of journalists, whistleblowers, or industry watchdogs—it is a collective endeavor. The public plays a crucial role in this, but so do the corporations that hold sway over cultural and economic landscapes. When Disney’s name enters speculative discussions, it reflects a deep-seated desire for transparency from those we trust. This desire should be met not with fear of the unknown but with a commitment to clarity.

This segment is a call for unity in approaching these conversations. The balance between healthy skepticism and conspiracy theory is delicate but essential. We must ask hard questions and hold power accountable without losing sight of what separates substantiated fact from assumption.

Why Unity MattersIn times where speculation can divide and misinformation can spread faster than verified facts, unity in the pursuit of truth is vital. When we allow fear and uncertainty to fracture our approach, we weaken our collective power to bring genuine issues to light. Epstein’s case showed that hidden wrongs do exist and can involve the most influential figures. It also showed that uncovering the full scope of such wrongs takes a community committed to patience, evidence, and shared purpose.

Public scrutiny is essential for democracy and social justice, but so is discernment. When theories about organizations like Disney arise without evidence, they risk diverting attention from real, proven issues that demand action. Unity in seeking truth means supporting real investigations, demanding transparency, and recognizing the power of evidence-based inquiry.

Building a Culture of Informed AccountabilityThe goal is not to silence questions but to elevate them, ensuring that they are grounded in reality. This approach not only empowers the public but also sets a standard for institutions. If Disney and other corporations prioritize transparency, they can reinforce the public trust that sustains their brands. Similarly, when the public insists on evidence and integrity in its discussions, it strengthens the very fabric of accountability.

Reflections for the Road AheadAs we move forward, let us commit to being a society that seeks truth not for scandal’s sake but for justice and integrity. Let us stand together in holding power to account, using facts as our foundation and unity as our strength. The story of Epstein and the questions it raises about power, influence, and hidden truths are reminders that transparency and trust are not just corporate responsibilities—they are collective ones.

This call to unity is a reminder that we all play a part in shaping how these stories unfold. When we seek, question, and demand clarity together, we create a society that values truth over rumor, evidence over assumption, and justice over division.

As we conclude this exploration, may we carry forward the lessons learned: the importance of questioning with integrity, seeking truth with diligence, and facing the unknown not as individuals, but as a united community.

@ 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! 🌸

@ 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

@ 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.

@ 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]

---

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

@ 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»

---

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

@ 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.

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

Bitcoin is more than money, more than an asset, and more than a store of value. Bitcoin is a Prime Mover, an enabler and it ignites imaginations. It certainly fueled an idea in my mind. The idea integrates sensors, computational prowess, actuated machinery, power conversion, and electronic communications to form an autonomous, machined creature roaming forests and harvesting the most widespread and least energy-dense fuel source available. I call it the Forest Walker and it eats wood, and mines Bitcoin.

I know what you're thinking. Why not just put Bitcoin mining rigs where they belong: in a hosted facility sporting electricity from energy-dense fuels like natural gas, climate-controlled with excellent data piping in and out? Why go to all the trouble building a robot that digests wood creating flammable gasses fueling an engine to run a generator powering Bitcoin miners? It's all about synergy.

Bitcoin mining enables the realization of multiple, seemingly unrelated, yet useful activities. Activities considered un-profitable if not for Bitcoin as the Prime Mover. This is much more than simply mining the greatest asset ever conceived by humankind. It’s about the power of synergy, which Bitcoin plays only one of many roles. The synergy created by this system can stabilize forests' fire ecology while generating multiple income streams. That’s the realistic goal here and requires a brief history of American Forest management before continuing.

Smokey The Bear

In 1944, the Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention Campaign began in the United States. “Only YOU can prevent forest fires” remains the refrain of the Ad Council’s longest running campaign. The Ad Council is a U.S. non-profit set up by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers in 1942. It would seem that the U.S. Department of the Interior was concerned about pesky forest fires and wanted them to stop. So, alongside a national policy of extreme fire suppression they enlisted the entire U.S. population to get onboard via the Ad Council and it worked. Forest fires were almost obliterated and everyone was happy, right? Wrong.

Smokey is a fantastically successful bear so forest fires became so few for so long that the fuel load - dead wood - in forests has become very heavy. So heavy that when a fire happens (and they always happen) it destroys everything in its path because the more fuel there is the hotter that fire becomes. Trees, bushes, shrubs, and all other plant life cannot escape destruction (not to mention homes and businesses). The soil microbiology doesn’t escape either as it is burned away even in deeper soils. To add insult to injury, hydrophobic waxy residues condense on the soil surface, forcing water to travel over the ground rather than through it eroding forest soils. Good job, Smokey. Well done, Sir!

Most terrestrial ecologies are “fire ecologies”. Fire is a part of these systems’ fuel load and pest management. Before we pretended to “manage” millions of acres of forest, fires raged over the world, rarely damaging forests. The fuel load was always too light to generate fires hot enough to moonscape mountainsides. Fires simply burned off the minor amounts of fuel accumulated since the fire before. The lighter heat, smoke, and other combustion gasses suppressed pests, keeping them in check and the smoke condensed into a plant growth accelerant called wood vinegar, not a waxy cap on the soil. These fires also cleared out weak undergrowth, cycled minerals, and thinned the forest canopy, allowing sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. Without a fire’s heat, many pine tree species can’t sow their seed. The heat is required to open the cones (the seed bearing structure) of Spruce, Cypress, Sequoia, Jack Pine, Lodgepole Pine and many more. Without fire forests can’t have babies. The idea was to protect the forests, and it isn't working.

So, in a world of fire, what does an ally look like and what does it do?

Meet The Forest Walker

For the Forest Walker to work as a mobile, autonomous unit, a solid platform that can carry several hundred pounds is required. It so happens this chassis already exists but shelved.

Introducing the Legged Squad Support System (LS3). A joint project between Boston Dynamics, DARPA, and the United States Marine Corps, the quadrupedal robot is the size of a cow, can carry 400 pounds (180 kg) of equipment, negotiate challenging terrain, and operate for 24 hours before needing to refuel. Yes, it had an engine. Abandoned in 2015, the thing was too noisy for military deployment and maintenance "under fire" is never a high-quality idea. However, we can rebuild it to act as a platform for the Forest Walker; albeit with serious alterations. It would need to be bigger, probably. Carry more weight? Definitely. Maybe replace structural metal with carbon fiber and redesign much as 3D printable parts for more effective maintenance.

The original system has a top operational speed of 8 miles per hour. For our purposes, it only needs to move about as fast as a grazing ruminant. Without the hammering vibrations of galloping into battle, shocks of exploding mortars, and drunken soldiers playing "Wrangler of Steel Machines", time between failures should be much longer and the overall energy consumption much lower. The LS3 is a solid platform to build upon. Now it just needs to be pulled out of the mothballs, and completely refitted with outboard equipment.

The Small Branch Chipper

When I say “Forest fuel load” I mean the dead, carbon containing litter on the forest floor. Duff (leaves), fine-woody debris (small branches), and coarse woody debris (logs) are the fuel that feeds forest fires. Walk through any forest in the United States today and you will see quite a lot of these materials. Too much, as I have described. Some of these fuel loads can be 8 tons per acre in pine and hardwood forests and up to 16 tons per acre at active logging sites. That’s some big wood and the more that collects, the more combustible danger to the forest it represents. It also provides a technically unlimited fuel supply for the Forest Walker system.

The problem is that this detritus has to be chewed into pieces that are easily ingestible by the system for the gasification process (we’ll get to that step in a minute). What we need is a wood chipper attached to the chassis (the LS3); its “mouth”.

A small wood chipper handling material up to 2.5 - 3.0 inches (6.3 - 7.6 cm) in diameter would eliminate a substantial amount of fuel. There is no reason for Forest Walker to remove fallen trees. It wouldn’t have to in order to make a real difference. It need only identify appropriately sized branches and grab them. Once loaded into the chipper’s intake hopper for further processing, the beast can immediately look for more “food”. This is essentially kindling that would help ignite larger logs. If it’s all consumed by Forest Walker, then it’s not present to promote an aggravated conflagration.

I have glossed over an obvious question: How does Forest Walker see and identify branches and such? LiDaR (Light Detection and Ranging) attached to Forest Walker images the local area and feed those data to onboard computers for processing. Maybe AI plays a role. Maybe simple machine learning can do the trick. One thing is for certain: being able to identify a stick and cause robotic appendages to pick it up is not impossible.

Great! We now have a quadrupedal robot autonomously identifying and “eating” dead branches and other light, combustible materials. Whilst strolling through the forest, depleting future fires of combustibles, Forest Walker has already performed a major function of this system: making the forest safer. It's time to convert this low-density fuel into a high-density fuel Forest Walker can leverage. Enter the gasification process.

The Gassifier

The gasifier is the heart of the entire system; it’s where low-density fuel becomes the high-density fuel that powers the entire system. Biochar and wood vinegar are process wastes and I’ll discuss why both are powerful soil amendments in a moment, but first, what’s gasification?

Reacting shredded carbonaceous material at high temperatures in a low or no oxygen environment converts the biomass into biochar, wood vinegar, heat, and Synthesis Gas (Syngas). Syngas consists primarily of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. All of which are extremely useful fuels in a gaseous state. Part of this gas is used to heat the input biomass and keep the reaction temperature constant while the internal combustion engine that drives the generator to produce electrical power consumes the rest.

Critically, this gasification process is “continuous feed”. Forest Walker must intake biomass from the chipper, process it to fuel, and dump the waste (CO2, heat, biochar, and wood vinegar) continuously. It cannot stop. Everything about this system depends upon this continual grazing, digestion, and excretion of wastes just as a ruminal does. And, like a ruminant, all waste products enhance the local environment.

When I first heard of gasification, I didn’t believe that it was real. Running an electric generator from burning wood seemed more akin to “conspiracy fantasy” than science. Not only is gasification real, it’s ancient technology. A man named Dean Clayton first started experiments on gasification in 1699 and in 1901 gasification was used to power a vehicle. By the end of World War II, there were 500,000 Syngas powered vehicles in Germany alone because of fossil fuel rationing during the war. The global gasification market was $480 billion in 2022 and projected to be as much as $700 billion by 2030 (Vantage Market Research). Gasification technology is the best choice to power the Forest Walker because it’s self-contained and we want its waste products.

Biochar: The Waste

Biochar (AKA agricultural charcoal) is fairly simple: it’s almost pure, solid carbon that resembles charcoal. Its porous nature packs large surface areas into small, 3 dimensional nuggets. Devoid of most other chemistry, like hydrocarbons (methane) and ash (minerals), biochar is extremely lightweight. Do not confuse it with the charcoal you buy for your grill. Biochar doesn’t make good grilling charcoal because it would burn too rapidly as it does not contain the multitude of flammable components that charcoal does. Biochar has several other good use cases. Water filtration, water retention, nutrient retention, providing habitat for microscopic soil organisms, and carbon sequestration are the main ones that we are concerned with here.

Carbon has an amazing ability to adsorb (substances stick to and accumulate on the surface of an object) manifold chemistries. Water, nutrients, and pollutants tightly bind to carbon in this format. So, biochar makes a respectable filter and acts as a “battery” of water and nutrients in soils. Biochar adsorbs and holds on to seven times its weight in water. Soil containing biochar is more drought resilient than soil without it. Adsorbed nutrients, tightly sequestered alongside water, get released only as plants need them. Plants must excrete protons (H+) from their roots to disgorge water or positively charged nutrients from the biochar's surface; it's an active process.

Biochar’s surface area (where adsorption happens) can be 500 square meters per gram or more. That is 10% larger than an official NBA basketball court for every gram of biochar. Biochar’s abundant surface area builds protective habitats for soil microbes like fungi and bacteria and many are critical for the health and productivity of the soil itself.

The “carbon sequestration” component of biochar comes into play where “carbon credits” are concerned. There is a financial market for carbon. Not leveraging that market for revenue is foolish. I am climate agnostic. All I care about is that once solid carbon is inside the soil, it will stay there for thousands of years, imparting drought resiliency, fertility collection, nutrient buffering, and release for that time span. I simply want as much solid carbon in the soil because of the undeniably positive effects it has, regardless of any climactic considerations.

Wood Vinegar: More Waste

Another by-product of the gasification process is wood vinegar (Pyroligneous acid). If you have ever seen Liquid Smoke in the grocery store, then you have seen wood vinegar. Principally composed of acetic acid, acetone, and methanol wood vinegar also contains ~200 other organic compounds. It would seem intuitive that condensed, liquefied wood smoke would at least be bad for the health of all living things if not downright carcinogenic. The counter intuition wins the day, however. Wood vinegar has been used by humans for a very long time to promote digestion, bowel, and liver health; combat diarrhea and vomiting; calm peptic ulcers and regulate cholesterol levels; and a host of other benefits.

For centuries humans have annually burned off hundreds of thousands of square miles of pasture, grassland, forest, and every other conceivable terrestrial ecosystem. Why is this done? After every burn, one thing becomes obvious: the almost supernatural growth these ecosystems exhibit after the burn. How? Wood vinegar is a component of this growth. Even in open burns, smoke condenses and infiltrates the soil. That is when wood vinegar shows its quality.

This stuff beefs up not only general plant growth but seed germination as well and possesses many other qualities that are beneficial to plants. It’s a pesticide, fungicide, promotes beneficial soil microorganisms, enhances nutrient uptake, and imparts disease resistance. I am barely touching a long list of attributes here, but you want wood vinegar in your soil (alongside biochar because it adsorbs wood vinegar as well).

The Internal Combustion Engine

Conversion of grazed forage to chemical, then mechanical, and then electrical energy completes the cycle. The ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) converts the gaseous fuel output from the gasifier to mechanical energy, heat, water vapor, and CO2. It’s the mechanical energy of a rotating drive shaft that we want. That rotation drives the electric generator, which is the heartbeat we need to bring this monster to life. Luckily for us, combined internal combustion engine and generator packages are ubiquitous, delivering a defined energy output given a constant fuel input. It’s the simplest part of the system.

The obvious question here is whether the amount of syngas provided by the gasification process will provide enough energy to generate enough electrons to run the entire system or not. While I have no doubt the energy produced will run Forest Walker's main systems the question is really about the electrons left over. Will it be enough to run the Bitcoin mining aspect of the system? Everything is a budget.

CO2 Production For Growth

Plants are lollipops. No matter if it’s a tree or a bush or a shrubbery, the entire thing is mostly sugar in various formats but mostly long chain carbohydrates like lignin and cellulose. Plants need three things to make sugar: CO2, H2O and light. In a forest, where tree densities can be quite high, CO2 availability becomes a limiting growth factor. It’d be in the forest interests to have more available CO2 providing for various sugar formation providing the organism with food and structure.

An odd thing about tree leaves, the openings that allow gasses like the ever searched for CO2 are on the bottom of the leaf (these are called stomata). Not many stomata are topside. This suggests that trees and bushes have evolved to find gasses like CO2 from below, not above and this further suggests CO2 might be in higher concentrations nearer the soil.

The soil life (bacterial, fungi etc.) is constantly producing enormous amounts of CO2 and it would stay in the soil forever (eventually killing the very soil life that produces it) if not for tidal forces. Water is everywhere and whether in pools, lakes, oceans or distributed in “moist” soils water moves towards to the moon. The water in the soil and also in the water tables below the soil rise toward the surface every day. When the water rises, it expels the accumulated gasses in the soil into the atmosphere and it’s mostly CO2. It’s a good bet on how leaves developed high populations of stomata on the underside of leaves. As the water relaxes (the tide goes out) it sucks oxygenated air back into the soil to continue the functions of soil life respiration. The soil “breathes” albeit slowly.

The gasses produced by the Forest Walker’s internal combustion engine consist primarily of CO2 and H2O. Combusting sugars produce the same gasses that are needed to construct the sugars because the universe is funny like that. The Forest Walker is constantly laying down these critical construction elements right where the trees need them: close to the ground to be gobbled up by the trees.

The Branch Drones

During the last ice age, giant mammals populated North America - forests and otherwise. Mastodons, woolly mammoths, rhinos, short-faced bears, steppe bison, caribou, musk ox, giant beavers, camels, gigantic ground-dwelling sloths, glyptodons, and dire wolves were everywhere. Many were ten to fifteen feet tall. As they crashed through forests, they would effectively cleave off dead side-branches of trees, halting the spread of a ground-based fire migrating into the tree crown ("laddering") which is a death knell for a forest.

These animals are all extinct now and forests no longer have any manner of pruning services. But, if we build drones fitted with cutting implements like saws and loppers, optical cameras and AI trained to discern dead branches from living ones, these drones could effectively take over pruning services by identifying, cutting, and dropping to the forest floor, dead branches. The dropped branches simply get collected by the Forest Walker as part of its continual mission.

The drones dock on the back of the Forest Walker to recharge their batteries when low. The whole scene would look like a grazing cow with some flies bothering it. This activity breaks the link between a relatively cool ground based fire and the tree crowns and is a vital element in forest fire control.

The Bitcoin Miner

Mining is one of four monetary incentive models, making this system a possibility for development. The other three are US Dept. of the Interior, township, county, and electrical utility company easement contracts for fuel load management, global carbon credits trading, and data set sales. All the above depends on obvious questions getting answered. I will list some obvious ones, but this is not an engineering document and is not the place for spreadsheets. How much Bitcoin one Forest Walker can mine depends on everything else. What amount of biomass can we process? Will that biomass flow enough Syngas to keep the lights on? Can the chassis support enough mining ASICs and supporting infrastructure? What does that weigh and will it affect field performance? How much power can the AC generator produce?

Other questions that are more philosophical persist. Even if a single Forest Walker can only mine scant amounts of BTC per day, that pales to how much fuel material it can process into biochar. We are talking about millions upon millions of forested acres in need of fuel load management. What can a single Forest Walker do? I am not thinking in singular terms. The Forest Walker must operate as a fleet. What could 50 do? 500?

What is it worth providing a service to the world by managing forest fuel loads? Providing proof of work to the global monetary system? Seeding soil with drought and nutrient resilience by the excretion, over time, of carbon by the ton? What did the last forest fire cost?

The Mesh Network

What could be better than one bitcoin mining, carbon sequestering, forest fire squelching, soil amending behemoth? Thousands of them, but then they would need to be able to talk to each other to coordinate position, data handling, etc. Fitted with a mesh networking device, like goTenna or Meshtastic LoRa equipment enables each Forest Walker to communicate with each other.

Now we have an interconnected fleet of Forest Walkers relaying data to each other and more importantly, aggregating all of that to the last link in the chain for uplink. Well, at least Bitcoin mining data. Since block data is lightweight, transmission of these data via mesh networking in fairly close quartered environs is more than doable. So, how does data transmit to the Bitcoin Network? How do the Forest Walkers get the previous block data necessary to execute on mining?

Back To The Chain

Getting Bitcoin block data to and from the network is the last puzzle piece. The standing presumption here is that wherever a Forest Walker fleet is operating, it is NOT within cell tower range. We further presume that the nearest Walmart Wi-Fi is hours away. Enter the Blockstream Satellite or something like it.

A separate, ground-based drone will have two jobs: To stay as close to the nearest Forest Walker as it can and to provide an antennae for either terrestrial or orbital data uplink. Bitcoin-centric data is transmitted to the "uplink drone" via the mesh networked transmitters and then sent on to the uplink and the whole flow goes in the opposite direction as well; many to one and one to many.

We cannot transmit data to the Blockstream satellite, and it will be up to Blockstream and companies like it to provide uplink capabilities in the future and I don't doubt they will. Starlink you say? What’s stopping that company from filtering out block data? Nothing because it’s Starlink’s system and they could decide to censor these data. It seems we may have a problem sending and receiving Bitcoin data in back country environs.

But, then again, the utility of this system in staunching the fuel load that creates forest fires is extremely useful around forested communities and many have fiber, Wi-Fi and cell towers. These communities could be a welcoming ground zero for first deployments of the Forest Walker system by the home and business owners seeking fire repression. In the best way, Bitcoin subsidizes the safety of the communities.

Sensor Packages

LiDaR

The benefit of having a Forest Walker fleet strolling through the forest is the never ending opportunity for data gathering. A plethora of deployable sensors gathering hyper-accurate data on everything from temperature to topography is yet another revenue generator. Data is valuable and the Forest Walker could generate data sales to various government entities and private concerns.

LiDaR (Light Detection and Ranging) can map topography, perform biomass assessment, comparative soil erosion analysis, etc. It so happens that the Forest Walker’s ability to “see,” to navigate about its surroundings, is LiDaR driven and since it’s already being used, we can get double duty by harvesting that data for later use. By using a laser to send out light pulses and measuring the time it takes for the reflection of those pulses to return, very detailed data sets incrementally build up. Eventually, as enough data about a certain area becomes available, the data becomes useful and valuable.

Forestry concerns, both private and public, often use LiDaR to build 3D models of tree stands to assess the amount of harvest-able lumber in entire sections of forest. Consulting companies offering these services charge anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars per square kilometer for such services. A Forest Walker generating such assessments on the fly while performing its other functions is a multi-disciplinary approach to revenue generation.

pH, Soil Moisture, and Cation Exchange Sensing

The Forest Walker is quadrupedal, so there are four contact points to the soil. Why not get a pH data point for every step it takes? We can also gather soil moisture data and cation exchange capacities at unheard of densities because of sampling occurring on the fly during commission of the system’s other duties. No one is going to build a machine to do pH testing of vast tracts of forest soils, but that doesn’t make the data collected from such an endeavor valueless. Since the Forest Walker serves many functions at once, a multitude of data products can add to the return on investment component.

Weather Data

Temperature, humidity, pressure, and even data like evapotranspiration gathered at high densities on broad acre scales have untold value and because the sensors are lightweight and don’t require large power budgets, they come along for the ride at little cost. But, just like the old mantra, “gas, grass, or ass, nobody rides for free”, these sensors provide potential revenue benefits just by them being present.

I’ve touched on just a few data genres here. In fact, the question for universities, governmental bodies, and other institutions becomes, “How much will you pay us to attach your sensor payload to the Forest Walker?”

Noise Suppression

Only you can prevent Metallica filling the surrounds with 120 dB of sound. Easy enough, just turn the car stereo off. But what of a fleet of 50 Forest Walkers operating in the backcountry or near a township? 500? 5000? Each one has a wood chipper, an internal combustion engine, hydraulic pumps, actuators, and more cooling fans than you can shake a stick at. It’s a walking, screaming fire-breathing dragon operating continuously, day and night, twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year. The sound will negatively affect all living things and that impacts behaviors. Serious engineering consideration and prowess must deliver a silencing blow to the major issue of noise.

It would be foolish to think that a fleet of Forest Walkers could be silent, but if not a major design consideration, then the entire idea is dead on arrival. Townships would not allow them to operate even if they solved the problem of widespread fuel load and neither would governmental entities, and rightly so. Nothing, not man nor beast, would want to be subjected to an eternal, infernal scream even if it were to end within days as the fleet moved further away after consuming what it could. Noise and heat are the only real pollutants of this system; taking noise seriously from the beginning is paramount.

Fire Safety

A “fire-breathing dragon” is not the worst description of the Forest Walker. It eats wood, combusts it at very high temperatures and excretes carbon; and it does so in an extremely flammable environment. Bad mix for one Forest Walker, worse for many. One must take extreme pains to ensure that during normal operation, a Forest Walker could fall over, walk through tinder dry brush, or get pounded into the ground by a meteorite from Krypton and it wouldn’t destroy epic swaths of trees and baby deer. I envision an ultimate test of a prototype to include dowsing it in grain alcohol while it’s wrapped up in toilet paper like a pledge at a fraternity party. If it runs for 72 hours and doesn’t set everything on fire, then maybe outside entities won’t be fearful of something that walks around forests with a constant fire in its belly.

The Wrap

How we think about what can be done with and adjacent to Bitcoin is at least as important as Bitcoin’s economic standing itself. For those who will tell me that this entire idea is without merit, I say, “OK, fine. You can come up with something, too.” What can we plug Bitcoin into that, like a battery, makes something that does not work, work? That’s the lesson I get from this entire exercise. No one was ever going to hire teams of humans to go out and "clean the forest". There's no money in that. The data collection and sales from such an endeavor might provide revenues over the break-even point but investment demands Alpha in this day and age. But, plug Bitcoin into an almost viable system and, voilà! We tip the scales to achieve lift-off.

Let’s face it, we haven’t scratched the surface of Bitcoin’s forcing function on our minds. Not because it’s Bitcoin, but because of what that invention means. The question that pushes me to approach things this way is, “what can we create that one system’s waste is another system’s feedstock?” The Forest Walker system’s only real waste is the conversion of low entropy energy (wood and syngas) into high entropy energy (heat and noise). All other output is beneficial to humanity.

Bitcoin, I believe, is the first product of a new mode of human imagination. An imagination newly forged over the past few millennia of being lied to, stolen from, distracted and otherwise mis-allocated to a black hole of the nonsensical. We are waking up.

What I have presented is not science fiction. Everything I have described here is well within the realm of possibility. The question is one of viability, at least in terms of the detritus of the old world we find ourselves departing from. This system would take a non-trivial amount of time and resources to develop. I think the system would garner extensive long-term contracts from those who have the most to lose from wildfires, the most to gain from hyperaccurate data sets, and, of course, securing the most precious asset in the world. Many may not see it that way, for they seek Alpha and are therefore blind to other possibilities. Others will see only the possibilities; of thinking in a new way, of looking at things differently, and dreaming of what comes next.

@ 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]

---

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

@ 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.

@ 23b0e2f8:d8af76fc

Necessário

• Um Android que você não use mais (a câmera deve estar funcionando).
• Um cartão microSD (opcional, usado apenas uma vez).
• Um dispositivo para acompanhar seus fundos (provavelmente você já tem um).

Algumas coisas que você precisa saber

• O dispositivo servirá como um assinador. Qualquer movimentação só será efetuada após ser assinada por ele.
• O cartão microSD será usado para transferir o APK do Electrum e garantir que o aparelho não terá contato com outras fontes de dados externas após sua formatação. Contudo, é possível usar um cabo USB para o mesmo propósito.
• A ideia é deixar sua chave privada em um dispositivo offline, que ficará desligado em 99% do tempo. Você poderá acompanhar seus fundos em outro dispositivo conectado à internet, como seu celular ou computador pessoal.

---

O tutorial será dividido em dois módulos:

• Módulo 1 - Criando uma carteira fria/assinador.
• Módulo 2 - Configurando um dispositivo para visualizar seus fundos e assinando transações com o assinador.

---

No final, teremos:

• Uma carteira fria que também servirá como assinador.
• Um dispositivo para acompanhar os fundos da carteira.

---

Módulo 1 - Criando uma carteira fria/assinador

1. Baixe o APK do Electrum na aba de downloads em https://electrum.org/. Fique à vontade para verificar as assinaturas do software, garantindo sua autenticidade.

2. Formate o cartão microSD e coloque o APK do Electrum nele. Caso não tenha um cartão microSD, pule este passo.

1. Retire os chips e acessórios do aparelho que será usado como assinador, formate-o e aguarde a inicialização.

1. Durante a inicialização, pule a etapa de conexão ao Wi-Fi e rejeite todas as solicitações de conexão. Após isso, você pode desinstalar aplicativos desnecessários, pois precisará apenas do Electrum. Certifique-se de que Wi-Fi, Bluetooth e dados móveis estejam desligados. Você também pode ativar o modo avião.\ (Curiosidade: algumas pessoas optam por abrir o aparelho e danificar a antena do Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, impossibilitando essas funcionalidades.)

1. Insira o cartão microSD com o APK do Electrum no dispositivo e instale-o. Será necessário permitir instalações de fontes não oficiais.

1. No Electrum, crie uma carteira padrão e gere suas palavras-chave (seed). Anote-as em um local seguro. Caso algo aconteça com seu assinador, essas palavras permitirão o acesso aos seus fundos novamente. (Aqui entra seu método pessoal de backup.)

---

Módulo 2 - Configurando um dispositivo para visualizar seus fundos e assinando transações com o assinador.

1. Criar uma carteira somente leitura em outro dispositivo, como seu celular ou computador pessoal, é uma etapa bastante simples. Para este tutorial, usaremos outro smartphone Android com Electrum. Instale o Electrum a partir da aba de downloads em https://electrum.org/ ou da própria Play Store. (ATENÇÃO: O Electrum não existe oficialmente para iPhone. Desconfie se encontrar algum.)

2. Após instalar o Electrum, crie uma carteira padrão, mas desta vez escolha a opção Usar uma chave mestra.

1. Agora, no assinador que criamos no primeiro módulo, exporte sua chave pública: vá em Carteira > Detalhes da carteira > Compartilhar chave mestra pública.

1. Escaneie o QR gerado da chave pública com o dispositivo de consulta. Assim, ele poderá acompanhar seus fundos, mas sem permissão para movimentá-los.

2. Para receber fundos, envie Bitcoin para um dos endereços gerados pela sua carteira: Carteira > Addresses/Coins.

3. Para movimentar fundos, crie uma transação no dispositivo de consulta. Como ele não possui a chave privada, será necessário assiná-la com o dispositivo assinador.

1. No assinador, escaneie a transação não assinada, confirme os detalhes, assine e compartilhe. Será gerado outro QR, desta vez com a transação já assinada.

1. No dispositivo de consulta, escaneie o QR da transação assinada e transmita-a para a rede.

---

Conclusão

Pontos positivos do setup:

• Simplicidade: Basta um dispositivo Android antigo.
• Flexibilidade: Funciona como uma ótima carteira fria, ideal para holders.

Pontos negativos do setup:

• Padronização: Não utiliza seeds no padrão BIP-39, você sempre precisará usar o electrum.
• Interface: A aparência do Electrum pode parecer antiquada para alguns usuários.

Nesse ponto, temos uma carteira fria que também serve para assinar transações. O fluxo de assinar uma transação se torna: Gerar uma transação não assinada > Escanear o QR da transação não assinada > Conferir e assinar essa transação com o assinador > Gerar QR da transação assinada > Escanear a transação assinada com qualquer outro dispositivo que possa transmiti-la para a rede.

Como alguns devem saber, uma transação assinada de Bitcoin é praticamente impossível de ser fraudada. Em um cenário catastrófico, você pode mesmo que sem internet, repassar essa transação assinada para alguém que tenha acesso à rede por qualquer meio de comunicação. Mesmo que não queiramos que isso aconteça um dia, esse setup acaba por tornar essa prática possível.

---

@ 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.

@ 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.

@ 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.

@ f9cf4e94:96abc355

Scuttlebutt foi iniciado em maio de 2014 por Dominic Tarr ( dominictarr ) como uma rede social alternativa off-line, primeiro para convidados, que permite aos usuários obter controle total de seus dados e privacidade. Secure Scuttlebutt (ssb) foi lançado pouco depois, o que coloca a privacidade em primeiro plano com mais recursos de criptografia.

Se você está se perguntando de onde diabos veio o nome Scuttlebutt:

Este termo do século 19 para uma fofoca vem do Scuttlebutt náutico: “um barril de água mantido no convés, com um buraco para uma xícara”. A gíria náutica vai desde o hábito dos marinheiros de se reunir pelo boato até a fofoca, semelhante à fofoca do bebedouro.

Marinheiros se reunindo em torno da rixa. ( fonte )

Dominic descobriu o termo boato em um artigo de pesquisa que leu.

Em sistemas distribuídos, fofocar é um processo de retransmissão de mensagens ponto a ponto; as mensagens são disseminadas de forma análoga ao “boca a boca”.

Secure Scuttlebutt é um banco de dados de feeds imutáveis apenas para acréscimos, otimizado para replicação eficiente para protocolos ponto a ponto. Cada usuário tem um log imutável somente para acréscimos no qual eles podem gravar. Eles gravam no log assinando mensagens com sua chave privada. Pense em um feed de usuário como seu próprio diário de bordo, como um diário de bordo (ou diário do capitão para os fãs de Star Trek), onde eles são os únicos autorizados a escrever nele, mas têm a capacidade de permitir que outros amigos ou colegas leiam ao seu diário de bordo, se assim o desejarem.

Cada mensagem possui um número de sequência e a mensagem também deve fazer referência à mensagem anterior por seu ID. O ID é um hash da mensagem e da assinatura. A estrutura de dados é semelhante à de uma lista vinculada. É essencialmente um log somente de acréscimo de JSON assinado. Cada item adicionado a um log do usuário é chamado de mensagem.

Os logs do usuário são conhecidos como feed e um usuário pode seguir os feeds de outros usuários para receber suas atualizações. Cada usuário é responsável por armazenar seu próprio feed. Quando Alice assina o feed de Bob, Bob baixa o log de feed de Alice. Bob pode verificar se o registro do feed realmente pertence a Alice verificando as assinaturas. Bob pode verificar as assinaturas usando a chave pública de Alice.

Estrutura de alto nível de um feed

Pubs são servidores de retransmissão conhecidos como “super peers”. Pubs conectam usuários usuários e atualizações de fofocas a outros usuários conectados ao Pub. Um Pub é análogo a um pub da vida real, onde as pessoas vão para se encontrar e se socializar. Para ingressar em um Pub, o usuário deve ser convidado primeiro. Um usuário pode solicitar um código de convite de um Pub; o Pub simplesmente gerará um novo código de convite, mas alguns Pubs podem exigir verificação adicional na forma de verificação de e-mail ou, com alguns Pubs, você deve pedir um código em um fórum público ou chat. Pubs também podem mapear aliases de usuário, como e-mails ou nome de usuário, para IDs de chave pública para facilitar os pares de referência.

Depois que o Pub enviar o código de convite ao usuário, o usuário resgatará o código, o que significa que o Pub seguirá o usuário, o que permite que o usuário veja as mensagens postadas por outros membros do Pub, bem como as mensagens de retransmissão do Pub pelo usuário a outros membros do Pub.

Além de retransmitir mensagens entre pares, os Pubs também podem armazenar as mensagens. Se Alice estiver offline e Bob transmitir atualizações de feed, Alice perderá a atualização. Se Alice ficar online, mas Bob estiver offline, não haverá como ela buscar o feed de Bob. Mas com um Pub, Alice pode buscar o feed no Pub mesmo se Bob estiver off-line porque o Pub está armazenando as mensagens. Pubs são úteis porque assim que um colega fica online, ele pode sincronizar com o Pub para receber os feeds de seus amigos potencialmente offline.

Um usuário pode, opcionalmente, executar seu próprio servidor Pub e abri-lo ao público ou permitir que apenas seus amigos participem, se assim o desejarem. Eles também podem ingressar em um Pub público. Aqui está uma lista de Pubs públicos em que todos podem participar . Explicaremos como ingressar em um posteriormente neste guia. Uma coisa importante a observar é que o Secure Scuttlebutt em uma rede social somente para convidados significa que você deve ser “puxado” para entrar nos círculos sociais. Se você responder às mensagens, os destinatários não serão notificados, a menos que estejam seguindo você de volta. O objetivo do SSB é criar “ilhas” isoladas de redes pares, ao contrário de uma rede pública onde qualquer pessoa pode enviar mensagens a qualquer pessoa.

Perspectivas dos participantes

Scuttlebot

O software Pub é conhecido como servidor Scuttlebutt (servidor ssb ), mas também é conhecido como “Scuttlebot” e sbotna linha de comando. O servidor SSB adiciona comportamento de rede ao banco de dados Scuttlebutt (SSB). Estaremos usando o Scuttlebot ao longo deste tutorial.

Os logs do usuário são conhecidos como feed e um usuário pode seguir os feeds de outros usuários para receber suas atualizações. Cada usuário é responsável por armazenar seu próprio feed. Quando Alice assina o feed de Bob, Bob baixa o log de feed de Alice. Bob pode verificar se o registro do feed realmente pertence a Alice verificando as assinaturas. Bob pode verificar as assinaturas usando a chave pública de Alice.

Estrutura de alto nível de um feed

Pubs são servidores de retransmissão conhecidos como “super peers”. Pubs conectam usuários usuários e atualizações de fofocas a outros usuários conectados ao Pub. Um Pub é análogo a um pub da vida real, onde as pessoas vão para se encontrar e se socializar. Para ingressar em um Pub, o usuário deve ser convidado primeiro. Um usuário pode solicitar um código de convite de um Pub; o Pub simplesmente gerará um novo código de convite, mas alguns Pubs podem exigir verificação adicional na forma de verificação de e-mail ou, com alguns Pubs, você deve pedir um código em um fórum público ou chat. Pubs também podem mapear aliases de usuário, como e-mails ou nome de usuário, para IDs de chave pública para facilitar os pares de referência.

Depois que o Pub enviar o código de convite ao usuário, o usuário resgatará o código, o que significa que o Pub seguirá o usuário, o que permite que o usuário veja as mensagens postadas por outros membros do Pub, bem como as mensagens de retransmissão do Pub pelo usuário a outros membros do Pub.

Além de retransmitir mensagens entre pares, os Pubs também podem armazenar as mensagens. Se Alice estiver offline e Bob transmitir atualizações de feed, Alice perderá a atualização. Se Alice ficar online, mas Bob estiver offline, não haverá como ela buscar o feed de Bob. Mas com um Pub, Alice pode buscar o feed no Pub mesmo se Bob estiver off-line porque o Pub está armazenando as mensagens. Pubs são úteis porque assim que um colega fica online, ele pode sincronizar com o Pub para receber os feeds de seus amigos potencialmente offline.

Um usuário pode, opcionalmente, executar seu próprio servidor Pub e abri-lo ao público ou permitir que apenas seus amigos participem, se assim o desejarem. Eles também podem ingressar em um Pub público. Aqui está uma lista de Pubs públicos em que todos podem participar . Explicaremos como ingressar em um posteriormente neste guia. Uma coisa importante a observar é que o Secure Scuttlebutt em uma rede social somente para convidados significa que você deve ser “puxado” para entrar nos círculos sociais. Se você responder às mensagens, os destinatários não serão notificados, a menos que estejam seguindo você de volta. O objetivo do SSB é criar “ilhas” isoladas de redes pares, ao contrário de uma rede pública onde qualquer pessoa pode enviar mensagens a qualquer pessoa.

Perspectivas dos participantes

Pubs - Hubs

Pubs públicos

| Pub Name | Operator | Invite Code | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | scuttle.us | @Ryan | scuttle.us:8008:@WqcuCOIpLtXFRw/9vOAQJti8avTZ9vxT9rKrPo8qG6o=.ed25519~/ZUi9Chpl0g1kuWSrmehq2EwMQeV0Pd+8xw8XhWuhLE= | | pub1.upsocial.com | @freedomrules | pub1.upsocial.com:8008:@gjlNF5Cyw3OKZxEoEpsVhT5Xv3HZutVfKBppmu42MkI=.ed25519~lMd6f4nnmBZEZSavAl4uahl+feajLUGqu8s2qdoTLi8= | | Monero Pub | @Denis | xmr-pub.net:8008:@5hTpvduvbDyMLN2IdzDKa7nx7PSem9co3RsOmZoyyCM=.ed25519~vQU+r2HUd6JxPENSinUWdfqrJLlOqXiCbzHoML9iVN4= | | FreeSocial | @Jarland | pub.freesocial.co:8008:@ofYKOy2p9wsaxV73GqgOyh6C6nRGFM5FyciQyxwBd6A=.ed25519~ye9Z808S3KPQsV0MWr1HL0/Sh8boSEwW+ZK+8x85u9w= | | ssb.vpn.net.br | @coffeverton | ssb.vpn.net.br:8008:@ze8nZPcf4sbdULvknEFOCbVZtdp7VRsB95nhNw6/2YQ=.ed25519~D0blTolH3YoTwSAkY5xhNw8jAOjgoNXL/+8ZClzr0io= | | gossip.noisebridge.info | Noisebridge Hackerspace @james.network | gossip.noisebridge.info:8008:@2NANnQVdsoqk0XPiJG2oMZqaEpTeoGrxOHJkLIqs7eY=.ed25519~JWTC6+rPYPW5b5zCion0gqjcJs35h6JKpUrQoAKWgJ4= |

Pubs privados

Você precisará entrar em contato com os proprietários desses bares para receber um convite.

| Pub Name | Operator | Contact | | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- | | many.butt.nz | @dinosaur | mikey@enspiral.com | | one.butt.nz | @dinosaur | mikey@enspiral.com | | ssb.mikey.nz | @dinosaur | mikey@enspiral.com | | ssb.celehner.com | @cel | cel@celehner.com |

Pubs muito grandes

Aviso: embora tecnicamente funcione usar um convite para esses pubs, você provavelmente se divertirá se o fizer devido ao seu tamanho (muitas coisas para baixar, risco para bots / spammers / idiotas)

| Pub Name | Operator | Invite Code | | --------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | scuttlebutt.de | SolSoCoG | scuttlebutt.de:8008:@yeh/GKxlfhlYXSdgU7CRLxm58GC42za3tDuC4NJld/k=.ed25519~iyaCpZ0co863K9aF+b7j8BnnHfwY65dGeX6Dh2nXs3c= | | Lohn's Pub | @lohn | p.lohn.in:8018:@LohnKVll9HdLI3AndEc4zwGtfdF/J7xC7PW9B/JpI4U=.ed25519~z3m4ttJdI4InHkCtchxTu26kKqOfKk4woBb1TtPeA/s= | | Scuttle Space | @guil-dot | Visit scuttle.space | | SSB PeerNet US-East | timjrobinson | us-east.ssbpeer.net:8008:@sTO03jpVivj65BEAJMhlwtHXsWdLd9fLwyKAT1qAkc0=.ed25519~sXFc5taUA7dpGTJITZVDCRy2A9jmkVttsr107+ufInU= | | Hermies | s | net:hermies.club:8008~shs:uMYDVPuEKftL4SzpRGVyQxLdyPkOiX7njit7+qT/7IQ=:SSB+Room+PSK3TLYC2T86EHQCUHBUHASCASE18JBV24= |

GUI - Interface Gráfica do Utilizador(Usuário)

Patchwork - Uma GUI SSB (Descontinuado)

Patchwork é o aplicativo de mensagens e compartilhamento descentralizado construído em cima do SSB . O protocolo scuttlebutt em si não mantém um conjunto de feeds nos quais um usuário está interessado, então um cliente é necessário para manter uma lista de feeds de pares em que seu respectivo usuário está interessado e seguindo.

Fonte: scuttlebutt.nz

Quando você instala e executa o Patchwork, você só pode ver e se comunicar com seus pares em sua rede local. Para acessar fora de sua LAN, você precisa se conectar a um Pub. Um pub é apenas para convidados e eles retransmitem mensagens entre você e seus pares fora de sua LAN e entre outros Pubs.

Lembre-se de que você precisa seguir alguém para receber mensagens dessa pessoa. Isso reduz o envio de mensagens de spam para os usuários. Os usuários só veem as respostas das pessoas que seguem. Os dados são sincronizados no disco para funcionar offline, mas podem ser sincronizados diretamente com os pares na sua LAN por wi-fi ou bluetooth.

Patchbay - Uma GUI Alternativa

Patchbay é um cliente de fofoca projetado para ser fácil de modificar e estender. Ele usa o mesmo banco de dados que Patchwork e Patchfoo , então você pode facilmente dar uma volta com sua identidade existente.

Planetary - GUI para IOS

Planetary é um app com pubs pré-carregados para facilitar integração.

Manyverse - GUI para Android

Manyverse é um aplicativo de rede social com recursos que você esperaria: posts, curtidas, perfis, mensagens privadas, etc. Mas não está sendo executado na nuvem de propriedade de uma empresa, em vez disso, as postagens de seus amigos e todos os seus dados sociais vivem inteiramente em seu telefone .

Fontes

• https://scuttlebot.io/

• https://decentralized-id.com/decentralized-web/scuttlebot/#plugins

• https://medium.com/@miguelmota/getting-started-with-secure-scuttlebut-e6b7d4c5ecfd

• Secure Scuttlebutt : um protocolo de banco de dados global.

@ 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.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Here are my predictions for Nostr in 2025:

Decentralization: The outbox and inbox communication models, sometimes referred to as the Gossip model, will become the standard across the ecosystem. By the end of 2025, all major clients will support these models, providing seamless communication and enhanced decentralization. Clients that do not adopt outbox/inbox by then will be regarded as outdated or legacy systems.

Privacy Standards: Major clients such as Damus and Primal will move away from NIP-04 DMs, adopting more secure protocol possibilities like NIP-17 or NIP-104. These upgrades will ensure enhanced encryption and metadata protection. Additionally, NIP-104 MLS tools will drive the development of new clients and features, providing users with unprecedented control over the privacy of their communications.

Interoperability: Nostr's ecosystem will become even more interconnected. Platforms like the Olas image-sharing service will expand into prominent clients such as Primal, Damus, Coracle, and Snort, alongside existing integrations with Amethyst, Nostur, and Nostrudel. Similarly, audio and video tools like Nostr Nests and Zap.stream will gain seamless integration into major clients, enabling easy participation in live events across the ecosystem.

Adoption and Migration: Inspired by early pioneers like Fountain and Orange Pill App, more platforms will adopt Nostr for authentication, login, and social systems. In 2025, a significant migration from a high-profile application platform with hundreds of thousands of users will transpire, doubling Nostr’s daily activity and establishing it as a cornerstone of decentralized technologies.

@ 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.

@ 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. 🚀

@ e97aaffa:2ebd765d

Último dia do ano, momento para tirar o pó da bola de cristal, para fazer reflexões, previsões e desejos para o próximo ano e seguintes.

Ano após ano, o Bitcoin evoluiu, foi ultrapassando etapas, tornou-se cada vez mais mainstream. Está cada vez mais difícil fazer previsões sobre o Bitcoin, já faltam poucas barreiras a serem ultrapassadas e as que faltam são altamente complexas ou tem um impacto profundo no sistema financeiro ou na sociedade. Estas alterações profundas tem que ser realizadas lentamente, porque uma alteração rápida poderia resultar em consequências terríveis, poderia provocar um retrocesso.

Código do Bitcoin

No final de 2025, possivelmente vamos ter um fork, as discussões sobre os covenants já estão avançadas, vão acelerar ainda mais. Já existe um consenso relativamente alto, a favor dos covenants, só falta decidir que modelo será escolhido. Penso que até ao final do ano será tudo decidido.

Depois dos covenants, o próximo foco será para a criptografia post-quantum, que será o maior desafio que o Bitcoin enfrenta. Criar uma criptografia segura e que não coloque a descentralização em causa.

Espero muito de Ark, possivelmente a inovação do ano, gostaria de ver o Nostr a furar a bolha bitcoinheira e que o Cashu tivesse mais reconhecimento pelos bitcoiners.

Espero que surjam avanços significativos no BitVM2 e BitVMX.

Não sei o que esperar das layer 2 de Bitcoin, foram a maior desilusão de 2024. Surgiram com muita força, mas pouca coisa saiu do papel, foi uma mão cheia de nada. Uma parte dos projetos caiu na tentação da shitcoinagem, na criação de tokens, que tem um único objetivo, enriquecer os devs e os VCs.

Se querem ser levados a sério, têm que ser sérios.

“À mulher de César não basta ser honesta, deve parecer honesta”

Se querem ter o apoio dos bitcoiners, sigam o ethos do Bitcoin.

Neste ponto a atitude do pessoal da Ark é exemplar, em vez de andar a chorar no Twitter para mudar o código do Bitcoin, eles colocaram as mãos na massa e criaram o protocolo. É claro que agora está meio “coxo”, funciona com uma multisig ou com os covenants na Liquid. Mas eles estão a criar um produto, vão demonstrar ao mercado que o produto é bom e útil. Com a adoção, a comunidade vai perceber que o Ark necessita dos covenants para melhorar a interoperabilidade e a soberania.

É este o pensamento certo, que deveria ser seguido pelos restantes e futuros projetos. É seguir aquele pensamento do J.F. Kennedy:

“Não perguntem o que é que o vosso país pode fazer por vocês, perguntem o que é que vocês podem fazer pelo vosso país”

Ou seja, não fiquem à espera que o bitcoin mude, criem primeiro as inovações/tecnologia, ganhem adoção e depois demonstrem que a alteração do código camada base pode melhorar ainda mais o vosso projeto. A necessidade é que vai levar a atualização do código.

Reservas Estratégicas de Bitcoin

Bancos centrais

Com a eleição de Trump, emergiu a ideia de uma Reserva Estratégia de Bitcoin, tornou este conceito mainstream. Foi um pivot, a partir desse momento, foram enumerados os políticos de todo o mundo a falar sobre o assunto.

A Senadora Cynthia Lummis foi mais além e propôs um programa para adicionar 200 mil bitcoins à reserva ao ano, até 1 milhão de Bitcoin. Só que isto está a criar uma enorme expectativa na comunidade, só que pode resultar numa enorme desilusão. Porque no primeiro ano, o Trump em vez de comprar os 200 mil, pode apenas adicionar na reserva, os 198 mil que o Estado já tem em sua posse. Se isto acontecer, possivelmente vai resultar numa forte queda a curto prazo. Na minha opinião os bancos centrais deveriam seguir o exemplo de El Salvador, fazer um DCA diário.

Mais que comprar bitcoin, para mim, o mais importante é a criação da Reserva, é colocar o Bitcoin ao mesmo nível do ouro, o impacto para o resto do mundo será tremendo, a teoria dos jogos na sua plenitude. Muitos outros bancos centrais vão ter que comprar, para não ficarem atrás, além disso, vai transmitir uma mensagem à generalidade da população, que o Bitcoin é “afinal é algo seguro, com valor”.

Mas não foi Trump que iniciou esta teoria dos jogos, mas sim foi a primeira vítima dela. É o próprio Trump que o admite, que os EUA necessitam da reserva para não ficar atrás da China. Além disso, desde que os EUA utilizaram o dólar como uma arma, com sanção contra a Rússia, surgiram boatos de que a Rússia estaria a utilizar o Bitcoin para transações internacionais. Que foram confirmados recentemente, pelo próprio governo russo. Também há poucos dias, ainda antes deste reconhecimento público, Putin elogiou o Bitcoin, ao reconhecer que “Ninguém pode proibir o bitcoin”, defendendo como uma alternativa ao dólar. A narrativa está a mudar.

Já existem alguns países com Bitcoin, mas apenas dois o fizeram conscientemente (El Salvador e Butão), os restantes têm devido a apreensões. Hoje são poucos, mas 2025 será o início de uma corrida pelos bancos centrais. Esta corrida era algo previsível, o que eu não esperava é que acontecesse tão rápido.

Empresas

A criação de reservas estratégicas não vai ficar apenas pelos bancos centrais, também vai acelerar fortemente nas empresas em 2025.

Mas as empresas não vão seguir a estratégia do Saylor, vão comprar bitcoin sem alavancagem, utilizando apenas os tesouros das empresas, como uma proteção contra a inflação. Eu não sou grande admirador do Saylor, prefiro muito mais, uma estratégia conservadora, sem qualquer alavancagem. Penso que as empresas vão seguir a sugestão da BlackRock, que aconselha um alocações de 1% a 3%.

Penso que 2025, ainda não será o ano da entrada das 6 magníficas (excepto Tesla), será sobretudo empresas de pequena e média dimensão. As magníficas ainda tem uma cota muito elevada de shareholders com alguma idade, bastante conservadores, que têm dificuldade em compreender o Bitcoin, foi o que aconteceu recentemente com a Microsoft.

Também ainda não será em 2025, talvez 2026, a inclusão nativamente de wallet Bitcoin nos sistema da Apple Pay e da Google Pay. Seria um passo gigante para a adoção a nível mundial.

ETFs

Os ETFs para mim são uma incógnita, tenho demasiadas dúvidas, como será 2025. Este ano os inflows foram superiores a 500 mil bitcoins, o IBIT foi o lançamento de ETF mais bem sucedido da história. O sucesso dos ETFs, deve-se a 2 situações que nunca mais se vão repetir. O mercado esteve 10 anos à espera pela aprovação dos ETFs, a procura estava reprimida, isso foi bem notório nos primeiros meses, os inflows foram brutais.

Também se beneficiou por ser um mercado novo, não existia orderbook de vendas, não existia um mercado interno, praticamente era só inflows. Agora o mercado já estabilizou, a maioria das transações já são entre clientes dos próprios ETFs. Agora só uma pequena percentagem do volume das transações diárias vai resultar em inflows ou outflows.

Estes dois fenómenos nunca mais se vão repetir, eu não acredito que o número de inflows em BTC supere os número de 2024, em dólares vai superar, mas em btc não acredito que vá superar.

Mas em 2025 vão surgir uma infindável quantidade de novos produtos, derivativos, novos ETFs de cestos com outras criptos ou cestos com ativos tradicionais. O bitcoin será adicionado em produtos financeiros já existentes no mercado, as pessoas vão passar a deter bitcoin, sem o saberem.

Com o fim da operação ChokePoint 2.0, vai surgir uma nova onda de adoção e de produtos financeiros. Possivelmente vamos ver bancos tradicionais a disponibilizar produtos ou serviços de custódia aos seus clientes.

Eu adoraria ver o crescimento da adoção do bitcoin como moeda, só que a regulamentação não vai ajudar nesse processo.

Preço

Eu acredito que o topo deste ciclo será alcançado no primeiro semestre, posteriormente haverá uma correção. Mas desta vez, eu acredito que a correção será muito menor que as anteriores, inferior a 50%, esta é a minha expectativa. Espero estar certo.

Stablecoins de dólar

Agora saindo um pouco do universo do Bitcoin, acho importante destacar as stablecoins.

No último ciclo, eu tenho dividido o tempo, entre continuar a estudar o Bitcoin e estudar o sistema financeiro, as suas dinâmicas e o comportamento humano. Isto tem sido o meu foco de reflexão, imaginar a transformação que o mundo vai sofrer devido ao padrão Bitcoin. É uma ilusão acreditar que a transição de um padrão FIAT para um padrão Bitcoin vai ser rápida, vai existir um processo transitório que pode demorar décadas.

Com a re-entrada de Trump na Casa Branca, prometendo uma política altamente protecionista, vai provocar uma forte valorização do dólar, consequentemente as restantes moedas do mundo vão derreter. Provocando uma inflação generalizada, gerando uma corrida às stablecoins de dólar nos países com moedas mais fracas. Trump vai ter uma política altamente expansionista, vai exportar dólares para todo o mundo, para financiar a sua própria dívida. A desigualdade entre os pobres e ricos irá crescer fortemente, aumentando a possibilidade de conflitos e revoltas.

“Casa onde não há pão, todos ralham e ninguém tem razão”

Será mais lenha, para alimentar a fogueira, vai gravar os conflitos geopolíticos já existentes, ficando as sociedade ainda mais polarizadas.

Eu acredito que 2025, vai haver um forte crescimento na adoção das stablecoins de dólares, esse forte crescimento vai agravar o problema sistémico que são as stablecoins. Vai ser o início do fim das stablecoins, pelo menos, como nós conhecemos hoje em dia.

Problema sistémico

O sistema FIAT não nasceu de um dia para outro, foi algo que foi construído organicamente, ou seja, foi evoluindo ao longo dos anos, sempre que havia um problema/crise, eram criadas novas regras ou novas instituições para minimizar os problemas. Nestes quase 100 anos, desde os acordos de Bretton Woods, a evolução foram tantas, tornaram o sistema financeiro altamente complexo, burocrático e nada eficiente.

Na prática é um castelo de cartas construído sobre outro castelo de cartas e que por sua vez, foi construído sobre outro castelo de cartas.

As stablecoins são um problema sistémico, devido às suas reservas em dólares e o sistema financeiro não está preparado para manter isso seguro. Com o crescimento das reservas ao longo dos anos, foi se agravando o problema.

No início a Tether colocava as reservas em bancos comerciais, mas com o crescimento dos dólares sob gestão, criou um problema nos bancos comerciais, devido à reserva fracionária. Essas enormes reservas da Tether estavam a colocar em risco a própria estabilidade dos bancos.

A Tether acabou por mudar de estratégia, optou por outros ativos, preferencialmente por títulos do tesouro/obrigações dos EUA. Só que a Tether continua a crescer e não dá sinais de abrandamento, pelo contrário.

Até o próprio mundo cripto, menosprezava a gravidade do problema da Tether/stablecoins para o resto do sistema financeiro, porque o marketcap do cripto ainda é muito pequeno. É verdade que ainda é pequeno, mas a Tether não o é, está no top 20 dos maiores detentores de títulos do tesouros dos EUA e está ao nível dos maiores bancos centrais do mundo. Devido ao seu tamanho, está a preocupar os responsáveis/autoridades/reguladores dos EUA, pode colocar em causa a estabilidade do sistema financeiro global, que está assente nessas obrigações.

Os títulos do tesouro dos EUA são o colateral mais utilizado no mundo, tanto por bancos centrais, como por empresas, é a charneira da estabilidade do sistema financeiro. Os títulos do tesouro são um assunto muito sensível. Na recente crise no Japão, do carry trade, o Banco Central do Japão tentou minimizar a desvalorização do iene através da venda de títulos dos EUA. Esta operação, obrigou a uma viagem de emergência, da Secretaria do Tesouro dos EUA, Janet Yellen ao Japão, onde disponibilizou liquidez para parar a venda de títulos por parte do Banco Central do Japão. Essa forte venda estava desestabilizando o mercado.

Os principais detentores de títulos do tesouros são institucionais, bancos centrais, bancos comerciais, fundo de investimento e gestoras, tudo administrado por gestores altamente qualificados, racionais e que conhecem a complexidade do mercado de obrigações.

O mundo cripto é seu oposto, é naife com muita irracionalidade e uma forte pitada de loucura, na sua maioria nem faz a mínima ideia como funciona o sistema financeiro. Essa irracionalidade pode levar a uma “corrida bancária”, como aconteceu com o UST da Luna, que em poucas horas colapsou o projeto. Em termos de escala, a Luna ainda era muito pequena, por isso, o problema ficou circunscrito ao mundo cripto e a empresas ligadas diretamente ao cripto.

Só que a Tether é muito diferente, caso exista algum FUD, que obrigue a Tether a desfazer-se de vários biliões ou dezenas de biliões de dólares em títulos num curto espaço de tempo, poderia provocar consequências terríveis em todo o sistema financeiro. A Tether é grande demais, é já um problema sistémico, que vai agravar-se com o crescimento em 2025.

Não tenham dúvidas, se existir algum problema, o Tesouro dos EUA vai impedir a venda dos títulos que a Tether tem em sua posse, para salvar o sistema financeiro. O problema é, o que vai fazer a Tether, se ficar sem acesso às venda das reservas, como fará o redeem dos dólares?

Como o crescimento do Tether é inevitável, o Tesouro e o FED estão com um grande problema em mãos, o que fazer com o Tether?

Mas o problema é que o atual sistema financeiro é como um curto cobertor: Quanto tapas a cabeça, destapas os pés; Ou quando tapas os pés, destapas a cabeça. Ou seja, para resolver o problema da guarda reservas da Tether, vai criar novos problemas, em outros locais do sistema financeiro e assim sucessivamente.

Conta mestre

Uma possível solução seria dar uma conta mestre à Tether, dando o acesso direto a uma conta no FED, semelhante à que todos os bancos comerciais têm. Com isto, a Tether deixaria de necessitar os títulos do tesouro, depositando o dinheiro diretamente no banco central. Só que isto iria criar dois novos problemas, com o Custodia Bank e com o restante sistema bancário.

O Custodia Bank luta há vários anos contra o FED, nos tribunais pelo direito a ter licença bancária para um banco com full-reserves. O FED recusou sempre esse direito, com a justificativa que esse banco, colocaria em risco toda a estabilidade do sistema bancário existente, ou seja, todos os outros bancos poderiam colapsar. Perante a existência em simultâneo de bancos com reserva fracionária e com full-reserves, as pessoas e empresas iriam optar pelo mais seguro. Isso iria provocar uma corrida bancária, levando ao colapso de todos os bancos com reserva fracionária, porque no Custodia Bank, os fundos dos clientes estão 100% garantidos, para qualquer valor. Deixaria de ser necessário limites de fundos de Garantia de Depósitos.

Eu concordo com o FED nesse ponto, que os bancos com full-reserves são uma ameaça a existência dos restantes bancos. O que eu discordo do FED, é a origem do problema, o problema não está nos bancos full-reserves, mas sim nos que têm reserva fracionária.

O FED ao conceder uma conta mestre ao Tether, abre um precedente, o Custodia Bank irá o aproveitar, reclamando pela igualdade de direitos nos tribunais e desta vez, possivelmente ganhará a sua licença.

Ainda há um segundo problema, com os restantes bancos comerciais. A Tether passaria a ter direitos similares aos bancos comerciais, mas os deveres seriam muito diferentes. Isto levaria os bancos comerciais aos tribunais para exigir igualdade de tratamento, é uma concorrência desleal. Isto é o bom dos tribunais dos EUA, são independentes e funcionam, mesmo contra o estado. Os bancos comerciais têm custos exorbitantes devido às políticas de compliance, como o KYC e AML. Como o governo não vai querer aliviar as regras, logo seria a Tether, a ser obrigada a fazer o compliance dos seus clientes.

A obrigação do KYC para ter stablecoins iriam provocar um terramoto no mundo cripto.

Assim, é pouco provável que seja a solução para a Tether.

FED

Só resta uma hipótese, ser o próprio FED a controlar e a gerir diretamente as stablecoins de dólar, nacionalizado ou absorvendo as existentes. Seria uma espécie de CBDC. Isto iria provocar um novo problema, um problema diplomático, porque as stablecoins estão a colocar em causa a soberania monetária dos outros países. Atualmente as stablecoins estão um pouco protegidas porque vivem num limbo jurídico, mas a partir do momento que estas são controladas pelo governo americano, tudo muda. Os países vão exigir às autoridades americanas medidas que limitem o uso nos seus respectivos países.

Não existe uma solução boa, o sistema FIAT é um castelo de cartas, qualquer carta que se mova, vai provocar um desmoronamento noutro local. As autoridades não poderão adiar mais o problema, terão que o resolver de vez, senão, qualquer dia será tarde demais. Se houver algum problema, vão colocar a responsabilidade no cripto e no Bitcoin. Mas a verdade, a culpa é inteiramente dos políticos, da sua incompetência em resolver os problemas a tempo.

Será algo para acompanhar futuramente, mas só para 2026, talvez…

É curioso, há uns anos pensava-se que o Bitcoin seria a maior ameaça ao sistema ao FIAT, mas afinal, a maior ameaça aos sistema FIAT é o próprio FIAT(stablecoins). A ironia do destino.

Isto é como uma corrida, o Bitcoin é aquele atleta que corre ao seu ritmo, umas vezes mais rápido, outras vezes mais lento, mas nunca pára. O FIAT é o atleta que dá tudo desde da partida, corre sempre em velocidade máxima. Só que a vida e o sistema financeiro não é uma prova de 100 metros, mas sim uma maratona.

Europa

2025 será um ano desafiante para todos europeus, sobretudo devido à entrada em vigor da regulamentação (MiCA). Vão começar a sentir na pele a regulamentação, vão agravar-se os problemas com os compliance, problemas para comprovar a origem de fundos e outras burocracias. Vai ser lindo.

O Travel Route passa a ser obrigatório, os europeus serão obrigados a fazer o KYC nas transações. A Travel Route é uma suposta lei para criar mais transparência, mas prática, é uma lei de controle, de monitorização e para limitar as liberdades individuais dos cidadãos.

O MiCA também está a colocar problemas nas stablecoins de Euro, a Tether para já preferiu ficar de fora da europa. O mais ridículo é que as novas regras obrigam os emissores a colocar 30% das reservas em bancos comerciais. Os burocratas europeus não compreendem que isto coloca em risco a estabilidade e a solvência dos próprios bancos, ficam propensos a corridas bancárias.

O MiCA vai obrigar a todas as exchanges a estar registadas em solo europeu, ficando vulnerável ao temperamento dos burocratas. Ainda não vai ser em 2025, mas a UE vai impor políticas de controle de capitais, é inevitável, as exchanges serão obrigadas a usar em exclusividade stablecoins de euro, as restantes stablecoins serão deslistadas.

Todas estas novas regras do MiCA, são extremamente restritas, não é para garantir mais segurança aos cidadãos europeus, mas sim para garantir mais controle sobre a população. A UE está cada vez mais perto da autocracia, do que da democracia. A minha única esperança no horizonte, é que o sucesso das políticas cripto nos EUA, vai obrigar a UE a recuar e a aligeirar as regras, a teoria dos jogos é implacável. Mas esse recuo, nunca acontecerá em 2025, vai ser um longo período conturbado.

Recessão

Os mercados estão todos em máximos históricos, isto não é sustentável por muito tempo, suspeito que no final de 2025 vai acontecer alguma correção nos mercados. A queda só não será maior, porque os bancos centrais vão imprimir dinheiro, muito dinheiro, como se não houvesse amanhã. Vão voltar a resolver os problemas com a injeção de liquidez na economia, é empurrar os problemas com a barriga, em de os resolver. Outra vez o efeito Cantillon.

Será um ano muito desafiante a nível político, onde o papel dos políticos será fundamental. A crise política na França e na Alemanha, coloca a UE órfã, sem um comandante ao leme do navio. 2025 estará condicionado pelas eleições na Alemanha, sobretudo no resultado do AfD, que podem colocar em causa a propriedade UE e o euro.

Possivelmente, só o fim da guerra poderia minimizar a crise, algo que é muito pouco provável acontecer.

Em Portugal, a economia parece que está mais ou menos equilibrada, mas começam a aparecer alguns sinais preocupantes. Os jogos de sorte e azar estão em máximos históricos, batendo o recorde de 2014, época da grande crise, não é um bom sinal, possivelmente já existe algum desespero no ar.

A Alemanha é o motor da Europa, quanto espirra, Portugal constipa-se. Além do problema da Alemanha, a Espanha também está à beira de uma crise, são os países que mais influenciam a economia portuguesa.

Se existir uma recessão mundial, terá um forte impacto no turismo, que é hoje em dia o principal motor de Portugal.

Brasil

Brasil é algo para acompanhar em 2025, sobretudo a nível macro e a nível político. Existe uma possibilidade de uma profunda crise no Brasil, sobretudo na sua moeda. O banco central já anda a queimar as reservas para minimizar a desvalorização do Real.

Sem mudanças profundas nas políticas fiscais, as reservas vão se esgotar. As políticas de controle de capitais são um cenário plausível, será interesse de acompanhar, como o governo irá proceder perante a existência do Bitcoin e stablecoins. No Brasil existe um forte adoção, será um bom case study, certamente irá repetir-se em outros países num futuro próximo.

Os próximos tempos não serão fáceis para os brasileiros, especialmente para os que não têm Bitcoin.

Blockchain

Em 2025, possivelmente vamos ver os primeiros passos da BlackRock para criar a primeira bolsa de valores, exclusivamente em blockchain. Eu acredito que a BlackRock vai criar uma própria blockchain, toda controlada por si, onde estarão os RWAs, para fazer concorrência às tradicionais bolsas de valores. Será algo interessante de acompanhar.

---

Estas são as minhas previsões, eu escrevi isto muito em cima do joelho, certamente esqueci-me de algumas coisas, se for importante acrescentarei nos comentários. A maioria das previsões só acontecerá após 2025, mas fica aqui a minha opinião.

Isto é apenas a minha opinião, Don’t Trust, Verify!

@ 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.

@ f9cf4e94:96abc355

Na era das grandes navegações, piratas ingleses eram autorizados pelo governo para roubar navios.

A única coisa que diferenciava um pirata comum de um corsário é que o último possuía a “Carta do Corso”, que funcionava como um “Alvará para o roubo”, onde o governo Inglês legitimava o roubo de navios por parte dos corsários. É claro, que em troca ele exigia uma parte da espoliação.

Bastante similar com a maneira que a Receita Federal atua, não? Na verdade, o caso é ainda pior, pois o governo fica com toda a riqueza espoliada, e apenas repassa um mísero salário para os corsários modernos, os agentes da receita federal.

Porém eles “justificam” esse roubo ao chamá-lo de imposto, e isso parece acalmar os ânimos de grande parte da população, mas não de nós. Não é por acaso que 'imposto' é o particípio passado do verbo 'impor'. Ou seja, é aquilo que resulta do cumprimento obrigatório -- e não voluntário -- de todos os cidadãos. Se não for 'imposto' ninguém paga. Nem mesmo seus defensores. Isso mostra o quanto as pessoas realmente apreciam os serviços do estado.

Apenas volte um pouco na história: os primeiros pagadores de impostos eram fazendeiros cujos territórios foram invadidos por nômades que pastoreavam seu gado. Esses invasores nômades forçavam os fazendeiros a lhes pagar uma fatia de sua renda em troca de "proteção". O fazendeiro que não concordasse era assassinado.

Os nômades perceberam que era muito mais interessante e confortável apenas cobrar uma taxa de proteção em vez de matar o fazendeiro e assumir suas posses. Cobrando uma taxa, eles obtinham o que necessitavam. Já se matassem os fazendeiros, eles teriam de gerenciar por conta própria toda a produção da fazenda. Daí eles entenderam que, ao não assassinarem todos os fazendeiros que encontrassem pelo caminho, poderiam fazer desta prática um modo de vida.

Assim nasceu o governo.

Não assassinar pessoas foi o primeiro serviço que o governo forneceu. Como temos sorte em ter à nossa disposição esta instituição!

Assim, não deixa de ser curioso que algumas pessoas digam que os impostos são pagos basicamente para impedir que aconteça exatamente aquilo que originou a existência do governo. O governo nasceu da extorsão. Os fazendeiros tinham de pagar um "arrego" para seu governo. Caso contrário, eram assassinados. Quem era a real ameaça? O governo. A máfia faz a mesma coisa.

Mas existe uma forma de se proteger desses corsários modernos. Atualmente, existe uma propriedade privada que NINGUÉM pode tirar de você, ela é sua até mesmo depois da morte. É claro que estamos falando do Bitcoin. Fazendo as configurações certas, é impossível saber que você tem bitcoin. Nem mesmo o governo americano consegue saber.

brasil #bitcoinbrasil #nostrbrasil #grownostr #bitcoin

@ e83b66a8:b0526c2b

I watched Tucker Carlson interview Roger Ver last night.

I know we have our differences with Roger, and he has some less than pleasant personality traits, but he is facing 109 years in jail for tax evasion. While the charges may be technically correct, he should be able to pay the taxes and a fine and walk free. Even if we accept he did wrong, a minor prison term such as 6 months to 2 years would be appropriate in this case.

We all know the severe penalty is an over reach by US authorities looking to make the whole crypto community scared about using any form of crypto as money.

The US and many governments know they have lost the battle of Bitcoin as a hard asset, but this happened as a result of the Nash equilibrium, whereby you are forced to play a game that doesn’t benefit you, because not playing that game disadvantages you further. I.e. Governments loose control of the asset, but that asset is able to shore up their balance sheet and prevent your economy from failing (potentially).

The war against Bitcoin (and other cryptos) as a currency, whereby you can use your Bitcoin to buy anything anywhere from a pint of milk in the local shop, to a house or car and everything in-between is a distant goal and one that is happening slowly. But it is happening and these are the new battle lines.

Part of that battle is self custody, part is tax and part are the money transmitting laws.

Roger’s case is also being used as a weapon of fear.

I don’t hate Roger, the problem I have with Bitcoin cash is that you cannot run a full node from your home and if you can’t do this, it is left to large corporations to run the blockchain. Large corporations are much easier to control and coerce than thousands, perhaps millions of individuals. Just as China banned Bitcoin mining, so in this scenario it would be possible for governments to ban full nodes and enforce that ban by shutting down companies that attempted to do so.

Also, if a currency like Bitcoin cash scaled to Visa size, then Bitcoin Cash the company would become the new Visa / Mastercard and only the technology would change. However, even Visa and Mastercard don’t keep transaction logs for years, that would require enormous amount of storage and have little benefit. Nobody needs a global ledger that keeps a record of every coffee purchased in every coffee shop since the beginning of blockchain time.

This is why Bitcoin with a layer 2 payment system like Lightning is a better proposition than large blockchain cryptos. Once a payment channel is closed, the transactions are forgotten in the same way Visa and Mastercard only keep a transaction history for 1 or 2 years.

This continues to allow the freedom for anybody, anywhere to verify the money they hold and the transactions they perform along with everybody else. We have consensus by verification.

@ 6389be64:ef439d32

Resilience is the ability to withstand shocks, adapt, and bounce back. It’s an essential quality in nature and in life. But what if we could take resilience a step further? What if, instead of merely surviving, a system could improve when faced with stress? This concept, known as anti-fragility, is not just theoretical—it’s practical. Combining two highly resilient natural tools, comfrey and biochar, reveals how we can create systems that thrive under pressure and grow stronger with each challenge.

Comfrey: Nature’s Champion of Resilience

Comfrey is a plant that refuses to fail. Once its deep roots take hold, it thrives in poor soils, withstands drought, and regenerates even after being cut down repeatedly. It’s a hardy survivor, but comfrey doesn’t just endure—it contributes. Known as a dynamic accumulator, it mines nutrients from deep within the earth and brings them to the surface, making them available for other plants.

Beyond its ecological role, comfrey has centuries of medicinal use, earning the nickname "knitbone." Its leaves can heal wounds and restore health, a perfect metaphor for resilience. But as impressive as comfrey is, its true potential is unlocked when paired with another resilient force: biochar.

Biochar: The Silent Powerhouse of Soil Regeneration

Biochar, a carbon-rich material made by burning organic matter in low-oxygen conditions, is a game-changer for soil health. Its unique porous structure retains water, holds nutrients, and provides a haven for beneficial microbes. Soil enriched with biochar becomes drought-resistant, nutrient-rich, and biologically active—qualities that scream resilience.

Historically, ancient civilizations in the Amazon used biochar to transform barren soils into fertile agricultural hubs. Known as terra preta, these soils remain productive centuries later, highlighting biochar’s remarkable staying power.

Yet, like comfrey, biochar’s potential is magnified when it’s part of a larger system.

The Synergy: Comfrey and Biochar Together

Resilience turns into anti-fragility when systems go beyond mere survival and start improving under stress. Combining comfrey and biochar achieves exactly that.

1. Nutrient Cycling and Retention\ Comfrey’s leaves, rich in nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, make an excellent mulch when cut and dropped onto the soil. However, these nutrients can wash away in heavy rains. Enter biochar. Its porous structure locks in the nutrients from comfrey, preventing runoff and keeping them available for plants. Together, they create a system that not only recycles nutrients but amplifies their effectiveness.

2. Water Management\ Biochar holds onto water making soil not just drought-resistant but actively water-efficient, improving over time with each rain and dry spell.

3. Microbial Ecosystems\ Comfrey enriches soil with organic matter, feeding microbial life. Biochar provides a home for these microbes, protecting them and creating a stable environment for them to multiply. Together, they build a thriving soil ecosystem that becomes more fertile and resilient with each passing season.

Resilient systems can withstand shocks, but anti-fragile systems actively use those shocks to grow stronger. Comfrey and biochar together form an anti-fragile system. Each addition of biochar enhances water and nutrient retention, while comfrey regenerates biomass and enriches the soil. Over time, the system becomes more productive, less dependent on external inputs, and better equipped to handle challenges.

This synergy demonstrates the power of designing systems that don’t just survive—they thrive.

Lessons Beyond the Soil

The partnership of comfrey and biochar offers a valuable lesson for our own lives. Resilience is an admirable trait, but anti-fragility takes us further. By combining complementary strengths and leveraging stress as an opportunity, we can create systems—whether in soil, business, or society—that improve under pressure.

Nature shows us that resilience isn’t the end goal. When we pair resilient tools like comfrey and biochar, we unlock a system that evolves, regenerates, and becomes anti-fragile. By designing with anti-fragility in mind, we don’t just bounce back, we bounce forward.

By designing with anti-fragility in mind, we don’t just bounce back, we bounce forward.

@ 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]

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ e31e84c4:77bbabc0

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

---

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

@ 94a6a78a:0ddf320e

The backbone of your Nostr experience lies in relays—servers that transmit your notes, zaps, and private messages across the decentralized network. Azzamo offers three specialized relays to suit different user needs, ensuring reliability, performance, and privacy.

1. Free Relay

• URL: wss://nostr.azzamo.net
• Overview: Azzamo’s Free Relay is perfect for newcomers to Nostr. It’s open-access, reliable, and ensures fair use with moderate rate limits.
• Key Features:
• Free to use.
• Notes older than one month are purged daily.
• Accessible gateway for decentralized communication.

---

2. Paid Relay

• URL: wss://relay.azzamo.net
• Overview: Designed for power users, the Paid Relay offers unmatched performance with 99.9% uptime and low latency.
• Key Features:
• Scalable for heavy users.
• Fewer users for faster, consistent connections.
• Premium support included for paid users.

---

3. Inbox Relay

• URL: wss://inbox.azzamo.net
• Overview: Never miss a private message again with the Inbox Relay, optimized for secure, spam-free direct messaging.
• Key Features:
• Guaranteed message delivery.
• Optimized for NIP-17 private messages.
• Optimized for NIP-19 group chats.
• Premium users enjoy advanced support.

---

Why Choose Azzamo Relays?

Life on Nostr is easier with Azzamo relays. They’re fast, reliable, and built to handle whatever you throw at them. The Paid Relay keeps your connections strong, the Inbox Relay makes sure no private message gets lost, and the Free Relay is always there to get you started. Supporting Azzamo by going premium helps keep this decentralized network growing—and you get priority support while you’re at it. Azzamo has your back on Nostr!

🔗 Start now:

• Free Relay: wss://nostr.azzamo.net
• Paid Relay: azzamo.net/pay
• Inbox Relay: azzamo.net/inbox

Support the network and upgrade your experience—add time to your account via the Azzamo Dashboard. Choose Azzamo, and take control of your Nostr journey today!

@ 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]

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a95c6243:d345522c

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.

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 07907690:d4e015f6

Karena orang tuanya yang berasal dari Hongaria telah melarikan diri dari rezim Soviet pascaperang untuk menetap di Amerika Serikat, Nick Szabo menganggap daerah Teluk California pada tahun 1990-an sebagai rumahnya. Di sana, ia termasuk orang pertama yang sering menghadiri pertemuan tatap muka "Cypherpunk" yang diselenggarakan oleh Timothy May, Eric Hughes, dan anggota pendiri kolektif kriptografer, programmer, dan aktivis privasi lainnya yang berpusat di sekitar milis tahun 90-an dengan nama yang sama.

Seperti Cypherpunk lainnya, Szabo khawatir dengan jaminan privasi yang semakin berkurang di era digital yang akan datang dan mengambil tindakan untuk membendung gelombang tersebut semampunya. Misalnya, di milis Cypherpunk, Szabo memimpin penentangan terhadap "Chip Clipper", sebuah chip yang diusulkan untuk disematkan di telepon, yang memungkinkan NSA untuk mendengarkan panggilan telepon. Szabo memiliki bakat khusus untuk menjelaskan risiko pelanggaran privasi tersebut dengan cara yang dapat diterima oleh orang-orang yang tidak memiliki latar belakang teknis, terkadang memberikan ceramah tentang topik tersebut atau bahkan membagikan brosur. (Chip tersebut akhirnya ditolak oleh produsen dan konsumen.)

Namun seperti Cypherpunk yang lebih berorientasi libertarian, minat Szabo dalam privasi digital adalah bagian dari gambaran yang lebih besar — ini bukan hanya tentang privasi saja. Terinspirasi oleh visi Timothy May sebagaimana yang ditetapkan dalam The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, Szabo melihat potensi untuk menciptakan "Galt's Gulch" di dunia maya: domain tempat individu dapat berdagang dengan bebas, seperti yang dijelaskan oleh novel penulis libertarian Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. Medan gaya pseudo-fisika dari cerita tersebut, May dan Szabo percaya, dapat digantikan dengan keajaiban kriptografi kunci publik yang baru-baru ini ditemukan.

“Jika kita mundur sejenak dan mencermati apa yang ingin dicapai oleh banyak cypherpunk, tema idealis utamanya adalah dunia maya Ghana di mana kekerasan hanya bisa menjadi khayalan, entah itu dalam Mortal Komat [sic] atau 'perang api',” tulis Szabo dalam milis Cypherpunks.

Namun, Szabo juga menyadari bahwa perusahaan bebas membutuhkan lebih dari sekadar enkripsi sebagai lapisan keamanan. Terinspirasi oleh penulis libertarian lainnya — ekonom Friedrich Hayek — ia menemukan bahwa dasar masyarakat manusia, sebagian besar, didasarkan pada komponen dasar, seperti properti dan kontrak, yang biasanya ditegakkan oleh negara. Untuk menciptakan alternatif dunia maya tanpa negara dan tanpa kekerasan, Szabo tahu bahwa komponen dasar ini harus dipindahkan ke ranah daring.

Beginilah cara Szabo, pada pertengahan 1990-an, mengusulkan sesuatu yang mungkin paling dikenalnya saat ini: kontrak pintar. Protokol komputer (yang saat itu masih hipotetis) ini dapat memfasilitasi, memverifikasi, dan menegakkan negosiasi atau pelaksanaan kontrak secara digital, idealnya tanpa memerlukan pihak ketiga mana pun. Seperti yang pernah dikatakan Szabo : "Pihak ketiga yang tepercaya adalah lubang keamanan." Lubang keamanan ini akan menjadi target peretas atau penjahat — serta negara-negara bangsa selama masa ketidakstabilan politik atau penindasan.

Namun kontrak pintar hanyalah sebagian dari teka-teki. Alat kedua yang dibutuhkan Szabo untuk mewujudkan "Galt's Gulch" mungkin bahkan lebih penting. Uang.

Uang Elektronik

Mata uang digital, uang tunai untuk internet, selalu menjadi tujuan utama Cypherpunk. Namun, hanya sedikit yang mendalami pokok bahasan tersebut seperti yang dilakukan Szabo.

Dalam esainya "Shelling Out: The Origins of Money," Szabo menjelaskan bagaimana — seperti yang pertama kali dihipotesiskan oleh ahli biologi evolusi Richard Dawkins — penggunaan uang telah tertanam dalam DNA manusia. Setelah menganalisis masyarakat pra-peradaban, Szabo menemukan bahwa orang-orang di berbagai budaya cenderung mengumpulkan benda-benda langka dan mudah dibawa, sering kali untuk dijadikan perhiasan. Benda-benda inilah yang berfungsi sebagai uang, yang pada gilirannya memungkinkan manusia untuk bekerja sama: "altruisme timbal balik" teori permainan melalui perdagangan, dalam skala besar dan lintas waktu.

Szabo juga sangat tertarik pada perbankan bebas, sebuah pengaturan moneter yang didukung oleh Hayek, di mana bank swasta menerbitkan mata uang mereka sendiri yang tidak terikat pada negara tertentu. Di bawah sistem seperti itu, pasar bebas sepenuhnya bebas menentukan mata uang mana yang akan digunakan. Meskipun merupakan ide baru saat ini (dan bahkan lebih baru lagi pada tahun-tahun sebelum Bitcoin), perbankan bebas merupakan kenyataan di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1800-an, serta di beberapa negara lain.

Szabo juga melanjutkan untuk menerapkan minatnya dalam praktik dan menjual keahliannya sebagai konsultan perdagangan internet pada pertengahan 1990-an, jauh sebelum kebanyakan orang melihat potensi perdagangan daring. Yang paling menonjol, ia menghabiskan waktu bekerja di perusahaan rintisan DigiCash milik David Chaum, yang berkantor pusat di Amsterdam. Perusahaan Chaum memperkenalkan uang digital pertama yang pernah ada di dunia dalam bentuk eCash: sarana untuk melakukan pembayaran daring yang sama rahasianya dengan uang tunai di dunia nyata.

Namun, di DigiCash pula Szabo mengetahui risiko solusi Chaum. DigiCash adalah perusahaan terpusat, dan Szabo merasa terlalu mudah baginya dan orang lain untuk mengutak-atik saldo orang lain jika mereka mau. Bagaimanapun, pihak tepercaya adalah celah keamanan, dan risiko ini mungkin tidak lebih besar daripada risiko dalam hal uang.

“Masalahnya, singkatnya, adalah bahwa uang kita saat ini bergantung pada kepercayaan pada pihak ketiga untuk menentukan nilainya,” Szabo berpendapat pada tahun 2005. “Seperti yang ditunjukkan oleh banyak episode inflasi dan hiperinflasi selama abad ke-20, ini bukanlah keadaan yang ideal.”

Bahkan, ia menganggap masalah kepercayaan ini sebagai hambatan yang bahkan solusi perbankan bebas pada umumnya bisa mengalaminya: “[P]enerbitan uang kertas swasta, meski memiliki berbagai kelebihan dan kekurangan, juga bergantung pada pihak ketiga yang terpercaya.”

Szabo tahu ia ingin menciptakan bentuk uang baru yang tidak bergantung pada kepercayaan pada pihak ketiga mana pun.

Berdasarkan analisisnya terhadap uang prasejarah, Szabo telah menempuh perjalanan panjang dalam menentukan seperti apa bentuk uang idealnya. Pertama, uang tersebut harus “aman dari kehilangan dan pencurian yang tidak disengaja.” Kedua, nilainya harus “sangat mahal dan tidak dapat dipalsukan, sehingga dianggap berharga.” Dan ketiga: “Nilai ini [harus] diperkirakan secara akurat melalui pengamatan atau pengukuran sederhana.”

Dibandingkan dengan logam mulia seperti emas, Szabo ingin menciptakan sesuatu yang digital dan langka, di mana kelangkaan ini tidak bergantung pada kepercayaan pihak ketiga. Ia ingin menciptakan emas digital.

Logam mulia dan barang koleksi memiliki kelangkaan yang tidak dapat dipalsukan karena mahalnya biaya pembuatannya. Hal ini pernah menghasilkan uang yang nilainya sebagian besar tidak bergantung pada pihak ketiga yang tepercaya. Namun, logam mulia memiliki masalah. […] Jadi, akan sangat bagus jika ada protokol yang memungkinkan bit yang sangat mahal dapat dibuat secara daring dengan ketergantungan minimal pada pihak ketiga yang tepercaya, lalu disimpan, ditransfer, dan diuji dengan aman dengan kepercayaan minimal yang serupa. Bit Gold.

Bit Gold

Szabo pertama kali mencetuskan Bit Gold pada tahun 1998, meskipun ia baru menjelaskannya secara lengkap di depan publik pada tahun 2005. Skema uang digital yang diusulkannya terdiri dari kombinasi berbagai solusi, beberapa di antaranya terinspirasi oleh (atau menyerupai) konsep uang elektronik sebelumnya.

Properti utama pertama Bit Gold adalah proof of work, trik kriptografi yang digunakan oleh Dr. Adam Back dalam "mata uang anti-spam" miliknya, Hashcash. Proof of work merupakan biaya yang tidak dapat dipalsukan yang dicari Szabo, karena memerlukan sumber daya dunia nyata — daya komputasi — untuk menghasilkan bukti-bukti ini.

Sistem pembuktian kerja Bit Gold dimulai dengan "string kandidat": pada dasarnya angka acak. Siapa pun dapat mengambil string ini dan secara matematis menggabungkannya — "hash" — dengan angka acak lain yang baru dibuat. Berdasarkan sifat hashing, hasilnya akan menjadi string angka baru yang tampak acak: hash. Satu-satunya cara untuk mengetahui seperti apa hash ini adalah dengan benar-benar membuatnya — hash tidak dapat dihitung atau diprediksi dengan cara lain.

Triknya, yang juga digunakan dalam Hashcash, adalah bahwa tidak semua hash dianggap valid dalam protokol Bit Gold. Sebaliknya, hash yang valid harus, misalnya, dimulai dengan sejumlah angka nol yang telah ditentukan sebelumnya. Karena sifat hashing yang tidak dapat diprediksi, satu-satunya cara untuk menemukan hash yang valid adalah dengan coba-coba. Oleh karena itu, hash yang valid membuktikan bahwa pembuatnya telah mengeluarkan daya komputasi.

Hash yang valid ini, pada gilirannya, akan menjadi string kandidat Bit Gold berikutnya. Oleh karena itu, sistem Bit Gold akan berkembang menjadi rantai hash proof-of-work, dan akan selalu ada string kandidat berikutnya untuk digunakan.

Siapa pun yang menemukan hash yang valid akan secara harfiah memiliki hash tersebut, mirip dengan bagaimana orang yang menemukan sedikit bijih emas memilikinya. Untuk menetapkan kepemilikan ini secara digital, Bit Gold menggunakan registri kepemilikan digital : blok penyusun lain yang terinspirasi Hayek yang diusulkan oleh Szabo. Dalam registri ini, hash akan ditautkan ke kunci publik dari masing-masing pembuatnya.

Melalui registri kepemilikan digital ini pula, hash dapat ditransfer ke pemilik baru: Pemilik asli secara harfiah akan menandatangani transaksi dengan tanda tangan kriptografi.

Registri kepemilikan akan dikelola oleh "klub properti" Bit Gold. Klub properti ini terdiri dari "anggota klub" (server) yang akan melacak kunci publik mana yang memiliki hash mana. Solusi ini agak mirip dengan solusi basis data replikasi yang diusulkan Wei Dai untuk b-money; baik Szabo maupun Dai tidak hanya aktif di milis Cypherpunks, tetapi juga di milis tertutup yang membahas topik-topik ini.

Namun, alih-alih sistem proof-of-stake milik Dai untuk menjaga agar sistem tetap mutakhir, Szabo mengusulkan "Sistem Kuorum Bizantium." Mirip dengan sistem yang sangat penting bagi keamanan seperti komputer pesawat terbang, jika hanya satu (atau sebagian kecil) dari komputer ini yang tidak berfungsi, sistem secara keseluruhan akan tetap beroperasi dengan baik. Sistem akan bermasalah hanya jika sebagian besar komputer gagal pada saat yang sama. Yang penting, tidak satu pun dari pemeriksaan ini memerlukan pengadilan, hakim, atau polisi, yang didukung oleh monopoli negara atas kekerasan: Semuanya akan bersifat sukarela.

Meskipun sistem ini sendiri tidak sepenuhnya sangat ketat — misalnya Serangan Sybil ("sock puppet problem") — Szabo yakin sistem ini bisa berjalan sendiri. Bahkan dalam skenario di mana mayoritas anggota klub akan mencoba berbuat curang, minoritas yang jujur bisa bercabang ke dalam daftar kepemilikan yang bersaing. Pengguna kemudian dapat memilih daftar kepemilikan mana yang akan digunakan, yang menurut Szabo mungkin adalah yang jujur.

"Jika aturan dilanggar oleh pemilih yang menang, maka pecundang yang benar dapat keluar dari grup dan membentuk grup baru, mewarisi gelar lama," jelasnya. "Pengguna gelar (partai yang mengandalkan) yang ingin mempertahankan gelar yang benar dapat memverifikasi sendiri dengan aman kelompok sempalan mana yang telah mengikuti aturan dengan benar dan beralih ke grup yang benar."

(Sebagai contoh modern, ini mungkin dapat dibandingkan dengan Ethereum Classic, yang memelihara versi buku besar Ethereum asli yang tidak membatalkan kontrak pintar The DAO.)

Inflasi

Masalah berikutnya yang harus dipecahkan Szabo adalah inflasi. Seiring dengan semakin baiknya komputer dari waktu ke waktu, akan semakin mudah untuk menghasilkan hash yang valid. Ini berarti bahwa hash itu sendiri tidak dapat berfungsi sebagai uang dengan baik: hash akan semakin langka setiap tahunnya, sampai pada titik di mana kelimpahan akan melemahkan semua nilai.

Szabo menemukan solusinya. Setelah hash yang valid ditemukan, hash tersebut harus diberi cap waktu, idealnya dengan server cap waktu yang berbeda untuk meminimalkan kepercayaan pada hash tertentu. Cap waktu ini akan memberikan gambaran tentang seberapa sulitnya menghasilkan hash: hash yang lama akan lebih sulit diproduksi daripada hash yang baru. Pasar kemudian akan menentukan berapa nilai hash tertentu relatif terhadap hash lainnya, mungkin menyesuaikan nilainya dengan tanggal ditemukannya. "Hash 2018" yang valid seharusnya bernilai jauh lebih rendah daripada "Hash 2008" yang valid.

Namun solusi ini, tentu saja, menimbulkan masalah baru, Szabo tahu : "bagian-bagian (solusi teka-teki) dari satu periode (mulai dari detik hingga minggu, katakanlah seminggu) ke periode berikutnya tidak dapat dipertukarkan." Kepertukaran — gagasan bahwa setiap unit mata uang sama dengan unit lainnya — sangat penting bagi uang. Seorang pemilik toko ingin menerima pembayaran tanpa harus khawatir tentang tanggal uang tersebut dibuat.

Szabo juga menemukan solusi untuk masalah ini. Ia membayangkan semacam solusi "lapisan kedua" di atas lapisan dasar Bit Gold. Lapisan ini akan terdiri dari sejenis bank, meskipun bank yang dapat diaudit secara aman, karena registri Bit Gold bersifat publik. Bank-bank ini akan mengumpulkan hash yang berbeda dari periode waktu yang berbeda dan, berdasarkan nilai hash ini, menggabungkannya ke dalam paket-paket dengan nilai standar gabungan. "Paket 2018" akan mencakup lebih banyak hash daripada "paket 2008," tetapi kedua paket akan bernilai sama.

Paket-paket ini kemudian harus dipotong-potong menjadi sejumlah unit tertentu. Akhirnya, unit-unit ini dapat diterbitkan oleh "bank" sebagai eCash Chaumian yang bersifat pribadi dan anonim.

“[P]ansa pesaing menerbitkan uang kertas digital yang dapat ditukarkan dengan bit solusi yang nilai pasarnya sama dengan nilai nominal uang kertas (yakni mereka menciptakan kumpulan nilai standar),” jelas Szabo .

Dengan demikian, Bit Gold dirancang sebagai lapisan dasar seperti standar emas untuk sistem perbankan bebas di era digital.

Bitcoin

Pada tahun 2000-an, Szabo melanjutkan pendidikannya dengan meraih gelar sarjana hukum untuk memahami hukum dan realitas kontrak yang ingin ia gantikan atau tiru secara daring dengan lebih baik. Ia juga mulai mengumpulkan dan menerbitkan ide-idenya di sebuah blog yang sangat dihormati, “Unenumerated,” yang membahas berbagai topik mulai dari ilmu komputer hingga hukum dan politik, tetapi juga sejarah dan biologi. “Daftar topik untuk blog ini […] sangat luas dan beragam sehingga tidak dapat disebutkan satu per satu,” Szabo menjelaskan judulnya.

Pada tahun 2008 — 10 tahun setelah pertama kali mengusulkannya secara pribadi — Szabo mengangkat Bit Gold di blognya sekali lagi, hanya saja kali ini ia ingin mewujudkan implementasi pertama usulannya.

“Bit Gold akan sangat diuntungkan dari sebuah demonstrasi, pasar eksperimental (dengan misalnya pihak ketiga yang tepercaya menggantikan keamanan kompleks yang dibutuhkan untuk sistem nyata). Adakah yang mau membantu saya membuat kodenya?” tanyanya di bagian komentar blognya.

Jika ada yang menanggapi, tanggapan itu tidak disampaikan di depan umum. Bit Gold, dalam bentuk yang diusulkan Szabo, tidak pernah dilaksanakan.

Namun, Bit Gold tetap menjadi inspirasi utama bagi Satoshi Nakamoto, yang menerbitkan white paper Bitcoin di akhir tahun yang sama.

“Bitcoin merupakan implementasi dari proposal b-money Wei Dai [...] di Cypherpunks [...] pada tahun 1998 dan proposal Bitgold milik Nick Szabo,” tulis penemu Bitcoin dengan nama samaran di forum Bitcointalk pada tahun 2010.

Memang, tidak sulit untuk melihat Bit Gold sebagai rancangan awal Bitcoin. Selain dari basis data bersama catatan kepemilikan berdasarkan kriptografi kunci publik, rangkaian hash bukti kerja memiliki kemiripan yang aneh dengan blockchain Bitcoin . Dan, tentu saja, nama Bit Gold dan Bitcoin juga tidak terlalu jauh.

Namun, tidak seperti sistem seperti Hashcash dan b-money, Bit Gold jelas tidak ada dalam white paper Bitcoin. Beberapa orang bahkan menganggap ketidakhadiran ini begitu penting sehingga mereka menganggapnya sebagai salah satu dari beberapa petunjuk bahwa Szabo pastilah orang di balik julukan Satoshi Nakamoto: Siapa lagi yang akan mencoba menyembunyikan asal-usul Bitcoin seperti ini?

Meski demikian, meski mirip dengan Bit Gold dalam beberapa hal, Bitcoin memang menyertakan beberapa perbaikan atas desain Szabo. Secara khusus, di mana Bit Gold masih bergantung pada pihak tepercaya sampai batas tertentu — server dan layanan stempel waktu harus dipercaya sampai batas tertentu untuk tidak berkolusi — Bitcoin adalah sistem pertama yang memecahkan masalah ini sepenuhnya. Bitcoin memecahkannya dengan sangat elegan, dengan memiliki sistem bukti kerja yang diperlukan yang berfungsi sebagai sistem penghargaan dan mekanisme konsensus dalam satu sistem: Rantai hash dengan bukti kerja terbanyak dianggap sebagai versi sejarah yang valid.

“Nakamoto memperbaiki kekurangan keamanan signifikan yang ada pada desain saya,” Szabo mengakui pada tahun 2011, “yakni dengan mensyaratkan bukti kerja untuk menjadi simpul dalam sistem peer-to-peer yang tangguh terhadap Byzantine untuk mengurangi ancaman pihak yang tidak dapat dipercaya yang mengendalikan mayoritas simpul dan dengan demikian merusak sejumlah fitur keamanan penting.”

Lebih jauh, Bitcoin memiliki model moneter yang sangat berbeda dari yang diusulkan Szabo, dengan jadwal inflasi tetap yang sama sekali tidak terpengaruh oleh peningkatan daya hash. Seiring meningkatnya daya komputasi pada jaringan Bitcoin, itu artinya semakin sulit menemukan koin baru.

“Alih-alih pasar otomatis saya memperhitungkan fakta bahwa tingkat kesulitan teka-teki sering kali dapat berubah secara radikal berdasarkan peningkatan perangkat keras dan terobosan kriptografi (yaitu menemukan algoritma yang dapat memecahkan bukti kerja lebih cepat), dan ketidakpastian permintaan, Nakamoto merancang algoritma yang disetujui Bizantium yang menyesuaikan tingkat kesulitan teka-teki,” jelas Szabo.

“Saya tidak dapat memutuskan apakah aspek Bitcoin ini lebih banyak fitur atau lebih banyak bug,” tambahnya, “tetapi ini membuatnya lebih sederhana.”

Sumber artikel: bitcoinmagazine.com
Diterjemahkan oleh: Abeng

@ a95c6243:d345522c

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.

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ a849beb6:b327e6d2

\ \ It was another historic week for both bitcoin and the Ten31 portfolio, as the world’s oldest, largest, most battle-tested cryptocurrency climbed to new all-time highs each day to close out the week just shy of the $100,000 mark. Along the way, bitcoin continued to accumulate institutional and regulatory wins, including the much-anticipated approval and launch of spot bitcoin ETF options and the appointment of several additional pro-bitcoin Presidential cabinet officials. The timing for this momentum was poetic, as this week marked the second anniversary of the pico-bottom of the 2022 bear market, a level that bitcoin has now hurdled to the tune of more than 6x despite the litany of bitcoin obituaries published at the time. The entirety of 2024 and especially the past month have further cemented our view that bitcoin is rapidly gaining a sense of legitimacy among institutions, fiduciaries, and governments, and we remain optimistic that this trend is set to accelerate even more into 2025.

Several Ten31 portfolio companies made exciting announcements this week that should serve to further entrench bitcoin’s institutional adoption. AnchorWatch, a first of its kind bitcoin insurance provider offering 1:1 coverage with its innovative use of bitcoin’s native properties, announced it has been designated a Lloyd’s of London Coverholder, giving the company unique, blue-chip status as it begins to write bitcoin insurance policies of up to $100 million per policy starting next month. Meanwhile, Battery Finance Founder and CEO Andrew Hohns appeared on CNBC to delve into the launch of Battery’s pioneering private credit strategy which fuses bitcoin and conventional tangible assets in a dual-collateralized structure that offers a compelling risk/return profile to both lenders and borrowers. Both companies are clearing a path for substantially greater bitcoin adoption in massive, untapped pools of capital, and Ten31 is proud to have served as lead investor for AnchorWatch’s Seed round and as exclusive capital partner for Battery.

As the world’s largest investor focused entirely on bitcoin, Ten31 has deployed nearly $150 million across two funds into more than 30 of the most promising and innovative companies in the ecosystem like AnchorWatch and Battery, and we expect 2025 to be the best year yet for both bitcoin and our portfolio. Ten31 will hold a first close for its third fund at the end of this year, and investors in that close will benefit from attractive incentives and a strong initial portfolio. Visit ten31.vc/funds to learn more and get in touch to discuss participating.\ \ Portfolio Company Spotlight 

Primal is a first of its kind application for the Nostr protocol that combines a client, caching service, analytics tools, and more to address several unmet needs in the nascent Nostr ecosystem. Through the combination of its sleek client application and its caching service (built on a completely open source stack), Primal seeks to offer an end-user experience as smooth and easy as that of legacy social media platforms like Twitter and eventually many other applications, unlocking the vast potential of Nostr for the next billion people. Primal also offers an integrated wallet (powered by Strike BLACK) that substantially reduces onboarding and UX frictions for both Nostr and the lightning network while highlighting bitcoin’s unique power as internet-native, open-source money. 

Selected Portfolio News

AnchorWatch announced it has achieved Llody’s Coverholder status, allowing the company to provide unique 1:1 bitcoin insurance offerings starting in December.\ \ Battery Finance Founder and CEO Andrew Hohns appeared on CNBC to delve into the company’s unique bitcoin-backed private credit strategy.

Primal launched version 2.0, a landmark update that adds a feed marketplace, robust advanced search capabilities, premium-tier offerings, and many more new features.

Debifi launched its new iOS app for Apple users seeking non-custodial bitcoin-collateralized loans.

Media

Strike Founder and CEO Jack Mallers joined Bloomberg TV to discuss the strong volumes the company has seen over the past year and the potential for a US bitcoin strategic reserve. 

Primal Founder and CEO Miljan Braticevic joined The Bitcoin Podcast to discuss the rollout of Primal 2.0 and the future of Nostr. 

Ten31 Managing Partner Marty Bent appeared on BlazeTV to discuss recent changes in the regulatory environment for bitcoin. 

Zaprite published a customer testimonial video highlighting the popularity of its offerings across the bitcoin ecosystem. 

Market Updates

Continuing its recent momentum, bitcoin reached another new all-time high this week, clocking in just below $100,000 on Friday. Bitcoin has now reached a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, putting it within 3% of the market caps of Amazon and Google. 

After receiving SEC and CFTC approval over the past month, long-awaited options on spot bitcoin ETFs were fully approved and launched this week. These options should help further expand bitcoin’s institutional liquidity profile, with potentially significant implications for price action over time.

The new derivatives showed strong performance out of the gate, with volumes on options for BlackRock’s IBIT reaching nearly $2 billion on just the first day of trading despite surprisingly tight position limits for the vehicles. 

Meanwhile, the underlying spot bitcoin ETF complex had yet another banner week, pulling in $3.4 billion in net inflows. 

New reports suggested President-elect Donald Trump’s social media company is in advanced talks to acquire crypto trading platform Bakkt, potentially the latest indication of the incoming administration’s stance toward the broader “crypto” ecosystem. 

On the macro front, US housing starts declined M/M again in October on persistently high mortgage rates and weather impacts. The metric remains well below pre-COVID levels. 

Pockets of the US commercial real estate market remain challenged, as the CEO of large Florida developer Related indicated that developers need further rate cuts “badly” to maintain project viability. 

US Manufacturing PMI increased slightly M/M, but has now been in contraction territory (<50) for well over two years.

The latest iteration of the University of Michigan’s popular consumer sentiment survey ticked up following this month’s election results, though so did five-year inflation expectations, which now sit comfortably north of 3%. 

Regulatory Update

After weeks of speculation, the incoming Trump administration appointed hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to head up the US Treasury. Like many of Trump’s cabinet selections so far, Bessent has been a public advocate for bitcoin. 

Trump also appointed Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick – another outspoken bitcoin bull – as Secretary of the Commerce Department. 

Meanwhile, the Trump team is reportedly considering creating a new “crypto czar” role to sit within the administration. While it’s unclear at this point what that role would entail, one report indicated that the administration’s broader “crypto council” is expected to move forward with plans for a strategic bitcoin reserve.

Various government lawyers suggested this week that the Trump administration is likely to be less aggressive in seeking adversarial enforcement actions against bitcoin and “crypto” in general, as regulatory bodies appear poised to shift resources and focus elsewhere. 

Other updates from the regulatory apparatus were also directionally positive for bitcoin, most notably FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s confirmation that he plans to resign from his post at the end of President Biden’s term. 

Many critics have alleged Gruenberg was an architect of “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” which has created banking headwinds for bitcoin companies over the past several years, so a change of leadership at the department is likely yet another positive for the space.

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also officially announced he plans to resign at the start of the new administration. Gensler has been the target of much ire from the broader “crypto” space, though we expect many projects outside bitcoin may continue to struggle with questions around the Howey Test.

Overseas, a Chinese court ruled that it is not illegal for individuals to hold cryptocurrency, even though the country is still ostensibly enforcing a ban on crypto transactions. 

Noteworthy

The incoming CEO of Charles Schwab – which administers over $9 trillion in client assets – suggested the platform is preparing to “get into” spot bitcoin offerings and that he “feels silly” for having waited this long. As this attitude becomes more common among traditional finance players, we continue to believe that the number of acquirers coming to market for bitcoin infrastructure capabilities will far outstrip the number of available high quality assets. 

BlackRock’s 2025 Thematic Outlook notes a “renewed sense of optimism” on bitcoin among the asset manager’s client base due to macro tailwinds and the improving regulatory environment. Elsewhere, BlackRock’s head of digital assets indicated the firm does not view bitcoin as a “risk-on” asset. 

MicroStrategy, which was a sub-$1 billion market cap company less than five years ago, briefly breached a $100 billion equity value this week as it continues to aggressively acquire bitcoin. The company now holds nearly 350,000 bitcoin on its balance sheet. 

Notably, Allianz SE, Germany’s largest insurer, spoke for 25% of MicroStrategy’s latest $3 billion convertible note offering this week, suggesting growing appetite for bitcoin proxy exposure among more restricted pools of capital. 

The ongoing meltdown of fintech middleware provider Synapse has left tens of thousands of customers with nearly 100% deposit haircuts as hundreds of millions in funds remain missing, the latest unfortunate case study in the fragility of much of the US’s legacy banking stack. 

Travel

• BitcoinMENA, Dec 9-10

• Nashville BitDevs, Dec 10

• Austin BitDevs, Dec 19

• Nashville Energy and Mining Summit, Jan 30

@ a95c6243:d345522c

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».

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 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».

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ af9c48b7:a3f7aaf4

Chef's notes

This simple, easy, no bake desert will surely be the it at you next family gathering. You can keep it a secret or share it with the crowd that this is a healthy alternative to normal pie. I think everyone will be amazed at how good it really is.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30
• 🍳 Cook time: 0
• 🍽️ Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of Heavy Cream- 0g sugar, 5.5g carbohydrates
• 3/4 cup of Half and Half- 6g sugar, 3g carbohydrates
• 4oz Sugar Free Cool Whip (1/2 small container) - 0g sugar, 37.5g carbohydrates
• 1.5oz box (small box) of Sugar Free Instant Chocolate Pudding- 0g sugar, 32g carbohydrates
• 1 Pecan Pie Crust- 24g sugar, 72g carbohydrates

Directions

1. The total pie has 30g of sugar and 149.50g of carboydrates. So if you cut the pie into 8 equal slices, that would come to 3.75g of sugar and 18.69g carbohydrates per slice. If you decided to not eat the crust, your sugar intake would be .75 gram per slice and the carborytrates would be 9.69g per slice. Based on your objective, you could use only heavy whipping cream and no half and half to further reduce your sugar intake.
2. Mix all wet ingredients and the instant pudding until thoroughly mixed and a consistent color has been achieved. The heavy whipping cream causes the mixture to thicken the more you mix it. So, I’d recommend using an electric mixer. Once you are satisfied with the color, start mixing in the whipping cream until it has a consistent “chocolate” color thorough. Once your satisfied with the color, spoon the mixture into the pie crust, smooth the top to your liking, and then refrigerate for one hour before serving.

@ 07907690:d4e015f6

PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) adalah protokol enkripsi yang digunakan untuk memastikan kerahasiaan, integritas, dan otentikasi data dalam komunikasi digital. Diciptakan oleh Phil Zimmermann pada tahun 1991, PGP menggunakan kombinasi teknik kriptografi asimetris (kunci publik dan kunci privat) serta simetris untuk melindungi informasi. Berikut adalah berbagai kegunaan PGP:

Mengamankan Email (Enkripsi dan Dekripsi)

• Kegunaan: Melindungi isi email agar hanya penerima yang memiliki kunci privat yang benar yang dapat membacanya.

• Cara Kerja:

• Pengirim mengenkripsi email menggunakan kunci publik penerima.

• Hanya penerima yang memiliki kunci privat yang dapat mendekripsi dan membaca email tersebut.

• Contoh: Jurnalis yang berkomunikasi dengan informan atau organisasi yang mengirim data sensitif dapat menggunakan PGP untuk melindungi komunikasi mereka dari penyusup.

Tanda Tangan Digital (Digital Signature)

• Kegunaan: Memastikan keaslian dan integritas pesan atau dokumen, memastikan bahwa pesan tidak diubah dan benar-benar berasal dari pengirim yang sah.

• Cara Kerja:

• Pengirim membuat tanda tangan digital menggunakan kunci privatnya.

• Penerima dapat memverifikasi tanda tangan tersebut menggunakan kunci publik pengirim.

• Contoh: Digunakan untuk memverifikasi keaslian dokumen hukum, email penting, atau perangkat lunak yang diunduh.

Melindungi File dan Dokumen

• Kegunaan: Mengenkripsi file sensitif agar hanya orang yang memiliki kunci dekripsi yang benar yang dapat membukanya.

• Cara Kerja: File dienkripsi menggunakan kunci publik penerima, dan penerima menggunakan kunci privatnya untuk mendekripsinya.

• Contoh: Perusahaan dapat menggunakan PGP untuk mengenkripsi laporan keuangan, data pelanggan, atau informasi penting lainnya sebelum membagikannya.

Mengamankan Backup Data

• Kegunaan: Mengenkripsi cadangan data penting untuk melindunginya dari akses yang tidak sah.

• Cara Kerja: File backup dienkripsi dengan PGP sebelum disimpan, sehingga meskipun backup dicuri, data tetap aman.

• Contoh: Organisasi menyimpan cadangan data klien di server eksternal yang dienkripsi dengan PGP untuk mencegah kebocoran data.

Perlindungan Identitas dan Anonimitas

• Kegunaan: Melindungi identitas pengirim dan penerima dalam komunikasi online.

• Cara Kerja: Penggunaan enkripsi end-to-end menjamin bahwa hanya pihak yang berwenang yang dapat membaca pesan.

• Contoh: Aktivis atau peneliti yang bekerja di negara dengan pengawasan ketat dapat menggunakan PGP untuk melindungi komunikasi mereka.

Memverifikasi Integritas Perangkat Lunak

• Kegunaan: Memastikan bahwa perangkat lunak atau paket yang diunduh berasal dari sumber yang terpercaya dan tidak dimodifikasi oleh pihak ketiga.

• Cara Kerja: Pengembang menandatangani perangkat lunak menggunakan kunci privat mereka, dan pengguna dapat memverifikasi tanda tangan menggunakan kunci publik yang disediakan.

• Contoh: Distribusi Linux atau aplikasi open-source sering kali menyertakan tanda tangan PGP untuk memverifikasi keasliannya.

Komunikasi di Forum atau Jaringan Terdistribusi

• Kegunaan: Memastikan privasi komunikasi di platform terdesentralisasi atau anonim.

• Cara Kerja: Pesan dienkripsi sebelum dikirim dan hanya dapat didekripsi oleh penerima yang sah.

• Contoh: Pengguna di forum yang membahas topik sensitif dapat menggunakan PGP untuk melindungi identitas mereka.

---

Mengapa PGP Penting?

• Keamanan yang Kuat: Kombinasi kriptografi asimetris dan simetris membuat PGP sangat sulit ditembus oleh peretas.

-Privasi: Menjaga komunikasi Anda tetap aman dan pribadi dari penyadapan atau pengawasan.

• Integritas: Memastikan bahwa pesan atau data yang dikirim tidak diubah selama transmisi.

• Otentikasi: Membuktikan identitas pengirim melalui tanda tangan digital.

---

Kelebihan PGP

• Sangat Aman: Jika digunakan dengan benar, PGP menawarkan tingkat keamanan yang sangat tinggi.

• Terbuka: Banyak digunakan di kalangan profesional dan komunitas open-source.

• Fleksibel: Dapat digunakan untuk berbagai keperluan, mulai dari komunikasi email hingga penyimpanan data.

Kekurangan PGP

• Kompleks untuk Pemula: Relatif sulit digunakan oleh pengguna awam.

• Pengelolaan Kunci yang Rumit: Memerlukan pengelolaan kunci publik/privat yang benar.

• Tidak Ada Pemulihan Data: Jika kunci privat hilang, data yang dienkripsi tidak dapat dipulihkan.

---

PGP adalah alat yang sangat berguna untuk memastikan keamanan dan privasi dalam komunikasi dan data. Dengan meningkatnya risiko kejahatan siber, penggunaan PGP menjadi semakin penting, terutama di sektor yang menangani data sensitif.

@ 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».

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ fd208ee8:0fd927c1

You have no idea

I regularly read comments from people, on here, wondering how it's possible to marry -- or even simply be friends! -- with someone who doesn't agree with you on politics. I see this sentiment expressed quite often, usually in the context of Bitcoin, or whatever pig is currently being chased through the village, as they say around here.

It seems rather sensible, but I don't think it's as hard, as people make it out to be. Further, I think it's a dangerous precondition to set, for your interpersonal relationships, because the political field is constantly in flux. If you determine who you will love, by their opinions, do you stop loving them if their opinions change, or if the opinions they have become irrelevant and a new set of opinions are needed -- and their new ones don't match your new ones? We could see this happen to relationships en masse, during the Covid Era, and I think it happens every day, in a slow grind toward the disintegration of interpersonal discourse.

I suspect many people do stop loving, at that point, as they never really loved the other person for their own sake, they loved the other person because they thought the other person was exactly like they are. But no two people are alike, and the longer you are in a relationship with someone else, the more the initial giddiness wears off and the trials and tribulations add up, the more you notice how very different you actually are. This is the point, where best friends and romantic couples say, We just grew apart.

But you were always apart. You were always two different people. You just didn't notice, until now.

I've also always been surprised at how many same-party relationships disintegrate because of some disagreement over some particular detail of some particular topic, that they generally agree on. To me, it seems like an irrelevant side-topic, but they can't stand to be with this person... and they stomp off. So, I tend to think that it's less that opinions need to align to each other, but rather than opinions need to align in accordance with the level of interpersonal tolerance they can bring into the relationship.

I was raised by relaxed revolutionaries

Maybe I see things this way because my parents come from two diverging political, cultural, national, and ethnic backgrounds, and are prone to disagreeing about a lot of "important" (to people outside their marriage) things, but still have one of the healthiest, most-fruitful, and most long-running marriages of anyone I know, from that generation. My parents, you see, aren't united by their opinions. They're united by their relationship, which is something outside of opinions. Beyond opinions. Relationships are what turn two different people into one, cohesive unit, so that they slowly grow together. Eventually, even their faces merge, and their biological clocks tick to the same rhythm. They eventually become one entity that contains differing opinions about the same topics.

It's like magic, but it's the result of a mindset, not a worldview. Or, as I like to quip:

The best way to stay married, is to not get divorced.

My parents simply determined early on, that they would stay together, and whenever they would find that they disagreed on something that didn't directly pertain to their day-to-day existence with each other they would just agree-to-disagree about that, or roll their eyes, and move on. You do you. Live and let live.

My parents have some of the most strongly held personal opinions of any people I've ever met, but they're also incredibly tolerant and can get along with nearly anyone, so their friends are a confusing hodgepodge of people we liked and found interesting enough to keep around. Which makes their house parties really fun, and highly unusual, in this day and age of mutual-damnation across the aisle.

The things that did affect them, directly, like which school the children should attend or which country they should live in, etc. were things they'd sit down and discuss, and somehow one opinion would emerge, and they'd again... move on.

And that's how my husband and I also live our lives, and it's been working surprisingly well. No topics are off-limits to discussion (so long as you don't drone on for too long), nobody has to give up deeply held beliefs, or stop agitating for the political decisions they prefer.

You see, we didn't like that the other always had the same opinion. We liked that the other always held their opinions strongly. That they were passionate about their opinions. That they were willing to voice their opinions; sacrifice to promote their opinions. And that they didn't let anyone browbeat or cow them, for their opinions, not even their best friends or their spouse. But that they were open to listening to the other side, and trying to wrap their mind around the possibility that they might just be wrong about something.

We married each other because we knew: this person really cares, this person has thought this through, and they're in it, to win it. What "it" is, is mostly irrelevant, so long as it doesn't entail torturing small animals in the basement, or raising the children on a diet of Mountain Dew and porn, or something.

Live and let live. At least, it's never boring. At least, there's always something to ~~argue~~ talk about. At least, we never think... we've just grown apart.

@ 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.

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

Anglicismos estúpidos no português contemporâneo

Palavras e expressões que ninguém deveria usar porque não têm o sentido que as pessoas acham que têm, são apenas aportuguesamentos de palavras inglesas que por nuances da história têm um sentido ligeiramente diferente em inglês.

Cada erro é acompanhado também de uma sugestão de como corrigi-lo.

Palavras que existem em português com sentido diferente

• submissão (de trabalhos): envio, apresentação
• disrupção: perturbação
• assumir: considerar, pressupor, presumir
• realizar: perceber
• endereçar: tratar de
• suporte (ao cliente): atendimento
• suportar (uma idéia, um projeto): apoiar, financiar
• suportar (uma função, recurso, característica): oferecer, ser compatível com
• literacia: instrução, alfabetização
• convoluto: complicado.
• acurácia: precisão.
• resiliência: resistência.

Aportuguesamentos desnecessários

• estartar: iniciar, começar
• treidar: negociar, especular

Expressões

• "não é sobre...": "não se trata de..."

---

Ver também

• Algumas expressões e ditados excelentes da língua portuguesa, e outras não tão excelentes assim

@ 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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Dieser Beitrag ist zuerst auf Transition News erschienen.

@ 3bf0c63f:aefa459d

How to do curation and businesses on Nostr

Suppose you want to start a Nostr business.

You might be tempted to make a closed platform that reuses Nostr identities and grabs (some) content from the external Nostr network, only to imprison it inside your thing -- and then you're going to run an amazing AI-powered algorithm on that content and "surface" only the best stuff and people will flock to your app.

This will be specially good if you're going after one of the many unexplored niches of Nostr in which reading immediately from people you know doesn't work as you generally want to discover new things from the outer world, such as:

• food recipe sharing;
• sharing of long articles about varying topics;
• markets for used goods;
• freelancer work and job offers;
• specific in-game lobbies and matchmaking;
• directories of accredited professionals;
• sharing of original music, drawings and other artistic creations;
• restaurant recommendations
• and so on.

But that is not the correct approach and damages the freedom and interoperability of Nostr, posing a centralization threat to the protocol. Even if it "works" and your business is incredibly successful it will just enshrine you as the head of a platform that controls users and thus is prone to all the bad things that happen to all these platforms. Your company will start to display ads and shape the public discourse, you'll need a big legal team, the FBI will talk to you, advertisers will play a big role and so on.

If you are interested in Nostr today that must be because you appreciate the fact that it is not owned by any companies, so it's safe to assume you don't want to be that company that owns it. So what should you do instead? Here's an idea in two steps:

1. Write a Nostr client tailored to the niche you want to cover

If it's a music sharing thing, then the client will have a way to play the audio and so on; if it's a restaurant sharing it will have maps with the locations of the restaurants or whatever, you get the idea. Hopefully there will be a NIP or a NUD specifying how to create and interact with events relating to this niche, or you will write or contribute with the creation of one, because without interoperability this can't be Nostr.

The client should work independently of any special backend requirements and ideally be open-source. It should have a way for users to configure to which relays they want to connect to see "global" content -- i.e., they might want to connect to wss://nostr.chrysalisrecords.com/ to see only the latest music releases accredited by that label or to wss://nostr.indiemusic.com/ to get music from independent producers from that community.

1. Run a relay that does all the magic

This is where your value-adding capabilities come into play: if you have that magic sauce you should be able to apply it here. Your service -- let's call it wss://magicsaucemusic.com/ -- will charge people or do some KYM (know your music) validation or use some very advanced AI sorcery to filter out the spam and the garbage and display the best content to your users who will request the global feed from it (["REQ", "_", {}]), and this will cause people to want to publish to your relay while others will want to read from it.

You set your relay as the default option in the client and let things happen. Your relay is like your "website" and people are free to connect to it or not. You don't own the network, you're just competing against other websites on a leveled playing field, so you're not responsible for it. Users get seamless browsing across multiple websites, unified identities, a unified interface (that could be different in a different client) and social interaction capabilities that work in the same way for all, and they do not depend on you, therefore they're more likely to trust you.

---

Does this centralize the network still? But this a simple and easy way to go about the matter and scales well in all aspects.

Besides allowing users to connect to specific relays for getting a feed of curated content, such clients should also do all kinds of "social" (i.e. following, commenting etc) activities (if they choose to do that) using the outbox model -- i.e. if I find a musician I like under wss://magicsaucemusic.com and I decide to follow them I should keep getting updates from them even if they get banned from that relay and start publishing on wss://nos.lol or wss://relay.damus.io or whatever relay that doesn't even know anything about music.

The hardcoded defaults and manual typing of relay URLs can be annoying. But I think it works well at the current stage of Nostr development. Soon, though, we can create events that recommend other relays or share relay lists specific to each kind of activity so users can get in-app suggestions of relays their friends are using to get their music from and so on. That kind of stuff can go a long way.

@ 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.

---

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

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)

@ 0176967e:1e6f471e

Objavte, ako avatari a pseudonymné identity ovplyvňujú riadenie kryptokomunít a decentralizovaných organizácií (DAOs). V tejto prednáške sa zameriame na praktické fungovanie decentralizovaného rozhodovania, vytváranie a správu avatarových profilov, a ich rolu v online reputačných systémoch. Naučíte sa, ako si vytvoriť efektívny pseudonymný profil, zapojiť sa do rôznych krypto projektov a využiť svoje aktivity na zarábanie kryptomien. Preskúmame aj príklady úspešných projektov a stratégie, ktoré vám pomôžu zorientovať sa a uspieť v dynamickom svete decentralizovaných komunít.