@ 5d4b6c8d:8a1c1ee3

Surely I won't do as good of a job as @IamSINGLE, but done is better than perfect.

I'll aim to do these towards the end of the day and we can reflect on what we did well and what we didn't. Your goals are your own, but public accountability is usually helpful in staying on track.

My Day | Good | Work in progress | |-------|--------------------| | No junk food | Pretty weak fast | | Family walk outside | Not enough sleep |

How did you do today?

https://stacker.news/items/989264

@ 69eea734:4ae31ae6

Dies ist der Anfang einer Serie, die ich schreiben möchte. Sie handelt von etwas, das wir verloren haben, und das dennoch, in Teilen, in uns weiterlebt.

Wen meine ich mit dem “wir”? Das Wir kann schnell problematisch werden, wenn man meint für andere zu sprechen, und dann erkennen muss, falsche Annahmen gemacht zu haben.

Als ich diesen Satz schrieb, hatte ich diejenigen von uns im Hinterkopf, die in einer westlichen Industriegesellschaft aufgewachsen sind. Der Verlust ist etwas, das ich spüre, und dem reale Geschehnisse mit zugrunde liegen. Eine Art Sehnsucht wird stärker, wenn ich von bestimmten Ereignissen lese, bei denen Menschen gewaltsam von dem getrennt wurden, das sie bis dahin gehalten und ernährt hatte: Dem Land, zu dem sie gehörten.

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Worüber ich schreiben möchte, das sind die Commons. Ein weites Feld. Commons, das kann Allmende heißen oder Gemeingüter.

Es geht dabei aber nicht nur um das, was gemeinsam genutzt wird, sondern auch um das Soziale darum herum — wie sich eine Gruppe selbst organisiert, und dabei den Mitgliedern und dem Gemeingut gerecht wird

Es ist eines jener Konzepte, denen mit einer einfachen Definition nicht gut gedient ist. Es geht eher darum, ein Gefühl dafür zu bekommen, sich ihm anzunähern, eine Beziehung aufzubauen. Wenn das gelingt, dann ist man an einer Art neuem Ort, einer neuen (und gleichzeitig alten) Sichtweise angekommen, die man nicht mehr verliert. Und gleichzeitig Teil einer Gemeinschaft geworden.

Zum Commons gehören Personen und das Commoning. Subjekte und ein Verb. Hinzu kommen die Resourcen, die gemeinsam betreut werden. Also Subjekt, Verb, Objekt. Hilfreicher ist es, die Ressourcen ebenfalls als Subjekte zu sehen. Beim ursprünglichen Commons stand der Commoner in einer partnerschaftlichen Beziehung zu dem Land, das seine Lebensgrundlage war. [1]

Die Commons bilden ein Gegengewicht zu Staat und Privatwirtschaft. Sie funktionieren nach einer anderen Logik, und wirken der kapitalistischen Forderung nach exponentiellem Wachstum, und der Vereinzelung der Menschen in der modernen Gesellschaft entgegen.

Mein Vorhaben ist, alle ein bis zwei Wochen einen kurzen Aufsatz zu schreiben, der einen Aspekt der Commons beleuchtet. Der deutsche Wikipedia-Eintrag gibt sehr gut wieder, wie vielschichtig das Thema ist.

Es könnte dabei in folgende Richtungen gehen:

• Geschichte der Enclosures (Einhegungen)
• Kämpfe indigener Kulturen und anarchischer Gemeinschaften
• Bemühungen, Commons und das Commoning in unserer westlichen Kulturn wiederzubeleben und zu fördern
• Das kollektive Trauma, das mit dem Verlust von Gemeingütern, insbesondere Land, verbunden ist
• Wie sich dies in jedem Einzelnen widerspiegelt

Ich schreibe dabei auch, um mir selbst über bestimmte Dinge klar zu werden. Ich bin mit zwei Commons-Bewegungen im Südwesten Englands verbunden, und diese Beziehungen sind nicht immer ganz einfach. Und doch würde ich mich nicht davon lösen wollen.

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Warum schrieb ich davon, dass wir etwas verloren haben, wenn es die Commons doch gibt?

Eine bestimmte Lebensweise, die freien Zugang zu Wald und Acker- und Weideland garantierte, um sich zu ernähren und Holz und Torf zu sammeln, wurde mit den Einhegungen nach und nach zerstört. Während das Leben sicher sehr hart war — und sich zuvor innerhalb der Feudalherrschaft abspielte — sorgten über lange Zeit gewachsene Traditionen und Bräuche dafür, dass Menschen sich zugehörig und versorgt fühlten. Diese Art des Aufgehobenseins ging verloren, als die Landbewohner vertrieben wurden und sich in den Städten als Lohnarbeiter verdingen oder auswandern mussten.

Vor kurzem habe ich ein Buch namens The Traumatised Society gelesen, in dem Fred Harrison das Schicksal des englischen Naturdichters John Clare schildert, der direkt miterlebte, wie das Land eingegrenzt wurde und darüber verzweifelte. Besonders eindrücklich schreibt auch Alastair McIntosh in dem insgesamt sehr erstaunlichen und magischen Buch Soil and Soul über die schottische Version der Einhegungen, die Highland Clearances.

Solche Schilderungen lassen ahnen, wie gewaltsam die Menschen von ihrer früheren Lebensweise getrennt wurden. Später gingen England und andere europäische Mächte in ihren Kolonien ähnlich vor. Die erste Kolonisierung war die der eigenen Bevölkerung. Ich glaube, dass diese Vorgänge uns kollektiv geprägt haben, und wir die Commons brauchen, um den Folgen entgegenzuwirken.

Diese haben aber auch in ihren neueren Formen keinen leichten Stand.

Wie Silke Helfrich schrieb: “Commons existieren nicht in einer heilen Welt, sondern in einer commons-unfreundlichen Umgebung. Es ist daher wichtig, dass Commoners sich bewusst sind, welchen Schatz sie in den Händen halten, um ihn bewahren und entfalten zu können.”

Demnächst mehr...

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\ [1] Der amerikanische Priester und Gelehrte Thomas Berry rief dazu auf, das Universum nicht als eine Ansammlung von Objekten zu sehen, sondern eine Gemeinschaft von Subjekten: The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects.

@ 502ab02a:a2860397

ปลายศตวรรษที่ 20 โลกเรายังหมุนไปตามจังหวะของธรรมชาติ ท่ามกลางความเปลี่ยนแปลงทั้งการเมือง สังคม และเทคโนโลยี มีชายคนหนึ่งจากดินแดนกังหันลมชื่อว่า Willem van Eelen เขาไม่ใช่คนธรรมดา หากแต่เป็นนักคิดนักฝันที่เห็นภาพอนาคตอาหารแตกต่างจากคนทั่วไป เขาเติบโตขึ้นในช่วงเวลาที่โลกยังไม่ตระหนักถึงภาระหนักหน่วงของการเลี้ยงสัตว์ในระบบอุตสาหกรรมอย่างแท้จริง ในขณะที่คนส่วนใหญ่ยังเลือกทานเนื้อเหมือนเคย Willem กลับตั้งคำถามลึก ๆ ว่า “ทำไมเราต้องฆ่าสัตว์เพื่อจะได้เนื้อกินในเมื่อเราน่าจะสร้างเนื้อจากเซลล์โดยตรงได้?” คำถามนั้นกลายเป็นเมล็ดพันธุ์แห่งความหวังและการเปลี่ยนแปลงที่รอวันเติบโตในใจเขาอย่างเงียบ ๆ

Willem van Eelen เป็นอดีตทหารผ่านศึกสงครามโลกครั้งที่สอง เขาเคยถูกจับเป็นเชลยในช่วงเวลาที่โหดร้ายที่สุดของชีวิต เขาได้เห็นการฆ่าสัตว์อย่างโหดเหี้ยมและได้รับรู้ถึงความเจ็บปวดของสิ่งมีชีวิตเหล่านั้นอย่างลึกซึ้ง ความทรงจำและความเห็นใจนั้นกลายเป็นแรงผลักดันให้เขามุ่งมั่นพัฒนาแนวคิดที่จะหลีกเลี่ยงความเจ็บปวดและการทำลายล้างในวงจรของอาหารแบบเดิม ๆ ในยุคที่คำว่า “อาหารทางเลือก” ยังแทบไม่มีใครพูดถึง

ในยุคนั้น เทคโนโลยีชีวภาพยังอยู่ในช่วงเริ่มต้น เซลล์ต้นกำเนิดยังเป็นเรื่องลึกลับและต้องใช้เครื่องมือทางวิทยาศาสตร์ระดับสูงมากมาย Willem ลงมือศึกษาอย่างจริงจังถึงวิธีเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์สัตว์ในห้องแล็บ เพื่อผลิตเนื้อโดยไม่ต้องฆ่าสัตว์ ความท้าทายสำคัญคือเขาต้องค้นหาวิธีให้เซลล์เนื้อเติบโตจนเป็นก้อนเนื้อที่นุ่มและมีโครงสร้างเหมือนเนื้อจริง ซึ่งในตอนนั้นยังไม่มีคำตอบแน่ชัดว่าเป็นไปได้จริงหรือไม่

ในปี 1999 Willem van Eelen ได้จดสิทธิบัตรเทคโนโลยี “เนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์” หรือ Cultured Meat ไว้กับสำนักงานสิทธิบัตรของเนเธอร์แลนด์ สิทธิบัตรฉบับนี้กลายเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นที่สำคัญของวงการอาหารแห่งอนาคต แม้ว่าในเวลานั้นไอเดียของเขายังถูกมองด้วยความสงสัย หลายคนมองว่าเหมือนนิยายวิทยาศาสตร์เกินจริง และการผลิตเนื้อในห้องแล็บเป็นเรื่องไกลตัว

Willem ไม่ได้เดินทางนี้คนเดียว เขาทำงานร่วมกับนักชีววิทยา นักเทคโนโลยีชีวภาพ และนักสิ่งแวดล้อมหลายคนในยุโรป เขาตั้งกลุ่มผู้สนใจและเครือข่ายนักวิจัยเพื่อขยายงานและแบ่งปันความรู้ นอกจากนี้ มหาวิทยาลัย Maastricht ในเนเธอร์แลนด์ ยังเป็นฐานวิจัยหลักที่สนับสนุนงานของเขาในช่วงแรก ๆ แม้จะยังขาดแคลนทุนสนับสนุนจากภาครัฐและเอกชนก็ตาม

หนึ่งในปัญหาใหญ่ของการเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์เนื้อในยุคนั้นคือการหาอาหารสำหรับเซลล์ หรือที่เรียกว่า Growth Medium โดยส่วนใหญ่ต้องพึ่งพาเซรุ่มจากเลือดวัว (Fetal Bovine Serum) ซึ่งมีราคาแพงและขัดแย้งกับหลักจริยธรรมของการลดการเบียดเบียนสัตว์เอง ความยากลำบากนี้ทำให้การพัฒนาเทคโนโลยีนี้เดินหน้าอย่างช้า ๆ

Willem ต้องพึ่งพิงทุนส่วนตัวและเงินบริจาคจากองค์กรสิ่งแวดล้อมและกลุ่มเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อสิทธิสัตว์ที่เห็นด้วยกับแนวคิดของเขา ถึงแม้ว่าจะไม่มีการสนับสนุนอย่างเป็นทางการจากรัฐบาลและภาคธุรกิจในช่วงแรก แต่ความมุ่งมั่นของเขาก็ไม่เคยจางหาย

ประวัติศาสตร์อาหารจึงมีบทเล็ก ๆ ที่บันทึกว่า Willem van Eelen เป็นนักฝันผู้ปลูกเมล็ดพันธุ์ของเนื้อเพาะเลี้ยงไว้ในดินแดนที่ยังไม่พร้อม แต่เมล็ดพันธุ์นั้นกลับเติบโตขึ้นเรื่อย ๆ จนกลายเป็นรากฐานของบริษัทและเทคโนโลยีในยุคปัจจุบันที่พยายามสร้างเนื้อที่ไม่ต้องฆ่าสัตว์แต่ยังคงรสสัมผัสและคุณค่าทางอาหาร

ปัจจุบัน เราเห็นบริษัทชื่อดังมากมายจากทั่วโลกล้วนแต่ก้าวตามรอยแนวคิดของ Willem โดยใช้เทคโนโลยีเพาะเลี้ยงเซลล์เนื้อที่พัฒนาขึ้นจนใกล้ความเป็นจริงมากขึ้นทั้งหมดนี้เกิดขึ้นจากแรงบันดาลใจและการทดลองของชายผู้ไม่ยอมแพ้ต่อความท้าทาย แม้จะต้องเผชิญกับข้อจำกัดทางเทคนิค ต้นทุนสูง และความไม่เชื่อมั่นจากสังคม

นี่ไม่ใช่แค่เรื่องเทคโนโลยีอาหาร แต่มันคือเรื่องของหัวใจที่ตั้งคำถามถึงความยั่งยืนและศีลธรรมในการบริโภคอาหารของมนุษย์ที่เปลี่ยนแปลงได้

คำว่า “เนื้อที่ไม่ต้องฆ่าสัตว์” ที่เรากล่าวถึงกันทุกวันนี้คือมรดกจากความฝันและความพยายามของ Willem van Eelen ที่เริ่มต้นมากว่าหนึ่งทศวรรษก่อนยุคสมัยจะพร้อมรับ

This is just a beginning ครับ #pirateketo #กูต้องรู้มั๊ย #ม้วนหางสิลูก #siamstr

@ f85b9c2c:d190bcff

We've all heard the advice to "trust your gut," but what if I told you that your first instinct might not always be your best guide? In a world where decisions can have long-lasting impacts, relying solely on our initial reactions could be a significant misstep. Here's why you should often look beyond that immediate gut feeling. First off, let's consider the science of decision-making. Psychologists and behavioral economists have long studied how our initial reactions can be influenced by biases, fears, or even the most recent information we've encountered. Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel laureate in economics, distinguishes between two systems of thought:

System 1, which is fast, automatic, and emotional (our first instinct), and System 2, which is slower, more deliberate, and logical.

From my own life, I've learned that acting on my first instinct often leads to outcomes I later regret. There was a time when I almost turned down a job offer because my initial reaction was fear of change. Thankfully, I gave myself time to think it over, discussed it with mentors, and realized it was an opportunity not to be missed. That job turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. Moreover, the concept of "sleeping on it" has a scientific basis. Sleep helps in memory consolidation and emotional regulation, which can lead to a clearer perspective when you revisit the decision. This isn't a sign of indecision but rather of wisdom in understanding the complexity of human judgment. While there’s merit in intuition, the second thought, when you’ve had time to reflect, gather more information, or consult with others, often proves more reliable.

My personal advice? When faced with a decision, resist the urge to act immediately based on your first instinct. Give yourself time to think, reflect, research, and maybe even discuss with those you trust. Remember, [5/26, 1:35 AM] eihto: in the rush of life, the second thought can be the one that truly guides you to the right path. Trust it; it’s often right.

@ f85b9c2c:d190bcff

Where do conversations go after they’ve already been had? Is there some sort of cosmic repository of conversation where every sound that’s ever been uttered has been recorded?

If parallel and alternate realities exist, then it makes sense that once you utter the words in one reality, they become imprinted in the universal narrative and live on forever.

Every word you’ve ever uttered is familiar to you. If you really think about it, nothing you say feels surprising. You know what you’re going to say because you’ve said it all before. You cannot put your finger on why you feel it, but you always have.

This is deja vu.

And because worlds are parallel you can also experience your future while in your present (imagination), or your past while in the future (memory).

@ f85b9c2c:d190bcff

I despise money. It is probably because of its constant lack of existence within our household. Even with its possession, I would still loathe its entitlement to everything. I wish it was not a necessity. Would I carry a different tune if I was able to help provide more of a steady income for our family? No, I would not. I have been on the other side as well. With more money, came more responsibility, longer working hours, and less time with those I loved. Financial stress is the unwanted guest within our home. In all of our financial ups and downs, we found our family and love for one another never changed. I am truly grateful for that. I hope others can reciprocate. Of course, we want more but we are blessed with the basics shelter, love, and NeverEnding support.

Do not let the stress of everyday life and finances tear you or your family apart. When times are hard, fall to your knees and talk to the lord. Find your quiet place in this chaotic world and ask for the Lord to provide. If you believe he will, you will be okay. God always finds a way. Trust in him!

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Notally (it's free and open source)
2. Open the app, tap ≡, and select Settings
3. Tap View and switch to Grid
4. Return to the main screen
5. Tap ☑ to create a task list and ✏️ to create a note
6. Enjoy!

ℹ️ You can also add pictures and set reminders for notes and task lists

ℹ️ Add labels to the notes (e.g. "Diary", "Snippet" or "Knowledge")

ℹ️ Use emojis to enhance titles (e.g. "🛒 Purchases" and "🔗️ Links")

@ cefb08d1:f419beff

Source: https://stacker.news/items/986794

https://stacker.news/items/989164

@ 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.

@ 4d4fb5ff:1e821f47

Sanger sequencing traces. I extracted DNA directly from my cells and determined a short genetic sequence, which is visualized by the bottom trace. In a second sample, I mutated my DNA enzymatically and used to same process to determine the sequence, shown in the top trace. Each peak and color represents a unique DNA base (A, T, C or G) in part of a gene with 13 bases shown here in total. This biogenerative process resulted in the center base changing from T to C, resulting in a slightly different, mixed peak by comparison. To further separate this work from being purely scientific, I did not record specific details about the experimental process.

https://ordiscan.com/inscription/96817755

@ 65912a7a:5dc638bf

I didn’t set out to become an enemy of the world’s richest man, but I seem to have managed it all the same. Until this moment, I’ve resisted describing my falling out with Elon Musk in much detail, but as the man’s cultural influence has metastasized—and he continues to spread lies about me on the social media platform that he owns (Twitter/X)—it seems only appropriate to set the record straight. I know that it annoys many in my audience to see me defend myself against attacks that they recognize to be spurious, but they might, nevertheless, find the details of what happened with Elon interesting.

Of all the remarkable people I’ve met, Elon is probably the most likely to remain a world-historical figure—despite his best efforts to become a clown. He is also the most likely to squander his ample opportunities to live a happy life, ruin his reputation and most important relationships, and produce lasting harm across the globe. None of this was obvious to me when we first met, and I have been quite amazed at Elon’s evolution, both as a man and as an avatar of chaos. The friend I remember did not seem to hunger for public attention. But his engagement with Twitter/X transformed him—to a degree seldom seen outside of Marvel movies or Greek mythology. If Elon is still the man I knew, I can only conclude that I never really knew him.

When we first met, Elon wasn’t especially rich or famous. In fact, I recall him teetering on the brink of bankruptcy around 2008, while risking the last of his previous fortune to make payroll at Tesla. At the time, he was living off loans from his friends Larry and Sergey. Once Elon became truly famous, and his personal wealth achieved escape velocity, I was among the first friends he called to discuss his growing security concerns. I put him in touch with Gavin de Becker, who provided his first bodyguards, and recommended other changes to his life. We also went shooting on at least two occasions with Scott Reitz, the finest firearms instructor I’ve ever met. It is an ugly irony that Elon’s repeated targeting of me on Twitter/X has increased my own security concerns. He understands this, of course, but does not seem to care.

So how did we fall out? Let this be a cautionary tale for any of Elon’s friends who might be tempted to tell the great man something he doesn’t want to hear:

(1.) When the SARS-CoV-2 virus first invaded our lives in March of 2020, Elon began tweeting in ways that I feared would harm his reputation. I also worried that his tweets might exacerbate the coming public-health emergency. Italy had already fallen off a cliff, and Elon shared the following opinion with his tens of millions of fans :

the coronavirus panic is dumb

As a concerned friend, I sent him a private text:

Hey, brother— I really think you need to walk back your coronavirus tweet. I know there’s a way to parse it that makes sense (“panic” is always dumb), but I fear that’s not the way most people are reading it. You have an enormous platform, and much of the world looks to you as an authority on all things technical. Coronavirus is a very big deal, and if we don’t get our act together, we’re going to look just like Italy very soon. If you want to turn some engineers loose on the problem, now would be a good time for a breakthrough in the production of ventilators...

(2.) Elon’s response was, I believe, the first discordant note ever struck in our friendship:

Sam, you of all people should not be concerned about this.

He included a link to a page on the CDC website, indicating that Covid was not even among the top 100 causes of death in the United States. This was a patently silly point to make in the first days of a pandemic.

We continued exchanging texts for at least two hours. If I hadn’t known that I was communicating with Elon Musk, I would have thought I was debating someone who lacked any understanding of basic scientific and mathematical concepts, like exponential curves.

(3.) Elon and I didn’t converge on a common view of epidemiology over the course of those two hours, but we hit upon a fun compromise: A wager. Elon bet me $1 million dollars (to be given to charity) against a bottle of fancy tequila ($1000) that we wouldn’t see as many as 35,000 cases of Covid in the United States (cases, not deaths). The terms of the bet reflected what was, in his estimation, the near certainty (1000 to 1) that he was right. Having already heard credible estimates that there could be 1 million deaths from Covid in the U.S. over the next 12-18 months (these estimates proved fairly accurate), I thought the terms of the bet ridiculous—and quite unfair to Elon. I offered to spot him two orders of magnitude: I was confident that we’d soon have 3.5 million cases of Covid in the U.S. Elon accused me of having lost my mind and insisted that we stick with a ceiling of 35,000.

(4.) We communicated sporadically by text over the next couple of weeks, while the number of reported cases grew. Ominously, Elon dismissed the next batch of data reported by the CDC as merely presumptive—while confirmed cases of Covid, on his account, remained elusive.

(5.) A few weeks later, when the CDC website finally reported 35,000 deaths from Covid in the U.S. and 600,000 cases, I sent Elon the following text:

Is (35,000 deaths + 600,000 cases) > 35,000 cases?

(6.) This text appears to have ended our friendship. Elon never responded, and it was not long before he began maligning me on Twitter for a variety of imaginary offenses. For my part, I eventually started complaining about the startling erosion of his integrity on my podcast, without providing any detail about what had transpired between us.

(7.) At the end of 2022, I abandoned Twitter/X altogether, having recognized the poisonous effect that it had on my life—but also, in large part, because of what I saw it doing to Elon. I’ve been away from the platform for over two years, and yet Elon still attacks me. Occasionally a friend will tell me that I’m trending there, and the reasons for this are never good. As recently as this week, Elon repeated a defamatory charge about my being a “hypocrite” for writing a book in defense of honesty and then encouraging people to lie to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. Not only have I never advocated lying to defeat Trump (despite what that misleading clip from the Triggernometry podcast might suggest to naive viewers), I’ve taken great pains to defend Trump from the most damaging lie ever told about him. Elon knows this, because we communicated about the offending clip when it first appeared on Twitter/X. However, he simply does not care that he is defaming a former friend to hundreds of millions of people—many of whom are mentally unstable. On this occasion, he even tagged the incoming president of the United States.

All of this remains socially and professionally awkward, because Elon and I still have many friends in common. Which suggests the terms of another wager that I would happily make, if such a thing were possible—and I would accept 1000 to 1 odds in Elon’s favor:

I bet that anyone who knows us both knows that I am telling the truth.

Everyone close to Elon must recognize how unethical he has become, and yet they remain silent. Their complicity is understandable, but it is depressing all the same. These otherwise serious and compassionate people know that when Elon attacks private citizens on Twitter/X—falsely accusing them of crimes or corruption, celebrating their misfortunes—he is often causing tangible harm in their lives. It’s probably still true to say that social media “isn’t real life,” until thousands of lunatics learn your home address.

A final absurdity in my case, is that several of the controversial issues that Elon has hurled himself at of late—and even attacked me over—are ones we agree about. We seem to be in near total alignment on immigration and the problems at the southern border of the U.S. We also share the same concerns about what he calls “the woke mind virus.” And we fully agree about the manifest evil of the so-called “grooming-gangs scandal” in the U.K. The problem with Elon, is that he makes no effort to get his facts straight when discussing any of these topics, and he regularly promotes lies and conspiracy theories manufactured by known bad actors, at scale. (And if grooming were really one of his concerns, it’s strange that he couldn’t find anything wrong with Matt Gaetz.)

Elon and I even agree about the foundational importance of free speech. It’s just that his approach to safeguarding it—amplifying the influence of psychopaths and psychotics, while deplatforming real journalists and his own critics; or savaging the reputations of democratic leaders, while never saying a harsh word about the Chinese Communist Party—is not something I can support. The man claims to have principles, but he appears to have only moods and impulses.

Any dispassionate observer of Elon’s behavior on Twitter/X can see that there is something seriously wrong with his moral compass, if not his perception of reality. There is simply no excuse for a person with his talents, resources, and opportunities to create so much pointless noise. The callousness and narcissism conveyed by his antics should be impossible for his real friends to ignore—but they appear to keep silent, perhaps for fear of losing access to his orbit of influence.

Of course, none of this is to deny that the tens of thousands of brilliant engineers Elon employs are accomplishing extraordinary things. He really is the greatest entrepreneur of our generation. And because of the businesses he’s built, he will likely become the world’s first trillionaire—perhaps very soon. Since the election of Donald Trump in November, Elon’s wealth has grown by around $200 billion. That’s nearly $3 billion a day (and over $100 million an hour). Such astonishing access to resources gives Elon the chance—and many would argue the responsibility—to solve enormous problems in our world.

So why spend time spreading lies on X?

@ 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.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

🏌️ Monday, May 26 – Bitcoin Golf Championship & Kickoff Party

Location: Las Vegas, Nevada\ Event: 2nd Annual Bitcoin Golf Championship & Kick Off Party"\ Where: Bali Hai Golf Clubhouse, 5160 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

Details:

• The week tees off in style with the Bitcoin Golf Championship. Swing clubs by day and swing to music by night.

• Live performances from Nostr-powered acts courtesy of Tunestr, including Ainsley Costello and others.

• Stop by the Purple Pill Booth hosted by Derek and Tanja, who will be on-boarding golfers and attendees to the decentralized social future with Nostr.

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💬 May 27–29 – Bitcoin 2025 Conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center

Location: The Venetian Resort\ Main Attraction for Nostr Fans: The Nostr Lounge\ When: All day, Tuesday through Thursday\ Where: Right outside the Open Source Stage\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

Come chill at the Nostr Lounge, your home base for all things decentralized social. With seating for \~50, comfy couches, high-tops, and good vibes, it’s the perfect space to meet developers, community leaders, and curious newcomers building the future of censorship-resistant communication.

Bonus: Right across the aisle, you’ll find Shopstr, a decentralized marketplace app built on Nostr. Stop by their booth to explore how peer-to-peer commerce works in a truly open ecosystem.

Daily Highlights at the Lounge:

• ☕️ Hang out casually or sit down for a deeper conversation about the Nostr protocol

• 🔧 1:1 demos from app teams

• 🛍️ Merch available onsite

• 🧠 Impromptu lightning talks

• 🎤 Scheduled Meetups (details below)

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🎯 Nostr Lounge Meetups

Wednesday, May 28 @ 1:00 PM

• Damus Meetup: Come meet the team behind Damus, the OG Nostr app for iOS that helped kickstart the social revolution. They'll also be showcasing their new cross-platform app, Notedeck, designed for a more unified Nostr experience across devices. Grab some merch, get a demo, and connect directly with the developers.

Thursday, May 29 @ 1:00 PM

• Primal Meetup: Dive into Primal, the slickest Nostr experience available on web, Android, and iOS. With a built-in wallet, zapping your favorite creators and friends has never been easier. The team will be on-site for hands-on demos, Q\&A, merch giveaways, and deeper discussions on building the social layer of Bitcoin.

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🎙️ Nostr Talks at Bitcoin 2025

If you want to hear from the minds building decentralized social, make sure you attend these two official conference sessions:

1. FROSTR Workshop: Multisig Nostr Signing

• 🕚 Time: 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

• 📅 Date: Wednesday, May 28

• 📍 Location: Developer Zone

• 🎤 Speaker: nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcqpqs9etjgzjglwlaxdhsveq0qksxyh6xpdpn8ajh69ruetrug957r3qf4ggfm (Austin Kelsay) @ Voltage\ A deep-dive into FROST-based multisig key management for Nostr. Geared toward devs and power users interested in key security.

2. Panel: Decentralizing Social Media

• 🕑 Time: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM

• 📅 Date: Thursday, May 29

• 📍 Location: Genesis Stage

• 🎙️ Moderator: nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqy08wumn8ghj7mn0wd68yttjv4kxz7fwv3jhyettwfhhxuewd4jsqgxnqajr23msx5malhhcz8paa2t0r70gfjpyncsqx56ztyj2nyyvlq00heps - Bitcoin Strategy @ Roxom TV

• 👥 Speakers:

• nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qqsy2ga7trfetvd3j65m3jptqw9k39wtq2mg85xz2w542p5dhg06e5qmhlpep – Early Bitcoin dev, CEO @ Sirius Business Ltd

• nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytndv9kxjm3wdahxcqg5waehxw309ahx7um5wfekzarkvyhxuet5qqsw4v882mfjhq9u63j08kzyhqzqxqc8tgf740p4nxnk9jdv02u37ncdhu7e3 – Analyst & Partner @ Ego Death Capital

Get the big-picture perspective on why decentralized social matters and how Nostr fits into the future of digital communication.

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🌃 NOS VEGAS Meetup & Afterparty

Date: Wednesday, May 28\ Time: 7:00 PM – 1:00 AM\ Location: We All Scream Nightclub, 517 Fremont St., Las Vegas, NV 89101\ 🎟️ Get Tickets!

What to Expect:

• 🎶 Live Music Stage – Featuring Ainsley Costello, Sara Jade, Able James, Martin Groom, Bobby Shell, Jessie Lark, and other V4V artists

• 🪩 DJ Party Deck – With sets by nostr:nprofile1qy0hwumn8ghj7cmgdae82uewd45kketyd9kxwetj9e3k7mf6xs6rgqgcwaehxw309ahx7um5wgh85mm694ek2unk9ehhyecqyq7hpmq75krx2zsywntgtpz5yzwjyg2c7sreardcqmcp0m67xrnkwylzzk4 , nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqgkwaehxw309anx2etywvhxummnw3ezucnpdejqqg967faye3x6fxgnul77ej23l5aew8yj0x2e4a3tq2mkrgzrcvecfsk8xlu3 , and more DJs throwing down

• 🛰️ Live-streamed via Tunestr

• 🧠 Nostr Education – Talks by nostr:nprofile1qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq37amnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3dwfjkccte9ejx2un9ddex7umn9ekk2tcqyqlhwrt96wnkf2w9edgr4cfruchvwkv26q6asdhz4qg08pm6w3djg3c8m4j , nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqg7waehxw309anx2etywvhxummnw3ezucnpdejz7ur0wp6kcctjqqspywh6ulgc0w3k6mwum97m7jkvtxh0lcjr77p9jtlc7f0d27wlxpslwvhau , nostr:nprofile1qy88wumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmv9uq3vamnwvaz7tmwdaehgu3wd33xgetk9en82m30qqsgqke57uygxl0m8elstq26c4mq2erz3dvdtgxwswwvhdh0xcs04sc4u9p7d , nostr:nprofile1q9z8wumn8ghj7erzx3jkvmmzw4eny6tvw368wdt8da4kxamrdvek76mrwg6rwdngw94k67t3v36k77tev3kx7vn2xa5kjem9dp4hjepwd3hkxctvqyg8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2qpqyaul8k059377u9lsu67de7y637w4jtgeuwcmh5n7788l6xnlnrgssuy4zk , nostr:nprofile1qy28wue69uhnzvpwxqhrqt33xgmn5dfsx5cqz9thwden5te0v4jx2m3wdehhxarj9ekxzmnyqqswavgevxe9gs43vwylumr7h656mu9vxmw4j6qkafc3nefphzpph8ssvcgf8 , and more.

• 🧾 Vendors & Project Booths – Explore new tools and services

• 🔐 Onboarding Stations – Learn how to use Nostr hands-on

• 🐦 Nostrich Flocking – Meet your favorite nyms IRL

• 🍸 Three Full Bars – Two floors of socializing overlooking vibrant Fremont Street

| | | | | ----------- | -------------------- | ------------------- | | Time | Name | Topic | | 7:30-7:50 | Derek | Nostr for Beginners | | 8:00-8:20 | Mark & Paul | Primal | | 8:30-8:50 | Terry | Damus | | 9:00-9:20 | OpenMike and Ainsley | V4V | | 09:30-09:50 | The Space | Space |

This is the after-party of the year for those who love freedom technology and decentralized social community. Don’t miss it.

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Final Thoughts

Whether you're there to learn, network, party, or build, Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas has a packed week of Nostr-friendly programming. Be sure to catch all the events, visit the Nostr Lounge, and experience the growing decentralized social revolution.

🟣 Find us. Flock with us. Purple pill someone.

@ 4d41a7cb:7d3633cc

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, registered his birthday as April 5, 1975, on his P2P Foundation profile. Many think that he chose this date because on that same day in 1933, the United States government confiscated the gold of the American people. Whether this was on purpose or not, what happened in this day is very important to understand how do we ended up here.

In 1933, as expressed in Roosevelt’s Executive Orders 6073, 6102, and 6260, the United States first declared bankruptcy. The bankrupt U.S. went into receivership in 1933. America was turned over via receivership and reorganization in favor of its creditors. These creditors, the International Bankers, from the beginning stated their intent, which was to plunder, bankrupt, conquer and enslave America and return it to its colonial status.1

As one of his first acts as President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared a “Banking Emergency” to bail out the Federal Reserve Bank, which had embezzled this country’s gold supply. The Congress gave the President dictatorial powers under the “War Powers Act of 1917” (amended 1933), written, by the way, by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.2

This day marked the official abandonment of the American Constitution, law and real money. Today, 92 years after this event, most of the people living today have never had any real money or paid for anything using real money; unless they used Bitcoin...

There could be no bankruptcy if there was not a private central bank lending paper currency to the government at interest, so we must start from 1913, when the Federal Reserve was created: a non-federal private bank with no reserves and the monopoly of issuing debt based paper currency in unlimited amounts and lending it to the government at interest by buying treasury bills. The fact that this currency is lent into existence at interest makes the debt mathematically impossible to be repaid; it can only be refinanced or defaulted.

Between 1929 and 1933, the Federal Reserve Bank reduced the currency supply by 33%, thereby creating the Great Depression, bankrupting the US government, stealing the Americans’ gold supply, and officially ending the gold standard. Since then the US dollar (money) was replaced with Federal Reserve Notes (debt). This was also the end of the Republican form of government and the beginning of a socialist mob rule democracy (Fascism).

“Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.” — Benito Mussolini 

The United States government has been bankrupt since 1933, since it defaulted on its gold bonds. This type of bond existed until 1933, when the U.S. monetary system abandoned the gold standard. 3 From this year the government has been totally controlled by the International bankers and used as a tool to spread and maintain their power worldwide.

Many people think that the gold standard was abandoned in 1971, but this is not true; in fact, this happened in 1933 when the US dollar was replaced by Federal Reserve Notes that are 100% debt-based fiat paper currency.

The year 1933 in the United States marked:

• The end of the Republican form of government and the beginning of American Fascism
• The end of the United States dollar and its replacement by Federal Reserve Notes
• The abandonment of common law and replacement with military admiralty law
• The takeover of the United States government by International bankers
• A massive gold theft and the end of the US gold standard
• The exchange of rights with privileges and licenses
• The United States government bankruptcy

The next shameful event in our history which still plagues us to this day was the “War Powers Act of 1933.” This Act permitted President Roosevelt to make law in the form of Executive Order, bypass Congress and create his socialist state. We (citizens of this country) were ever after to be considered enemies of the United States who must be licensed to engage in any commercial activity. With the aid of the Federal Reserve (the same people who created the Depression), the President confiscated our gold and silver coin and replaced it with worthless pieces of paper and a debt system that will eventually destroy this great country. Our land and our labor were pledged to the Federal Reserve Bank, Inc., as collateral for a debt system that could never be paid.4

“Emergency Powers” means any form of military style government, martial law, or martial rule. Martial law and martial rule are not the same.

United States Congressional Record March 17, 1993 Vol. #33, page H- 1303, Congressman James Traficant, Jr. (Ohio) addressing the House:

“Mr. Speaker, we are here now in chapter 11. Members of Congress are official trustees presiding over the greatest reorganization of any Bankrupt entity in world history, the U.S. Government. We are setting forth, hopefully, a blueprint for our future”

“There are some who say it is a coroner’s report that will lead to our demise. It is an established fact that the United States Federal Government has been dissolved by the Emergency Banking Act, March 9, 1933, 48 Stat. 1, Public Law 89-719; dered by President Roosevelt, being bankrupt and insolvent. H.J.R. 192, 73rd Congress in session June 5, 1933 – Joint Resolution To Suspend The Gold Standard and Abrogate the Gold Clause dissolved the Sovereign Authority of the United States and the official capacities of all United States Governmental Offices, Officers, and Departments and is further evidence that the United States Federal Government exists today in name only” **“The receivers of the United States Bankruptcy are the International Bankers, via the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund”

“All United States Offices, Officials, and Departments are now operating within a de facto status in name only under Emergency War Powers. With the Constitutional Republican form of Government now dissolved, the receivers of the Bankruptcy have adopted a new form of government for the United States. This new form of government is known as a Democracy, being an established Socialist/Communist order under a new governor for America. This act was instituted and established by transferring and/or placing the Office of the Secretary of Treasury to that of the Governor of the International Monetary Fund. Public Law 94-564, page 8, Section H.R. 13955 read in part:”

“The U.S. Secretary of Treasury receives no compensation for representing the United States.”

The American Spirit

The intention of the founding fathers of the United States was to create a constitutional republic to protect natural human rights and escape from the tyrannical English monarchy and its usurious Bank of England's monetary system. They created an honest monetary system based on gold and silver (United State Dollar) and got rid of nobility titles, creating equality under the law.

Section 10 of the American Constitution says:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Let­ters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make anything but gold and silver Coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.

The United States Dollar (1792-1933)

A dollar is a measure of weight defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 and 1900, which specifies a certain quantity—24.8 grains of gold or 371.25 grains of silver (from 1792 to 1900) when the American dollar was based on a bimetallic standard.

The Gold Standard Act of 1900 formally placed the United States on the gold standard, setting the value of one dollar at 25.8 grams of 90% pure gold, which fixed the price of gold at $20.67 per troy ounce. This standard was totally abandoned in 1933.

Gold and silver were such powerful money during the founding of the United States of America that the founding fathers declared that only gold or silver coins could be “money” in America.

But since the greedy bankers cannot profit from honest money they cannot print, they replaced the money with paper debt instruments. And by doing this, they have effectively enslaved the American people until today. My definition of modern slavery is working for a currency that someone else can create at no cost or effort. What's worse is that they even demand to be paid back and with interest!

Federal Reserve Notes (1913-present)

Federal Reserve Notes are not real money. Money that has metallic or other intrinsic value, as distinguished from paper currency, checks, and drafts.

Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) are a legal fiction. An assumption that something is true even though it may be untrue. 5 The assumption that they are money, when in fact they are the opposite of money: debt or paper currency.

Paper money. Paper documents that circu­late as currency; bills drawn by a government against its own credit. 6 Like Goldsmiths' notes. Hist. Bankers' cash notes: promissory notes given by bankers to customers as acknowledgments of the receipt of mon­ey. • This term derives from the London banking business, which originally was transacted by goldsmiths.7

These notes were scientifically designed to bankrupt the government and slave the American people, as Alfred Owen Crozier warned one year before the bill for the creation of the FED was passed through Congress (1912):

If Congress yields and authorizes a private central bank as proposed by the pending bill, the end when the bubble bursts will be universal ruin and national bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, the bill was passed in 1913, and this private bank started printing a new currency different from the US dollar creating the great depression and effectible bankrupting the government like Alfred warned 20 years before.

Alfred also warned:

Thus the way is opened for an unlimited inflation of corporate paper currency issued by a mere private corporation with relatively small net assets and no government guarantee, every dollar supposed to be redeemable in gold, but with not a single dollar of gold necessarily held in the reserves of such corporation to accomplish such redemption.

Differently from what's commonly believed Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) were never really “backed” by gold; they were never supposed to be hard currency. Currency backed by re­serves, esp. gold and silver reserves.

The United States government defaulted on its gold clauses, calling for payment in gold. This marked the end of the gold standard. A monetary system in which currency is convertible into its legal equivalent in gold or gold coin.

Since then we have been under a paper standard, where we use fake money as tender for payments. Paper standard. A monetary system based en­tirely on paper; a system of currency that is not convertible into gold or other precious metal.

People traded their coupons as money or “currency.” Currency is not money but a money substitute. Redeemable currency must promise to pay a dollar equivalent in gold or silver money. Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) make no such promises and are not “money.” A Federal Reserve Note is a debt obligation of the federal United States government, not “money.” The federal United States government and the U.S. Congress were not and have never been authorized by the Constitution of the United States of America to issue currency of any kind, but only lawful money—gold and silver coin.8

A bona fide note can be used in a financial transaction to discharge the debt only because it is an unconditional promise to pay by the issuer to the bearer. Is a Federal Reserve Note a contract note, an unconditional promise to pay? At one time the Federal Reserve issued bona fide contractual notes and certificates, redeemable in gold and silver coin. Most people never saw or comprehended the contract. It went largely unread because the Federal Reserve very cunningly hid the contract on the face of the note by breaking it up into five separate lines of text with a significantly different typeface for each line and placing the president’s picture right in the middle of it. They even used the old attorney’s ruse of obscuring the most important text in fine print! Over time, the terms and conditions of the contract were diluted until eventually they literally became an I.O.U. for nothing.

FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE

• THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBT, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, AND IT IS REDEEMABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY AT THE UNITED STATES TREASURY OR ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.

• DATE: SERIES OF 1934

• WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND: ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS

• TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES SIGNATURE

• SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY SIGNATURE

Nowadays FRNs say "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private" it tender debt but it does not pay the bearer on demand. It value was stolen by a counterfeiting technique commonly know as inflation.

One hundred dollars (SERIES OF 1934) will be 2480 grains of gold, or 159.4 grams, or 5.1249 troy ounces. Today one troy ounce is priced around $3,000 federal reserve notes. 5.1249 X 3,000 = $15,375 actual FRNs.

A $100 FRN bill today will buy 0.65% of a real gold $100 dollar certificate. That’s a -99.35% loss of purchasing power in the last 91 years.

FRNs savers have been rugged pulled!

Gold bugs where the winners...

But Bitcoin is even better...

Happy birthday Satoshi! April 5 will be forever remembered.

Satoshi... The man, the myth, the Legend...

@ 4d4fb5ff:1e821f47

Numerical heatmap derived from biologically-sourced data. I reversed the process of scientific discovery by stripping away the context of data collected in four of my published experiments, leaving only single digits. This makes the table appear to include only unrelated, random numbers. However, since the numbers come from real world data, there remains meaningful hidden structure in the grid. This invites the viewer to participate in parsing signal from noise.

https://ordiscan.com/inscription/96817034

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

EVERYDAY STACKING GUIDE

Let me break it down for you: stacking sats is about building your Bitcoin stash little by little. You do not need to make some massive play or wait for the perfect opportunity. It is about finding simple, steady ways to add to your stack, no matter what your situation looks like. And the best part? There are so many ways to do it, whether you are creating something, connecting with folks directly, or just using tools that reward you. Let us dive into how you can stack sats consistently, keeping it decentralized and peer-to-peer whenever possible.

You have got platforms like Stacker News where you can earn sats just by being part of the conversation. Think of it as Bitcoin’s answer to Reddit. You share something valuable, comment on posts, or just engage with the community, and next thing you know, you have got some sats coming your way. It is simple, and it is steady. Plus, it feels good to know your thoughts and contributions are being rewarded.

Then there is Nostr, a decentralized social platform that is making waves. It is built to connect people directly, and it ties in Bitcoin through the Lightning Network. The coolest thing? You can get tipped, or “zapped,” for your posts, notes, or anything you put out there. This is not about big corporations taking a cut; it is people showing love directly. Share your ideas, your art, your insights, and watch your stack grow while connecting with a global community.

Now, let us talk about Fold. It is a little different but still fun. You spin their rewards wheel every day, and you will earn a few sats. Sometimes it is a little, sometimes it is more, but it all adds up. If you are using their Bitcoin rewards debit card for your regular spending, you are earning even more. Sure, it is not 100 percent decentralized, but it is an easy way to stack sats while handling your everyday purchases.

For creators, platforms like Zap.Stream are opening doors. Imagine streaming your work, whether it is music, art, teaching, or something else, and getting paid directly in Bitcoin by your audience. No middlemen, no fuss. It is all about connecting directly with the people who support you and earning sats in real time.

And do not forget about selling something for Bitcoin. Whether it is handmade crafts, digital products, or your services, there is always a way to find buyers who want to pay in sats. Platforms that focus on Bitcoin marketplaces make it easier to connect with those folks. Plus, it is a true peer-to-peer exchange, keeping it aligned with the decentralized spirit of Bitcoin.

If you are freelancing, there are options to get paid in Bitcoin directly. Whether you are designing, coding, writing, or consulting, there are platforms that let you bypass the banks and get your payment straight into your wallet. It is quick, efficient, and keeps you in control of your money.

And let us talk about the small, passive ways to stack sats. Cashback apps like Lolli let you earn Bitcoin on everyday purchases. It might not be a huge amount, but those little bits add up over time. If you are already spending the money, why not get some sats back for it?

The real key here is consistency. Set a goal for yourself, whether it is adding sats daily or weekly, and stick to it. Even if it is just a few hundred sats here and there, it is progress. Those small steps add up over time and can turn into something meaningful.

Why focus on decentralized and peer-to-peer methods? Because that is what Bitcoin is all about. It is about staying true to the values of self-sovereignty and financial freedom. By avoiding centralized systems, you are not just stacking sats; you are strengthening the Bitcoin ecosystem itself.

Stacking sats is not about getting rich overnight. It is a journey. It is about building your stash, supporting the Bitcoin movement, and claiming your financial independence bit by bit. Whether it is through sharing content, selling products, or using new platforms, the mission stays the same: keep adding to your stack, little by little. And remember, every sat counts.

@ 4d4fb5ff:1e821f47

Snapshot of a 3D molecular structure. In bacteria, the enzyme Peptidase E (PepE) is encoded by the gene PEPE. PEPEDASE is an atomic view of PepE enzyme’s spatial architecture based on publicly available scientific data, visually arranged to pay homage to Pepe the Frog. I made this piece in support of Matt Furie’s #SavePepe movement.

https://ordiscan.com/inscription/96817644

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install AnkiDroid (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app, tap Get Started, then tap ≡ and select Settings
3. Select Sync and disable Display Synchronization Status
4. Return to the main screen
5. Create and download flashcard decks (see links below)
6. Tap ⁝, then Import, then Deck Package (.apkg), select the file and tap Add
7. Select Import
8. Wait for the import to finish and start learning!

Some Flashcard Deck Sources

• AnkiWeb
• Awesome Anki
• The Anki Ultimate Everything Deck

ℹ️ On GrapheneOS, you may need to enable the Network (used for localhost access) and Read And Write To The AnkiDroid Database permissions.

ℹ️ Also check this article on formulating knowledge

@ e39333da:7c66e53a

::youtube{#prPOncMkV6c}

Tara Gaming has announced The Age of Bhaarat, a dark fantasy action RPG, with a cinematic and gameplay trailer, showcasing what seems like early footage of the game. The game will release on PC via Steam.

@ b2d670de:907f9d4a

onion-service-nostr-relays

A list of nostr relays exposed as onion services.

The list

| Relay name | Description | Onion url | Operator | Payment URL | Payment options | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | nostr.oxtr.dev | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.oxtr.dev | ws://oxtrdevav64z64yb7x6rjg4ntzqjhedm5b5zjqulugknhzr46ny2qbad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.snort.social | Same relay as clearnet relay relay.snort.social | wss://skzzn6cimfdv5e2phjc4yr5v7ikbxtn5f7dkwn5c7v47tduzlbosqmqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.thesamecat.io | Same relay as clearnet relay nostr.thesamecat.io | ws://2jsnlhfnelig5acq6iacydmzdbdmg7xwunm4xl6qwbvzacw4lwrjmlyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.land | The nostr.land paid relay (same as clearnet) | ws://nostrland2gdw7g3y77ctftovvil76vquipymo7tsctlxpiwknevzfid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | bitcoiner.social | No auth required, currently | ws://bitcoinr6de5lkvx4tpwdmzrdfdpla5sya2afwpcabjup2xpi5dulbad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.westernbtc.com | The westernbtc.com paid relay | ws://westbtcebhgi4ilxxziefho6bqu5lqwa5ncfjefnfebbhx2cwqx5knyd.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | freelay.sovbit.host | Free relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitm2enxfr5ot6qscwy5ermdffbqscy66wirkbsigvcshumyzbbqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.sovbit.host | Paid relay for sovbit.host | ws://sovbitgz5uqyh7jwcsudq4sspxlj4kbnurvd3xarkkx2use3k6rlibqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.wine | 🍷 nostr.wine relay | ws://nostrwinemdptvqukjttinajfeedhf46hfd5bz2aj2q5uwp7zros3nad.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC, Credit Card/CashApp (Stripe) | | inbox.nostr.wine | 🍷 inbox.nostr.wine relay | ws://wineinboxkayswlofkugkjwhoyi744qvlzdxlmdvwe7cei2xxy4gc6ad.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC | | filter.nostr.wine | 🍷 filter.nostr.wine proxy relay | ws://winefiltermhqixxzmnzxhrmaufpnfq3rmjcl6ei45iy4aidrngpsyid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN, BTC | | N/A | N/A | ws://pzfw4uteha62iwkzm3lycabk4pbtcr67cg5ymp5i3xwrpt3t24m6tzad.onion:81 | operator | N/A | N/A | | nostr.fractalized.net | Free relay for fractalized.net | ws://xvgox2zzo7cfxcjrd2llrkthvjs5t7efoalu34s6lmkqhvzvrms6ipyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nfrelay.app | nfrelay.app aggregator relay (nostr-filter-relay) | ws://nfrelay6saohkmipikquvrn6d64dzxivhmcdcj4d5i7wxis47xwsriyd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | relay.nostr.net | Public relay from nostr.net (Same as clearnet) | ws://nostrnetl6yd5whkldj3vqsxyyaq3tkuspy23a3qgx7cdepb4564qgqd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | nerostrator | Free to read, pay XMR to relay | ws://nerostrrgb5fhj6dnzhjbgmnkpy2berdlczh6tuh2jsqrjok3j4zoxid.onion | operator |Payment URL | XMR | | nostr.girino.org | Public relay from nostr.girino.org | ws://gnostr2jnapk72mnagq3cuykfon73temzp77hcbncn4silgt77boruid.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | wot.girino.org | WoT relay from wot.girino.org | ws://girwot2koy3kvj6fk7oseoqazp5vwbeawocb3m27jcqtah65f2fkl3yd.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | haven.girino.org/{outbox, inbox, chat, private} | Haven smart relay from haven.girino.org | ws://ghaven2hi3qn2riitw7ymaztdpztrvmm337e2pgkacfh3rnscaoxjoad.onion/{outbox, inbox, chat, private} | operator | N/A | N/A | | relay.nostpy.lol | Free Web of Trust relay (Same as clearnet) | ws://pemgkkqjqjde7y2emc2hpxocexugbixp42o4zymznil6zfegx5nfp4id.onion | operator |N/A | N/A | | Poster.place Nostr Relay | N/A | ws://dmw5wbawyovz7fcahvguwkw4sknsqsalffwctioeoqkvvy7ygjbcuoad.onion | operator | N/A | N/A | | Azzamo Relay | Azzamo Premium Nostr relay. (paid) | ws://q6a7m5qkyonzb5fk5yv4jyu3ar44hqedn7wjopg737lit2ckkhx2nyid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | Azzamo Inbox Relay | Azzamo Group and Private message relay. (Freemium) | ws://gp5kiwqfw7t2fwb3rfts2aekoph4x7pj5pv65re2y6hzaujsxewanbqd.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN | | Noderunners Relay | The official Noderunners Nostr Relay. | ws://35vr3xigzjv2xyzfyif6o2gksmkioppy4rmwag7d4bqmwuccs2u4jaid.onion | operator | Payment URL | BTC LN |

Contributing

Contributions are encouraged to keep this document alive. Just open a PR and I'll have it tested and merged. The onion URL is the only mandatory column, the rest is just nice-to-have metadata about the relay. Put N/A in empty columns.

If you want to contribute anonymously, please contact me on SimpleX or send a DM on nostr using a disposable npub.

Operator column

It is generally preferred to use something that includes a NIP-19 string, either just the string or a url that contains the NIP-19 string in it (e.g. an njump url).

@ 65912a7a:5dc638bf

Chef's notes

This is my late partner's award winning Cajun rice & beans recipe. It's an updated take on the traditional Cajun comfort food.

Chef Darin was a classically trained chef who spent 30+ years in the kitchen perfecting his recipes, and delivering authentic Cajun and Creole food to his patrons. This is a 5-star dish that will earn the respect of the most discerning Cajun afficionado. You won't be disappointed.

I suggest making this recipe exactly as directed the first time, and then make whatever adjustments you want for future batches. Also, don't cheap out on the Andouille. No Johnsonville or Hillshire Farms. Chef Aidelle's is a good choice, as is Silva's from Whole Foods. They cost a few extra bucks, but it's absolutely worth it.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 3 hours
• 🍽️ Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 16oz small red beans, dry
• 2 cups long grain white rice
• 14-16oz andouille sausage, sliced
• 8oz ham, cubed
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 tbsp garlic (12 cloves), minced
• 7 cups water
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 large bay leaves
• 1 tbsp parsley, dried
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper, dried
• ¼ tsp sage, rubbed
• 1½ tsp salt (more or less to taste)

Directions

1. Soak beans in a large pot of water overnight.
2. Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes (until onion is translucent).
3. Add beans, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, salt, MSG, Cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, Sage, and water. Stir, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium-low (btwn 2-3). Cover and simmer for 2½ hours.
4. Remove bay leaves. Mash some of the beans. Stir Andouille and ham into beans, and simmer uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the rice. Bring water and rice to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Serve beans over steamed white rice.

@ 82a7a1ff:2c1e9cdf

Whatever

@ b7274d28:c99628cb

For anyone interested in the list of essential essays from nostr:npub14hn6p34vegy4ckeklz8jq93mendym9asw8z2ej87x2wuwf8werasc6a32x (@anilsaidso) on Twitter that nostr:npub1h8nk2346qezka5cpm8jjh3yl5j88pf4ly2ptu7s6uu55wcfqy0wq36rpev mentioned on Read 856, here it is. I have compiled it with as many of the essays as I could find, along with the audio versions, when available. Additionally, if the author is on #Nostr, I have tagged their npub so you can thank them by zapping them some sats.

All credit for this list and the graphics accompanying each entry goes to nostr:npub14hn6p34vegy4ckeklz8jq93mendym9asw8z2ej87x2wuwf8werasc6a32x, whose original thread can be found here: Anil's Essential Essays Thread

1.

History shows us that the corruption of monetary systems leads to moral decay, social collapse, and slavery.

Essay: https://breedlove22.medium.com/masters-and-slaves-of-money-255ecc93404f

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/RI0iCGRCCYdhnMXIN3L6

2.

The 21st century emergence of Bitcoin, encryption, the internet, and millennials are more than just trends; they herald a wave of change that exhibits similar dynamics as the 16-17th century revolution that took place in Europe.

Author: nostr:npub13l3lyslfzyscrqg8saw4r09y70702s6r025hz52sajqrvdvf88zskh8xc2

Essay: https://casebitcoin.com/docs/TheBitcoinReformation_TuurDemeester.pdf

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/uLgBG2tyCLMlOp3g50EL

3.

There are many men out there who will parrot the "debt is money WE owe OURSELVES" without acknowledging that "WE" isn't a static entity, but a collection of individuals at different points in their lives.

Author: nostr:npub1guh5grefa7vkay4ps6udxg8lrqxg2kgr3qh9n4gduxut64nfxq0q9y6hjy

Essay: https://www.tftc.io/issue-754-ludwig-von-mises-human-action/

4.

If Bitcoin exists for 20 years, there will be near-universal confidence that it will be available forever, much as people believe the Internet is a permanent feature of the modern world.

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

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/jC3KbxTkXVzXO4vR7X3W

As you are surely aware, Vijay has expanded this into a book available here: The Bullish Case for Bitcoin Book

There is also an audio book version available here: The Bullish Case for Bitcoin Audio Book

5.

This realignment would not be traditional right vs left, but rather land vs cloud, state vs network, centralized vs decentralized, new money vs old, internationalist/capitalist vs nationalist/socialist, MMT vs BTC,...Hamilton vs Satoshi.

Essay: https://nakamoto.com/bitcoin-becomes-the-flag-of-technology/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/tFJKjYLKhiFY8voDssZc

6.

Gradually, Then Suddenly

I became convinced that, whether bitcoin survives or not, the existing financial system is working on borrowed time.

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/gradually-then-suddenly/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/Mf6hgTFUNESqvdxEIOGZ

Parker Lewis went on to release several more articles in the Gradually, Then Suddenly series. They can be found here: Gradually, Then Suddenly Series

nostr:npub1h8nk2346qezka5cpm8jjh3yl5j88pf4ly2ptu7s6uu55wcfqy0wq36rpev has, of course, read all of them for us. Listing them all here is beyond the scope of this article, but you can find them by searching the podcast feed here: Bitcoin Audible Feed

Finally, Parker Lewis has refined these articles and released them as a book, which is available here: Gradually, Then Suddenly Book

7.

Bitcoin is a beautifully-constructed protocol. Genius is apparent in its design to most people who study it in depth, in terms of the way it blends math, computer science, cyber security, monetary economics, and game theory.

Author: nostr:npub1a2cww4kn9wqte4ry70vyfwqyqvpswksna27rtxd8vty6c74era8sdcw83a

Essay: https://www.lynalden.com/invest-in-bitcoin/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/axeqKBvYCSP1s9aJIGSe

8.

Bitcoin offers a sweeping vista of opportunity to re-imagine how the financial system can and should work in the Internet era..

Essay: https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-matters/

9.

Using Bitcoin for consumer purchases is akin to driving a Concorde jet down the street to pick up groceries: a ridiculously expensive waste of an astonishing tool.

Author: nostr:npub1gdu7w6l6w65qhrdeaf6eyywepwe7v7ezqtugsrxy7hl7ypjsvxksd76nak

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/economics-of-bitcoin-as-a-settlement-network/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/JoSpRFWJtoogn3lvTYlz

10.

The Internet is a dumb network, which is its defining and most valuable feature. The Internet’s protocol (..) doesn’t offer “services.” It doesn’t make decisions about content. It doesn’t distinguish between photos, text, video and audio.

Essay: https://fee.org/articles/decentralization-why-dumb-networks-are-better/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/b7gOEqmWxn8RiDziffXf

11.

Most people are only familiar with (b)itcoin the electronic currency, but more important is (B)itcoin, with a capital B, the underlying protocol, which encapsulates and distributes the functions of contract law.

I was unable to find this essay or any audio version. Clicking on Anil's original link took me to Naval's blog, but that particular entry seems to have been removed.

12.

Bitcoin can approximate unofficial exchange rates which, in turn, can be used to detect both the existence and the magnitude of the distortion caused by capital controls & exchange rate manipulations.

Essay: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2714921

13.

You can create something which looks cosmetically similar to Bitcoin, but you cannot replicate the settlement assurances which derive from the costliness of the ledger.

Essay: https://medium.com/@nic__carter/its-the-settlement-assurances-stupid-5dcd1c3f4e41

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/5NoPoiRU4NtF2YQN5QI1

14.

When we can secure the most important functionality of a financial network by computer science... we go from a system that is manual, local, and of inconsistent security to one that is automated, global, and much more secure.

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/library/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/VMH9YmGVCF8c3I5zYkrc

15.

The BCB enforces the strictest deposit regulations in the world by requiring full reserves for all accounts. ..money is not destroyed when bank debts are repaid, so increased money hoarding does not cause liquidity traps..

Author: nostr:npub1hxwmegqcfgevu4vsfjex0v3wgdyz8jtlgx8ndkh46t0lphtmtsnsuf40pf

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/the-bitcoin-central-banks-perfect-monetary-policy/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/ralOokFfhFfeZpYnGAsD

16.

When Satoshi announced Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, he got a skeptical reception at best. Cryptographers have seen too many grand schemes by clueless noobs. They tend to have a knee jerk reaction.

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/library/bitcoin-and-me/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/Vx8hKhLZkkI4cq97qS4Z

17.

No matter who you are, or how big your company is, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙.

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/bitcoin-miners-beware-invalid-blocks-need-not-apply/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/bcSuBGmOGY2TecSov4rC

18.

Just like a company trying to protect itself from being destroyed by a new competitor, the actions and reactions of central banks and policy makers to protect the system that they know, are quite predictable.

Author: nostr:npub1s05p3ha7en49dv8429tkk07nnfa9pcwczkf5x5qrdraqshxdje9sq6eyhe

Essay: https://medium.com/the-bitcoin-times/the-greatest-game-b787ac3242b2

Audio Part 1: https://fountain.fm/episode/5bYyGRmNATKaxminlvco

Audio Part 2: https://fountain.fm/episode/92eU3h6gqbzng84zqQPZ

19.

Technology, industry, and society have advanced immeasurably since, and yet we still live by Venetian financial customs and have no idea why. Modern banking is the legacy of a problem that technology has since solved.

Author: nostr:npub1sfhflz2msx45rfzjyf5tyj0x35pv4qtq3hh4v2jf8nhrtl79cavsl2ymqt

Essay: https://allenfarrington.medium.com/bitcoin-is-venice-8414dda42070

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/s6Fu2VowAddRACCCIxQh

Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers have gone on to expand this into a book, as well. You can get the book here: Bitcoin is Venice Book

And wouldn't you know it, Guy Swann has narrated the audio book available here: Bitcoin is Venice Audio Book

20.

The rich and powerful will always design systems that benefit them before everyone else. The genius of Bitcoin is to take advantage of that very base reality and force them to get involved and help run the system, instead of attacking it.

Author: nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu

Essay: https://quillette.com/2021/02/21/can-governments-stop-bitcoin/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/jeZ21IWIlbuC1OGnssy8

21.

In the realm of infor­ma­tion, there is no coin-stamping without time-stamping. The relent­less beating of this clock is what gives rise to all the magical proper­ties of Bitcoin.

Author: nostr:npub1dergggklka99wwrs92yz8wdjs952h2ux2ha2ed598ngwu9w7a6fsh9xzpc

Essay: https://dergigi.com/2021/01/14/bitcoin-is-time/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/pTevCY2vwanNsIso6F6X

22.

You can stay on the Fiat Standard, in which some people get to produce unlimited new units of money for free, just not you. Or opt in to the Bitcoin Standard, in which no one gets to do that, including you.

Essay: https://casebitcoin.com/docs/StoneRidge_2020_Shareholder_Letter.pdf

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/PhBTa39qwbkwAtRnO38W

23.

Long term investors should use Bitcoin as their unit of account and every single investment should be compared to the expected returns of Bitcoin.

Essay: https://nakamotoinstitute.org/mempool/everyones-a-scammer/

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/vyR2GUNfXtKRK8qwznki

24.

When you’re in the ivory tower, you think the term “ivory tower” is a silly misrepresentation of your very normal life; when you’re no longer in the ivory tower, you realize how willfully out of touch you were with the world.

Essay: https://www.citadel21.com/why-the-yuppie-elite-dismiss-bitcoin

Audio: https://fountain.fm/episode/7do5K4pPNljOf2W3rR2V

You might notice that many of the above essays are available from the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. It is a veritable treasure trove of excellent writing on subjects surrounding #Bitcoin and #AustrianEconomics. If you find value in them keeping these written works online for the next wave of new Bitcoiners to have an excellent source of education, please consider donating to the cause.

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

Vivek Ramaswamy’s company bets on distressed bitcoin claims as its Bitcoin treasury strategy moves forward.

Strive Enterprises, an asset management firm co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, is exploring the acquisition of distressed bitcoin claims, with particular interest in around 75,000 BTC tied to the Mt. Gox bankruptcy estate. This move is part of the company’s broader strategy to build a Bitcoin treasury ahead of its planned merger with Asset Entities.

According to a document filed on May 20 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Strive has partnered with 117 Castell Advisory Group to “identify and evaluate” distressed Bitcoin claims with confirmed legal judgments. Among these are approximately 75,000 BTC connected to Mt. Gox, with an estimated market value of $8 billion at current prices.

Essentially, Strive aims to acquire rights to bitcoins currently tied up in legal disputes, which can be purchased at a discount by those willing to take on the risk and wait for eventual recovery.

In a post on X, Strive’s CFO, Ben Pham, stated:

“Strive intends to use all available mechanisms, including novel financial strategies not used by other Bitcoin treasury companies, to maximize its exposure to the asset.”

The company also plans to buy cash at a discount by merging with publicly traded companies holding more cash than their stock value, using the excess funds to purchase additional Bitcoin.

Mt. Gox, the exchange that collapsed in 2014, is currently in the process of repaying creditors, with a deadline set for October 31, 2025.

In its SEC filing, Strive declared:

“This strategy is intended to allow Strive the opportunity to purchase Bitcoin exposure at a discount to market price, enhancing Bitcoin per share and supporting its goal of outperforming Bitcoin over the long run.”

At the beginning of May, Strive announced its merger plan with Asset Entities, a deal that would create the first publicly listed asset management firm focused on Bitcoin. The resulting company aims to join the growing number of firms adopting a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

The corporate treasury trend

Strive’s initiative to accumulate bitcoin mirrors that of other companies like Strategy and Japan’s Metaplanet. On May 19, Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, announced the purchase of an additional 7,390 BTC for $764.9 million, raising its total holdings to 576,230 BTC. On the same day, Metaplanet revealed it had acquired another 1,004 BTC, increasing its total to 7,800 BTC.

The post Bitcoin in Strive’s sights: 75,000 BTC from Mt. Gox among its targets appeared first on Atlas21.

@ eb0157af:77ab6c55

Banking giants JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo are in talks to develop a unified stablecoin solution.

According to the Wall Street Journal on May 22, some of the largest financial institutions in the United States are exploring the possibility of joining forces to launch a stablecoin.

Subsidiaries of JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have initiated preliminary discussions for a joint stablecoin issuance, according to sources close to the matter cited by the WSJ. Also at the negotiating table are Early Warning Services, the parent company of the digital payments network Zelle, and the payment network Clearing House.

The talks are reportedly still in the early stages, and any final decision could change depending on regulatory developments and market demand for stablecoins.

Stablecoin regulation

On May 20, the US Senate voted 66 to 32 to advance discussion of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act), a specific law to regulate stablecoins. The bill outlines a regulatory framework for stablecoin collateralization and mandates compliance with anti-money laundering rules.

David Sacks, White House crypto advisor, expressed optimism about the bill’s bipartisan approval. However, senior Democratic Party officials intend to amend the bill to include a clause preventing former President Donald Trump and other US officials from profiting from stablecoins.

Demand for stablecoins has increased, with total market capitalization rising to $245 billion from $205 billion at the beginning of the year, a 20% increase.

The post Major US banks consider launching a joint stablecoin appeared first on Atlas21.

@ b6424601:a11e4ff4

"A home should be an asset that empowers you, not a liability that enslaves you."

At HODL House, we reject the architecture of the fiat era. We reject homes built to appease appraisers, bankers, and zoning boards. We reject the idea that your sanctuary should depreciate like a rental car. Instead, we build Asset Architecture: Homes that compound value, resist inflation, and align with sound money principles. This is our manifesto for a new era of sovereign living.

The New/Old Way of Living

What if your home could be more than just a physical space—a reflection of your values, passions, and sense of self? At HODL House, we're committed to helping you create a home that authentically represents who you are.

Personal Custom Design is Not for Everyone

Our clients do not want cookie-cutter projects and don’t plan on using bank loans to finance projects. Typically, our clients trade other assets for their personal Asset Architecture. Our clients consider a longer time horizon to include the operating cost of the house versus the construction cost. Our clients, a small percentage of the world's population, build personal architecture not controlled by fiat limitations, allowing for the creation of better projects we want to design.

We believe the Bitcoin Community will have the ever-strengthening asset to allow more people to build quality architecture.

At HODL House, We Believe...

• Homes as Assets: Homes designed as personal architecture align with individuals' long-term goals, setting the stage for quality of life to happen. The house is a life stage supporting our clients in evolving to their highest potential.

• Architecture as a Process: Architecture is the process of aligning the needs of the individual with a personal environment. The process helps people discover their aspirational needs and then work on milestones to convert them into goals, ideas, designs, and finished construction.

• Bitcoin Fixes Housing: The cost of personal homes in fiat terms is rapidly becoming out of reach for most people operating within the fiat money system. Younger people may think individual ownership is not possible. Bitcoin fixes this self-imposed limitation.

Sound Money Homes Are...

• Long-Term Thinking: Long-term thinkers make decisions for homes built with hard money based on the cost over the lifetime of the house and not just the initial cost of construction. Think long term to address maintenance, durability, resilience, operating costs, and fortifications.

• Not Driven by Size: Size does not matter. The HODL House program does not need to check the Bankster appraisal checklist of some made-up loans to value the number of bedrooms and the house size requirement. We can use function stacks in the same space to use less. We can layer life patterns outside the box of fiat requirements for better life results.

• Personal: Design is particular for the individual, the place of the HODL House, and the land on which it sits. We design homes for people, not markets, trends, or profit cash out.

• Not in the Herd: People need homes for their personal shelter, and not only to shelter their money from debasement. Outcast from the head base value on the total ROI on an appraisal to compare it to the pile of houses next door. Homes should satisfy the utility of living for families, designed and built to provide long-term basic shelter in a clever way that evolves with the owners to meet long-term needs.

• Have No Regrets: The return on investment must be worth the exchange risk of Bitcoin to avoid regrets, balancing opportunity cost vs. quality of life in the future.  Of course, collateralized Bitcoin loans are coming, and when that happens. Then, as they say, LFG!

HODL Houses as an Apex Species

HODL houses are an apex species of home designed for the utility of living based on personal life patterns in creating personal architecture that can hold for a long time.

As a bitcoiner, you understand the importance of living on your terms. At HODL House, we're dedicated to creating homes that reflect your values, hard-earned equity, and commitment to self-sovereignty. Our approach combines Pattern Language design principles with asset architecture principles to deliver authentic architecture in beautiful homes built to last. Let's work together to create a home worth HODLing, leaving your legacy through self-sufficiency and connection to the decentralized Bitcoin community.

The HODL House Studio: Building Asset Architecture on a Bitcoin Standard

We are personal housing architects, so we are biased that personal architecture is good, and fiat-valued housing typically makes us swallow hard. We are the weirdo architects, our peer’s judge will never make any real money, who somehow enjoy the drama of designing for individuals and have figured out how to excel as a business, working with clients on their homes. We are also very weirdo architects who believe in doing good work to provide value to clients, make a profit, and save that profit in BTC.

Our architecture firm is 20 years deep in custom residential design, establishing a dedicated Studio for Sound Money Architecture within our practice. This studio operates under a single principle: to build homes that align with the values of sound money, not fiat speculation.

HODL House is Our Fork in the Road

We're excited to take a step in the right direction. By operating on a Bitcoin standard and working with people who share our values, we're combining the principles of good architecture with the values of sound money. As a result, we envision a network of Bitcoin standard homes organically creating better communities where neighbors become collaborators, and together, we can enhance the overall quality of life for all.

Our Traditional Firm vs. The HODL House Studio

Our traditional firm designs homes for clients who finance projects through conventional means—mortgages, loans, and fiat savings. The HODL House Studio, however, serves a different clientele: long-term thinkers who reject the fiat paradigm and seek to deploy hard assets (like Bitcoin) into durable, multi-generational architecture.

Why a Separate Studio?

1. BTC-First Operations: The HODL House Studio runs on a Bitcoin standard. All fees, payments, and transactions will be denominated in BTC. This eliminates exposure to fiat inflation and aligns our incentives with clients prioritizing value preservation over short-term gains.

2. Education Over Sales: Our role is not to sell homes but to educate clients to design homes that function as assets, not liabilities. We teach the principles of pre-fiat architecture: durability, adaptability, d alignment with the context of  the land.

3. Hard Asset Focus: We work exclusively with clients who want a home as a store of value (like Bitcoin) rather than speculative instruments.  Sound money architectural design means rejecting appraisal-driven design, avoiding debt, and prioritizing materials and systems that outlive their owners.

Our Mission

• Design Homes That Compound Quality of Life: A home should grow with its occupants—adapting to changing needs (e.g., multigenerational living, remote work, off-grid resilience) while maintaining its core values.

• Bridge Bitcoin and Architecture: Help clients understand how BTC’s properties (scarcity, portability, durability) mirror the qualities of great architecture.

• Create Legacy Assets: Build homes that transcend generations, funded with sound assets rather than depreciating currency.

How We Work

The HODL House Studio offers three core services, detailed in Essays 11–13:

1. Life Pattern Discovery: Discover your current and aspirational life patterns for your future life in your personal architecture.  

2. Manifest Creation: Translate life patterns into architectural plans you can use to carry with you to search for land or compare to existing housing products you are evaluating.

3. SiteFitting: Evaluate how the land around an existing home or a new build site supports the  Manifest.

By anchoring our practice to Bitcoin’s principles—scarcity, patience, and self-sovereignty—we help clients design homes immune to the fiat system's decay.

Call to Action: The Trailhead Awaits

The path to sovereign living begins with a single step. On June 27, 2025, HODL House will open the Trailhead to Sovereign Living—a starting point for individuals ready to design homes that align with their values, their timeline, and the timeless principles of sound money.

Life along the path is not a race; it is a journey. Whether you’re ready to break ground now or lay the foundation for a milestone years in the future (a child’s wedding, a retirement sanctuary, a multigenerational legacy), HODL House Studio exists to guide you. We’ll help you:

• Discover how you want to live, unshackled from fiat’s constraints.

• Design a home that evolves with your life, not market trends.

• Deploy hard-earned assets into architecture that outlives you.

Final Note: Sovereignty Isn’t a Destination

Bitcoin rewards patience. Architecture demands intention. By aligning these principles, HODL House Studio helps you build a home that:

• Endures inflation, zoning codes, and market cycles.

• Evolves with your life’s changing needs.

• Transcends generations as a legacy asset.

The trailhead opens on 6/27/25. Whether you walk it slowly or sprint ahead, your journey starts today. BTC secures your future. HODL House designs it.

How to Begin Your Journey

1. Read Essays 11–13 (Posted Weekly, June 2–16, 2025)

2. Life Pattern Discovery: Discover your life patterns and architectural pattern images that could support them.  

3. Manifest Your HODL Life: Define a vision for a home that serves you, not the appraisal checklist. Create a Manifest to take on your journeys to look for land or an existing home.

4. SiteFitting: Understand if the land you find fits your Manifest or how the Manifest should change to fit the land, driven by your personal life patterns..

5. Mark Your Calendar for 6/27/25

6. On launch day, the HODL House Studio will open for:

   • Chats: Determine if we’re a good fit for each other.

   • Consultations: We’ll overlay Asset Architecture principles to align with your sound money goals for in-process projects.

   • Live Service Offerings:

   • Life Pattern Discovery: Identify how you want to live.

   • Manifest Creation: Convert life patterns into a HODL House vision.

   • SiteFitting: Verify your land completes the alchemy of your Manifest.

---

HODL on,

— Bryan and the HODL House Team

@ e39333da:7c66e53a

::youtube{#Pex7jW3Tqwo}

Developer SHIFT UP has announced that their latest titled, Stellar Blade, that was released on PS5 on the 2024, will release on PC via Steam and EGS on the 11th of June 2025.

The game will be priced at $60, and $80 for the edition of the game that includes the 'Twin Expansion Pack', which includes the NieR: Automata DLC and the Goddess of Victory: Nikke DLC, and a key to redeem a Stellar Blade costume in the developer's previous Free-to-Play title Goddess of Victory: Nikke.

The trailer released to announce said release date also showcases the changes the made for the game and highlight PC specific enhancements, support, and options.

It's worth noting, in terms of negative news that tagged along with this, that the game will have Denuvo running, which there are evidence that decreases a game's performance, and may prevent you from playing the game offline. The game will also have an optional PSN account login, and because of this, the game is not available for purchase in around 130 countries. There's also an exclusive outfit locked behind a PSN-to-Steam account linking.

Here's the system requirements:

| | Minimum | Recommended | High | Very High | | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | Average Performance | 1080P at 60 frames per second | 1440P at 60 frames per second | 1440P at 60 frames per second | 4K at 60 frames per second | | Graphic Presets | Low | Medium | High | Very High | | CPU | Intel Core i5-7600K AMD Ryzen 5 1600X | Intel Core i5-8400 AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-8400 AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-8400 AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | | GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT | | RAM | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB | 16GB | | Storage | 75GB HDD (SSD Recommended) | 75GB SSD | 75GB SSD | 75GB SSD | | OS | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bit |

@ e39333da:7c66e53a

::youtube{#1JDOzCUinPg}

Digital Happiness has announced DreadOut 3, a third-person horror adventure game, which will be released on PC (Steam).

DreadOut 3 is a third-person horror adventure inspired by Asian - Indonesian urban legend. Follow Linda’s journey as Keepers of the Dark into an interdimensional rabbit hole to find the source of unseen power threatening the balance of light and darkness. This spine-chilling sequel expands on the cult hit original, making DreadOut 3 another terrifying chapter in the world of the unseen.

They've also released a short playtest gameplay footage of the game in its pre-alpha state.

@ 8671a6e5:f88194d1

#### Dit is een reactie op dit artikel Dit is een reactie op dit artikel\ --\ Geachte redactie van De Tijd,

Met teleurstelling las ik uw recente artikel waarin Bitcoin onterecht wordt omschreven als een "hot wallet", en waarin de meldplicht voor de fiscus onnauwkeurig wordt voorgesteld.\ Maar wat vooral schrijnend is (naast het gebrek aan kennis inzake Bitcoin) is de lichte zweem van "onbehagen" die er omheen werd geweven.

Bitcoin is geen hot wallet, maar een gedecentraliseerd netwerk met bewezen digitale schaarste – hard money. Een "hot wallet" is eenvoudig gezegd een internet-verbonden opslagmethode voor bitcoin, zoals een app op een smartphone, terwijl een cold wallet offline private sleutels bewaart. Dit onderscheid is essentieel voor correcte berichtgeving, maar werd helaas onvoldoende uitgelegd aan uw lezers.

Daarnaast schetst het artikel een misleidend beeld van de meldplicht. \ Volgens de Belgische wetgeving moeten Belgische belastingplichtigen buitenlandse rekeningen melden bij het CAP en jaarlijks in hun belastingaangifte. De juridische status van zulke exchange in de EU-"junta" zone, is daarbij van belang. Dat werd in het artikel gewoon onder de mat geveegd zonder enige nuance.\ \ De Belgische fiscus biedt na zestien jaar trouwens nog steeds geen adequate manier om bitcoin bezit correct aan te geven, zoals een veld voor xpub- of zpub-sleutels (mensen die dit correct willen aangeven worden geconfronteerd met een gebrek aan kennis die overal in België op eenzelfde bedroevend laag niveau zit,... hier hebben we al vaker voorbeelden van gezien).\ \ Vertrouwen op zulke instanties om je cold-storage holdings te melden, is vragen om problemen. Toch meldt uw krant dat je dat maar beter WEL doet.\ Er is echter GEEN verplichting om non-custodial wallets aan te tegen. Het gaat hier voor alle duidelijkheid over bitcoin UTXO's waar de houder zelf in het bezit is van de eigen sleutels, ... echte bitcoin dus:)... \ Zulk hard money spontaan melden bij een instantie die daar niet klaar voor is, kan onnodige administratieve lasten opleggen zonder juridische basis en bovendien ook andere problemen veroorzaken. \ Dit advies van De Tijd, lijkt eerder ingegeven door overdreven voorzichtigheid, dan dan door een wettelijke verplichting. Maar vooral moet het een sfeertje scheppen alsof alle bitcoin houders die NIET via een gecapteerde derde partij werken (een exchange of een service) blijkbaar "louche" zijn. \ Dan kunnen we meteen ook iedereen die een waardevol schilderij in de privé woning heeft hangen "louche" noemen, om maar te zwijgen over fake-NGO's en dure wijn collecties niet?

Uw artikel schept naast het etaleren van een gebrek aan kennis inzake bitcoin, bovendien een sfeer van criminalisering, waarbij uw artikel gewag maakt van het oude refrein: “Wie niets te verbergen heeft...” \ Komaan, dit argument is intussen doorzichtig en dient enkel om mensen bang te maken en totalitaire controle als ‘normaal’ te doen aanvaarden. \ Net zoals de wildgroei aan flitspalen en de in oktober uit te rollen CBDC "Digitale Euro", die in essentie een programmeerbare, makkelijk uitschakelbare nep-euro zal zijn (een slechtere vorm van een kermis-jeton).

Het blijft vreemd dat er in De Tijd – net als bij andere mainstream media – zelden of nooit ruimte is voor een kritische stem hierover... het zal niet in de kraam passen.\ Net zoals het niet in de kraam past om de lamentabele BEL20 performantie of de laakbare promotie van rommel-aandelen op TV aan de kaak te stellen, of de huizenmarkt-zwendel eens een welverdiende kritiek te geven. Kritiek of nuances hierover zijn ook ... uit den boze.\ Neen, bij De Tijd gaan we het altijd op veilig spelen, en de paar mensen die de krant nog betalend lezen vooral niet wijzer maken?\ \ Er was nochtans goede hoop op meer en betere berichtgeven over bitcoin. Maar die hoop smelt zienderogen weg.

Het artikel plaatst bitcoin gebruikers impliciet in het kamp van potentiële overtreders, wat bijdraagt aan een negatieve en onterechte criminalisering. \ Dit patroon, ook zichtbaar in media zoals De Morgen en De Standaard, vertroebelt elementaire kennis en benadeelt uw betalende abonnees door hen foutieve en onvolledige informatie te verstrekken over het best presterende activum van het afgelopen decennium – en over de unieke rol van bitcoin als alternatief voor de steeds verder wegsmeltende koopkracht en waarde van fiat-munten van oude staten en unies.

Ik hoop dat u uw verantwoordelijkheid opneemt om abonnees objectief en feitelijk correct te informeren, zodat zij de échte opportunity cost van hun keuzes kunnen inschatten – een kost die, ironisch genoeg, met elk jaarabonnement verder oploopt.

Wie sinds 2015 maandelijks €50 aan bitcoin had gekocht in plaats van een abonnement op De Tijd te nemen, heeft zich alvast niet laten misleiden door uw doemverhalen en onjuiste informatie over dit activum. En het verschil in rendement is, op z’n zachtst gezegd, significant.

Jammer maar helaas, "De Tijd" lijkt anno 2025 nog steeds niet in staat om systematisch correct te berichten over "de" Bitcoin.\ \ Een paar Anonieme Bitcoiners

@ b7274d28:c99628cb

There seems to be a bit of confusion going around about exactly what #AlbyHub is, and what it does, what use-cases it does and does not fit into. As someone who is using #Alby Hub on a daily basis and have been quite happy with it, I thought I might be able to shed some light on the matter from the perspective of a user. nostr:npub1getal6ykt05fsz5nqu4uld09nfj3y3qxmv8crys4aeut53unfvlqr80nfm, please correct me if I get anything wrong in this article.

Note: I am not in any way affiliated with Alby, except by being a satisfied user of their software, and have not been paid to write this article.

I can understand the confusion surrounding Alby Hub, because it is not just one thing that works the same for all users of the product. There are various different ways you can have it set up, and while the end result is mostly the same functionality, the steps to get there are different for each version. There is the cloud (someone else's computer) version, the desktop version, the docker version, and the node (nostr:npub126ntw5mnermmj0znhjhgdk8lh2af72sm8qfzq48umdlnhaj9kuns3le9ll or nostr:npub1aghreq2dpz3h3799hrawev5gf5zc2kt4ch9ykhp9utt0jd3gdu2qtlmhct) package version. In some of these versions, Alby Hub is acting as a standalone Lightning node, and in others it is merely a front-end that gives your existing node additional features, such as segregated wallets, but you must have an #LND instance already established that it is running alongside.

Cloud

This service is a standalone Lightning node running in the cloud and online 24/7. For that reason, it can be very attractive to users who may not be able to run their own node at home, or who do not have reliable power or internet services.

It is still considered self-custodial, even though it is running on Alby's servers, because you hold your own keys.

Since this version of Alby Hub is a standalone Lightning node, this means that all of your channel setup and liquidity is managed inside of your cloud-hosted Alby Hub.

My assumption is that this Lightning node is reaching out to a #Bitcoin full node that Alby runs for all on-chain data and broadcasting channel-opens and closes.

At the time of writing, the cost for this cloud-hosted node is 21,000 sats a month. You get some additional features by paying for this service that other versions of Alby Hub lack, though. You can have a custom Lightning address, instead of just an "UserName@getalby.com" address. You also get priority customer support with an in-app live chat, and access to the "Buzz" community that other users of Alby Hub do not get access to.

There are other options for a cloud-hosted Alby Hub other than directly from Alby, as well. For instance, you can host your Alby Hub on nostr:npub1g26qnlumycdfs538kx4eyur7wpnh0tq5mcjx2nt7qhc9qxehuqpsk4y9fw or Render. These alternative hosting options may have a lower cost associated with them, but you will not have access to the additional features, such as a custom Lightning address or priority customer support.

Desktop

The desktop client is also a standalone node, but this time running on your own #Windows, #Mac, or #Linux desktop computer. You should only use this option on a computer you keep always online.

This option is completely free, but you are responsible to keep your Alby Hub online, or else you will not be able to send and receive transactions on the go using a mobile wallet connected to your Alby Hub, such as #AlbyGo or nostr:npub1g26qnlumycdfs538kx4eyur7wpnh0tq5mcjx2nt7qhc9qxehuqpsk4y9fw. Moreover, your only option for a Lightning address is "UserName@getalby.com" and you don't receive priority customer support.

As with Alby running in the cloud, since you are not running a full Bitcoin node, my assumption is that Alby Hub is reaching out to Alby's own full node for all on-chain data and for broadcasting channel-opens and closes.

Docker

You can also run Alby Hub on any local device or remote VPS that supports #Docker. This would also be a standalone node, so all the rules of running on your desktop apply. You should only use this option on a device that is online 24/7.

Start9 & Umbrel

Here is where we diverge from Alby Hub being its own standalone node. Instead, Alby Hub is installed on your #Start9 or #Umbrel, which must already be running an instance of LND as the Lightning node. LND, in turn, requires you to be running Bitcoin Core or other compatible Bitcoin implementation.

In this case, Alby Hub is acting as an alternative front-end for your existing Lightning node, and giving it extra capabilities. It would be similar to #Thunderhub or Ride-the-Lightning #RTL.

In my opinion, so long as you have reliable power and internet service, this is the best option available. Not only will you possess your own keys, but you will be running the software on your own device, dedicated to the task of hosting your Bitcoin software stack, and not your general computing needs. Moreover, Alby Hub will be reaching out to your own Bitcoin full node for all on-chain needs, including broadcasting channel-opens and closes.

All Versions

Now that you have one of the above versions of Alby Hub up and running, with channels open using Alby Hub as a standalone node, or as a front-end for your existing LND node on your Start9 or Umbrel, what can you do with it? What makes it any different than just using #Zeus to connect to your node via #LNDHub or #LightningTerminal? Plenty!

At the basic level, the default wallet in Alby Hub will utilize your entire node's outbound liquidity as its balance. You can purchase Lightning channels from liquidity providers very easily, and purchase Bitcoin using a bank transfer or credit card directly within Alby Hub, so you have both inbound and outbound liquidity. For slightly more advanced users, you can also set up custom channels to any peer, so long as you have their node ID.

You can then connect various services to have access to this main wallet, such as Nostr clients that support #NostrWalletConnect, or Alby's BuzzPay PoS terminal, or games like Paper Scissors HODL or Zappy Bird, and of course Alby's browser extension or Alby Go mobile wallet. Don't want a service to have unlimited access to your node's balance? You can set it a budget, and even set up an isolated balance for just that single application to have access to.

If you connect your wallet with your Alby account, you will gain the benefit of having your Alby Lightning address connected to your Alby Hub wallet, so you can receive zaps directly to your self-custody node.

There are a couple ways you can connect your Alby Hub wallet to a mobile wallet app. The first is using LNDHub with Zeus. I found the most success by doing this through my Alby account after connecting it to my Alby Hub wallet. It is my understanding that Zeus is also working on integrating Nostr Wallet Connect, so that will be an even easier option for using it as your mobile wallet. Note, though, this is NOT connecting to your self-custodial Zeus wallet using their node-on-a-phone option, if you have that set up. It is a remote connection to your Alby Hub node where Zeus is just a mobile interface. Your Zeus wallet's self-custodial balance will be entirely separate from your Alby Hub wallet balance, and you must select the wallet balance/node you want to use prior to conducting a transaction.

Alby has also released Alby Go, which is a mobile wallet app with a very minimal interface that just works and uses Nostr Wallet Connect rather than LNDHub to connect to your node.

Additionally, you can connect your wallet to several Podcasting 2.0 apps, such as nostr:npub1t8cmt7hjnyz0a99x5ppw9kpdsrtglst26aj3aw5s4r0rna3l3l5qk89gm4, #Curiocaster, #Castamatic, #LNBeats, and #PodcastGuru. Hat tip to nostr:npub177fz5zkm87jdmf0we2nz7mm7uc2e7l64uzqrv6rvdrsg8qkrg7yqx0aaq7 for reminding me of this functionality.

For those who are fans of #Fountain for podcasts, since it has leaned heavily into #Nostr integration, nostr:npub1unmftuzmkpdjxyj4en8r63cm34uuvjn9hnxqz3nz6fls7l5jzzfqtvd0j2 has confirmed that nostr:npub1v5ufyh4lkeslgxxcclg8f0hzazhaw7rsrhvfquxzm2fk64c72hps45n0v5 will be receiving Nostr Wallet Connect support in an upcoming update, so you can use your Alby Hub wallet to boost, earn, and stream sats there.

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpe8kjhc9hvzmyvf9tnxw84r3hrtece9xt0xvq9rx95nlpalfyyyjqythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskuep0qyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tcprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuen0w4h8gctfdchxvmf0qythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnswf5k6ctv9ehx2ap0qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qg3waehxw309ahx7um5wghxcctwvshszrnhwden5te0dehhxtnvdakz7qghwaehxw309a5kucn00qhxummnw3ezuamfdejj7qgewaehxw309akk7mmwvfhkjtnwdaehgu339e3k7mf0qy28wumn8ghj7ctvvahjuat50phjummwv5hsqgy62xzfas5d0mjkmgwquscxykt9540cvtq9k9w9uyea2z7vru8aqv3mpqwc

More interestingly, though, you can set up "Friends & Family" wallets that are separate from your main node balance and start with their own balance of 0 sats. Each of these wallet balances are tracked separately, though they use your node's liquidity for transacting. This is similar to setting up individual wallets within a tool like #LNBits or Lightning Terminal. However, I find that these wallets are far easier to set up and more versatile. Moreover, they can be connected to all of the same services previously mentioned via Nostr Wallet Connect, and they can each be connected with a separate Alby account so that each wallet has its own Lightning address, without having to own a domain and set up reverse proxies or any of the more technical aspects of setting up Lightning addresses for LNBits wallets.

This, in my opinion, is the "killer feature" of Alby Hub. It enables anyone who runs any of the above versions to quickly and easily be an Uncle Jim for their family, who have no interest in learning how to set up self-custody wallets. The only thing you need to do is make sure your Lightning node always has enough outbound liquidity to cover their balances. If you fractionally reserve your own family members, you deserve what's coming to you.

Conclusion

So, what do you think? Is Alby Hub a good fit for your use case? If you don't really want to run a Lightning node and manage your own liquidity, it may not be a good fit, and you can check out some creat custodial options, such as nostr:npub1h2qfjpnxau9k7ja9qkf50043xfpfy8j5v60xsqryef64y44puwnq28w8ch, nostr:npub1hcwcj72tlyk7thtyc8nq763vwrq5p2avnyeyrrlwxrzuvdl7j3usj4h9rq, or nostr:npub1kvaln6tm0re4d99q9e4ma788wpvnw0jzkz595cljtfgwhldd75xsj9tkzv. For those of us who are willing to get our hands dirty for the sake of holding our own keys, then running a node in some sense is always going to be required, and that comes with the responsibility of managing liquidity. This is true for all of the good self-custody options available out there, such as nostr:npub148qm45zettnf6ekgkatnyfadunxwjpu8sy88mjdsgwc5f202d93qmejra7 or Zeus' Olympus node-on-a-phone option. Alby Hub, however, may just be the most feature-rich and user-friendly option that falls somewhere in the middle of running a full Bitcoin + Lightning node or running a node-on-a-phone option that often suffers from not being online 24/7 for receiving. At any rate, name another self-custodial Lightning option that you can connect to so many other applications using Nostr Wallet Connect. I'll wait.

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

The other day, I had the privilege of sitting down with one of my favorite living artists. Our conversation was so captivating that I felt compelled to share it. I’m leaving his name out for privacy.

Since our last meeting, I’d watched a documentary about his life, one he’d helped create. I told him how much I admired his openness in it. There’s something strange about knowing intimate details of someone’s life when they know so little about yours—it’s almost like I knew him too well for the kind of relationship we have.

He paused, then said quietly, with a shy grin, that watching the documentary made him realize how “odd and eccentric” he is. I laughed and told him he’s probably the sanest person I know. Because he’s lived fully, chasing love, passion, and purpose with hardly any regrets. He’s truly lived.

Today, I turn 44, and I’ll admit I’m a bit eccentric myself. I think I came into the world this way. I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I carry few regrets. Every misstep taught me something. And as I age, I’m not interested in blending in with the world—I’ll probably just lean further into my own brand of “weird.” I want to live life to the brim. The older I get, the more I see that the “normal” folks often seem less grounded than the eccentric artists who dare to live boldly. Life’s too short to just exist, actually live.

I’m not saying to be strange just for the sake of it. But I’ve seen what the crowd celebrates, and I’m not impressed. Forge your own path, even if it feels lonely or unpopular at times.

It’s easy to scroll through the news and feel discouraged. But actually, this is one of the most incredible times to be alive! I wake up every day grateful to be here, now. The future is bursting with possibility—I can feel it.

So, to my fellow weirdos on nostr: stay bold. Keep dreaming, keep pushing, no matter what’s trending. Stay wild enough to believe in a free internet for all. Freedom is radical—hold it tight. Live with the soul of an artist and the grit of a fighter. Thanks for inspiring me and so many others to keep hoping. Thank you all for making the last year of my life so special.

@ 51bbb15e:b77a2290

Yeah, I’m sure everything in the file is legit. 👍 Let’s review the guard witness testimony…Oh wait, they weren’t at their posts despite 24/7 survellience instructions after another Epstein “suicide” attempt two weeks earlier. Well, at least the video of the suicide is in the file? Oh wait, a techical glitch. Damn those coincidences!

At this point, the Trump administration has zero credibility with me on anything related to the Epstein case and his clients. I still suspect the administration is using the Epstein files as leverage to keep a lot of RINOs in line, whereas they’d be sabotaging his agenda at every turn otherwise. However, I just don’t believe in ends-justify-the-means thinking. It’s led almost all of DC to toss out every bit of the values they might once have had.

@ 460c25e6:ef85065c

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

Public Home/Outbox Relays

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

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

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

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

Public Inbox Relays

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

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

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

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

DM Inbox Relays

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

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

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

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

Private Home Relays

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

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

Search relays:

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

Local Relays:

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

General Relays:

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

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

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

My setup

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

Then, on your relay lists, put:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And a few of the recommended relays from Amethyst.

Final Considerations

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

@ 4fe4a528:3ff6bf06

In my last article I wrote about NOSTR. I found another local bitcoiner via NOSTR last week so here is why it is important to join / use NOSTR — start telling people “Look me up on NOSTR”

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a revolutionary approach to digital identity that puts individuals in control of their own identity and personal data. Unlike traditional digital identity models, which rely on third-party organizations to manage and authenticate identities, SSI empowers individuals to own and manage their digital identity.

This approach is made possible by emerging technologies such as secure public / private key pairs. Decentralized identifiers, conceived and developed by nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 is an attempt to create a global technical standard around cryptographically secured identifiers - a secure, universal, and sovereign form of digital ID. This technology uses peer-to-peer technology to remove the need for intermediaries to own and authenticate ID information.

Notably, NOSTR, a decentralized protocol, has already begun to utilize decentralized IDs, demonstrating the potential of this technology in real-world applications. Via NOSTR, users can be sure that the person or computer publishing to a particular npub knows their nsec (password for your npub), highlighting the secure and decentralized nature of this approach.

With SSI, individuals can decide how their personal data is used, shared, and protected, giving them greater control and agency over their digital lives.

The benefits of SSI are numerous, including:

Enhanced security and protection of personal data. Reduced risk of identity theft and fraud Increased autonomy and agency over one's digital identity. Improved scalability and flexibility in digital identity management

challenges:

Ensuring the security and integrity of decentralized identity systems. Developing standards and protocols for interoperability and compatibility. Addressing concerns around ownership and control of personal data. Balancing individual autonomy with the need for verification and authentication in various contexts.

Overall, self-sovereign identity has the potential to transform the way we think about digital identity and provide individuals with greater control and agency over their personal data. Without people in control of their bitcoin seed words no freedom loving people would be able to exchange their money with others. Yes, keep enjoying using the only free market on the planet BITCOIN. Long live FREEDOM!

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

At the recent Launch Music Festival and Conference in Lancaster, PA, featuring over 120 musicians across three days, I volunteered my time with Tunestr and Phantom Power Music's initiative to introduce artists to Bitcoin, Nostr, and the value-for-value model. Tunestr sponsored a stage, live-streaming 21 bands to platforms like Tunestr.io, Fountain.fm and other Nostr/Podcasting 2.0 apps and on-boarding as many others as possible at our conference booth. You may have seen me spamming about this over the last few days.

V4V Earnings

Day 1: 180,000 sats

Day 2: 300,000 sats

Day 3: Over 500,000 sats

Who?

Here are the artists that were on-boarded to Fountain and were live streaming on the Value-for-Value stage:

nostr:npub1cruu4z0hwg7n3r2k7262vx8jsmra3xpku85frl5fnfvrwz7rd7mq7e403w nostr:npub12xeh3n7w8700z4tpd6xlhlvg4vtg4pvpxd584ll5sva539tutc3q0tn3tz nostr:npub1rc80p4v60uzfhvdgxemhvcqnzdj7t59xujxdy0lcjxml3uwdezyqtrpe0j @npub16vxr4pc2ww3yaez9q4s53zkejjfd0djs9lfe55sjhnqkh nostr:npub10uspdzg4fl7md95mqnjszxx82ckdly8ezac0t3s06a0gsf4f3lys8ypeak nostr:npub1gnyzexr40qut0za2c4a0x27p4e3qc22wekhcw3uvdx8mwa3pen0s9z90wk nostr:npub13qrrw2h4z52m7jh0spefrwtysl4psfkfv6j4j672se5hkhvtyw7qu0almy nostr:npub1p0kuqxxw2mxczc90vcurvfq7ljuw2394kkqk6gqnn2cq0y9eq5nq87jtkk nostr:npub182kq0sdp7chm67uq58cf4vvl3lk37z8mm5k5067xe09fqqaaxjsqlcazej nostr:npub162hr8kd96vxlanvggl08hmyy37qsn8ehgj7za7squl83um56epnswkr399 nostr:npub17jzk5ex2rafres09c4dnn5mm00eejye6nrurnlla6yn22zcpl7vqg6vhvx nostr:npub176rnksulheuanfx8y8cr2mrth4lh33svvpztggjjm6j2pqw6m56sq7s9vz nostr:npub1akv7t7xpalhsc4nseljs0c886jzuhq8u42qdcwvu972f3mme9tjsgp5xxk nostr:npub18x0gv872489lrczp9d9m4hx59r754x7p9rg2jkgvt7ul3kuqewtqsssn24

Many more musicians were on-boarded to Fountain, however, we were unable to obtain all of their npubs.

THANK YOU TO ALL ZAPPERS AND BOOSTERS!

Musicians “Get It”

My key takeaway was the musicians' absolute understanding that the current digital landscape along with legacy social media is failing them. Every artist I spoke with recognized how algorithms hinder fan connection and how gatekeepers prevent fair compensation for their work. They all use Spotify, but they only do so out of necessity. They felt the music industry is primed for both a social and monetary revolution. Some of them were even speaking my language…

Because of this, concepts like decentralization, censorship resistance, owning your content, and controlling your social graph weren't just understood by them, they were instantly embraced. The excitement was real; they immediately saw the potential and agreed with me. Bitcoin and Nostr felt genuinely punk rock and that helped a lot of them identify with what we were offering them.

The Tools and the Issues

While the Nostr ecosystem offers a wide variety of tools, we focused on introducing three key applications at this event to keep things clear for newcomers:

1. Fountain, with a music focus, was the primary tool for onboarding attendees onto Nostr. Fountain was also chosen thanks to Fountain’s built-in Lightning wallet.
2. Primal, as a social alternative, was demonstrated to show how users can take their Nostr identity and content seamlessly between different applications.
3. Tunestr.io, lastly was showcased for its live video streaming capabilities.

Although we highlighted these three, we did inform attendees about the broader range of available apps and pointed them to nostrapps.com if they wanted to explore further, aiming to educate without overwhelming them.

This review highlights several UX issues with the Fountain app, particularly concerning profile updates, wallet functionality, and user discovery. While Fountain does work well, these minor hiccups make it extremely hard for on-boarding and education.

• Profile Issues:
• When a user edits their profile (e.g., Username/Nostr address, Lightning address) either during or after creation, the changes don't appear to consistently update across the app or sync correctly with Nostr relays.
• Specifically, the main profile display continues to show the old default Username/Nostr address and Lightning address inside Fountain and on other Nostr clients.
• However, the updated Username/Nostr address does appear on https://fountain.fm (chosen-username@fountain.fm) and is visible within the "Edit Profile" screen itself in the app.
• This inconsistency is confusing for users, as they see their updated information in some places but not on their main public-facing profile within the app. I confirmed this by observing a new user sign up and edit their username – the edit screen showed the new name, but the profile display in Fountain did not update and we did not see it inside Primal, Damus, Amethyst, etc.
• Wallet Limitations:
• The app's built-in wallet cannot scan Lightning address QR codes to initiate payments.
• This caused problems during the event where users imported Bitcoin from Azte.co vouchers into their Fountain wallets. When they tried to Zap a band by scanning a QR code on the live tally board, Fountain displayed an error message stating the invoice or QR code was invalid.
• While suggesting musicians install Primal as a second Nostr app was a potential fix for the QR code issue, (and I mentioned it to some), the burden of onboarding users onto two separate applications, potentially managing two different wallets, and explaining which one works for specific tasks creates a confusing and frustrating user experience.
• Search Difficulties:
• Finding other users within the Fountain app is challenging. I was unable to find profiles from brand new users by entering their chosen Fountain username.
• To find a new user, I had to resort to visiting their profile on the web (fountain.fm/username) to retrieve their npub. Then, open Primal and follow them. Finally, when searching for their username, since I was now following them, I was able to find their profile.
• This search issue is compounded by the profile syncing problem mentioned earlier, as even if found via other clients, their displayed information is outdated.
• Searching for the event to Boost/Zap inside Fountain was harder than it should have been the first two days as the live stream did not appear at the top of the screen inside the tap. This was resolved on the third day of the event.

Improving the Onboarding Experience

To better support user growth, educators and on-boarders need more feature complete and user-friendly applications. I love our developers and I will always sing their praises from the highest mountain tops, however I also recognize that the current tools present challenges that hinder a smooth onboarding experience.

One potential approach explored was guiding users to use Primal (including its built-in wallet) in conjunction with Wavlake via Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC). While this could facilitate certain functions like music streaming, zaps, and QR code scanning (which require both Primal and Wavlake apps), Wavlake itself has usability issues. These include inconsistent or separate profiles between web and mobile apps, persistent "Login" buttons even when logged in on the mobile app with a Nostr identity, and the minor inconvenience of needing two separate applications. Although NWC setup is relatively easy and helps streamline the process, the need to switch between apps adds complexity, especially when time is limited and we’re aiming to showcase the benefits of this new system.

Ultimately, we need applications that are more feature-complete and intuitive for mainstream users to improve the onboarding experience significantly.

Looking forward to the future

I anticipate that most of these issues will be resolved when these applications address them in the near future. Specifically, this would involve Fountain fixing its profile issues and integrating Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) to allow users to utilize their Primal wallet, or by enabling the scanning of QR codes that pay out to Lightning addresses. Alternatively, if Wavlake resolves the consistency problems mentioned earlier, this would also significantly improve the situation giving us two viable solutions for musicians.

My ideal onboarding event experience would involve having all the previously mentioned issues resolved. Additionally, I would love to see every attendee receive a $5 or $10 voucher to help them start engaging with value-for-value, rather than just the limited number we distributed recently. The goal is to have everyone actively zapping and sending Bitcoin throughout the event. Maybe we can find a large sponsor to facilitate this in the future?

What's particularly exciting is the Launch conference's strong interest in integrating value-for-value across their entire program for all musicians and speakers at their next event in Dallas, Texas, coming later this fall. This presents a significant opportunity to onboard over 100+ musicians to Bitcoin and Nostr, which in turn will help onboard their fans and supporters.

We need significantly more zaps and more zappers! It's unreasonable to expect the same dedicated individuals to continuously support new users; they are being bled dry. A shift is needed towards more people using bitcoin for everyday transactions, treating it as money. This brings me back to my ideal onboarding experience: securing a sponsor to essentially give participants bitcoin funds specifically for zapping and tipping artists. This method serves as a practical lesson in using bitcoin as money and showcases the value-for-value principle from the outset.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

The recent shutdown of TikTok in the United States due to a potential government ban serves as a stark reminder how fragile centralized platforms truly are under the surface. While these platforms offer convenience, a more polished user experience, and connectivity, they are ultimately beholden to governments, corporations, and other authorities. This makes them vulnerable to censorship, regulation, and outright bans. In contrast, Nostr represents a shift in how we approach online communication and content sharing. Built on the principles of decentralization and user choice, Nostr cannot be banned, because it is not a platform—it is a protocol.

PROTOCOLS, NOT PLATFORMS.

At the heart of Nostr's philosophy is user choice, a feature that fundamentally sets it apart from legacy platforms. In centralized systems, the user experience is dictated by a single person or governing entity. If the platform decides to filter, censor, or ban specific users or content, individuals are left with little action to rectify the situation. They must either accept the changes or abandon the platform entirely, often at the cost of losing their social connections, their data, and their identity.

What's happening with TikTok could never happen on Nostr. With Nostr, the dynamics are completely different. Because it is a protocol, not a platform, no single entity controls the ecosystem. Instead, the protocol enables a network of applications and relays that users can freely choose from. If a particular application or relay implements policies that a user disagrees with, such as censorship, filtering, or even government enforced banning, they are not trapped or abandoned. They have the freedom to move to another application or relay with minimal effort.

THIS IS POWERFUL.

Take, for example, the case of a relay that decides to censor specific content. On a legacy platform, this would result in frustration and a loss of access for users. On Nostr, however, users can simply connect to a different relay that does not impose such restrictions. Similarly, if an application introduces features or policies that users dislike, they can migrate to a different application that better suits their preferences, all while retaining their identity and social connections.

The same principles apply to government bans and censorship. A government can ban a specific application or even multiple applications, just as it can block one relay or several relays. China has implemented both tactics, yet Chinese users continue to exist and actively participate on Nostr, demonstrating Nostr's ability to resistant censorship.

How? Simply, it turns into a game of whack-a-mole. When one relay is censored, another quickly takes its place. When one application is banned, another emerges. Users can also bypass these obstacles by running their own relays and applications directly from their homes or personal devices, eliminating reliance on larger entities or organizations and ensuring continuous access.

AGAIN, THIS IS POWERUFL.

Nostr's open and decentralized design makes it resistant to the kinds of government intervention that led to TikTok's outages this weekend and potential future ban in the next 90 days. There is no central server to target, no company to regulate, and no single point of failure. (Insert your CEO jokes here). As long as there are individuals running relays and applications, users continue creating notes and sending zaps.

Platforms like TikTok can be silenced with the stroke of a pen, leaving millions of users disconnected and abandoned. Social communication should not be silenced so incredibly easily. No one should have that much power over social interactions.

Will we on-board a massive wave of TikTokers in the coming hours or days? I don't know.

TikTokers may not be ready for Nostr yet, and honestly, Nostr may not be ready for them either. The ecosystem still lacks the completely polished applications, tools, and services they’re accustomed to. This is where we say "we're still early". They may not be early adopters like the current Nostr user base. Until we bridge that gap, they’ll likely move to the next centralized platform, only to face another government ban or round of censorship in the future. But eventually, there will come a tipping point, a moment when they’ve had enough. When that time comes, I hope we’re prepared. If we’re not, we risk missing a tremendous opportunity to onboard people who genuinely need Nostr’s freedom.

Until then, to all of the Nostr developers out there, keep up the great work and keep building. Your hard work and determination is needed.

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

As Bitcoin’s price continues to climb, the value of its smallest unit, the Satoshi, grows with it. Today, owning a million Satoshis is an affordable and wise investment—especially as Bitcoin reaches new heights. Here’s why a million Satoshis should be the minimum amount everyone owns and why cold storage is key to securing your future.

1. Affordability and Future Value

While owning one full Bitcoin might seem out of reach for many, owning one million Satoshis is much more achievable. As Bitcoin continues to rise in value, a million Satoshis, which is currently worth around $250, could become worth $10,000 or more in the future. This makes owning a million Satoshis not just an entry into Bitcoin, but a solid step toward securing future wealth.

1. A World Priced in Sats

Imagine a future where goods and services are priced in Satoshis. As Bitcoin gains widespread adoption, this scenario is becoming more likely. With Bitcoin potentially surpassing $1 million per coin, one million Satoshis will be worth a significant sum in the future. By owning this amount now, you’re setting yourself up for a future where everyday transactions are measured in Sats, ensuring your financial independence.

1. A Hedge Against Inflation

With fiat currencies losing value over time, Bitcoin offers a deflationary alternative. Owning Satoshis is like holding a form of “sound money” that protects you from inflationary pressures. As Bitcoin’s value continues to grow, your Satoshis could outpace inflation, preserving your wealth for the long term.

1. The Importance of Cold Storage

Storing your Satoshis securely is just as important as owning them. Cold storage solutions, like the Foundation Passport, Coldcard, or Bitkey, offer the highest level of security by keeping your private keys offline. This protects your Bitcoin from online threats, ensuring that your Satoshis remain safe for years to come.

Cold Storage Solutions

•   Foundation Passport: Portable, secure, and open-source. A great option for long-term Bitcoin storage.

•   Coldcard: A highly secure hardware wallet that keeps your Bitcoin offline and out of reach from hackers.

•   Bitkey: A versatile, user-friendly cold storage solution integrated with your smartphone.

A Better Future with Bitcoin

Owning a million Satoshis today is not just about having a small piece of Bitcoin—it’s about securing a financial future where Bitcoin is the standard. Cold storage protects your wealth, and owning Bitcoin positions you to thrive in a decentralized, Bitcoin-driven economy. As Bitcoin continues to evolve, those who embrace it today will be ahead of the curve in a world where wealth is stored in Satoshis.

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

In a world that often rewards conformity, being open-minded can be a radical act. It is a choice to embrace curiosity, challenge assumptions, and allow life to surprise you. When we open our minds, we invite new possibilities—not just in the realm of ideas but in every aspect of existence, from consciousness expansion to financial freedom with Bitcoin, and even finding a life partner. Let’s explore how this mindset can transform your reality.

1. Open-Mindedness and Consciousness

The first step to expanding consciousness is realizing how much there is to learn. By questioning the default narratives we’ve inherited—about who we are, why we’re here, and what reality itself means—we create space for deeper awareness.

This could involve practices like meditation, exploring alternative philosophies, or studying ancient wisdom traditions like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). These practices teach us that the mind is not a fixed entity but a fluid and evolving tool. When we let go of rigid beliefs, we begin to notice synchronicities, experience heightened awareness, and even tap into higher states of being.

Being open-minded in this sense doesn’t mean blindly accepting everything; it means cultivating discernment while remaining curious. It’s in this openness that we discover the profound interconnectedness of all things.

1. Bitcoin: Financial Freedom through Innovation

For many, Bitcoin is a misunderstood or intimidating concept. But being open-minded to alternative systems can lead to incredible breakthroughs—not just financially but philosophically. Bitcoin isn’t just “digital money”; it represents decentralization, transparency, and freedom from traditional financial systems that have long prioritized the few over the many.

Adopting Bitcoin often requires a mental shift. It’s not about chasing short-term gains but about understanding the principles of sound money, scarcity, and peer-to-peer networks. For those willing to question how money works and why it matters, Bitcoin offers an opportunity to participate in a financial revolution that empowers individuals.

Openness to Bitcoin can also reshape your mindset toward technology, personal sovereignty, and global collaboration. It’s not just a currency; it’s a philosophy of trust and innovation.

1. Finding Love Through Open-Mindedness

The search for a life partner often mirrors our internal beliefs about ourselves and others. An open mind can transform how we approach relationships, making space for unexpected connections.

When we let go of rigid expectations—about what our partner “should” look like, where we’ll meet them, or how a relationship should progress—we allow love to unfold organically. Sometimes, the most wonderful spouse enters our lives when we least expect it, perhaps through a chance encounter or shared passion.

Open-mindedness in love also means being willing to grow together, embracing differences, and learning from one another. It’s about building a relationship rooted in mutual respect, curiosity, and the belief that you can continually discover new facets of your partner (and yourself) over time.

Final Thoughts: The Ripple Effect of Open-Mindedness

Whether it’s exploring consciousness, adopting Bitcoin, or finding a wonderful spouse, being open-minded is a skill that creates ripple effects across all areas of life. It’s not just about embracing new ideas—it’s about living with the belief that the universe has infinite possibilities waiting for you to discover.

By opening your mind, you open doors: to deeper awareness, financial independence, and love that feels like home. The more you explore, the more you realize that being open-minded doesn’t just expand your world—it transforms it.

So, the next time you’re faced with something unfamiliar or challenging, ask yourself: What could I learn if I let myself be curious?

On this journey, everything becomes possible.

@ e39333da:7c66e53a

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The developers, Hanger 13, along with the publisher, 2K Games, have announced that Mafia: The Old Country, a third-person action adventure game, will be releasing on both PC (Steam) and consoles on the 8th of August 2025, and with it they've released a new gameplay trailer.

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They've also release a 7 minute long developer diary that showcases the game in a more in-depth look at it. It's worth noting that the game isn't an open-world game, but rather a linear one.

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

The financial markets are at a crossroads. With SPY trading at $608 and QQQ at $525, these flagship ETFs are steadily moving toward the $1,000 per share milestone. While the milestone itself is symbolic, its implications for investors and the broader market could be transformative.

For many retail investors, high share prices—despite the availability of fractional shares—create a psychological barrier. Investors instinctively perceive higher prices as less accessible, even if the value proposition remains unchanged. This perception challenges the traditional market and raises the question:

How will markets adapt as SPY and QQQ continue their climb toward $1,000 per share?

Let’s explore two potential paths forward, including how Bitcoin ETFs and direct Bitcoin ownership could reshape how we invest and define “The Market.”

1. New Standardized Products for Retail Investors

When SPY and QQQ reach higher price levels, markets will likely introduce new products to maintain accessibility. This adaptation wouldn’t be unprecedented. For example, Fidelity’s FNILX, a zero-expense index fund that tracks the S&P 500, provides a low-cost and highly accessible alternative to traditional funds.

However, FNILX is a mutual fund and doesn’t offer the liquidity or tradability of ETFs, which makes ETFs far more appealing to active traders and long-term investors alike. The ETF equivalent of FNILX would likely take the form of new products specifically designed to solve the “high price barrier” problem.

What These New ETFs Could Look Like:

•   Lower Price Points: New ETFs might adopt alternative share structures or tokenization to fractionalize ownership while maintaining correlation to major indices like SPY and QQQ.

•   Cost-Effective Options: Providers could offer these products with reduced or zero fees, similar to FNILX, but with the tradability of ETFs.

•   Trader-Friendly Designs: These ETFs would retain liquidity and flexibility, ensuring active investors can continue trading them easily.

Such products would act as next-generation ETFs, satisfying demand for accessibility while keeping retail investors engaged in traditional markets.

1. The Rise of Bitcoin as an Alternative Market Standard

While SPY and QQQ dominate the current investment landscape, the rise of Bitcoin ETFs and direct Bitcoin ownership presents a compelling alternative. Bitcoin’s decentralized nature and finite supply make it fundamentally different from traditional equities, and its adoption as a financial instrument is growing rapidly.

Bitcoin ETFs: A Familiar Entry Point

Bitcoin ETFs, like IBIT, bridge the gap between the traditional financial system and the world of cryptocurrency. They allow investors to gain Bitcoin exposure through familiar platforms, such as brokerage accounts, without needing to manage private keys or wallets.

Advantages of Bitcoin ETFs: 1. Ease of Use: Easily accessible through existing brokerage platforms, making Bitcoin exposure as simple as buying a stock.

2.  Regulated Framework: Operates within traditional financial regulations, providing a sense of security for traditional investors.

3.  Portfolio Integration: Fits seamlessly into diversified portfolios, allowing Bitcoin exposure alongside traditional assets.

However, Bitcoin ETFs have limitations, including management fees, lack of true ownership, and reliance on third-party custodians.

Self-Custody Bitcoin: True Financial Sovereignty

For investors who want to fully embrace the decentralized ethos of Bitcoin, self-custody offers unparalleled financial sovereignty. By purchasing Bitcoin directly and storing it in a private wallet, investors take full control of their assets.

Benefits of Self-Custody: 1. True Ownership: You hold the private keys, ensuring no third party has control over your Bitcoin.

2.  Censorship Resistance: Self-custodied Bitcoin is immune to freezes, seizures, or restrictions.
3.  Decentralization: You actively contribute to the resilience of the Bitcoin network.

4.  Security: Proper practices, like using hardware wallets or multi-signature solutions, provide robust protection against theft or institutional failure.

Self-custody does require responsibility, but the learning curve is shrinking as user-friendly tools and educational resources become more widely available.

A Broader Shift in Market Perception

As SPY and QQQ climb toward $1,000, Bitcoin may begin to redefine how we measure market health and economic performance. Traditionally, indices like the S&P 500 have been seen as benchmarks for the economy. In the future, Bitcoin’s price and adoption metrics could serve as a parallel or even competing measure.

Why Bitcoin Could Become a New Market Standard:

•   Global Inclusion: Bitcoin is accessible to anyone with an internet connection, breaking down geographic and economic barriers.

•   Inflation Hedge: Its finite supply makes it a powerful store of value, particularly in inflationary environments.

•   Decentralized Economy: Bitcoin represents a global, decentralized economic standard, uncorrelated with traditional equity markets.

Implications for the Future of Investing

For Traditional ETFs:

As SPY and QQQ approach $1,000, the introduction of new, lower-priced ETF products will be critical to maintaining retail engagement. These innovations could fragment demand across products, altering trading volumes and creating new dynamics for liquidity and volatility.

For Bitcoin:

The rise of Bitcoin ETFs and self-custody will empower investors to rethink how they store and grow their wealth. The decision between convenience (Bitcoin ETFs) and sovereignty (self-custody) will define a new era of financial choice.

Takeaway: Preparing for a Transformative Future

The approaching $1,000 milestone for SPY and QQQ is more than just a numerical milestone—it signals a shift in how markets must adapt to the needs of investors. Whether through new standardized ETFs or the growing adoption of Bitcoin ETFs and self-custody, the investment landscape is evolving.

For investors, this is an opportunity to embrace change. Will you continue to follow traditional benchmarks, explore new Bitcoin products, or take control through self-custody?

One thing is clear: the markets of tomorrow will reward those who adapt, innovate, and educate themselves. The future isn’t about choosing between systems—it’s about using the tools that empower you to thrive.

@ e39333da:7c66e53a

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Silver Palace, developed by Silver Studio and published by Elementa, a fantasy adventure action RPG, built with Unreal Engine 5, was announced along with a 10-minute long gameplay video showcasing the game in what appears to be a pre-beta state.

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Find more information about the game from the game's website.

@ 3c559080:a053153e

So firstly you should find an emulator for whatever you want to play on. There are many for desktop and mobile devices. Checkhere for a list of all the available consoles and their various emulators.

Next what game do you want to play? This is the like the homepage for a shit ton of roms.

Some of the more popular roms are there and other various list like Sony Nintendo

After narrowing down your selection you will end up on myrient i assume this is just some dope person hosting all these so if you get some use out of it, think of donating they even take corn, but other shitcoins too (but thats not the focus here)

Once you download the Rom of the game you want, you will get a compressed (zip) folder, unzip it and within it will be the rom, most systems will identify your emulator and use it open the game. If not, launch the emulator and within it should be an option to open a file, open the file in the unzipped folder.

Enjoy So you want to Mod?

So every Mod, is a mod for a specific game [ex. Pokemon Blue, Pokemon FireRed, Super Mario Bros.] so it requires you to get the Rom for that base game, the mod itself, and a tool to patch it. There is an online tool to easily patch the mod to the ROM. IMPORTANT, this will not change any naming, Id recommend having a folder with the base game roms, and a folder for the mods, and lastly a folder for the newly modded roms. Make sure to name or just save the game in modded roms folder after the patch.

Below are a few resource to find various Pokemon Rom mods(sometimes called hacks)

• r/PokemonROMhacks
• Good Compilations of Hacks and Resource/Guides

Personally, Pokemon Unbound is considered the best most polished hack. it runs on Pokemon Fire Red.

Pokemon Emerald Rouge is a cool take on the popular Rougelite genre. This runs on base game Pokemon Emerald

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Sky Map (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app and tap Accept, then tap OK
3. When asked to access the device's location, tap While Using The App
4. Tap somewhere on the screen to activate the menu, then tap ⁝ and select Settings
5. Disable Send Usage Statistics
6. Return to the main screen and enjoy stargazing!

ℹ️ Use the 🔍 icon in the upper toolbar to search for a specific celestial body, or tap the 👁️ icon to activate night mode

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

I’ve been using Notedeck for several months, starting with its extremely early and experimental alpha versions, all the way to its current, more stable alpha releases. The journey has been fascinating, as I’ve had the privilege of watching it evolve from a concept into a functional and promising tool.

In its earliest stages, Notedeck was raw—offering glimpses of its potential but still far from practical for daily use. Even then, the vision behind it was clear: a platform designed to redefine how we interact with Nostr by offering flexibility and power for all users.

I'm very bullish on Notedeck. Why? Because Will Casarin is making it! Duh! 😂

Seriously though, if we’re reimagining the web and rebuilding portions of the Internet, it’s important to recognize the potential of Notedeck. If Nostr is reimagining the web, then Notedeck is reimagining the Nostr client.

Notedeck isn’t just another Nostr app—it’s more a Nostr browser that functions more like an operating system with micro-apps. How cool is that?

Much like how Google's Chrome evolved from being a web browser with a task manager into ChromeOS, a full blown operating system, Notedeck aims to transform how we interact with the Nostr. It goes beyond individual apps, offering a foundation for a fully integrated ecosystem built around Nostr.

As a Nostr evangelist, I love to scream INTEROPERABILITY and tout every application's integrations. Well, Notedeck has the potential to be one of the best platforms to showcase these integrations in entirely new and exciting ways.

Do you want an Olas feed of images? Add the media column.

Do you want a feed of live video events? Add the zap.stream column.

Do you want Nostr Nests or audio chats? Add that column to your Notedeck.

Git? Email? Books? Chat and DMs? It's all possible.

Not everyone wants a super app though, and that’s okay. As with most things in the Nostr ecosystem, flexibility is key. Notedeck gives users the freedom to choose how they engage with it—whether it’s simply following hashtags or managing straightforward feeds. You'll be able to tailor Notedeck to fit your needs, using it as extensively or minimally as you prefer.

Notedeck is designed with a local-first approach, utilizing Nostr content stored directly on your device via the local nostrdb. This will enable a plethora of advanced tools such as search and filtering, the creation of custom feeds, and the ability to develop personalized algorithms across multiple Notedeck micro-applications—all with unparalleled flexibility.

Notedeck also supports multicast. Let's geek out for a second. Multicast is a method of communication where data is sent from one source to multiple destinations simultaneously, but only to devices that wish to receive the data. Unlike broadcast, which sends data to all devices on a network, multicast targets specific receivers, reducing network traffic. This is commonly used for efficient data distribution in scenarios like streaming, conferencing, or large-scale data synchronization between devices.

In a local first world where each device holds local copies of your nostr nodes, and each device transparently syncs with each other on the local network, each node becomes a backup. Your data becomes antifragile automatically. When a node goes down it can resync and recover from other nodes. Even if not all nodes have a complete collection, negentropy can pull down only what is needed from each device. All this can be done without internet.

-Will Casarin

In the context of Notedeck, multicast would allow multiple devices to sync their Nostr nodes with each other over a local network without needing an internet connection. Wild.

Notedeck aims to offer full customization too, including the ability to design and share custom skins, much like Winamp. Users will also be able to create personalized columns and, in the future, share their setups with others. This opens the door for power users to craft tailored Nostr experiences, leveraging their expertise in the protocol and applications. By sharing these configurations as "Starter Decks," they can simplify onboarding and showcase the best of Nostr’s ecosystem.

Nostr’s “Other Stuff” can often be difficult to discover, use, or understand. Many users doesn't understand or know how to use web browser extensions to login to applications. Let's not even get started with nsecbunkers. Notedeck will address this challenge by providing a native experience that brings these lesser-known applications, tools, and content into a user-friendly and accessible interface, making exploration seamless. However, that doesn't mean Notedeck should disregard power users that want to use nsecbunkers though - hint hint.

For anyone interested in watching Nostr be developed live, right before your very eyes, Notedeck’s progress serves as a reminder of what’s possible when innovation meets dedication. The current alpha is already demonstrating its ability to handle complex use cases, and I’m excited to see how it continues to grow as it moves toward a full release later this year.

@ e39333da:7c66e53a

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Rockstar released the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI, where they mention that it showcases both cinematic and gameplay scenes equally, though of course it doesn't show any direct gameplay.

This trailer also announces the release date for the game. The game will come out on the 26th of May, 2026, for the PS5 and the Xbox One.

@ bf47c19e:c3d2573b

Originalni tekst na graduallythensuddenly.xyz

Autor: Parker Lewis

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Bitkoin raste zauvek i kupovina stvari Bitkoinom je savršeno logična. Ove dve tvrdnje nisu suprotstavljene. Ovo je važno zato što mnogo ljudi (možda i većina) misli da je trošenje Bitkoina iracionalno. Zašto oni misle tako? Postoji kombinacija razloga:

1. Ukoliko Bitkoin raste, zašto biste ikada želeli da se rastanete od njega? Ako cena raste i vi ga potrošite, ostajete bez budućih "dobitaka".
2. Postoje poreske posledice kada kupujete Bitkoinom. Kada kupite nešto za Bitkoin, postoji porez na kapitalnu dobit zato što se to tretira kao da ste ga prodali, iz poreskih razloga (tako da tada plaćate više).

Ništa od ovoga nije racionalni razlog da ne potrošite Bitkoin. Zašto?

1. Prvi zaključak je iracionalan zato što se radi o drugačijoj dilemi od one na koju mislite. Ona se zapravo odnosi na svaku odluku u vezi sa potrošnjom ili štednjom, bez obzira da li trošite Bitkoin ili fiat novac. Na primer, ukoliko trošite fiat, mogli ste da se odreknete te potrošnje i umesto toga uštedite taj iznos u Bitkoinu. Vaša ekonomska računica je posve drugačija kada ste suočeni sa dilemom da li da potrošite novac fiksne količine u odnosu na novac koji konstantno gubi vrednost. Tačno je da se, bez obzira da li se odlučite (ili ne) da potrošite Bitkoin, radi o boljem testu potrošnje od štednje ili trošenja fiata. Ali svi moramo da svakodnevno trošimo novac.

2. Drugi zaključak je iracionalan zato što kapitalni dobitak ostvarujete samo u slučaju kada vaš novac dobije na vrednosti. Drugim rečima, kapitalni dobitak ste ostvarili samo ako vaš novac nije izgubio kupovnu moć. Da, bilo bi bolje kada bi promena politike dovela do ukidanja poreza na kapitalnu dobit na sve Bitkoin transakcije, ali to što plaćate porez na kapitalnu dobit ne znači da je stvar koju kupujete skuplja. Kako je to moguće? Zato što vi sada zapravo imate više novca nego u slučaju da ste izabrali put štednje u fiatu. Skuplje je štedeti u fiatu i trošiti u fiatu. Matematika je ubedljiva, a samim tim i logika.

Osnova rešavanja ove logičke dileme: ako mislite da je trošenje Bitkoina iracionalno, onda verovatno imate previše fiat novca. I pre nego što odemo dalje, volatilnost jeste stvarna. Njome morate upravljati. Ako je vaše razumevanje Bitkoina ograničeno, vaša sposobnost tolerancije prema volatilnosti Bitkoina je neminovno manja od nekoga ko je godinama štedeo u Bitkoinu i ko ima mnogo iskustva u upravljanju volatilnošću (i poseduje veće znanje o Bitkoinu od vas). Tako da ono što ću pokušati da objasnim, iako je 100% logično, ne odnosi se na svakoga zato što svačije znanje o Bitkoinu nije jednako, kao što nije jednaka ni svačija sposobnost da se toleriše volatilnost.

Sada možemo razmotriti nekoliko uporednih primera. Ukoliko imate 99% svoje štednje u fiatu (obliku novca koji gubi na vrednosti zato što se može sa lakoćom štampati) i 1% u Bitkoinu (obliku novca ograničene količine koji se ne može štampati), jeste veoma logično da štedite u Bitkoinu i trošite vaš fiat novac. Imate mnogo više fiata nego što imate Bitkoina. Ali ako imate 99% štednje u Bitkoinu i samo 1% u fiatu, bićete voljni da trošite Bitkoin. Pošto ste štedeli svoj novac u Bitkoinu koji čuva vrednost tokom vremena, nalazite se u boljoj poziciji od osobe koja je štedela u fiat novcu.

Hajmo da odemo u još veću krajnost da bismo izveli logičan zaključak, pre svega u vezi sa dve lažne ekonomske dileme. Pretpostavimo da imate 100% vaše štednje u Bitkoinu i 0 % u fiatu. Vi po definiciji morate da trošite tako da ste prinuđeni da trošite Bitkoin. Morate ga trošiti, bilo da kupujete proizvode i usluge direktno za Bitkoin, bilo da prodajete Bitkoin za fiat kojim ćete onda kupovati proizvode i usluge. Prva dilema je poništena. Ne radi se o tome da li treba da trošite Bitkoin. Radi se o tome da li uopšte treba da trošite (npr. da li je ono na šta trošite novac dobra potrošačka odluka).

Svi imamo i potrebe I želje. I jedno i drugo je validno. Život je kratak. Nikada ne trošiti novac je visoka vremenska preferencija. Ali nisu sve potrošačke odluke dobre odluke. U nekim slučajevima bi trebalo da štedite. Ali u oba slučaja, ako se radi o dobroj potrošačkoj odluci (o čemu samo vi odlučujete), dilema u vezi sa budućim rastom cene Bitkoina je poništena. Na primer, gotovo celokupna moja štednja je u Bitkoinu. Bila mi je neophodna popravka menjača na automobilu. Oko toga nije postojala dilema. Morao sam da popravim menjač i, s obzirom na to koliko malo fiat novca držim, bio sam prinuđen da potrošim Bitkoin. Nije mi bilo bitno da li će Bitkoin "rasti" u budućnosti. Bio mi je potreban moj automobil. U ovom konkretnom slučaju, prodao sam Bitkoin za fiat novac, zatim potrošio fiat, pa sam nabavio novi menjač kako ne bih morao svuda da pešačim.

Ovo nas sada vraća na drugu lažnu ekonomsku dilemu broj 2: kapitalne dobitke. Ukoliko pratite logiku, posledica kapitalnog dobitka je istovremeno i stvarna i nevažeća za dilemu rastanka sa Bitkoinom. Da bih ovo pokazao, zapravo ću proći kroz ekonomsku matematiku. Ovde dolazi do izražaja onaj zaključak da imate previše fiat novca ukoliko mislite da je trošenje Bitkoina iracionalno. Scenario A: tokom vremena štedite više u fiat novu i trošite fiat. Scenario B: tokom vremena štedite u Bitkoinu i trošite Bitkoin. Ovaj primer pretpostavlja ekstremne slučajeve da bi se naglasio ekonomski argument. 100% ušteđevine u fiatu naspram 100% ušteđevine u Bitkoinu:

Ekonomija štednje i trošenja u fiat novcu naspram štednje i trošenja u Bitkoinu

Tako da ono što ste smatrali dilemom o trošenju Bitkoina je zapravo dilema o štednji fiat novca. Štednja i potrošnja su suštinski povezane i, bez obzira na krajnosti (ili alokaciju), ekonomske posledice (izbora štednje u novcu koja gubi na vrednosti naspram štednje u novcu koji čuva kupovnu moć) se ne menjaju. U praktičnijem primeru, cene proizvoda i usluga "rastu" od sadašnjosti prema budućnosti kada su izražene u fiat valuti (fiat inflacija) tako da vam je potreban novac koji čuva kupovnu moć da biste se odbranili od obezvređivanja fiat novca. Ali štaviše, vaša dilema o trošenju je zapravo dilema o štednji i u stvarnom svetu ste ostvarili kapitalni dobitak koji treba da platite samo ako je vaša fiat štednja izgubila na vrednosti.

Sada mnogi od vas možda misle, "zašto jednostavno ne založite Bitkoin i pozajmite dolare koje ćete trošiti". Ovde se radi o potpuno drugačijoj ekonomskoj računici koja ne menja ništa u vezi sa matematikom ili ekonomskom logikom trošenja Bitkoina. To je samo dodavanje još jednog sloja na vrh. Da li možete potencijalno finansijski osmisliti bolji ishod preuzimanjem leveridža i duga i tako zakomplikovati svoj život? Možda. Ali to ne menja I) dilemu o potrošnji naspram štednje, II) posledice budućeg rasta Bitkoina (zato što ste mogli i da kupite Bitkoin sa leveridžom), ili III) posledice kapitalnog dobitka (koje su samo vremenski pomerene iz sadašnjosti u budućnost).

Suština je da je ekonomski pogled da je trošenje Bitkoina iracionalno - matematički nedosledan. Zapravo se radi o dilemi o štednji i vi jednostavno držite previše fiat novca. Ovde postoje i drugi logični razlozi za trošenje Bitkoina koje ću izložiti ali ih neću detaljnije objašnjavati (to ću učiniti u budućem članku).

• Ako niko ne troši Bitkoin, neće postojati ni alati za trošenje Bitkoina i kada fiat novac propadne, svima će biti potrebni ti alati zato što će Bitkoin biti jedina valuta koja funkcioniše.
• Ukoliko neki biznis želi da bude isplaćen u Bitkoinu, kupac poseduje Bitkoin za trošenje, trošenje fiat novca donosi nepotreban transakcioni trošak što dovodi do ekonomske neefikasnosti (veći trošak bez benefita)

Efikasnost Bitkoin transakcije između korisnika

• Ako cenite neki biznis (tj. proizvode i usluge koje vam omogućava) i želite da taj biznis opstane (da bi vam i dalje isporučivao proizvode i usluge), ako taj biznis želi da bude isplaćivan u Bitkoinu i ako vi razumete Bitkoin - u vašem je interesu da trošite Bitkoin zato što znate da će i taj biznis napredovati ako to učinite, a to omogućava i vaš napredak jer cenite proizvode i usluge tog biznisa.

Zaključak je da je trošenje Bitkoina lažna dilema. To je zapravo dilema o štednji. Matematika to i dokazuje. Ako se držite ove iracionalne pozicije (koja je iracionalna samo ako razumete Bitkoin zato što je volatilnost stvarna), onda verovatno imate previše fiat novca. Ipak, moram da naglasim da ovo nije molba da potrošite svoj Bitkoin. Ne postoji moralni imperativ za trošenje Bitkoina. Svaki Bitkoin (i satoši) je dragocen. Kada god trošite (ili investirate), potrudite se da trošite mudro jer je to ono što je zaista važno.

Do sledećeg puta. Srdačan pozdrav, Parker

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

What is NWC? Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) is an open protocol that connects your Lightning wallet to apps using your Nostr identity (Npub). It’s private, decentralized, and secure—no need for Google or Facebook logins.

Why Choose NWC?

🔑 Unified Identity • Log into apps using your Npub (Nostr public key). • No passwords. One identity for all apps.

⚡ Seamless Payments • Send or receive Lightning payments directly in apps. • Enable tips, subscriptions, or in-app purchases instantly.

🛡️ Privacy First • No personal data sharing—your Npub is all you need. • Your wallet keys stay secure and private.

🌐 Decentralized Control • No centralized gatekeepers. • Your identity and wallet are yours forever—no bans or restrictions.

How NWC Works

1️⃣ Get a Nostr Key Pair • Npub = your public identity. • Your private key stays secure.

2️⃣ Connect to Apps with NWC • Use your Npub to authorize apps. • Your Lightning wallet handles payments securely.

3️⃣ Freedom Across Apps • Use NWC with any app that supports Nostr and Lightning.

Why NWC is Better than Google/Facebook

❌ Google/Facebook • Centralized and tracks your data. • Can ban or restrict your account. • Requires passwords and exposes personal info.

✅ NWC • Decentralized and private. • Censorship-resistant—your identity is always yours. • Password-free and keeps your data secure.

The Future of Online Connection NWC is the better way to connect apps, wallets, and identities. Say goodbye to centralized logins and hello to freedom, privacy, and control.

🔑 Start using NWC today—your wallet, your identity, your rules.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

This piece is the first in a series that will focus on things I think are a priority if your focus is similar to mine: building a strong family and safeguarding their future.

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Choosing the ideal place to raise a family is one of the most significant decisions you will ever make. For simplicity sake I will break down my thought process into key factors: strong property rights, the ability to grow your own food, access to fresh water, the freedom to own and train with guns, and a dependable community.

A Jurisdiction with Strong Property Rights

Strong property rights are essential and allow you to build on a solid foundation that is less likely to break underneath you. Regions with a history of limited government and clear legal protections for landowners are ideal. Personally I think the US is the single best option globally, but within the US there is a wide difference between which state you choose. Choose carefully and thoughtfully, think long term. Obviously if you are not American this is not a realistic option for you, there are other solid options available especially if your family has mobility. I understand many do not have this capability to easily move, consider that your first priority, making movement and jurisdiction choice possible in the first place.

Abundant Access to Fresh Water

Water is life. I cannot overstate the importance of living somewhere with reliable, clean, and abundant freshwater. Some regions face water scarcity or heavy regulations on usage, so prioritizing a place where water is plentiful and your rights to it are protected is critical. Ideally you should have well access so you are not tied to municipal water supplies. In times of crisis or chaos well water cannot be easily shutoff or disrupted. If you live in an area that is drought prone, you are one drought away from societal chaos. Not enough people appreciate this simple fact.

Grow Your Own Food

A location with fertile soil, a favorable climate, and enough space for a small homestead or at the very least a garden is key. In stable times, a small homestead provides good food and important education for your family. In times of chaos your family being able to grow and raise healthy food provides a level of self sufficiency that many others will lack. Look for areas with minimal restrictions, good weather, and a culture that supports local farming.

Guns

The ability to defend your family is fundamental. A location where you can legally and easily own guns is a must. Look for places with a strong gun culture and a political history of protecting those rights. Owning one or two guns is not enough and without proper training they will be a liability rather than a benefit. Get comfortable and proficient. Never stop improving your skills. If the time comes that you must use a gun to defend your family, the skills must be instinct. Practice. Practice. Practice.

A Strong Community You Can Depend On

No one thrives alone. A ride or die community that rallies together in tough times is invaluable. Seek out a place where people know their neighbors, share similar values, and are quick to lend a hand. Lead by example and become a good neighbor, people will naturally respond in kind. Small towns are ideal, if possible, but living outside of a major city can be a solid balance in terms of work opportunities and family security.

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Let me know if you found this helpful. My plan is to break down how I think about these five key subjects in future posts.

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

If you could earn between 100-1,000 sats a day, what would that amount to if Bitcoin reached $1,000,000 per coin? Let’s do the math:

1 Bitcoin (BTC) = 100,000,000 satoshis (sats).

Current Bitcoin price = $101,000.

Future Bitcoin price = $1,000,000.

Daily Earnings in Fiat Equivalent at $1M/BTC:

•   100 sats/day = 0.000001 BTC/day = $1.00/day

•   1,000 sats/day = 0.00001 BTC/day = $10.00/day

Annual Earnings at $1M/BTC:

•   100 sats/day x 365 days = $365/year

•   1,000 sats/day x 365 days = $3,650/year

Even at the smallest level—earning 100 sats a day—you’re positioning yourself for significant long-term wealth as Bitcoin’s value increases. It’s a perfect example of the power of accumulation over time.

Why Every Sat Matters

Bitcoin is scarce, with only 21 million BTC to ever exist. That’s 2,100 trillion sats for the entire world. Each satoshi is a fraction of a finite resource, making it inherently valuable. If someone gives you even 1 satoshi, they are saying, “I appreciate your work. You’re making a difference.”

Whether you’re earning sats through:

•   Working: Salary or side hustle paid in Bitcoin.

•   Nostr: Engaging, posting, or contributing to communities.

•   Streaming: Providing value in podcasts or live content.

•   Rewards Apps: Using tools like Fold or other Bitcoin cashback services.

Every sat stacks up, and over time, those seemingly small earnings can become life-changing.

The Fun of Stacking Sats

Part of the magic of Bitcoin is the journey. Watching your small daily efforts compound into something meaningful is both empowering and exciting. So whether you’re earning sats, stacking on dips, or getting tipped on Nostr—have fun. Celebrate every sat. You’re building a future on a foundation of hard work and a revolutionary currency.

The Bitcoin ride is just getting started. Hold tight, stack consistently, and enjoy the journey to financial sovereignty!

@ 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.

@ 1b939fa8:1ebdc679

All of my outfit conversion mods and Nora's Commonwealth Reconstruction Project have requirements that are on Nexus and nowhere else. Exception for the outfit conversions is Devious Devices which is noted and links provided to Lovers Lab and other requirements. My mods are dependent on those original mods to work. If/when the originals come to DEG then I will update and remove the Nexus links in my descriptions.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VetGamerBoceifus01

X: https://x.com/boceifus2000

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

New Year’s resolutions often feel boring and repetitive. Most revolve around getting in shape, eating healthier, or giving up alcohol. While the idea is interesting—using the start of a new calendar year as a catalyst for change—it also seems unnecessary. Why wait for a specific date to make a change? If you want to improve something in your life, you can just do it. You don’t need an excuse.

That’s why I’ve never been drawn to the idea of making a list of resolutions. If I wanted a change, I’d make it happen, without worrying about the calendar. At least, that’s how I felt until now—when, for once, the timing actually gave me a real reason to embrace the idea of New Year’s resolutions.

Enter Olas.

If you're a visual creator, you've likely experienced the relentless grind of building a following on platforms like Instagram—endless doomscrolling, ever-changing algorithms, and the constant pressure to stay relevant. But what if there was a better way? Olas is a Nostr-powered alternative to Instagram that prioritizes community, creativity, and value-for-value exchanges. It's a game changer.

Instagram’s failings are well-known. Its algorithm often dictates whose content gets seen, leaving creators frustrated and powerless. Monetization hurdles further alienate creators who are forced to meet arbitrary follower thresholds before earning anything. Additionally, the platform’s design fosters endless comparisons and exposure to negativity, which can take a significant toll on mental health.

Instagram’s algorithms are notorious for keeping users hooked, often at the cost of their mental health. I've spoken about this extensively, most recently at Nostr Valley, explaining how legacy social media is bad for you. You might find yourself scrolling through content that leaves you feeling anxious or drained. Olas takes a fresh approach, replacing "doomscrolling" with "bloomscrolling." This is a common theme across the Nostr ecosystem. The lack of addictive rage algorithms allows the focus to shift to uplifting, positive content that inspires rather than exhausts.

Monetization is another area where Olas will set itself apart. On Instagram, creators face arbitrary barriers to earning—needing thousands of followers and adhering to restrictive platform rules. Olas eliminates these hurdles by leveraging the Nostr protocol, enabling creators to earn directly through value-for-value exchanges. Fans can support their favorite artists instantly, with no delays or approvals required. The plan is to enable a brand new Olas account that can get paid instantly, with zero followers - that's wild.

Olas addresses these issues head-on. Operating on the open Nostr protocol, it removes centralized control over one's content’s reach or one's ability to monetize. With transparent, configurable algorithms, and a community that thrives on mutual support, Olas creates an environment where creators can grow and succeed without unnecessary barriers.

Join me on my New Year's resolution. Join me on Olas and take part in the #Olas365 challenge! It’s a simple yet exciting way to share your content. The challenge is straightforward: post at least one photo per day on Olas (though you’re welcome to share more!).

Download on iOS.

Download on Android or download via Zapstore.

Let's make waves together.

@ c9badfea:610f861a

1. Install Currencies (it's free and open source)
2. Launch the app, tap ⋮ and select Settings
3. Enable the Foreign Transaction Fee to factor in conversion fees if necessary
4. Tap Data Provider and choose another provider if necessary
5. Enjoy ad-free conversion rates

ℹ️ Tap 📈 to open the exchange rate chart

@ 9c47bb51:000381d0

Running your own Bitcoin node is one of the most powerful actions you can take to secure financial sovereignty and protect the network’s decentralization.

Bitcoin nodes independently verify transactions and enforce consensus rules, ensuring no single entity—be it governments, corporations, or influential players like BlackRock or Michael Saylor—can dictate how Bitcoin evolves.

Here’s why it matters 👇🏽

1.  Decentralization Is Freedom

A network is only as decentralized as its participants. When you run a node, you become a part of the consensus mechanism that ensures Bitcoin remains neutral, censorship-resistant, and immune to centralized control.

2.  Verification, Not Trust

Bitcoin’s power lies in its ability to eliminate the need for trust. By running a node, you verify every transaction and block yourself, instead of relying on others who may have vested interests. This ensures you’re transacting on the Bitcoin network as it was designed—not on a version compromised by corporate or governmental interests.

3.  Preventing Centralized Upgrades

Players like BlackRock and influential figures might push for changes to Bitcoin that align with their agendas, potentially undermining its core principles. Running your own node gives you the power to reject unwanted upgrades and stick to Bitcoin’s original ethos.

4.  Strengthening the Network

The more nodes in the network, the more robust and resistant it becomes to attacks or collusion by centralized entities. Your node helps secure this public good for everyone.

Bitcoin is a tool for freedom, but that freedom only lasts if we actively protect it. Running a node is not just a technical act—it’s a declaration of independence. Don’t let the promise of Bitcoin be steered by the powerful. Take control. Verify. Secure your sovereignty.

@ 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.

@ 65912a7a:5dc638bf

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 5 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 30 min
• 🍽️ Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 12-14oz fresh cranberries
• 1⅓ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 orange, peeled & chopped
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. Using medium sauce pan, simmer cranberries and water for 5-6 min. Cranberries will start to pop.
2. Add brown sugar, raisins, and chopped orange to the berries.
3. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 min. Stir often to prevent sticking. Remove from heat.
4. Let set until room temp. Mixture will thicken as it cools.
5. Put in a covered container and keep refrigerated. Lasts for about 2 weeks.

@ 04c915da:3dfbecc9

Here’s a revised timeline of macro-level events from The Mandibles: A Family, 2029–2047 by Lionel Shriver, reimagined in a world where Bitcoin is adopted as a widely accepted form of money, altering the original narrative’s assumptions about currency collapse and economic control. In Shriver’s original story, the failure of Bitcoin is assumed amid the dominance of the bancor and the dollar’s collapse. Here, Bitcoin’s success reshapes the economic and societal trajectory, decentralizing power and challenging state-driven outcomes.

Part One: 2029–2032

• 2029 (Early Year)\ The United States faces economic strain as the dollar weakens against global shifts. However, Bitcoin, having gained traction emerges as a viable alternative. Unlike the original timeline, the bancor—a supranational currency backed by a coalition of nations—struggles to gain footing as Bitcoin’s decentralized adoption grows among individuals and businesses worldwide, undermining both the dollar and the bancor.

• 2029 (Mid-Year: The Great Renunciation)\ Treasury bonds lose value, and the government bans Bitcoin, labeling it a threat to sovereignty (mirroring the original bancor ban). However, a Bitcoin ban proves unenforceable—its decentralized nature thwarts confiscation efforts, unlike gold in the original story. Hyperinflation hits the dollar as the U.S. prints money, but Bitcoin’s fixed supply shields adopters from currency devaluation, creating a dual-economy split: dollar users suffer, while Bitcoin users thrive.

• 2029 (Late Year)\ Dollar-based inflation soars, emptying stores of goods priced in fiat currency. Meanwhile, Bitcoin transactions flourish in underground and online markets, stabilizing trade for those plugged into the bitcoin ecosystem. Traditional supply chains falter, but peer-to-peer Bitcoin networks enable local and international exchange, reducing scarcity for early adopters. The government’s gold confiscation fails to bolster the dollar, as Bitcoin’s rise renders gold less relevant.

• 2030–2031\ Crime spikes in dollar-dependent urban areas, but Bitcoin-friendly regions see less chaos, as digital wallets and smart contracts facilitate secure trade. The U.S. government doubles down on surveillance to crack down on bitcoin use. A cultural divide deepens: centralized authority weakens in Bitcoin-adopting communities, while dollar zones descend into lawlessness.

• 2032\ By this point, Bitcoin is de facto legal tender in parts of the U.S. and globally, especially in tech-savvy or libertarian-leaning regions. The federal government’s grip slips as tax collection in dollars plummets—Bitcoin’s traceability is low, and citizens evade fiat-based levies. Rural and urban Bitcoin hubs emerge, while the dollar economy remains fractured.

Time Jump: 2032–2047

• Over 15 years, Bitcoin solidifies as a global reserve currency, eroding centralized control. The U.S. government adapts, grudgingly integrating bitcoin into policy, though regional autonomy grows as Bitcoin empowers local economies.

Part Two: 2047

• 2047 (Early Year)\ The U.S. is a hybrid state: Bitcoin is legal tender alongside a diminished dollar. Taxes are lower, collected in BTC, reducing federal overreach. Bitcoin’s adoption has decentralized power nationwide. The bancor has faded, unable to compete with Bitcoin’s grassroots momentum.

• 2047 (Mid-Year)\ Travel and trade flow freely in Bitcoin zones, with no restrictive checkpoints. The dollar economy lingers in poorer areas, marked by decay, but Bitcoin’s dominance lifts overall prosperity, as its deflationary nature incentivizes saving and investment over consumption. Global supply chains rebound, powered by bitcoin enabled efficiency.

• 2047 (Late Year)\ The U.S. is a patchwork of semi-autonomous zones, united by Bitcoin’s universal acceptance rather than federal control. Resource scarcity persists due to past disruptions, but economic stability is higher than in Shriver’s original dystopia—Bitcoin’s success prevents the authoritarian slide, fostering a freer, if imperfect, society.

Key Differences

• Currency Dynamics: Bitcoin’s triumph prevents the bancor’s dominance and mitigates hyperinflation’s worst effects, offering a lifeline outside state control.
• Government Power: Centralized authority weakens as Bitcoin evades bans and taxation, shifting power to individuals and communities.
• Societal Outcome: Instead of a surveillance state, 2047 sees a decentralized, bitcoin driven world—less oppressive, though still stratified between Bitcoin haves and have-nots.

This reimagining assumes Bitcoin overcomes Shriver’s implied skepticism to become a robust, adopted currency by 2029, fundamentally altering the novel’s bleak trajectory.

@ 4fe4a528:3ff6bf06

I could have wrote about how bitcoin has more than doubled in 2024 or how some people are still sitting on the sidelines not trying to understand why bitcoin will double in 2025, but instead I thought I would write about how bitcoin is allowing for a decentralized social network.

Two years ago I decided to try out this NOSTR idea. Now I have 233 followers, almost the same number of people who read this monthly newsletter. Facebook / whats-app was to ad filled for me to enjoy what my friends were posting. X was great for news, but none of my friends where on it. Linkedin was just about business. Besides, NOSTR gives me more bitcoin every time I post. I am now using the bitcoin to buy eggs every two weeks from my neighbors. So to me it is a win win. I can write notes and eat eggs. I even use my NOSTR extension to log into hivetalk.org and help people with their computer issues. It is better than teaching via ZOOM. 2025 is going to be a great year for decentralization.

If you are trying to join NOSTR via your desktop I recommend going to getalby.com installing the browser extension. Then make an account with getalby and write down your 24 words (nsec). Link your profile to your lightning wallet and start posting and following other friends via primal.net. Yes, of course, I am put on this earth to help my fellow man. Some people enjoy using NOSTR via their cell phone and for those people I recommend amethyst or damus. We are all in this together.

@ 4db2f229:205fed9f

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/80258

If you manage to get it up to date / uncorrupt the data, I give you full liberties to:

• The model itself
• Its XMF and/or XML skeleton
• Patching it to be compatible with any other gun mods
• other fixes
• and full credit handed over to you

I think this has honestly been abandoned by it's original developer, and since I am just hanging onto the file? I decided it'd be better maintained in someone elses hands, and with community much more responsible than Nexus. Honestly if I did not archive this mod? It would of been vaporware.

But in it's current state it's not fit for being playable. I did manage to save media of when it was playable however.

@ e890e461:12e502a1

Hello world. My blog where I post most of my stuff is https://robot-one.github.io/

@ 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.

@ 28ca019b:93fcb2cc

Introduction

“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” -Victor Hugo

Early 1950’s America. Harry S. Truman is in office. The economy is booming and the middle class are comfortable. Shiny new television sets invite the first scenes of Hollywood into people’s homes. The Weavers, Tony Bennett, Vera Lynn and Perry Como play on the radio.

But on the fringes, in dance halls and late night clubs, a cultural revolution is brewing… A new musical fusion with influences from blues, R\&B, jazz, rockabilly, country and gospel music is about to give birth to not only a new genre, but a whole new way of life that will change society and culture, forever.

Rock & Roll

It becomes a symbol of freedom, a means of expression, and a catalyst for social change. It brings into existence a new type of counter-culture, filled with individuals who are driven to rebel against norms and authority. They don’t ask for permission. They push for change.

I believe we are witnessing such a shift now. And like rock & roll, the movement I’m speaking of is also ground up, grass roots, punk rock and will not look to authority to seek permission. The catalyst for this new social change, I believe, is Bitcoin. With its innate properties, it empowers and enables the individual like never before to achieve their fullest potential, expressed through an unprecedented freedom technology. It is an idea, like a song everyone can sing in their own way, that nobody can silence.

Revolution

"You say you got a real solution / Well you know / we’d all love to see the plan" -John Lennon

The rock & roll era helped bring about meaningful societal change through art, music, and film. It created a new social narrative. Today, the Bitcoin network is providing people with a different set of tools and ideas to build a better future in a much more practical and pragmatic way. Instead of trying to reshape social consensus and cultural norms through art forms, fashion, or lifestyle, bitcoin is achieving this through open source code.

For the first time, this technology gives individuals financial sovereignty and personal control over their own destiny, with the ability to self custody their own money that no corporation, government, dictator or king can tamper with. The individual has an opportunity to finally be freed from economic tyranny. And societies have the potential to avoid endless wars funded with printed government money. John Lennon said ‘give peace a chance’. If he were still here today and understood how bitcoin could subvert the military industrial complex would he not exclaim, ‘give bitcoin a chance’?

Natural Rights, Civil Rights, Digital Rights

"The times they are a-Changin’" -Bob Dylan

The civil rights movement was tightly interwoven with the history of rock & roll. The march on Washington, August 28th 1963, marked a seminal moment in American history for the advancement of equal rights before the law. Bob Dylan, along with Joan Baez, stood with over two hundred thousand other Americans and listened to Martin Luther King’s now immortal speech. 

People with the same values peacefully gathered in numbers to make a statement powerful enough to change the conversation. This is analogous to the same freedom-minded people today gathering in cyberspace and voting not in the traditional sense, but voting with their money – peacefully exiting and transferring their economic energy into a system where they can’t be expropriated.

The question of whether individual rights are granted or have to be secured by each individual remains a contested area of philosophy to this day. To outline each in a very crude and simplistic way, natural rights (sometimes referred to as inalienable rights) are derived from the belief that every person owns their own body, therefore their own labor, time, and energy. Civil rights, on the other hand, are granted by the state and are therefore not universal. The fact that they are rights granted to humans by other humans means they always have the potential to be revoked or withdrawn.

Digital rights granted by the power of asymmetric cryptography are based in the laws of mathematics. Combined with proof of work, based in the law of thermodynamics, this makes digital rights that bitcoin provides more akin to natural rights than civil rights, as no one person or group can unilaterally revoke those rights or confiscate your property through violence. No amount of fire power, tanks, fighter jets or nuclear weapons can break a bitcoin private key or rewrite the sunken cost of proof of work embedded into bitcoin’s timechain. This idea of securing rights without asking permission is, in itself, a revolution and achievable now in an egalitarian way. This implies a potentially huge shift in power from those with a monopoly on violence, to peaceful individuals who want to be treated fairly and with dignity.

Cypher Punk-Rock

Songwriters write songs. Cypherpunks write code.

To tie things back and look at a very narrow, but potentially huge use case of bitcoin, let’s examine the current broken incentives of the music industry, particularly recorded music. It is becoming increasingly apparent that an option other than a subscription model could find demand from content consumers and producers alike.

There is now a way, with Bitcoin and Lightning Network, for a music fan to pay artists directly and for any amount – dollars, cents or even fractions of cents. This model has positive outcomes for the music producer and fan who are the main two parties engaged in the transaction. The artist keeps all of what is sent and the listener can pay what they want. The listener can pay as they listen, rather than be locked into a rolling subscription that isn’t based on usage. This concept, called ‘value for value’, is finding its way into new music platforms such as Wavlake and Fountain. I believe this model will become the de-facto way of monetizing digital content in the coming years. This could bring an economic signal back to music that has been lost and cannot be achieved by streams alone. This will hopefully create a more meritocratic music system and shake up the entrenched streaming monoliths.

Art can shine a light on a certain truth. It can also make people look at things in a completely new way. Maybe then, Satoshi was the greatest artist who ever lived. Bitcoin smashed the conventional wisdom and theories of the most basic and prevalent thing everyone takes for granted: money. Using money as a lens to view the world can lead to distortions in your perception if the lens is warped. Removing the glasses makes you reevaluate economics, politics, religion, philosophy, morality, beauty, and almost every other aspect of life. The beauty of the Sistine Chapel, the Egyptian pyramids, the Mona Lisa, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Bohemian Rhapsody all intrinsically imply a certain degree of proof of work. The art, you could say, speaks for itself.

The Long and Winding Road Ahead

As a musician, I have found a new hope. The value for value movement gives me that hope. If this is truly a superior model of music distribution and consumption it will win out over time on the market.

Another point to touch on would be the possibility of this technology ushering in an artistic renaissance. I can honestly say my favorite music, the songs that have moved me the most, normally comes from a place of truth, honesty and sheer talent. Maybe I’m out of touch, but I feel popular music of late is devoid of soul, meaning and the biggest mainstream artists want to conform to the man (giant corporations/governments) instead of stick it to the man! Probably because there is nowhere else to turn now that streaming and social media platforms own their speech and art. We need to investigate and embrace new ways to own our speech and art, to make art interesting again. The powers that be, need to let it be, and leave alone individuals who wish to use this technology for their own interests if they do so in a peaceful way.

I want to leave you with a Frank Zappa quote that seems more relevant than ever:

“I’d say that today, dishonesty is the rule, and honesty the exception. It could be, statistically, that more people are honest than dishonest, but the few that really control things are not honest, and that tips the balance…” 

My charitable view is that the majority of people in power aren’t corrupt, it’s rather just a case of ‘no one is better than their incentives’. But when incentives are misaligned bad outcomes will inevitably result. With bitcoin and its incorruptible incentive structure, we have a chance to peacefully opt-out of a rigged game. I urge you to not trust, but verify with your own research that bitcoin is the answer to many of society’s current problems.

I think it’s fair to say, we all need to question ourselves and authority a little more than we’re comfortable doing, to hold truth as an ideal worth striving for, and live a little more rock & roll!

Link to original article**

@ b83a28b7:35919450

This article was originally part of the sermon of Plebchain Radio Episode 110 (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

@ 319ad3e7:cc01d50a

LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER | FEATURED RECIPE | MICROFICTION | FOOD NOTE QUOTE | SOUNDS | NOSTR MARKETPLACE | REAL REVIEWS | COMMUNITY ALBUM | NEW RECIPES | FIN

LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER 📝

A Year of Growth and Gratitude

As we approach the end of the year, it’s the perfect moment to pause and reflect. 2024 has been a transformative year for Zap Cooking. What started as a simple idea has grown into a vibrant, connected community. From recipes to shared stories, the #zapcooking tag has become a rallying point for food enthusiasts everywhere, and it’s inspiring to see how this shared passion is bringing people together.

None of this would have been possible without the incredible support and dedication of Sarah, who pours her heart into crafting these newsletters. Sarah, thank you for helping us share the joy of cooking and community with so many.

I am deeply grateful, grateful for you, our community, for nostr, for the milestones we’ve reached, and for the challenges that have helped us grow. Zap Cooking is about more than food; it’s about connections, creativity, and collaboration. Together, we’ve built something special, and I’m excited for what 2025 holds.

Here’s to another year of cooking, connecting, and creating together. Thank you for being part of this journey.

Cheers!

Seth

Founder, Zap Cooking

FEATURED RECIPE 🥪

Nostrville 2.0 was located in Nashville, Tennessee. This music destination featured some powerhouse food establishments, such as Ladybird Taco, Hattie B’s Hot Chicken Sandwiches, Pancake Pantry, and Modell’s infamous family-style breakfast; however, it was the people from Louisiana who brought their A-game to the shared kitchen at the after-party rental.

The lovely Rupert and her giant, Kajoozie, served up a traditional gumbo that had all of us reaching for a second bowl… or perhaps a fourth bowl. It was that good! They were also kind enough to share their recipe with all of us.

Rupert and Kajoozie’s #Nostr Famous Gumbo https://substack.com/home/post/p-152296981

MICROFICTION 📖

GIFTS by RustyPuppy

Every Christmas Eve (and by 'every' Aaran meant those he could remember, which, being eight years old, was not many), after the dinner dishes had been washed, and the family settled into the living room to watch "It's a Wonderful Life," his nani would start chopping vegetables. Aaran once asked why she didn't cook Santa's beef stew when she prepared their dinner. Because she wanted the stew to be fresh, came the answer. Aaron knew better than to ask how something that needed to simmer for five hours could be considered 'fresh.'

Everyone knew their grandmother's beef stew, placed in front of the fireplace in a hand-made bowl wrapped in a dish towel to keep warm, was eaten by the dog after everyone went to bed. And every year, she insisted Santa needed a hot, healthy meal.

None of the children could believe anyone would choose vegetables over cookies. Shari, the girl next door, made peanut cookies for Santa. Aaron had helped mix the dough last year. He was forbidden from adding the frosting because Shari needed the perfect amount atop each cookie so she could write her name in the sugary mix with a toothpick. Depending how guilty she felt about the year, she sometimes added candy beads.

One year, a cousin asked if Santa really ate all of those hundreds? thousands? millions? of cookies. An uncle said, "Of course, that's why he's so fat," while Aaaran's mother said, "Of course not, he gives them to children who don't have sweets," and Nani added "And those who still want to believe in him."

Aaran secretly wanted to believe his nani, because his older brothers had teased him for writing his Christmas wish letter, saying Santa was only real for babies. He didn't want to be a baby, but he still wanted to believe in the magic that was Santa.

At last, the evening ended. Some returned to their homes; the rest returned to their rooms. Nani set her bowl under the stockings. Aaran hesitated on the stairs, but the thought of seeing the dog actually eat the stew made his eyes wet. He stepped over his cousin's sleeping bag, got into bed, and dreamed of flying reindeer.

In the morning, as the children opened their gifts and the adults took turns making coffee and tea, Nani asked Aaran to bring her the stew bowl. He looked at the dog, currently surrounded by shreds of wrapping paper, panting happily with a bow on his head. Picking up the bowl, Aaron saw something within; a peanut cookie with the name Shari written in the frosting.

RECIPE REFERENCES:

Lovely Indian beefstew with coconut milk & Ultimate Peanut Cookies https://substack.com/home/post/p-152296981

FOOD NOTE QUOTE 🗒️

Today someone took a picture of my latte art after I handed them their cup 💜 and it made my day. Celebrate the small things. 😊 - TKay

SOUNDS 🔊

At Bitcoin Park in Nashville, Tennessee, the adorable cuties Mallory, Other Mallory, Island, and Sergio, along with help from Fountain, Phantom Power and Tunestr.io organized a night of activities, food, art, and a live acoustic music panel featuring four absolutely talented musicians - Ainsley Costello, Amber Sweeney, Luke Wood, and Jo Corso. SoupBox was honored to sit down with Amber to chat about music, fostering dogs from Wags and Walks, and food | Listen Now: SoupBox with Sarah | Featuring Amber Sweeney

https://fountain.fm/episode/nvwD83sajCiFNqTP4tYu

https://feeds.rssblue.com/soupbox

Short from Nashville | OpenMike | Tunestr

https://v.nostr.build/yLufD7GbwOPI3EgA.mp4

NOSTR MARKETPLACE 💳

Find Your Holiday Gifts on Nostr | Value for Value (aka V4V) #circulareconomy

Agi Choote | Art Prints | Find on Nostr!

Amber Sweeney | Custom Songs for Any Occasion | https://www.theambersweeney.com/merch/custom-songs

Ant Richard | Limited Custom Handcrafted Knife Gift Certificates (12-month waitlist for all custom handmade orders) | Find on Nostr!

Apotheca Viva | https://apothecaviva.love/

Aupa Bars | https://eataupa.com/

Barnminer’s Barn Jerky | Find on Nostr!

Billay Coffee | https://billaycoffee.com/

BitBees | Honey & Honey Products | https://www.kittrellsdaydream.com/

Bitcoin Blankets ⚡️| Website Coming Soon!

Bitpopart | https://bitpopart.com/ | https://www.storeofvalue.eu/collections/christmas-collection

BTC Aloha | Bitcoin Beachwear & Accessories | https://btcaloha.shop/

BtcPins | https://btcpins.com/

Cannabis Records | https://cannabisrecords.store/

CryptoCloaks | https://www.cryptocloaks.com/shop/

Delgado’s Fuego | https://delgadosfuego.com/

Dot GNT | Laser Engravings | https://dotgnt.codeberg.page/

Finca Yabisi | https://yabisi.farm/

Foxfire Mushrooms | https://foxfiremushrooms.com/

Golden Tallow | https://goldentallow.com/

GoodBeans 🇸🇻 Coffee | https://thegoodbeans.com/

Isolabell.art | https://isolabell.art/

Jake Wolki | https://wolkifarm.com.au/

Keto Beejay | Low Sugar Jerky | https://ketolish.us/ | https://ketobeejay.npub.pro/

Kanuto Takumi San | Find on Nostr!

Laser Eyes Cards | https://lasereyes.cards/

LeatherMint | https://theleathermint.com/

Lightning Store | https://lightning.store/

LightningSpore | Full Service Mushroom Cultivation Company | https://www.lightningspore.com/

Lost Sheep Ranch | https://www.lost-sheep-ranch.com/

Lucho Poletti | Art Prints and Merchandise | https://luchopoletti.com/

Madex | Art & Apparel | https://madex.art/collections/in-stock

MapleTrade | Find on Nostr!

Matthew D | https://whitepaperstreetsoap.com/

Next Block Coffee | https://nextblockcoffee.com/

NoGood | Jake Wolki | https://wolkifarm.com.au/

PatsPropolisHoney | Find on Nostr!

Peony Lane Wine | Ben Justman | https://www.peonylanewine.com/

PlebianMarket | https://plebeian.market/

PictureRoom | Assorted Dessert Treats | Find on Nostr!

Regenerative Farmed Meats & Knives | AgrarianContrarian | Find on Nostr!

RustyPuppy | Art and Stories | https://heidi2524.com/

Salt of the Earth | Premium Electrolyte Mix | https://drinksote.com/

Satoshi Coffee Company | https://sats.coffee/

Scott & Son | Animal Portraits, Prints, and Apparel | https://xavierscraftworkanddesign.com/t-shirts

SofterSkin Tallow Skincare | https://softerskin.co/

Shopstr | https://shopstr.store/

Soap Miner | Tallow Body Soap Bars

SweetSats | Honey | https://sweetsats.io/

Veiled Mycology | https://veiledmycology.com/

Yojimbo | Jam & Marmalade | https://jimblesjumble.odoo.com/

REAL REVIEWS ⭐

BitBees | Honey & Honey Products | https://www.kittrellsdaydream.com/ | By Rupert

If you follow me or have ever had the pleasure of chatting with me on cornychat.com or hivetalk.org, you’ll know how proud I am of my Cajun heritage. For me, that means memories of long, hot summer days in South Louisiana, plenty of mosquito bites, the humming of cicadas in the cypress trees, and my grandfather’s bee boxes abuzz with fuzzy little workers.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting our famed #nostr beekeepers, @bitbees and @kingbee, and the absolute joy of tasting the labors of the wee little friends they care for. @KajoozieMaflingo and I purchased both their wildflower and gallberry varieties, and we were able to pay with BTC! (BONUS!) The wildflower was chef’s-kiss perfection, but my taste buds were instantly rocketed back to my childhood when I tried the lovingly and aptly nicknamed “swamp honey.”

Its pale color might fool you into thinking it has a lighter flavor than its rich and flavorful counterpart, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s crisp and bright, with a mellow sweetness balanced by a slight tang to finish. It’s the ideal pairing with my favorite chamomile tea before bedtime.

This was my first purchase, but it will not be my last. By far, this is one of the most delicious use cases for Bitcoin I’ve come across to date.

Keto Beejay | Low Sugar Jerky | https://ketolish.us/ | https://ketobeejay.npub.pro/ | By The Beave

I recently had the pleasure of ordering four types of beef jerky from Beejay, the proprietress of http://ketolish.us. I was intrigued by her offerings and ended up ordering plain, pickle, pizza, and pepper. My order took a while to go through, mostly because Beejay and I were figuring out how to move sats around without it being too much of a pain in the butt. However, once finalized, everything shipped promptly and arrived quickly in a well-packed parcel. Beejay is also very good to communicate with, and I will gladly purchase more from her in the future.

I will start off the reviews with the most surprising of the batch: pizza. This was simply outstanding. I was shocked at how much it reminded me of eating pizza. I can't recommend this one enough! My second favorite pick is the pickle flavor. I love pickles. (I cannot express how much I love pickled things to you in words!) This was also very good, with the dill seasoning being front and center but restrained enough not to completely overpower the delicious beefiness of the jerky. A note on the texture: the jerky is ground, so it is not as tough as other jerkies you might try. This is a very new thing to me, and I rather enjoyed the novelty of the experience. The peppered jerky was full of pepper. This might be too much pepper for some, as it reminded me of the pepper-covered salami you can get at a good Italian pork store. Lastly, the plain jerky was delicious in its own right, though I would have preferred a touch more salt. I would order all of these again and am looking forward to ordering other flavors in the future, especially the bison!

COMMUNITY ALBUM 📷

Photos & Videos by Mandana from NextBlock & Flirting with Bitcoin, Efrat Fenigson, Ava, Birthday B, Vic from CornyChat, Tortuga, Mallory, Island, Jack Spirko, Paul Keating, BreadandToast.com, Nos.Social and Sarah SoupBox

View the Album: https://substack.com/home/post/p-152296981

NEW RECIPES 🍲

https://i.nostr.build/MNrivKtc1fpjamfn.png

In November, we received an incredible surge of over 30 recipes submitted to Zap Cooking! That's a fantastic leap from the three or four we typically see each week! Dive into one, two, or even all of them, and don’t forget to share your reviews and mouthwatering photos on Nostr using #foodstr. We’d also love to see your favorite personal or family recipes—let’s keep the culinary creativity flowing!

Corn Pudding, The Beef Panzone, Vodka Pie Crust, Short Rib Barbacoa Tacos, Guiness Beef Stew with Pickled Pearl Onions, Fast AF Beef Stroganoff, Dark Chocolate Mincemeat, Vic’s London Broil, Easy Wholemeal Spelt Flour Bread, Mamma SLCW’s Cranberry Sauce, Hot Dog Nachos, Italian Wedding Soup, Mapo Tofu Curry, Hot Honey Crispy Salmon Bowls, Curried Butternut Squash Soup, Best Damn Oven Baked Chicken Legs, Chocolate Creme Pie, Broccoli Beef, Tuscan Steak and Green Peppers, Easy Carne Asada, InstantPot Chicken Tortilla Soup, Green Bean Casserole with Bacon and Fried Shallots, Bang Bang Shrimp, Rupert and Kajoozie’s #Nostr Famous Gumbo, The Best Lamb Winter Stew, Avery’s Hot Wallet Salsa, Candied Pecans, Pumpkin Bread, Breakfast Casserole with Sausage and Egg, Gold & Silver Soup, Mr. G’s Homemade Chicken Pasta Salad, Ultimate Peanut Cookies

The recipe links are available here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-152296981

FIN 🤠

https://i.nostr.build/661bAgwsj6tEnICX.jpg

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

As I look back on my predictions for Nostr in 2024, it’s clear I had some hits and misses. I believe my first two predictions were spot on, accurately reflecting the trends and developments we witnessed. However, my second two predictions missed the mark, proving to be far less accurate. Maybe I was too bullish?

nostr:nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzq0mhp4ja8fmy48zuk5p6uy37vtk8tx9dqdwcxm32sy8nsaa8gkeyqyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tcpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgtcqypsm9tk39g20atwqskvjcvhq7rher5nkgwjr05lzspne4gf0uvyxukew5mg

What did I get right? Clients did increasingly prioritize user and content discovery while enabling users to easily select and choose their own algorithms. (DVMs, Trending, What's Hot, Feeds, etc.) This focus provided individuals with more tools, greater control, and unprecedented power over their social streams and attention than ever before. This is still actively happening and will continue to happen throughout 2025 too.

What did I get wrong? We didn't see an Other Stuff application breakthrough as a clear winner that became a mainstream favorite. I anticipated a standout application that would interest users and become a "must-use" within the ecosystem, but this didn’t happen. And we also clearly didn't hit 1M active users either. While adoption did increase, it didn’t reach the critical mass I expected.

But this doesn't mean 2024 fell short of expectations—in fact, quite the opposite. The year brought incredible client innovations (Damus Notedeck, Primal 2.0, TOR only Amethyst, Flotilla, Chachi, Olas, Coracle feeds, etc.) and relay milestones (Web-of-Trust relays, private relays, algorithm based relays, etc.) with the introduction of these innovative features and the launch of these new platforms.

Beyond technology, the Nostr community achieved something truly remarkable: a grassroots movement that united people globally.

From supporting Nostr meetups and events to hosting booths across continents at major conferences, the community came together to raise money to support these initiatives in ways no one predicted. This organic, ground-up effort showcased the strength and passion behind Nostr, creating a foundation that will #grownostr and success for years to come.

Too bullish? Maybe I wasn't bullish enough? As is tradition, I will post my 2025 predictions tomorrow.

@ 6e24af77:b3f1350b

test-13-03

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Amber

Amber is a Nostr event signer for Android that allows users to securely segregate their private key (nsec) within a single, dedicated application. Designed to function as a NIP-46 signing device, Amber ensures your smartphone can sign events without needing external servers or additional hardware, keeping your private key exposure to an absolute minimum. This approach aligns with the security rationale of NIP-46, which states that each additional system handling private keys increases potential vulnerability. With Amber, no longer do users need to enter their private key into various Nostr applications.

Amber is supported by a growing list of apps, including Amethyst, 0xChat, Voyage, Fountain, and Pokey, as well as any web application that supports NIP-46 NSEC bunkers, such as Nostr Nests, Coracle, Nostrudel, and more. With expanding support, Amber provides an easy solution for secure Nostr key management across numerous platforms.

Amber supports both native and web-based Nostr applications, aiming to eliminate the need for browser extensions or web servers. Key features include offline signing, multiple account support, and NIP-46 compatibility, and includes a simple UI for granular permissions management. Amber is designed to support signing events in the background, enhancing flexibility when you select the "remember my choice" option, eliminating the need to constantly be signing events for applications that you trust. You can download the app from it's GitHub page, via Obtainium or Zap.store.

To log in with Amber, simply tap the "Login with Amber" button or icon in a supported application, or you can paste the NSEC bunker connection string directly into the login box. For example, use a connection string like this: bunker://npub1tj2dmc4udvgafxxxxxxxrtgne8j8l6rgrnaykzc8sys9mzfcz@relay.nsecbunker.com.

---

Citrine

Citrine is a Nostr relay built specifically for Android, allowing Nostr clients on Android devices to seamlessly send and receive events through a relay running directly on their smartphone. This mobile relay setup offers Nostr users enhanced flexibility, enabling them to manage, share, and back up all their Nostr data locally on their device. Citrine’s design supports independence and data security by keeping data accessible and under user control.

With features tailored to give users greater command over their data, Citrine allows easy export and import of the database, restoration of contact lists in case of client malfunctions, and detailed relay management options like port configuration, custom icons, user management, and on-demand relay start/stop. Users can even activate TOR access, letting others connect securely to their Nostr relay directly on their phone. Future updates will include automatic broadcasting when the device reconnects to the internet, along with content resolver support to expand its functionality.

Once you have your Citrine relay fully configured, simply add it to the Private and Local relay sections in Amethyst's relay configuration.

---

Pokey

Pokey for Android is a brand new, real-time notification tool for Nostr. Pokey allows users to receive live updates for their Nostr events and enabling other apps to access and interact with them. Designed for seamless integration within a user's Nostr relays, Pokey lets users stay informed of activity as it happens, with speed and the flexibility to manage which events trigger notifications on their mobile device.

Pokey currently supports connections with Amber, offering granular notification settings so users can tailor alerts to their preferences. Planned features include broadcasting events to other apps, authenticating to relays, built-in Tor support, multi-account handling, and InBox relay management. These upcoming additions aim to make Pokey a fantastic tool for Nostr notifications across the ecosystem.

---

Zap.store

Zap.store is a permissionless app store powered by Nostr and your trusted social graph. Built to offer a decentralized approach to app recommendations, zap.store enables you to check if friends like Alice follow, endorse, or verify an app’s SHA256 hash. This trust-based, social proof model brings app discovery closer to real-world recommendations from friends and family, bypassing centralized app curation. Unlike conventional app stores and other third party app store solutions like Obtainium, zap.store empowers users to see which apps their contacts actively interact with, providing a higher level of confidence and transparency.

Currently available on Android, zap.store aims to expand to desktop, PWAs, and other platforms soon. You can get started by installing Zap.store on your favorite Android device, and install all of the applications mentioned above.

---

Android's openness goes hand in hand with Nostr's openness. Enjoy exploring both expanding ecosystems.

@ 58537364:705b4b85

People often only realize the value of something in two situations: First, before they have it. Second, after they’ve lost it.

This is a tragedy that happens to many. People may have good things in their lives, but they don’t see their worth— because they’re always looking outward, focusing on what they don’t have, wishing for something else.

It’s similar to Aesop’s fable about the dog and the piece of meat. We probably remember it from childhood: A dog had a big piece of meat in its mouth. Delighted, it ran to a quiet place where it could enjoy the meat in peace.

At one point, it had to cross a bridge. Looking down into the stream below, it saw its reflection— but mistook it for another dog with an even bigger piece of meat. It wanted that bigger piece badly, so it opened its mouth to snatch it— and the meat in its own mouth fell into the water. The reflection disappeared too.

In the end, it lost both.

So, if we learn to value what we already have, happiness comes easily. It might not be possessions or people— it might simply be our health.

It could be as simple as our breath, the ability to breathe normally, to walk around freely, to see, to hear.

Many people already have these things but don’t recognize their value. They don’t feel lucky. Instead, they focus on what they still lack— no house, no car, no money— and feel miserable.

They ask, “Why is life so hard for me?” Even though they have so many good things already— health, normalcy, freedom of movement— they fail to see it, because their minds are lost in chasing what they don’t yet have, which belongs to the future.

If we turn back and learn to value what we already possess, and stop obsessing over what we don’t, we can find happiness more easily.

This is one of the meanings of “Doing your best in the present.”

…

Doing Your Best in the Present by Phra Paisal Visalo

@ 4fe4a528:3ff6bf06

https://cdn.satellite.earth/8dd22e9b598964ade69d4c5ca517c2637ffafdfb15cf3e589cd1a7955c173375.mp4 In my last news article I wrote about selling my beef for 4500 sats / lb and buying my eggs for 4500 sats / dozen. You will be glad to know that some of my friends gave me bitcoin for my birthday. One person gave me over 60,000 sats, so now I am feeling like my last months article caused everyone to buy bitcoin — opt out of inflation.

It must have been more than my friends giving me bitcoin that caused Bitcoin to increase it’s market cap by 600 billion US dollars. I know that eggs are costing me 3,000 sats now compared to 4500 sats one month ago. If things keep getting 50% cheaper every month I might not have to move all my value into bitcoin.

Isn’t it weird using something that increases in value month after month? It is indeed a far cry from the traditional notion of money, where the value or the purchasing power of the currency loses value month after month. Most Bitcoiners care about the separation of money from the state, the removal of a third party from transactions and the capturing the deflationary nature of technology, etc. The fiat price is simply a short term way of measuring progress toward that goal. In reality, the moose shekel price doesn’t really matter.

With Brazil and Russia now using it as legal tender I don’t want anyone to give me bitcoin as a gift this month. Give your money/love to helping others see Jesus’ love in coming to earth instead. You might be able to write off your donation also.

You do realize there are only 16.5 million bitcoin available to be moved to other bitcoin type people and the US bitcoin strategic reserve might be coming next year. I just hope the Trudeau / Christine “Vib” session doesn’t make Canadians give up on using the Moose Shekels as a means of exchanging value. Bitcoin is now worth more than the Canadian dollar. If you need to get educated about money join Nostr and do a video / desktop sharing conference with me. Say hivetalk.org @ 9am ish works best for me. Remember, learning technology makes you earn more. We are all in this together.

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Amber

Amber is a Nostr event signer for Android that allows users to securely segregate their private key (nsec) within a single, dedicated application. Designed to function as a NIP-46 signing device, Amber ensures your smartphone can sign events without needing external servers or additional hardware, keeping your private key exposure to an absolute minimum. This approach aligns with the security rationale of NIP-46, which states that each additional system handling private keys increases potential vulnerability. With Amber, no longer do users need to enter their private key into various Nostr applications.

Amber is supported by a growing list of apps, including Amethyst, 0xChat, Voyage, Fountain, and Pokey, as well as any web application that supports NIP-46 NSEC bunkers, such as Nostr Nests, Coracle, Nostrudel, and more. With expanding support, Amber provides an easy solution for secure Nostr key management across numerous platforms.

Amber supports both native and web-based Nostr applications, aiming to eliminate the need for browser extensions or web servers. Key features include offline signing, multiple account support, and NIP-46 compatibility, and includes a simple UI for granular permissions management. Amber is designed to support signing events in the background, enhancing flexibility when you select the "remember my choice" option, eliminating the need to constantly be signing events for applications that you trust. You can download the app from it's GitHub page, via Obtainium or Zap.store.

To log in with Amber, simply tap the "Login with Amber" button or icon in a supported application, or you can paste the NSEC bunker connection string directly into the login box. For example, use a connection string like this: bunker://npub1tj2dmc4udvgafxxxxxxxrtgne8j8l6rgrnaykzc8sys9mzfcz@relay.nsecbunker.com.

---

Citrine

Citrine is a Nostr relay built specifically for Android, allowing Nostr clients on Android devices to seamlessly send and receive events through a relay running directly on their smartphone. This mobile relay setup offers Nostr users enhanced flexibility, enabling them to manage, share, and back up all their Nostr data locally on their device. Citrine’s design supports independence and data security by keeping data accessible and under user control.

With features tailored to give users greater command over their data, Citrine allows easy export and import of the database, restoration of contact lists in case of client malfunctions, and detailed relay management options like port configuration, custom icons, user management, and on-demand relay start/stop. Users can even activate TOR access, letting others connect securely to their Nostr relay directly on their phone. Future updates will include automatic broadcasting when the device reconnects to the internet, along with content resolver support to expand its functionality.

Once you have your Citrine relay fully configured, simply add it to the Private and Local relay sections in Amethyst's relay configuration.

---

Pokey

Pokey for Android is a brand new, real-time notification tool for Nostr. Pokey allows users to receive live updates for their Nostr events and enabling other apps to access and interact with them. Designed for seamless integration within a user's Nostr relays, Pokey lets users stay informed of activity as it happens, with speed and the flexibility to manage which events trigger notifications on their mobile device.

Pokey currently supports connections with Amber, offering granular notification settings so users can tailor alerts to their preferences. Planned features include broadcasting events to other apps, authenticating to relays, built-in Tor support, multi-account handling, and InBox relay management. These upcoming additions aim to make Pokey a fantastic tool for Nostr notifications across the ecosystem.

---

Zap.store

Zap.store is a permissionless app store powered by Nostr and your trusted social graph. Built to offer a decentralized approach to app recommendations, zap.store enables you to check if friends like Alice follow, endorse, or verify an app’s SHA256 hash. This trust-based, social proof model brings app discovery closer to real-world recommendations from friends and family, bypassing centralized app curation. Unlike conventional app stores and other third party app store solutions like Obtainium, zap.store empowers users to see which apps their contacts actively interact with, providing a higher level of confidence and transparency.

Currently available on Android, zap.store aims to expand to desktop, PWAs, and other platforms soon. You can get started by installing Zap.store on your favorite Android device, and install all of the applications mentioned above.

---

Android's openness goes hand in hand with Nostr's openness. Enjoy exploring both expanding ecosystems.

@ 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.

@ d6affa19:9110b177

i'm in the upstairs office. lost in some project i've been tinkering with. i feel driven with purpose.

the door is cracked open. i always leave the door open.

Her footsteps echo up the stairway. but my focus is intense; a solution just beyond my fingertips.

the door creaks open, a soft whisper of a sound.

i instantly feel Her presence. a sweet vanilla scent wraps around me, thick and intoxicating.

Her fingers brush through my hair, a gentle caress.

She grips my hair, then releases it— over and over again. it feels good.

a soothing warmth envelops me.

Her fingers glide, each stroke igniting my senses. a chill races down my spine.

the monitor becomes a bit distant.

"You're really focused, hmm?" She teases, leaning closer. "I'm just checking in on my sweet boy." Her tone alluring, already drawing me in.

"of course, my Queen." i reply, my eyes glued to the screen, struggling to concentrate. "thank You," my voice hints at annoyance. "i'm so close to finishing this up."

just when i near a breakthrough, She appears, a siren pulling me from my path. how does She know..? the quiet signals that betray my focus— that reveal my yearning.

"Hmmmm," She playfully muses.

ugh, i need to concentrate. but the way this feels...

it pulls me deeper.

Her fingers drift by my ear, lingering around my neck. nails grazing my skin, sending shivers through me.

my heart begins to race. the screen blurs, reality separates.

"Okay, sweet boy." Her voice is a soft command. Her nails dig in, a mixture of pain and pleasure. a sharp contrast to the softness of Her touch. "I'll be downstairs while you finish."

yet She remains. i close my eyes, drowning in the sensation. i should be finishing this project...

but each press feels like a silent command, an urge to abandon my thoughts, to succumb to the pull of Her presence.

the way She easily captures my attention... it makes me feel so vulnerable...

Her grip finally loosens, and slowly leaves my neck. it wants more...

i barely hear Her leave. but the air feels colder. the warmth of Her presence is fading. an aching emptiness fills the space...

the weight of Her absence settles in, another reminder of how easily She commands my thoughts...

desperately, i take in the remnants of Her scent.

i stare at my monitor. focus shattered, thoughts scattered like leaves.

i linger for a moment. fighting the urge to chase after Her.

the pull of Her absence is heavy in the air. i'm unable to resist. i rise from my seat.

the door is slightly open. She always leaves the door open.

i make my way downstairs, lost in the thoughts of serving Her. my true purpose...

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Several months ago, nostr:npub1hqaz3dlyuhfqhktqchawke39l92jj9nt30dsgh2zvd9z7dv3j3gqpkt56s and I set out to do tackle a task that had never been done before throughout Nostr's short history. We decided adopt the "go big, or go home" mentality and give our best effort to Purple Pill all of the nostr:npub167n5w6cj2wseqtmk26zllc7n28uv9c4vw28k2kht206vnghe5a7stgzu3r conference.

We couldn't accomplish this monumental task without the help of the Nostr community. From every day Nostriches and plebs, to legendary developers putting their blood, sweat, and tears into building this new protocol, to several companies within the Nostr ecosystem, everyone was going to need to do their part to turn this dream into a reality.

The mission

For the original vision of Nostr at BTC Prague, we planned on supporting the smallest available booth and a small panel on the secondary stage. The plan was for any Nostr developer to contribute what they could and then use the Nostr booth as a central hub to onboard users to their applications, provide support to their users, and meet the community. I embarked on my first crowdfunding journey and was able to initially raise over 10M sats thanks to the greater Nostr community donating towards our efforts.

Shortly afterwards, I was approached by nostr:npub1dtgg8yk3h23ldlm6jsy79tz723p4sun9mz62tqwxqe7c363szkzqm8up6m from Satlantis. He had planned on doing a mainstage presentation at BTC Prague on his new Nostr powered application. He asked me if I wanted to combine our efforts to upgrade the Nostr booth to the largest booth possible to give Nostr an even larger presence. I reached out to Avi and several other trusted Nostriches to see their opinions on this potential upgrade and everyone seemed to agree that we should continue with the "go big, or go home" mentality and try our best to Purple Pill all of Prague.

Now with a larger goal at hand, we were able to garner even more support from the Nostr community in addition by adding Highlighter from nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft and Primal from nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr as larger contributors.

The final tallies for funds raised were 16M+ sats from the greater Nostr community and 38M+ sats raised from Satlantis, Primal, and Highlighter. (We did have to raise a little more than originally anticipated because the Bitcoin 58K Gang made the fiat value of Bitcoin dip down for a bit right when we were trying to finalize payment.)

Putting it all together

This support enabled us to secure one of the four large booths at BTC Prague and a main stage panel. Given that these three companies made significant contributions, enabling our acquisition of the largest booth, we decided that it was logical to feature these companies more prominently. However, it was crucial to strike a delicate balance here. While emphasizing that this booth represented the Nostr community and was a true community effort, we also wanted to acknowledge and showcase those who made it possible. These companies could have opted for smaller individual booths, but their collaboration in a unified space demonstrates Nostr's principles of openness and interoperability—demonstrating that everyone and everything can work together seamlessly.

Therefore, we included as many logos across the Nostr ecosystem as possible throughout our iconography.

And, we also had a dedicated area of the booth highlighting our larger contributors.

The results exceeded all expectations. For three days during the BTC Prague conference, the Nostr booth was continuously bustling with activity. Attendees ranged from individuals who had never heard of Nostr before to those who were curious, active users within the ecosystem, and developers creating the applications we use daily. It was a remarkable community effort, with unexpected volunteers stepping up to onboard new users and provide support. Recognizing our busy schedules and flocks of new Nostriches hatching, they chose to assist in our efforts, offering help, and answering questions. It was a truly inspiring experience. Despite the busyness, the enthusiasm and support of so many people made each day enjoyable and dynamic, ensuring there was never a dull moment and we were always surrounded by friends.

Booth takeaways

As this was our very first attempt at doing something like this, I'd like to do a personal post mortem and highlight many of our successes and even some areas where I feel we can improve upon in the future.

Several Nostriches went above and beyond, helping onboard people and answer questions for three days straight. nostr:npub17plqkxhsv66g8quxxc9p5t9mxazzn20m426exqnl8lxnh5a4cdns7jezx0 nostr:npub1spdnfacgsd7lk0nlqkq443tkq4jx9z6c6ksvaquuewmw7d3qltpslcq6j7 nostr:npub1v0lxxxxutpvrelsksy8cdhgfux9l6a42hsj2qzquu2zk7vc9qnkszrqj49 nostr:npub1k6tqlj78cpznd0yc74wy3k0elmj4nql87a3uzfz98tmj3tuzxywsf0dhk6 nostr:npub1md39ua3h2s7204a7v5p9sdxmxx9qc7m4kr3r6naeuwfznad6d7nsxpctp9 nostr:npub1arkn0xxxll4llgy9qxkrncn3vc4l69s0dz8ef3zadykcwe7ax3dqrrh43w nostr:npub1zga04e73s7ard4kaektaha9vckdwll3y8auztyhl3uj764ua7vrqc7ppvc were the lifeblood of the booth, always answering questions themselves or referring them to others if they were unable to help, didn't know the answer or were busy at the time. You all put in the work and deserve much credit and thanks. Even nostr:npub1995y964wmxl94crx3ksfley24szjr390skdd237ex9z7ttp5c9lqld8vtf was helping with onboarding!

Additionally, beyond general use case questions, we also had many developers stop by and answer many more technical questions for those wanting to learn a bit more too. nostr:npub1zach44xjpc4yyhx6pgse2cj2pf98838kja03dv2e8ly8lfr094vqvm5dy5 nostr:npub1v0lxxxxutpvrelsksy8cdhgfux9l6a42hsj2qzquu2zk7vc9qnkszrqj49 nostr:npub1arkn0xxxll4llgy9qxkrncn3vc4l69s0dz8ef3zadykcwe7ax3dqrrh43w nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft were often seen answering more technical questions on various developmental topics.

Identifying areas for improvement is challenging, as the entire team of Nostriches performed exceptionally well, exceeding expectations. The event was a whirlwind of activity, with constant engagement and zero downtime. Volunteers seamlessly rotated at the front counter answering questions and distributing items to attendees. (Thanks nostr:npub1cgcwm56v5hyrrzl5ty4vq4kdud63n5u4czgycdl2r3jshzk55ufqe52ndy . Your nostr.how and nostrapps.com business cards were a HUGE help here!)

Full disclosure, I personally didn't leave the booth for three days all that much for two reasons. 1) Because I love to #GrowNostr and talk to people and 2) Because I was worried that the booth would turn into a corporate Primal or Satlantis show. However, this wasn't the case. While these teams did have a large presence with many team members all wearing t-shirts, none of my fears became a reality. If people asked questions about Nostr in general, that was discussed. If people asked questions about Primal or Satlantis, that was discussed. I personally recommended numerous social apps, Damus, Amethyst, Primal, Nostur, Nos.social - all of them. The booth was a true decentralized effort and I absolutely did not need to worry as much as I did, but I felt like I had an obligation to fulfill and I wanted to be there to see it through.

If I had to choose an area that needed improvement, I'd say that the three Satlantis women that nostr:npub1dtgg8yk3h23ldlm6jsy79tz723p4sun9mz62tqwxqe7c363szkzqm8up6m brought with him were supposed to shadow some of us to learn more about Nostr, so that they could then use this information to do the initial intake booth questions before making the referral to those with more information, but this just didn't happen. We were all so busy. Sorry! It was just too hard to coordinate. Maybe in the future we can prepare a bit more in this area. Although, nostr:npub1hz5alqscpp8yjrvgsdp2n4ygkl8slvstrgvmjca7e45w6644ew7sewtysa did a fantastic job, jumping right in there head first!

Secondly, we could have improved our television capabilities. We rotated from showing the live dashboard from the booth's Zap.stream livestream, to showing Primal.net/explore Nostr statistics, to showing nostr:npub1lelkh3hhxw9hdwlcpk6q9t0xt9f7yze0y0nxazvzqjmre3p98x3sthkvyz 's Nostr Documentary on loop, to playing the Satlantis promotional video. The majority of the time our TV was playing the same Nostr Documentary. It's great! I love that video, but we may be able to work out a better schedule and rotation mechanism in the future to showcase more content equally. Plus, I don't want to always be on the TV. I don't want people getting the wrong idea.

Nostr takeaways

After speaking with hundreds of people at BTC Prague, I feel that I've discovered the best way to describe Nostr.

Nostr has a portable digital social identity, allowing you to be in control of your digital social identity for the very first time, allowing you to take your entire social graph with you, every time you use a different application from Nostr's ecosystem.

Nostr is the social glue that binds all of your apps together.

In general, at BTC Prague, while explaining Nostr to people, the digital social identity route was what clicked with the most people. From there, it's not a long stretch to understand building a reputation and web of trust either.

Many people do not use the "Other Stuff" and explaining to them how to use these applications is hard. People want a native application.

Damus, Primal, and Amethyst seem to be the number one apps that people are using, with maybe Primal being the number one altogether? This is probably due to Primal being available on Android, iOS, and the web. Also, many people don't know that Damus still supports Zaps via the Nostr script workaround. I had to show many how to enable Zaps.

Everyone wants Nostr at their conference

There is significant interest in featuring Nostr at various conferences. Although not everyone has reached out, numerous individuals at BTC Prague expressed enthusiasm about incorporating a Nostr booth, along with several Nostr talks and sessions, into their upcoming events. They recognize the critical role Nostr and free speech play globally and acknowledge Nostr's popularity within the Bitcoin community. However, they also understand that more work is needed, and we must continue our efforts to onboard and engage new users.

I have two primary observations on this matter:

• The community effort demonstrated here serves as a blueprint for success. We have proven that this approach to growing Nostr is effective, desired, and necessary. The engagement at our booth and attendance at our panels prove this with ease.

• This fundraising initiative is likely a one-time effort. I cannot, in good conscience, continue to ask the community to bootstrap these endeavors. If we are to sustain these booths and promote Nostr at similar conferences, the conference organizers themselves must provide substantial support or discounts to foster broader Nostr adoption. While I understand that conferences entail significant operational costs, it is not feasible for Nostr developers and the broader Nostr community to finance these efforts continuously. Additionally, I would not feel comfortable requesting financial contributions from you all again for this purpose.

Looking forward

Will we do _this _again? I don't know. While our initial endeavor was a complete success, it would be unfortunate to cease our efforts just as we are gaining momentum.

Avi and I have a lot to discuss between ourselves and a lot to discuss with all of you.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Thank you nostr:npub1dtgg8yk3h23ldlm6jsy79tz723p4sun9mz62tqwxqe7c363szkzqm8up6m nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr for making all of this possible. Thank you to every single Nostrich that donated your hard earned sats to make this possible. Thank you to all of the developers that built all of this to make all of this possible. Thank you to everyone else <3

Keep building.

@ 9223d2fa:b57e3de7

2,143 steps

@ 6e24af77:b3f1350b

test

@ 58537364:705b4b85

พระอาจารย์ไพศาล วิสาโล วัดป่าสุคะโต แสดงธรรมเย็นวันที่ 28 กันยายน 2565

ที่ประเทศจีนเมื่อสัก 100 - 200 ปีก่อน ชายคนหนึ่งตาบอด แต่ก็สามารถใช้ชีวิตได้ตามปกติ วันหนึ่งก็เดินไปเยี่ยมเพื่อน ซึ่งอยู่ในเมืองเดียวกัน แต่ก็เดินไกลสักหน่อย แล้วชายตาบอดคนนี้ก็เดินได้โดยที่ไม่ต้องใช้ไม้เท้า ถึงบ้านเพื่อนก็สนทนากับเพื่อนหลายเรื่องหลายราว คุยกันถูกคอ จนกระทั่งค่ำ ก็ได้เวลาที่ชายตาบอดจะกลับบ้าน แต่ก่อนที่แกจะเดินออกจากบ้าน เพื่อนก็ยื่นโคมให้ โคมนี่เป็นคนที่จุดไฟให้แสงสว่างในเวลากลางคืน

ชายตาบอดก็บอกว่าฉันไม่ต้องใช้โคมหรอก เดินได้โดยที่ไม่เห็นอะไร ไม่ต้องใช้แสงสว่างก็เดินได้ ทางเส้นนี้ฉันก็คุ้นแล้ว เพื่อนก็บอกว่าที่ให้โคมนี่ ก็เพื่อเวลาคุณเดินกลับบ้านตามตรอกซอกซอย มันจะได้ให้แสงสว่าง คนที่เขาเดินสวนคุณมา เขาเห็นทาง เขาก็จะได้ไม่เดินชนคุณไงล่ะ เหตุผลนี้ก็ทำให้ชายตาบอดถือโคมกลับบ้าน ทั้งๆ ที่ตัวเองไม่จำเป็นต้องใช้โคมนั้นเลย

ระหว่างที่เดินกลับบ้านก็มีคนหลายคนเดินสวน เพราะมันเป็นตรอกซอกซอยที่มีคนเดินผ่านไปผ่านมาอยู่ แต่ว่าพอเดินมาพักหนึ่ง ปรากฏว่ามีผู้ชายคนหนึ่งเดินชนชายตาบอดอย่างแรงเลย จนล้มเลย ชายตาบอดก็โกรธมาก ก็พูดขึ้นมาว่าแกตาบอดหรือไง แกไม่เห็นหรือโคมที่ฉันถือนี่ ชายคนที่เดินชนชายตาบอดก็บอกว่าขอโทษครับ ขอโทษจริงๆ แต่โคมที่พี่จุดนี่มันดับไปนานแล้วนะ เรื่องก็จบเท่านี้นะ ฟังแล้วเราได้แง่คิดอะไรไหม

เรื่องนี้อาจจะเป็นนิทานนะ แต่มันไม่ใช่นิทานประเภทว่าสอน บอกเราในตอนท้ายว่านิทานเรื่องนี้สอนอะไร แต่ว่ามันจบลงโดยให้เราคิดเอง ฟังเรื่องนี้แล้วเราได้แง่คิดอะไร

แง่คิดอย่างหนึ่งก็คือว่าในการดำเนินชีวิตของคนเรา เราควรจะคิดถึงคนอื่นด้วย ของบางอย่างเราไม่จำเป็น แต่ว่ามันมีประโยชน์กับคนอื่น ถ้าเรานึกถึงคนอื่น มันก็ไม่ใช่ประโยชน์กับคนอื่นอย่างเดียว มันเป็นประโยชน์กับเราด้วย อย่างชายตาบอด เขาไม่จำเป็นต้องใช้โคมเลย ในการเดินกลับบ้านยามค่ำคืน แต่เพื่อนคะยั้นคะยอให้ถือโคมเพื่ออะไร ก็เพื่อประโยชน์ของคนอื่นที่เขาตาดี แล้วเขาต้องใช้แสงสว่างในการเดินสัญจร

การที่ชายตาบอดถือโคม ไม่ได้เพื่อประโยชน์ของตัวเอง แต่เพื่อประโยชน์ของคนอื่น แต่สุดท้ายมันก็เป็นประโยชน์กับตัวเอง เพราะถ้าหากว่าคนที่เขาเดินสวนมา เขาเห็นชายตาบอดถือโคม เขาก็ไม่เดินชน ฉะนั้นทีแรกชายตาบอดก็เดินได้สะดวกสบาย ไม่มีใครชน ก็เพราะว่าคนอื่นเขาเห็นแสงสว่างจากโคมนั้น

อันนี้เขาสอนว่าคนเราควรจะนึกถึงผู้อื่น ของบางอย่างแม้เราไม่จำเป็น แต่ว่ามันเป็นประโยชน์กับผู้อื่นก็ควรทำ หรือบางอย่างอาจจะไม่สะดวกกับเรา แต่ว่ามันช่วยคนอื่นได้ อย่างเช่นการถือโคม มันคงไม่สะดวกสบายเท่ากับเดินตัวเปล่า แต่ว่าเมื่อเดินถือโคมแล้ว มันก็เป็นประโยชน์กับคนที่เดินสวนมาด้วย แต่สุดท้ายมันก็กลับมาเป็นประโยชน์กับชายตาบอดนั่นเอง อย่างที่พูดไปแล้ว ไม่มีใครมาเดินชน

ในชีวิตของคนเรา เราควรจะคิดถึงคนอื่น ฉะนั้นการที่สังคมหรือบ้านเมืองมันน่าอยู่ ก็เพราะผู้คนไม่ได้คิดถึงแต่ตัวเองอย่างเดียว การกระทำบางอย่าง เราทำเพื่อประโยชน์ของส่วนรวม เพื่อผู้อื่น ยกตัวอย่างง่ายๆ เวลาเรากินอะไร มันมีขยะอยู่ในมือ จะเป็นถุงพลาสติก จะเป็นนมกล่อง หรือจะเป็นขวด ขวดน้ำที่กลายเป็นขยะเรียบร้อยแล้ว ทำไมเราควรจะถือขยะนั้นไว้กับตัว จนกว่าจะเห็นถังขยะจึงหย่อนลงถังขยะ

ที่จริงถ้าเรานึกถึงแต่ตัวเอง เราก็แค่โยนมันทิ้งขยะนั้นข้างทาง สบายดีนะ หลายคนก็ทำอย่างนั้น คนเราถ้าคิดถึงแต่ตัวเอง เราไม่เก็บมันไว้กับตัว แล้วก็รอจนกว่าจะเดินเห็นถังขยะ แต่คนจำนวนมากเขาก็เก็บขยะเอาไว้ เพื่อที่จะไปทิ้งลงในถังขยะ

อันนี้เพราะอะไร เพราะนึกถึงผู้อื่น นึกถึงคนที่เก็บขยะบ้าง หรือนึกถึงสังคมส่วนรวม ว่าถ้าเราทิ้งขยะไม่เป็นที่ มันก็จะเลอะเทอะ ไม่น่าดู บางคนก็คิดถึงพนักงานเก็บขยะ หรือคิดถึงพนักงานทำความสะอาด ก็เลยช่วยเขาด้วยการทิ้งขยะเป็นที่ ทั้งที่ถ้าทิ้งข้างทาง กินเสร็จ ดื่มน้ำเสร็จ ดูดนมกล่องเสร็จ ทิ้งไปเลยนี่มันสบายกว่า แต่เป็นเพราะเราคิดถึงคนอื่น เราจึงเอาไปทิ้งเป็นที่

หรือการปิดไฟ บางทีเราก็เห็นไฟเปิดอยู่ที่ห้องน้ำ หรือที่ห้องที่โล่ง เราก็อุตส่าห์เดินไป แทนที่เราจะกลับบ้านเลย เราก็เดินไปที่ห้องน้ำเพื่อที่จะปิดสวิตช์ไฟ เรายอมเสียเวลาเพื่ออะไร ก็เพื่อส่วนรวม หรืออาจจะเป็นเพราะว่าเราอยากจะช่วยพนักงานที่เขาดูแลสถานที่นั้น ไม่ต้องเหนื่อยกับการวิ่งการเดินตามปิดไฟ ที่วัดเราเป็นระเบียบ ก็เพราะผู้คนจำนวนมากคิดถึงผู้อื่นด้วย ไม่ได้คิดถึงแต่ตัวเอง และสุดท้ายมันก็เป็นประโยชน์กับตัวเรา เพราะว่าพอสถานที่มันสะอาดหมดจด มันก็สบายหูสบายตา น่าอยู่

แต่ว่านิทานเรื่องนี้เขาสอนมากกว่านั้น ในการดำเนินชีวิตประจำวัน เราควรจะคิดถึงผู้อื่น มองไปที่ประโยชน์ของคนอื่นก่อนตัวเอง แต่เวลามีปัญหาขึ้นมา ก่อนที่จะไปโทษคนอื่น ต้องกลับมามองที่ตัวเองก่อน ไม่เหมือนกันนะ ยามปกติเรามองไปที่คนอื่นก่อน นึกถึงประโยชน์ของคนอื่นก่อน ประโยชน์ของตัวเองเอาไว้ทีหลัง แต่ว่าเวลามีปัญหา เราควรมองที่ตัวเองก่อนที่จะไปโทษคนอื่น

อย่างชายตาบอดนี่ พอมีคนมาชน แกก็ว่าชายคนนั้นเลยทีเดียว ว่าตาบอดหรือไง มาชนเขา แต่เขาไม่รู้ว่าที่เขาถูกชน เป็นเพราะว่าโคมของเขามันดับไปแล้ว ชายคนนั้นก็เลยมองไม่เห็น แต่ชายตาบอดจะรู้ได้อย่างไร ว่าโคมของตัวเองนี่ดับไปแล้ว อันนี้เหมือนกับสอนเป็นนัยว่าคนที่โทษคนอื่น แทนที่จะมองมาที่ตัวเอง จะว่าไปก็เหมือนกับคนตาบอด คือมองไม่เห็นความบกพร่อง ความผิดพลาดของตัวเอง อันนี้ก็รวมถึงคนตาดีด้วยนะ คนตาดีถ้าเกิดปัญหาขึ้นมาแล้ว ไปโทษคนอื่น แต่มองไม่เห็นความบกพร่อง ความผิดพลาดของตัวเอง ก็ไม่ต่างจากคนตาบอดเหมือนกัน

อันนี้ก็เป็นข้อคิดที่ดีมากเลย ในยามปกติเราควรนึกถึงผู้อื่น มองไปที่คนอื่นก่อน แต่เวลามีปัญหาควรจะกลับมามองที่ตัวเอง ก่อนที่จะไปโทษคนอื่น อันนี้จะเรียกว่าเป็นวิสัยของนักปฏิบัติธรรมก็ได้ จะเรียกว่าเป็นวิสัยของผู้ใฝ่ธรรม ซึ่งต่างจากวิสัยของชาวโลกทั่วๆ ไป ชาวโลกทั่วไปเขามองตัวเองก่อน เขามองถึงประโยชน์ตัวเองก่อน คิดถึงตัวเองก่อน ส่วนคนอื่น ประโยชน์ของคนอื่นเอาไว้ทีหลัง แต่เวลามีปัญหาขึ้นมา ก็โทษคนอื่นก่อนเลย แทนที่จะกลับมามองที่ตัวเอง

บ่อยครั้งเวลางานมีปัญหา เราจะเห็นคนก็จะไปโทษคนโน้นคนนี้ ว่าเป็นเหตุทำให้งานมีปัญหา ทำให้งานตัวเองมีปัญหา เจ้านายไม่ดี เพื่อนร่วมงานไม่ได้เรื่อง บางทีก็โทษดินฟ้าอากาศ แต่ว่าสิ่งที่ไม่ได้มองคือความผิดพลาดของตัวเอง เวลานัดเพื่อน เพื่อนไม่มาตามนัดตามเวลา ก็โกรธเพื่อน พอเจอเพื่อนก็ไปด่าเพื่อนเลย ว่าทำไมนัด 4 โมงเย็น ทำไมไม่มา อุตส่าห์รอ

เพื่อนบอกอ้าวจะไปรู้เหรอ นึกว่านัด 4 โมงเช้า ผมก็อุตส่าห์ไปรอตั้งแต่ 4 โมงเช้า คือ 10 โมง ปรากฏว่าคนนัดบอกเวลาไม่ละเอียด แทนที่จะบอก 4 โมงเย็น ก็ไปพูดว่า 4 โมง เพื่อนก็เลยนึกว่า 4 โมงเช้า เป็นความผิดพลาดของคนนัดแท้ๆ แต่ว่าก็ไปด่าเพื่อนเสียแล้ว ตัวเองพูดไม่ละเอียด ก็ไปโทษเพื่อน ว่าเพื่อนไม่รับผิดชอบ เพื่อนไม่เอาใจใส่

อันนี้เรียกว่าไปโทษคนอื่นก่อนที่จะมามองที่ตัวเอง ถ้าจะให้ดีก็ควรจะถามเขาก่อนว่าทำไมถึงไม่มาตามนัด พอรู้คำอธิบายของเพื่อน ก็อาจจะพบว่าเป็นเพราะเราผิดเองนะ เราพูดไม่รัดกุมเพียงพอ ที่จริงมันไม่ใช่เฉพาะเวลามีความผิดพลาด หรือเวลามีปัญหาในงานการ เวลามีความทุกข์ก็เหมือนกัน เวลามีความทุกข์ก่อนที่จะไปโทษใคร ต้องกลับมามองที่ตัวเองก่อน แต่คนส่วนใหญ่เวลามีความทุกข์ ไปโทษข้างนอก ไปโทษเสียงดังจากข้างนอก ไปโทษการกระทำของคนนั้นคนนี้ แต่ลืมหรือไม่ได้กลับมามองที่ตัวเอง ว่าเป็นที่เราหรือเปล่า

เวลามีความทุกข์ใจ สาเหตุหลักๆ มันล้วนแล้วแต่อยู่ที่ตัวเองทั้งนั้นแหละ ไม่ได้อยู่ที่คนอื่น ทุกข์กายอาจจะเป็นเพราะของแหลมมาแทง อาจจะเป็นเพราะเชื้อโรค เพราะอาหารเป็นพิษ หรือเพราะมีคนมาทำร้าย แต่ถ้าทุกข์ใจแล้วนี่ มันน่าจะเกิดจากตัวเอง หรือใจของตัวเองเป็นหลักเลยทีเดียว

เมื่อสัก 40 กว่าปีก่อน หลวงพ่อชาท่านได้รับนิมนต์ให้มาแสดงธรรมที่ประเทศอังกฤษ ตอนนั้นท่านก็มากับลูกศิษย์ที่เป็นพระฝรั่ง เช่นหลวงพ่อสุเมโธ ซึ่งตอนนั้นยังไม่ได้สร้างวัดอมราวดีที่อังกฤษ เจ้าภาพก็ให้หลวงพ่อชากับลูกศิษย์พักที่วิหารกลางกรุงลอนดอน ย่านนั้นมีสถานบันเทิง เช่น ผับ บาร์ กลางคืนก็จะมีเสียงดนตรี

สมัยนั้นดิสโก้ก็เริ่มเป็นที่นิยมแล้ว เพราะฉะนั้นเสียงดังก็จะกระหึ่มเลยตอนกลางคืน มาถึงวิหารแฮมสเตทที่หลวงพ่อชาและลูกศิษย์พัก ซึ่งก็พอดีเป็นช่วงที่ท่านพาคนนั่งสมาธิ พระและโยมหลายคนนั่งสมาธิไม่เป็นสุขเลย เพราะเสียงดนตรีมันดัง

แต่หลวงพ่อชาท่านนั่งสมาธิอย่างสงบ เหมือนกับไม่ได้ยินอะไรเลย จนกระทั่งนั่งสมาธิเสร็จ ก็มีโยมซึ่งเป็นฝรั่ง เป็นเจ้าภาพ ก็มาหาท่านแล้วก็บอกขอโทษ ที่เสียดนตรีรบกวนการนั่งสมาธิ หลวงพ่อชาท่านฟังแล้วก็ยิ้ม แล้วท่านก็พูดว่าโยมอย่าไปคิดว่าเสียงดนตรีรบกวนเรา ที่จริงเราต่างหากที่ไปรบกวนเสียงดนตรี

บางคนฟังแล้วก็งงนะ แต่ที่จริงที่ท่านพูดนี่มันเป็นสัจธรรมเลยนะ ที่คนมีความทุกข์ หงุดหงิด เมื่อเสียงมากระทบหู มันไม่ใช่เพราะเสียง แต่เป็นเพราะใจมันไปทะเลาะกับเสียงนั้น ใจมันไปต่อสู้ ไปทะเลาะเบาะแว้งกับเสียงนั้น มันไปผลักไสเสียงนั้น ถ้าเพียงแต่ยอมรับเสียงนั้น มันก็ไม่หงุดหงิด แต่พอใจมันทะเลาะกับเสียง เพราะว่ามีความรู้สึกเป็นลบต่อเสียงนั้น ว่าเป็นเสียงดัง เสียงรบกวน พอใจรู้สึกเป็นลบ มันหงุดหงิดขึ้นมาเลย ความหงุดหงิดจนนั่งสมาธิไม่เป็นสุข เป็นเพราะใจของคนฟัง ที่วางใจไม่ถูกต้องต่อเสียง ถ้าหากว่าเพียงแต่รู้สึกเป็นกลางๆ มันก็ไม่ทุกข์

มีนักปฏิบัติธรรมคนหนึ่ง แกก็มาปฏิบัติอยู่ที่สำนักหรือวัดแห่งหนึ่ง ก็ค้างคืนอยู่ประมาณ 2-3 คืน คืนแรกเลย พักเสร็จตื่นเช้าขึ้นมา เจ้าอาวาสก็ถามว่า เป็นยังไง หลับดีไหม ชายคนนั้นก็บอกว่าหลับไม่ค่อยดี โดยเฉพาะช่วงแรกๆ เพราะว่าเสียงห่านมันดัง

เสียงห่านมันดัง ตอนกลางคืนนอนไม่ค่อยหลับเลยช่วงแรก แต่ว่านึกขึ้นมาได้ว่าตัวเองพกโทรศัพท์มือถือมา แล้วในโทรศัพท์มือถือก็มีการอัดเทปคำบรรยายธรรมะของครูบาอาจารย์หลายท่าน ก็เลยเอาหูฟังใส่ไว้ในหู แล้วก็ฟัง เปิดเทปธรรมะ เปิดคำบรรยายของครูบาอาจารย์ จนกระทั่งหลับได้ กระทั่งเช้าก็เป็นอันว่าได้พัก ได้หลับดีหน่อยช่วงครึ่งหลัง

สิ่งที่น่าสนใจคือว่า ระหว่างเสียงห่านกับเสียงบรรยาย อะไรดังกว่ากัน ชายคนนั้นบอกว่าหลับไม่ได้ เพราะว่าเสียงห่านมันดัง แต่เสียงบรรยายที่ฟังมันไม่ดังหรือ ที่จริงมันดังกว่าเสียงห่าน เพราะว่าเอาหูฟังใส่เข้าไปในรูหู อย่างไรมันดังกว่าเสียงห่านอยู่แล้วล่ะ แต่ทำไมหลับ ก็เพราะใจมันยอมรับเสียงบรรยายธรรมะ หรือว่ารู้สึกดีกับเสียงนั้น ขณะที่เสียงห่านนี่ ใจมองว่าเป็นเสียงรบกวน การที่ใจไปตีค่าว่าเสียงห่านเป็นเสียงรบกวน ก็ทำให้เกิดอาการต่อสู้ผลักไสกับเสียงนั้น

เหมือนอย่างที่หลวงพ่อชาท่านว่าไปทะเลาะกับเสียง ส่วนเสียงบรรยายธรรมะที่ฟังทางโทรศัพท์มือถือ ใจมันยอมรับ ใจมันรู้สึกเป็นบวก เลยไม่รู้สึกว่าดัง ทั้งที่ถ้าพูดถึงเดซิเบลแล้ว มันดังกว่าเสียงห่านอยู่แล้วแต่ก็เป็นอันหลับได้ ฉะนั้นที่หลับไม่ได้ ไม่ใช่เพราะเสียงดัง ไม่ใช่เพราะเสียงห่าน แต่เพราะใจมันไปทะเลาะกับเสียงห่าน ในขณะที่เสียงบรรยายใจไม่ได้ทะเลาะ ใจไปเคลิ้มคล้อยกับเสียงบรรยายธรรมเลยหลับ

นี่เป็นตัวอย่างง่ายๆ ในชีวิตของคนเรา เวลามีความทุกข์ ทุกข์ใจ เรามักโทษข้างนอก โทษเสียงดนตรี โทษเสียงห่าน โทษคนนั้นคนนี้ แต่นั่นเป็นเพราะเราไม่ได้กลับมาดูใจของเรา ไม่ได้กลับมาสังเกตปฎิกริยาของใจเรา ฉะนั้นถ้าเรากลับมาสังเกต ก็จะพบว่ามันเป็นเพราะใจของเราต่างหาก ที่เป็นตัวการทำให้เกิดทุกข์

ฉะนั้นถ้าเกิดว่าเรามีทุกข์ หรือมีปัญหาขึ้นมาในใจ แล้วเราไปมองออกนอกตัว ไม่กลับมามองที่ตัว ก็ไม่ต่างจากชายตาบอด ที่ไปต่อว่าคนที่มาชนตัวเอง ทั้งที่โคมที่ตัวเองถือ ไฟมันดับไปนานแล้ว แต่มองไม่เห็น วิถีธรรมกับวิถีโลกมันต่างกัน วิถีโลก มีปัญหาอะไรก็โทษคนอื่น แต่เวลาสบายก็คิดถึงแต่ตัวเอง ส่วนวิถีธรรม เวลาสบายๆ เวลาปกติก็นึกถึงคนอื่น แต่เวลามีปัญหาก็กลับมองที่ตัวเองก่อน

แล้วที่จริงถ้าเราดู มันสะท้อนให้เห็นว่า วิถีโลกเขาเน้นในเรื่องการเปลี่ยนแปลง จัดการกับภายนอก แต่ว่าวิถีธรรมหรือวิถีของผู้ใฝ่ธรรม จะเน้นที่การเปลี่ยนแปลงที่ตัวเอง โดยเฉพาะการปรับเปลี่ยนใจของตัว เวลามีความทุกข์ก็ลองปรับเปลี่ยนใจ

เหมือนมีผู้ชายคนหนึ่งที่เขานั่งสมาธิทุกเช้าเป็นประจำ แล้วเขาก็นั่งได้ดีด้วย แต่วันหนึ่งปรากฏว่าพอนั่งไปได้สักครู่หนึ่ง ก็มีเสียงค้อนดัง ทีแรกก็เสียงค้อน ตอนหลังก็เสียงเลื่อยยนต์ เพราะมีการก่อสร้างใกล้ๆ ตอนที่เสียงค้อน เสียงเลื่อยยนต์มากระทบหู ใจนี่ก็กระเพื่อมเลย แต่เขามีสติเห็น สติรู้ทัน พอมีสติรู้ทัน ใจก็สงบ แต่พอเผลอ ใจก็กระเพื่อม ทุกครั้งที่เสียงเลื่อยยนต์ดังกระทบหู แล้วมันก็สงบลงพอมีสติรู้ทัน เป็นอย่างนี้พักหนึ่ง

เขาก็เลยลองไปพิจารณาที่เสียงเลื่อยยนต์ พอพิจารณาไปก็สังเกตว่าบางครั้งมันก็กระชากกระชั้น บางครั้งมันก็ลากยาว บางครั้งเสียงสูง บางครั้งเสียงต่ำ บางครั้งเสียงดัง บางครั้งเสียงเบา ดูๆไปแล้วมันเหมือนกับเสียงเพลงเลยนะ เพลงประเภท heavy metal พอทันทีที่มองว่ามันเป็นเสียงเพลง ใจก็สงบเลย สงบประเภทที่ว่าเพลินเลย

ที่จริงเพลินก็ไม่ดี แต่เขาก็อดฉุกคิดไม่ได้ เอ๊ะ เมื่อกี้ใจยังกระเพื่อมขึ้นกระเพื่อมลง แถมมีความหงุดหงิดด้วย ตอนนี้ทำไมใจมันสงบ มีบางช่วงเสียงเลื่อยยนต์มันหายไป เขาอยากให้เสียงมันดังกลับมาใหม่ เขาก็เลยแปลกใจ ทีแรกเราอยากให้เสียงมันดับไปหายไป แต่ทำไมตอนนี้อยากให้เสียงมันดังใหม่ เสียงมันก็ยังดังเหมือนเดิม แต่ทำไมความรู้สึกเปลี่ยนไป

ที่ความรู้สึกเปลี่ยนไปเพราะอะไร เพราะว่าไม่ได้มองว่ามันเป็นเสียงดังอีกต่อไป แต่มองว่ามันเป็นเสียงเพลง พอมองว่าเป็นเสียงเพลง ความรู้สึกมันเป็นความรู้สึกในทางบวก ใจก็สงบเลย อันนี้มันก็ชี้ให้เห็นว่าความสงบมันอยู่ที่ใจ มากกว่าอยู่ที่สิ่งภายนอก และที่หงุดหงิด ที่ไม่สงบ มันไม่ใช่เพราะสิ่งภายนอก แต่เป็นเพราะใจ ใจรู้สึกลบกับเสียง มันก็กระเพื่อม มันก็หงุดหงิด ไม่สงบ ไม่เป็นสุข แต่พอใจรู้สึกเป็นบวก ความรู้สึกก็เปลี่ยนเป็นตรงกันข้าม

ฉะนั้นแทนที่จะไปตะโกนโวกเวกว่าให้หยุดส่งเสียง ให้เลิกตอกตะปู ให้เลิกใช้เลื่อยยนต์ มันจะดีกว่าหรือเปล่า ถ้ากลับมาดูที่ใจของเรา กลับมาสังเกตที่ใจของเรา หรือกลับมาปรับใจของเรา ใจของเรานี่อาจจะเป็นปัญหา

อันนี้คล้ายๆ กับเมื่อ 2-3 วันก่อน มีพระรูปหนึ่งเล่าให้ฟัง ได้ยินเสียงตอนเช้าๆ ที่วัด ตอนสายๆ วันกรรมกร มันมีเสียงเครื่องยนต์ดัง ตอนนั้นก็คิดว่าเป็นเสียงมอเตอร์ไซค์ ทันทีที่คิดว่าเป็นเสียงมอเตอร์ไซค์ ไม่พอใจขึ้นมาทันทีเลย มันมาขี่มอเตอร์ไซค์อะไรกันตรงนี้ ในวัด

แต่สักประเดี๋ยวเดียวฉุกขึ้นมาว่าเอ๊ะ มันอาจจะไม่ใช่เสียงมอเตอร์ไซค์ก็ได้ อาจจะเป็นเสียงเลื่อย เลื่อยที่เขากำลังตัดไม้ที่โค่น เพราะว่าก่อนหน้านั้นมีไม้โค่น ทันทีที่นึกว่าเป็นเสียงเลื่อย ที่ใช้ตัดไม้ที่ล้มลง ใจมันสงบเลย กลับอนุโมทนาด้วย เขามาช่วยกันทำงาน เสียงก็เสียงเดิม แต่ทำไมทีแรกหงุดหงิด เพราะไปคิดว่าเสียงมอเตอร์ไซค์ และคิดต่อไปว่ามันมาขี่อะไรแถวนี้ ในวัด แต่พอมองว่าเป็นเสียงเลื่อยที่ใช้เลื่อยไม้ที่ล้ม ความรู้สึกมันเปลี่ยนไป เพราะเกิดความรู้สึกว่าเขากำลังทำหน้าที่ของเขา

ฉะนั้นสุขหรือทุกข์อยู่ที่ใจแท้ๆ เลย หงุดหงิดหรือว่าสงบ อยู่ที่ใจ ไม่ใช่อยู่ที่เสียง อยู่ที่ว่าเราจะมองมันอย่างไร ฉะนั้นถ้าเราเข้าใจตรงนี้ สังเกตใจของเรา เราจะพบว่าจะไปแก้ทุกข์ก็ต้องแก้ที่ใจนั่นแหละ ไม่ต้องไปแก้ที่คนอื่น เป็นเพราะใจเราวางไว้ผิด มันจึงทุกข์ มันจึงเกิดความหงุดหงิด เกิดความรำคาญ แต่พอเราปรับใจ เปลี่ยนมุมมอง ความรู้สึกก็เปลี่ยนไป

zen sukato บันทึกเสียง Nun & oi ถอดเสียง nok edit

@ faade9ee:1c6dfd69

test2c

@ 21335073:a244b1ad

Someone asked for my thoughts, so I’ll share them thoughtfully. I’m not here to dictate how to promote Nostr—I’m still learning about it myself. While I’m not new to Nostr, freedom tech is a newer space for me. I’m skilled at advocating for topics I deeply understand, but freedom tech isn’t my expertise, so take my words with a grain of salt. Nothing I say is set in stone.

Those who need Nostr the most are the ones most vulnerable to censorship on other platforms right now. Reaching them requires real-time awareness of global issues and the dynamic relationships between governments and tech providers, which can shift suddenly. Effective Nostr promoters must grasp this and adapt quickly.

The best messengers are people from or closely tied to these at-risk regions—those who truly understand the local political and cultural dynamics. They can connect with those in need when tensions rise. Ideal promoters are rational, trustworthy, passionate about Nostr, but above all, dedicated to amplifying people’s voices when it matters most.

Forget influencers, corporate-backed figures, or traditional online PR—it comes off as inauthentic, corny, desperate and forced. Nostr’s promotion should be grassroots and organic, driven by a few passionate individuals who believe in Nostr and the communities they serve.

The idea that “people won’t join Nostr due to lack of reach” is nonsense. Everyone knows X’s “reach” is mostly with bots. If humans want real conversations, Nostr is the place. X is great for propaganda, but Nostr is for the authentic voices of the people.

Those spreading Nostr must be so passionate they’re willing to onboard others, which is time-consuming but rewarding for the right person. They’ll need to make Nostr and onboarding a core part of who they are. I see no issue with that level of dedication. I’ve been known to get that way myself at times. It’s fun for some folks.

With love, I suggest not adding Bitcoin promotion with Nostr outreach. Zaps already integrate that element naturally. (Still promote within the Bitcoin ecosystem, but this is about reaching vulnerable voices who needed Nostr yesterday.)

To promote Nostr, forget conventional strategies. “Influencers” aren’t the answer. “Influencers” are not the future. A trusted local community member has real influence—reach them. Connect with people seeking Nostr’s benefits but lacking the technical language to express it. This means some in the Nostr community might need to step outside of the Bitcoin bubble, which is uncomfortable but necessary. Thank you in advance to those who are willing to do that.

I don’t know who is paid to promote Nostr, if anyone. This piece isn’t shade. But it’s exhausting to see innocent voices globally silenced on corporate platforms like X while Nostr exists. Last night, I wondered: how many more voices must be censored before the Nostr community gets uncomfortable and thinks creatively to reach the vulnerable?

A warning: the global need for censorship-resistant social media is undeniable. If Nostr doesn’t make itself known, something else will fill that void. Let’s start this conversation.

@ ee11a5df:b76c4e49

Bye-Bye Reply Guy

There is a camp of nostr developers that believe spam filtering needs to be done by relays. Or at the very least by DVMs. I concur. In this way, once you configure what you want to see, it applies to all nostr clients.

But we are not there yet.

In the mean time we have ReplyGuy, and gossip needed some changes to deal with it.

Strategies in Short

1. WEB OF TRUST: Only accept events from people you follow, or people they follow - this avoids new people entirely until somebody else that you follow friends them first, which is too restrictive for some people.
2. TRUSTED RELAYS: Allow every post from relays that you trust to do good spam filtering.
3. REJECT FRESH PUBKEYS: Only accept events from people you have seen before - this allows you to find new people, but you will miss their very first post (their second post must count as someone you have seen before, even if you discarded the first post)
4. PATTERN MATCHING: Scan for known spam phrases and words and block those events, either on content or metadata or both or more.
5. TIE-IN TO EXTERNAL SYSTEMS: Require a valid NIP-05, or other nostr event binding their identity to some external identity
6. PROOF OF WORK: Require a minimum proof-of-work

All of these strategies are useful, but they have to be combined properly.

filter.rhai

Gossip loads a file called "filter.rhai" in your gossip directory if it exists. It must be a Rhai language script that meets certain requirements (see the example in the gossip source code directory). Then it applies it to filter spam.

This spam filtering code is being updated currently. It is not even on unstable yet, but it will be there probably tomorrow sometime. Then to master. Eventually to a release.

Here is an example using all of the techniques listed above:

```rhai // This is a sample spam filtering script for the gossip nostr // client. The language is called Rhai, details are at: // https://rhai.rs/book/ // // For gossip to find your spam filtering script, put it in // your gossip profile directory. See // https://docs.rs/dirs/latest/dirs/fn.data_dir.html // to find the base directory. A subdirectory "gossip" is your // gossip data directory which for most people is their profile // directory too. (Note: if you use a GOSSIP_PROFILE, you'll // need to put it one directory deeper into that profile // directory). // // This filter is used to filter out and refuse to process // incoming events as they flow in from relays, and also to // filter which events get/ displayed in certain circumstances. // It is only run on feed-displayable event kinds, and only by // authors you are not following. In case of error, nothing is // filtered. // // You must define a function called 'filter' which returns one // of these constant values: // DENY (the event is filtered out) // ALLOW (the event is allowed through) // MUTE (the event is filtered out, and the author is // automatically muted) // // Your script will be provided the following global variables: // 'caller' - a string that is one of "Process", // "Thread", "Inbox" or "Global" indicating // which part of the code is running your // script // 'content' - the event content as a string // 'id' - the event ID, as a hex string // 'kind' - the event kind as an integer // 'muted' - if the author is in your mute list // 'name' - if we have it, the name of the author // (or your petname), else an empty string // 'nip05valid' - whether nip05 is valid for the author, // as a boolean // 'pow' - the Proof of Work on the event // 'pubkey' - the event author public key, as a hex // string // 'seconds_known' - the number of seconds that the author // of the event has been known to gossip // 'spamsafe' - true only if the event came in from a // relay marked as SpamSafe during Process // (even if the global setting for SpamSafe // is off)

fn filter() {

// Show spam on global
// (global events are ephemeral; these won't grow the
// database)
if caller=="Global" {
    return ALLOW;
}

// Block ReplyGuy
if name.contains("ReplyGuy") || name.contains("ReplyGal") {
    return DENY;
}

// Block known DM spam
// (giftwraps are unwrapped before the content is passed to
//  this script)
if content.to_lower().contains(
  "Mr. Gift and Mrs. Wrap under the tree, KISSING!"
) {
    return DENY;
}

// Reject events from new pubkeys, unless they have a high
// PoW or we somehow already have a nip05valid for them
//
// If this turns out to be a legit person, we will start
// hearing their events 2 seconds from now, so we will
// only miss their very first event.
if seconds_known <= 2 && pow < 25 && !nip05valid {
    return DENY;
}

// Mute offensive people
if content.to_lower().contains(" kike") ||
    content.to_lower().contains("kike ") ||
    content.to_lower().contains(" nigger") ||
    content.to_lower().contains("nigger ")
{
    return MUTE;
}

// Reject events from muted people
//
// Gossip already does this internally, and since we are
// not Process, this is rather redundant. But this works
// as an example.
if muted {
    return DENY;
}

// Accept if the PoW is large enough
if pow >= 25 {
    return ALLOW;
}

// Accept if their NIP-05 is valid
if nip05valid {
    return ALLOW;
}

// Accept if the event came through a spamsafe relay
if spamsafe {
    return ALLOW;
}

// Reject the rest
DENY

} ```

@ faade9ee:1c6dfd69

This is a normal piece of text.z

This is a bold piece of text via button press.z

this is also bold, but via double-starsz

this is an italic via button press

this also but via one-star

look, it's an underline!

oh, a piece of code has appeared. Nice. Button press tho. seems like it's purple / missed styling it, will change that.

another code but via text

code block, kinda buggy (really buggy actually x3)

```this is another, but via text which is disabled for now as it's cause issues```

This is a top number thing<sup>222</sup>

a bottom number thing<sub>5ss65435ghrt</sub>

• bullets!

• another!

  • a third!

• Number!

• another!

  1. a third!

• [x] check

• [x] box

this is a quote

"quote"

heading 1

heading 2

heading 3 via text

heading 4 via text

heading 5 via text

heading 6 via text

this is a link via text (button has an annoyance bug)

---

video below

::youtube{#aApSteSbeGA}

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

Chef's notes

For the dough, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add 3 cups flour, then the salt, and mix. While mixing, add 1 more cup of flour, or enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on low to medium speed for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with flour, if necessary, to keep it from sticking to the bowl. When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it several times to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature. Roll and stretch each ball into a rough 8-inch circle and place them all on baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. (You will be able to fit 2 pizzas on each 18 by 13-inch baking sheet.) You may also use a cast iron skillet if so desired.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 45 minutes
• 🍳 Cook time: 15 minutes
• 🍽️ Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water
• 2 packages dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees
2. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your desired level of crisp.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@ cae03c48:2a7d6671

Bitcoin Magazine

Nigel Farage To Speak At Bitcoin 2025 Conference

We are pleased to announce that Nigel Farage will join the speaker lineup at the Bitcoin Conference 2025 in Las Vegas. A defining figure in modern European politics, Farage led the Brexit movement that took the United Kingdom out of the EU, reshaping global conversations around national sovereignty. He is the founder and current leader of Reform UK, a rising political force now polling competitively, positioning him as a serious contender for to be the next UK Prime Minister.

A former Member of the European Parliament for over 20 years, Farage built his reputation challenging supranational institutions and unelected power—values that resonate deeply with the Bitcoin community. He also hosts GB News, where he critiques monetary policy, CBDCs, and digital surveillance. An outspoken advocate for financial sovereignty and free speech, Farage previously appeared at Bitcoin Amsterdam 2023 in a conversation with Peter McCormack. In 2025, he returns for a fireside with Bitcoin Magazine’s Frank Corva, whose sharp political interviews are helping shape Bitcoin’s place in global affairs.

About Bitcoin 2025

The excitement is building as the world’s largest Bitcoin conference approaches, Bitcoin 2025. Set to take place in Las Vegas from May 27-29, this premier event is anticipated to draw Bitcoin enthusiasts, industry leaders, and innovators from all over the globe.

Be part of the revolution! Come experience the cultural movement that’s the Bitcoin Conference – a landmark event with wealth of opportunities for networking and learning. In 2025, Bitcoin takes over Las Vegas, uniting builders, leaders, and believers in the world’s most resilient monetary network.

New in 2025: Code & Country launches on Industry Day, bringing together policymakers, technologists, and industry leaders for a full day of focused collaboration.

The aim: strengthen Bitcoin’s role in national strategy, regulatory clarity, and technological sovereignty. This marks a new era where Bitcoin’s protocol and geopolitical potential intersect more directly than ever before.

Highlights Include

• Keynote Speakers: Renowned experts and visionaries will share their insights and predictions for the future of digital currency.
• Workshops and Panels: Attendees can participate in hands-on workshops and panel discussions covering a wide array of topics, from technical details to practical applications in various industries.
• Exhibition Hall: The exhibition will showcase art, cutting-edge products and services from top companies in the bitcoin ecosystem.
• Networking Opportunities: With thousands of attendees expected, Bitcoin 2025 offers unparalleled opportunities for networking with peers, potential partners, and thought leaders.

Keynote Speakers

The conference is set to feature an impressive lineup of speakers, including leading Bitcoin developers, experts, as well as influential figures from the financial sector. Topics range from the latest advancements to regulatory updates and investment strategies.

1. JD Vance, Vice President Vance will become the first sitting vice president in the history of the United States to publicly voice his support for Bitcoin as he addresses the audience in Las Vegas.
2. Ross Ulbricht, Freedom Advocate – Founder of the Silk Road marketplace, recently released by President Donald Trump from serving a double life sentence. His story has become emblematic of the clash between personal liberty, Bitcoin, and the state.
3. Eric Trump & Donald Trump Jr, Both figures bring a bold voice to the conversation around Capitalism, Bitcoin, freedom, and economic sovereignty.
4. Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss, Co-Founders of Gemini – Early Bitcoin adopters and founders of the regulated exchange Gemini.
5. David Sacks, White House AI & Crypto Czar – Former PayPal COO and venture capitalist, now serving as the White House’s senior advisor on AI and cryptocurrency policy, leading national efforts on stablecoin legislation and digital asset strategy.
6. Bryan Johnson, Founder of Project Blueprint – Tech entrepreneur and longevity researcher known for reversing his biological age and challenging fiat-era assumptions about health, time, and human potential.

Past Conferences in the USA

– 2021 Miami: Where President Nayib Bukele revealed plans for El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, making history live on stage. Attendance: 11,000
– 2022 Miami: Where Michael Saylor delivered a landmark address on corporate Bitcoin strategy and announced additional MicroStrategy purchases. Attendance: 26,000
– 2023 Miami: Where Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the first U.S. presidential candidate to speak at a Bitcoin conference, addressing financial freedom and civil liberties. Attendance: 15,000
– 2024 Nashville: Highlights include President Donald J. Trump’s appearance, where he voiced support for Bitcoin mining and national monetary sovereignty. Attendance: 22,000

Join Us in Las Vegas

• Date: May 27-29, 2025
• Venue: The Venetian, Las Vegas, NV, USA  
• Tickets: https://b.tc/conference/2025
• Get a free General Admission ticket when you deposit $200 on eToro – while supplies last!

This post Nigel Farage To Speak At Bitcoin 2025 Conference first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Conor Mulcahy.

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@ 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".

@ 52b4a076:e7fad8bd

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

Regular relays have challenges

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

NFDB: A scalable database for large relays

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

Search

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

Personalization

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

Other

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

Calcite: A local microrelay database

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

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

For zero-downtime, NFDB is recommended.

Noswhere SmartCache

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

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

routerd

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

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

Ending notes

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

A lot more is to come. 👀️️️️️️

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@ 91bea5cd:1df4451c

O Contexto Legal Brasileiro e o Consentimento

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

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

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

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

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

Outros riscos:

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

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

Riscos de Falsas Acusações e Alegação de Coação Futura

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

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

Estratégias de Prevenção e Mitigação

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

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

2. Documentação do Consentimento:

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

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

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

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

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

Observações Importantes

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

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

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

O que vem a ser consentimento viciado

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isso tem duas implicações sérias:

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

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

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

Conclusão

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

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

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

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

@ ba3b4b1d:eadff0d3

por Gedaliah Braun

Sou um americano que leccionou filosofia em várias universidades africanas entre 1976 e 1988, e desde então vivo na África do Sul. Quando cheguei a África, praticamente não sabia nada sobre o continente ou os seus povos, mas comecei a aprender rapidamente. Notei, por exemplo, que os africanos raramente cumpriam promessas e não viam necessidade de se desculpar quando as quebravam. Era como se não tivessem consciência de que haviam feito algo que exigisse um pedido de desculpas.

Demorei muitos anos a compreender por que os africanos se comportavam assim, mas penso que agora posso explicar este e outros comportamentos que caracterizam África. Acredito que a moralidade requer pensamento abstrato — tal como o planeamento para o futuro — e que uma relativa deficiência no pensamento abstrato pode explicar muitas coisas que são tipicamente africanas.

O que se segue não são descobertas científicas. Pode haver explicações alternativas para o que observei, mas as minhas conclusões baseiam-se em mais de 30 anos a viver entre africanos.

As minhas primeiras suspeitas sobre o que pode ser uma deficiência no pensamento abstrato surgiram do que comecei a aprender sobre as línguas africanas. Numa conversa com estudantes na Nigéria, perguntei como se diria, na sua língua local, que um coco está a meio caminho da árvore. “Não se pode dizer isso”, explicaram. “Tudo o que se pode dizer é que está ‘lá em cima’.” “E no topo da árvore?” “Também não; apenas ‘lá em cima’.” Por outras palavras, parecia não haver forma de expressar gradações.

Alguns anos depois, em Nairobi, aprendi algo mais sobre as línguas africanas quando duas mulheres se mostraram surpreendidas com o meu dicionário de inglês. “O inglês não é a tua língua?”, perguntaram. “Sim”, respondi. “É a minha única língua.” “Então por que precisas de um dicionário?”

Elas estavam intrigadas com o facto de eu precisar de um dicionário, e eu estava intrigado com a sua perplexidade. Expliquei que há momentos em que ouvimos uma palavra da qual não temos a certeza e, por isso, a procuramos. “Mas se o inglês é a tua língua”, insistiram, “como pode haver palavras que não conheces?” “O quê?”, disse eu. “Ninguém conhece todas as palavras da sua língua.”

Concluí que uma relativa deficiência no pensamento abstrato pode explicar muitas coisas que são tipicamente africanas.

Línguas africanas e conceitos limitados “Mas nós conhecemos todas as palavras de Kikuyu; todos os Kikuyu as conhecem”, responderam. Fiquei ainda mais surpreendido, mas gradualmente percebi que, como a sua língua é totalmente oral, ela existe apenas nas mentes dos falantes de Kikuyu. Como há um limite para o que o cérebro humano pode reter, o tamanho total da língua permanece mais ou menos constante. Uma língua escrita, por outro lado, existindo parcialmente nas milhões de páginas do registo escrito, cresce muito além da capacidade de qualquer pessoa a conhecer na totalidade. Mas se o tamanho de uma língua é limitado, segue-se que o número de conceitos que ela contém também será limitado e, portanto, tanto a língua como o pensamento serão empobrecidos.

As línguas africanas eram, por necessidade, suficientes no seu contexto pré-colonial. São empobrecidas apenas por comparação com as línguas ocidentais e numa África que tenta emular o Ocidente. Embora tenham sido compilados numerosos dicionários entre línguas europeias e africanas, há poucos dicionários dentro de uma única língua africana, precisamente porque os falantes nativos não precisam deles. Encontrei um dicionário Zulu-Zulu, mas era um livro de bolso de pequeno formato com 252 páginas.

As minhas indagações sobre o Zulu começaram quando liguei para o Departamento de Línguas Africanas da Universidade de Witwatersrand, em Joanesburgo, e falei com um homem Branco. Existia “precisão” na língua Zulu antes do contacto com os europeus? “Oh”, disse ele, “essa é uma pergunta muito eurocêntrica!” e simplesmente não respondeu. Liguei novamente, falei com outro homem branco e recebi uma resposta praticamente idêntica.

Então, contactei a Universidade da África do Sul, uma grande universidade por correspondência em Pretória, e falei com um jovem negro. Como tantas vezes aconteceu na minha experiência em África, conectámo-nos imediatamente. Ele compreendeu o meu interesse pelo Zulu e achou as minhas perguntas muito interessantes. Explicou que a palavra Zulu para “precisão” significa “fazer como uma linha reta”. Era isso parte do Zulu indígena? Não; isso foi adicionado pelos compiladores do dicionário.

Mas, assegurou-me, era diferente com “promessa”. Eu estava céptico. E quanto a “obrigação”? Ambos tínhamos o mesmo dicionário (Dicionário Inglês-Zulu, Zulu-Inglês, publicado pela Witwatersrand University Press em 1958), e procurámos. A entrada Zulu para “obrigação” significa “como se estivesse a atar os pés”. Ele disse que isso não era indígena, mas foi adicionado pelos compiladores. Mas se o Zulu não tinha o conceito de obrigação, como poderia ter o conceito de promessa, já que uma promessa é simplesmente o compromisso oral de uma obrigação? Estava interessado nisso, disse eu, porque os africanos frequentemente não cumpriam promessas e nunca se desculpavam — como se isso não justificasse um pedido de desculpas.

Pareceu acender-se uma luz na sua mente. Sim, disse ele; de facto, a palavra Zulu para promessa — isithembiso — não é a palavra correcta. Quando uma pessoa negra “promete”, quer dizer “talvez o faça, talvez não”. Mas, disse eu, isso torna o ato de prometer sem sentido, já que o objetivo de uma promessa é vincular alguém a um curso de ação. Quando não se tem a certeza de poder fazer algo, pode-se dizer: “Vou tentar, mas não posso prometer.” Ele disse que tinha ouvido brancos dizerem isso e nunca o entendera até agora. Como um jovem amigo romeno resumiu tão apropriadamente, quando uma pessoa negra “promete”, quer dizer “vou tentar”. O incumprimento de promessas não é, portanto, um problema linguístico. É difícil acreditar que, após conviverem tanto tempo com os brancos, não aprendessem o significado correcto, e é demasiada coincidência que o mesmo fenómeno se encontre na Nigéria, no Quénia e na Papua-Nova Guiné, onde também vivi. É muito mais provável que os africanos, em geral, careçam do próprio conceito e, portanto, não possam dar à palavra o seu significado correcto. Isso parece indicar alguma diferença na capacidade intelectual.

Note-se a entrada Zulu para obrigação: “como se estivesse a atar os pés”. Uma obrigação vincula, mas fá-lo moralmente, não fisicamente. É um conceito abstrato, razão pela qual não há palavra para isso em Zulu. Então, o que fizeram os autores do dicionário? Pegaram neste conceito abstrato e tornaram-no concreto. Pés, corda e atar são coisas tangíveis e observáveis, e, portanto, coisas que todos os negros entenderão, enquanto muitos não compreenderão o que é uma obrigação. O facto de terem definido a palavra desta forma é, por si só, uma evidência convincente para a minha conclusão de que o pensamento Zulu tem poucos conceitos abstratos e uma evidência indirecta para a visão de que os africanos podem ser deficientes no pensamento abstrato.

Pensamento abstrato

Entidades abstratas não existem no espaço ou no tempo; são tipicamente intangíveis e não podem ser percebidas pelos sentidos. Muitas vezes, são coisas que não existem. “O que aconteceria se todos deitassem lixo por todo o lado?” refere-se a algo que esperamos que não aconteça, mas ainda podemos pensar sobre isso.

Tudo o que observamos com os nossos sentidos ocorre no tempo e tudo o que vemos existe no espaço; no entanto, não podemos perceber o tempo nem o espaço com os nossos sentidos, mas apenas com a mente. A precisão também é abstrata; embora possamos ver e tocar coisas feitas com precisão, a precisão em si só pode ser percebida pela mente.

Como adquirimos conceitos abstratos? É suficiente fazer coisas com precisão para ter o conceito de precisão? Os africanos fazem excelentes esculturas, feitas com precisão, então por que não está o conceito na sua língua? Para ter este conceito, não devemos apenas fazer coisas com precisão, mas estar cientes deste fenómeno e depois dar-lhe um nome.

Como, por exemplo, adquirimos conceitos como crença e dúvida? Todos temos crenças; até os animais as têm. Quando um cão abana a cauda ao ouvir os passos do seu dono, acredita que ele está a chegar. Mas não tem o conceito de crença porque não tem consciência de que tem essa crença e, portanto, não tem consciência da crença em si. Em resumo, não tem autoconsciência e, assim, não está ciente dos seus próprios estados mentais.

Há muito tempo me parece que os negros tendem a carecer de autoconsciência. Se tal consciência é necessária para desenvolver conceitos abstratos, não é surpreendente que as línguas africanas tenham tão poucos termos abstratos. A falta de autoconsciência — ou introspecção — tem vantagens. Na minha experiência, o comportamento neurótico, caracterizado por uma autoconsciência excessiva e pouco saudável, é incomum entre os negros. Também estou confiante de que a disfunção sexual, caracterizada por uma autoconsciência excessiva, é menos comum entre os negros do que entre os brancos.

O tempo é outro conceito abstrato com o qual os africanos parecem ter dificuldades. Comecei a pensar sobre isso em 1998. Vários africanos chegaram num carro e estacionaram mesmo à frente do meu, bloqueando-o. “Ei”, disse eu, “não podem estacionar aqui.” “Oh, estás prestes a sair?”, perguntaram de forma perfeitamente educada e amigável. “Não”, respondi, “mas posso querer sair mais tarde. Estacionem ali” — e eles o fizeram.

Embora a possibilidade de eu querer sair mais tarde fosse óbvia para mim, o pensamento deles parecia abranger apenas o aqui e agora: “Se estás a sair agora, entendemos, mas caso contrário, qual é o problema?” Tive outros encontros semelhantes e a questão-chave parecia ser sempre: “Estás a sair agora?” O futuro, afinal, não existe. Existirá, mas não existe agora. Pessoas que têm dificuldade em pensar em coisas que não existem terão, ipso facto, dificuldade em pensar no futuro.

Parece que a palavra Zulu para “futuro” — isikhati — é a mesma que para tempo, assim como para espaço. Realisticamente, isso significa que esses conceitos provavelmente não existem no pensamento Zulu. Também parece não haver palavra para o passado — ou seja, o tempo anterior ao presente. O passado existiu, mas já não existe. Assim, pessoas que podem ter problemas em pensar em coisas que não existem terão dificuldade em pensar no passado, assim como no futuro.

Isso tem um impacto óbvio em sentimentos como gratidão e lealdade, que há muito notei serem incomuns entre os africanos. Sentimos gratidão por coisas que aconteceram no passado, mas para aqueles com pouco senso do passado, tais sentimentos são menos prováveis de surgir. Por que demorei mais de 20 anos a notar tudo isso? Penso que é porque as nossas suposições sobre o tempo estão tão profundamente enraizadas que nem sequer temos consciência de as fazer e, portanto, a possibilidade de outros não as partilharem simplesmente não nos ocorre. E assim, não o vemos, mesmo quando a evidência está diante dos nossos olhos.

Matemática e manutenção Cito um artigo da imprensa sul-africana sobre os problemas que os negros têm com a matemática:

“[Xhosa] é uma língua onde polígono e plano têm a mesma definição … onde conceitos como triângulo, quadrilátero, pentágono, hexágono são definidos por uma única palavra.” (“Finding New Languages for Maths and Science,” Star [Joanesburgo], 24 de Julho de 2002, p. 8.)

Mais precisamente, esses conceitos simplesmente não existem em Xhosa, que, juntamente com o Zulu, é uma das duas línguas mais faladas na África do Sul. Na América, diz-se que os negros têm uma “tendência a aproximar espaço, números e tempo em vez de visar a precisão completa.” (Star, 8 de Junho de 1988, p.10.) Por outras palavras, também são fracos em matemática. Note-se o trio idêntico — espaço, números e tempo. Será apenas uma coincidência que esses três conceitos altamente abstratos sejam aqueles com os quais os negros — em todo o lado — parecem ter tantas dificuldades?

A entrada no dicionário Zulu para “número” — ningi — significa “numeroso”, o que não é de todo o mesmo que o conceito de número. Fica claro, portanto, que não há conceito de número em Zulu.

O domínio branco na África do Sul terminou em 1994. Cerca de dez anos depois, começaram os cortes de energia, que eventualmente atingiram proporções de crise. A principal razão para isso é simplesmente a falta de manutenção no equipamento de geração. A manutenção é orientada para o futuro, e a entrada Zulu no dicionário para isso é ondla, que significa: “1. Nutrir, criar; educar; 2. Vigiar; observar (a tua colheita).” Em resumo, não há tal coisa como manutenção no pensamento Zulu, e seria difícil argumentar que isso não está totalmente relacionado com o facto de que, quando as pessoas em África dizem “nada funciona”, é apenas um exagero.

O New York Times relata que a cidade de Nova Iorque está a considerar um plano (desde implementado) destinado a fazer com que os negros “se saiam bem em testes padronizados e compareçam às aulas”, pagando-lhes para fazer essas coisas e que poderiam “ganhar até 500 dólares por ano”. Os alunos receberiam dinheiro por frequentar regularmente a escola, por cada livro que lessem, por se saírem bem nos testes e, às vezes, apenas por os fazerem. Os pais seriam pagos por “manter um emprego a tempo inteiro … ter seguro de saúde … e assistir a conferências de pais e professores.” (Jennifer Medina, “Schools Plan to Pay Cash for Marks,” New York Times, 19 de Junho de 2007.) A implicação clara é que os negros não são muito motivados. A motivação envolve pensar no futuro e, portanto, em coisas que não existem. Dadas as deficiências dos negros neste aspecto, não é surpreendente que lhes falte motivação, e ter de os incentivar desta forma é mais uma evidência para tal deficiência.

A entrada Zulu para “motivar” é banga, sob a qual encontramos: “1. Fazer, causar, produzir algo desagradável; … causar problemas. … 2. Disputar uma reivindicação; … lutar por herança; … 3. Dirigir-se a, apontar para, viajar em direção a … .” No entanto, quando pergunto aos africanos o que banga significa, não fazem ideia. De facto, nenhuma palavra Zulu poderia referir-se à motivação pela simples razão de que não há tal conceito em Zulu; e se não há tal conceito, não pode haver uma palavra para ele. Isso ajuda a explicar a necessidade de pagar aos negros para se comportarem como se estivessem motivados.

Zulus O mesmo artigo do New York Times cita Darwin Davis, da Urban League, que “adverte que o … dinheiro oferecido [por frequentar as aulas] era relativamente insignificante … e questiona … quantos testes os alunos precisariam de passar para comprar o mais recente videojogo.” Em vez de se envergonhar pela própria necessidade de tal plano, este activista negro queixa-se de que os pagamentos não são suficientes! Se ele realmente não tem consciência de como as suas observações serão percebidas pela maioria dos leitores, é moralmente obtuso, mas as suas opiniões podem reflectir uma compreensão comum entre os negros do que é a moralidade: não algo internalizado, mas algo que os outros impõem de fora. Daí a sua queixa de que pagar às crianças para fazerem coisas que deveriam estar motivadas a fazer por si próprias não é suficiente.

Neste contexto, lembro-me de algumas descobertas notáveis do falecido linguista americano William Stewart, que passou muitos anos no Senegal a estudar línguas locais. Enquanto as culturas ocidentais internalizam normas — “Não faças isso!” para uma criança torna-se eventualmente “Eu não devo fazer isso” para um adulto — as culturas africanas não o fazem. Dependem inteiramente de controlos externos sobre o comportamento, vindos de anciãos tribais e outras fontes de autoridade. Quando os africanos foram destribalizados, esses controlos externos desapareceram, e como nunca houve controlos internos, os resultados foram crime, drogas, promiscuidade, etc. Onde houve outras formas de controlo — como na África do Sul governada por brancos, na África colonial ou no Sul segregado dos EUA — este comportamento foi mantido dentro de limites toleráveis. Mas quando mesmo esses controlos desaparecem, muitas vezes há violência desenfreada.

Stewart aparentemente nunca perguntou por que as culturas africanas não internalizavam normas, ou seja, por que nunca desenvolveram uma consciência moral, mas é improvável que isso tenha sido apenas um acidente histórico. Mais provavelmente, foi o resultado de deficiências na capacidade de pensamento abstrato.

Evolução e pensamento abstrato Uma explicação para esta falta de pensamento abstrato, incluindo a compreensão diminuída do tempo, é que os africanos evoluíram num clima onde podiam viver dia a dia sem precisar de pensar no futuro. Nunca desenvolveram essa capacidade porque não havia necessidade dela. Os brancos, por outro lado, evoluíram em circunstâncias em que tinham de considerar o que aconteceria se não construíssem casas robustas e armazenassem combustível e comida suficientes para o inverno. Para eles, era afundar ou nadar.

Uma confirmação surpreendente das ideias de Stewart pode ser encontrada na edição de Maio/Junho de 2006 da Boston Review, uma publicação tipicamente liberal. Em “Do the Right Thing: Cognitive Science’s Search for a Common Morality,” Rebecca Saxe distingue entre regras “convencionais” e “morais”. As regras convencionais são apoiadas por autoridades, mas podem ser alteradas; as regras morais, por outro lado, não se baseiam na autoridade convencional e não estão sujeitas a mudanças. “Mesmo crianças de três anos … distinguem entre transgressões morais e convencionais”, escreve ela. A única excepção, segundo James Blair, dos Institutos Nacionais de Saúde, são os psicopatas, que exibem “comportamento agressivo persistente”. Para eles, todas as regras se baseiam apenas na autoridade externa, na ausência da qual “tudo é permitido”. A conclusão tirada é que “indivíduos saudáveis em todas as culturas respeitam a distinção entre regras convencionais … e morais.” No entanto, no mesmo artigo, outra antropóloga argumenta que “o estatuto especial das regras morais não pode ser parte da natureza humana, mas é … apenas … um artefacto dos valores ocidentais.” Anita Jacobson-Widding, escrevendo sobre as suas experiências entre os Manyika do Zimbabué, diz: “Tentei encontrar uma palavra que correspondesse ao conceito inglês de ‘moralidade.’ Expliquei o que queria dizer perguntando aos meus informantes que descrevessem as normas para o bom comportamento em relação a outras pessoas. A resposta foi unânime. A palavra para isso era tsika. Mas quando pedi aos meus informantes bilingues para traduzirem tsika para o inglês, eles disseram que era ‘boas maneiras’ …”

Ela concluiu que, como as boas maneiras são claramente regras convencionais e não morais, os Manyika simplesmente não tinham um conceito de moralidade. Mas como se explicaria essa ausência? A explicação de Jacobson-Widding é o disparate típico que só poderia vir de um chamado intelectual: “o conceito de moralidade não existe.” A explicação muito mais provável é que o conceito de moralidade, embora universal em outros aspectos, é enfraquecido em culturas que têm uma deficiência no pensamento abstrato.

De acordo com uma sabedoria popular agora desacreditada, os negros são “crianças em corpos adultos”, mas pode haver alguma base para essa visão. O adulto africano médio tem o mesmo QI bruto que uma criança branca de 11 anos. Essa é aproximadamente a idade em que as crianças brancas começam a internalizar a moralidade e já não precisam de reforços externos tão fortes.

Crueldade gratuita Outro aspecto do comportamento africano que os liberais fazem o seu melhor para ignorar, mas que, no entanto, requer uma explicação, é a crueldade gratuita. Um revisor do livro Driving South, de David Robbins (1993), escreve:

“Um assistente social do Cabo vê elementos que se deleitam com a violência … É como um culto que abraçou muitas pessoas que, de outra forma, parecem normais. … À menor provocação, o seu desejo de sangue é despertado. E então querem ver morte, e zombam e ridicularizam o sofrimento envolvido, especialmente o sofrimento de uma morte lenta e agonizante.” (Citizen [Joanesburgo], 12 de Julho de 1993, p.6.)

Há algo tão indizivelmente vil nisso, algo tão além da depravação, que o cérebro humano recua. Isso não é apenas a ausência de empatia humana, mas o prazer positivo no sofrimento humano, ainda mais quando é “lento e agonizante”. Consegue imaginar zombar e ridicularizar alguém em tal agonia horrível?

Durante a era do apartheid, os activistas negros costumavam matar traidores e inimigos pelo método de “colar” (necklacing). Um pneu velho era colocado ao redor do pescoço da vítima, enchido com gasolina, e — é melhor deixar um testemunha ocular descrever o que acontecia a seguir:

“O pneu cheio de gasolina é colocado nos teus ombros e um isqueiro é colocado ao teu alcance. … Os teus dedos são quebrados, agulhas são enfiadas pelo teu nariz e és torturado até acenderes o isqueiro na gasolina tu mesmo.” (Citizen; “SA’s New Nazis,” 10 de Agosto de 1993, p.18.) O autor de um artigo no Chicago Tribune, descrevendo a forma igualmente horrível como os Hutu mataram Tutsi nos massacres do Burundi, maravilhou-se com “o êxtase de matar, a luxúria pelo sangue; este é o pensamento mais horrível. Está além do meu alcance.” (“Hutu Killers Danced In Blood Of Victims, Videotapes Show,” Chicago Tribune, 14 de Setembro de 1995, p.8.) A falta de qualquer senso moral é ainda mais evidenciada pelo facto de terem gravado os seus crimes em vídeo, “aparentemente querendo registá-los … para a posteridade.” Ao contrário dos criminosos de guerra, que escondiam as suas façanhas, essas pessoas aparentemente tinham orgulho no seu trabalho.

Em 1993, Amy Biehl, uma americana de 26 anos com uma bolsa Fulbright, vivia na África do Sul, onde passava a maior parte do seu tempo em bairros negros ajudando negros. Um dia, enquanto levava três amigos africanos para casa, jovens negros pararam o carro, arrastaram-na para fora e mataram-na porque era branca. Um juiz sul-africano aposentado, Rex van Schalkwyk, no seu livro de 1998 One Miracle is Not Enough, cita um relatório de jornal sobre o julgamento dos seus assassinos: “Os apoiantes dos três homens acusados de assassinar [ela] … desataram a rir na galeria pública do Supremo Tribunal hoje quando uma testemunha disse como a mulher espancada gemeu de dor.” Esse comportamento, escreveu Van Schalkwyk, “é impossível de explicar em termos acessíveis a mentes racionais.” (pp. 188-89.)

Esses incidentes e as respostas que evocam — “o cérebro humano recua”, “além do meu alcance”, “impossível de explicar a mentes racionais” — representam um padrão de comportamento e pensamento que não pode ser ignorado, e oferecem suporte adicional para a minha alegação de que os africanos são deficientes em consciência moral.

Violação e amor

Há muito suspeito que a ideia de violação não é a mesma em África como em outros lugares, e agora encontro confirmação disso na Newsweek: “De acordo com um estudo de três anos [em Joanesburgo] … mais da metade dos jovens entrevistados — tanto homens como mulheres — acredita que forçar sexo com alguém que conheces não constitui violência sexual … [A] maneira casual com que os adolescentes sul-africanos discutem relações coercivas e sexo desprotegido é impressionante.” (Tom Masland, “Breaking The Silence,” Newsweek, 9 de Julho de 2000.)

Claramente, muitos negros não acham que a violação é algo de que se envergonhar.

O autor da Newsweek está intrigado com o comportamento generalizado que se sabe levar à SIDA, perguntando “Por que o esforço pelo sexo seguro falhou tão abjectamente?” Bem, além das suas atitudes profundamente diferentes em relação ao sexo e à violência e da sua libido elevada, um factor importante pode ser o seu conceito diminuído de tempo e a capacidade reduzida de pensar no futuro.

No entanto, fiquei surpreendido com o que encontrei no dicionário Zulu. A entrada principal para violação diz: “1. Agir apressadamente; … 2. Ser ganancioso. 3. Roubar, saquear, … tomar [posses] pela força.” Embora essas entradas possam estar relacionadas com o nosso conceito de violação, há um pequeno problema: não há referência a relações sexuais! Numa cultura dominada por homens, onde dizer “não” muitas vezes não é uma opção (como confirmado pelo estudo mencionado), “tomar sexo pela força” não faz realmente parte do cálculo mental africano. A violação tem claramente uma dimensão moral, mas talvez não para os africanos. Na medida em que não consideram o sexo forçado como errado, então, pela nossa concepção, não podem considerá-lo violação, porque a violação é errada. Se tal comportamento não é errado, não é violação.

Um artigo sobre violação em grupo no jornal britânico de esquerda, The Guardian, confirma isso quando cita uma jovem negra: “A questão é que eles [homens negros] não o vêem como violação, como nós sendo forçadas. Eles apenas o vêem como prazer para eles.” (Rose George, “They Don’t See it as Rape. They Just See it as Pleasure for Them,” 5 de Junho de 2004.) Uma atitude semelhante parece ser partilhada entre alguns negros americanos que se referem casualmente à violação em grupo como “correr um comboio”. (Nathan McCall, Makes Me Wanna Holler, Vintage Books, 1995.)

Se a compreensão africana de violação está tão distante, também pode estar a sua ideia de romantismo ou amor. Recentemente assisti a um programa de televisão sul-africano sobre fazer sexo por dinheiro. Das várias mulheres na audiência que falaram, nenhuma questionou a moralidade desse comportamento. De facto, uma perguntou lamentavelmente: “Por que mais eu faria sexo com um homem?”

Pela forma casual como os africanos usam a palavra “amor”, suspeito que a sua compreensão dela é, na melhor das hipóteses, infantil. Suspeito que a noção é alheia aos africanos, e ficaria surpreendido se as coisas fossem muito diferentes entre os negros americanos. Os africanos ouvem os brancos falar de “amor” e tentam dar-lhe um significado dentro do seu próprio repertório conceptual. O resultado é uma concepção infantil desta emoção humana mais profunda, provavelmente semelhante ao seu mal-entendido sobre a natureza de uma promessa.

Recentemente localizei um documento que me foi ditado por uma jovem africana em Junho de 1993. Ela chamou-lhe a sua “história”, e o parágrafo final é uma ilustração comovente do que, para os europeus, pareceria uma compreensão limitada do amor:

“No meu caminho de volta da escola, conheci um rapaz. E ele me pediu em namoro. O nome dele era Mokone. Ele disse-me que me amava. E então eu disse-lhe que lhe daria a minha resposta na próxima semana. À noite, estava louca por ele. Estava sempre a pensar nele.”

Cegueira moral

Sempre que ensinava ética, usava o exemplo de Alfred Dreyfus, um oficial judeu do exército francês que foi condenado por traição em 1894, embora as autoridades soubessem que ele era inocente. Admitir o erro, dizia-se, teria um efeito desastroso no moral militar e causaria grande agitação social. Eu argumentava que certas coisas são intrinsecamente erradas e não apenas por causa das suas consequências. Mesmo que os resultados de libertar Dreyfus fossem muito piores do que mantê-lo na prisão, ele deveria ser libertado, porque é injusto manter um homem inocente preso.

Para meu espanto, uma classe inteira no Quénia disse sem hesitação que ele não deveria ser libertado. Chamem-me obtuso se quiserem, mas demorei 20 anos para que o significado pleno disso começasse a fazer sentido para mim.

Subjunctividade e contrafactualidade

A morte é certa, mas os acidentes não são. Acredito que os africanos, em geral, podem carecer dos conceitos de subjunctividade e contrafactualidade. A subjunctividade é expressa em afirmações como: “O que terias feito se eu não tivesse aparecido?” Isso é contrário ao facto porque eu apareci, e agora é impossível que eu não tenha aparecido. Estamos a pedir a alguém que imagine o que teria feito se algo que não aconteceu (e agora não poderia acontecer) tivesse acontecido. Isso requer autoconsciência, e já descrevi a possível deficiência dos negros neste aspecto. É óbvio que os animais, por exemplo, não podem pensar contrafactualmente, devido à sua completa falta de autoconsciência.

Quando alguém que conheço tentou persuadir os seus trabalhadores africanos a contribuir para um seguro de saúde, eles perguntaram: “Para que serve?” “Bem, se tiveres um acidente, pagaria o hospital.” A resposta deles foi imediata: “Mas chefe, não tivemos um acidente!” “Sim, mas e se tivesses?” Resposta? “Não tivemos um acidente!” Fim da história.

Curiosamente, os negros planeiam funerais, pois, embora um acidente seja apenas um risco, a morte é uma certeza. (As entradas Zulu para “risco” são “perigo” e “uma superfície escorregadia”.) Dada a natureza frequentemente tudo-ou-nada do pensamento negro, se não é certo que terás um acidente, então não terás um acidente. Além disso, a morte é concreta e observável: Vemos as pessoas envelhecerem e morrerem. Os africanos tendem a estar cientes do tempo quando ele se manifesta de forma concreta e observável.

Uma das ideias centrais que sustentam a moralidade é a Regra de Ouro: faz aos outros o que gostarias que te fizessem a ti. “Como te sentirias se alguém roubasse tudo o que tens? Bem, é assim que ele se sentiria se tu o roubasses.” A subjunctividade aqui é óbvia. Mas se os africanos, em geral, carecem deste conceito, terão dificuldade em entender a Regra de Ouro e, consequentemente, em entender a moralidade.

Se isso for verdade, também poderíamos esperar que a sua capacidade de empatia humana seja diminuída, e isso é sugerido nos exemplos citados acima. Afinal, como empatizamos? Quando ouvimos falar de coisas como “colar” (necklacing), instintiva — e inconscientemente — pensamos: “Como me sentiria se fosse aquela pessoa?” Claro que não sou e não posso ser essa pessoa, mas imaginar ser essa pessoa dá-nos informações morais valiosas: que não quereríamos que isso nos acontecesse e, portanto, não devemos querer que aconteça aos outros. Na medida em que as pessoas são deficientes nesse pensamento abstrato, serão deficientes na compreensão moral e, consequentemente, na empatia humana — o que é o que tendemos a encontrar nos africanos.

No seu livro de 1990, Devil’s Night, Ze’ev Chafets cita uma mulher negra falando sobre os problemas de Detroit: “Sei que algumas pessoas não vão gostar disto, mas sempre que tens muitos negros juntos, vais ter problemas. Os negros são ignorantes e rudes.” (pp. 76-77.)

Se alguns africanos não conseguem imaginar claramente como o seu próprio comportamento rude se sente para os outros — por outras palavras, se não conseguem colocar-se no lugar do outro — serão incapazes de entender o que é a grosseria. Para eles, o que chamamos de rude pode ser normal e, portanto, do seu ponto de vista, não realmente rude. Os africanos podem, portanto, não se ofender com comportamentos que consideraríamos rudes — como não cumprir compromissos, por exemplo. Pode-se até conjecturar que a crueldade africana não é a mesma que a crueldade branca, uma vez que os africanos podem não estar totalmente cientes da natureza do seu comportamento, enquanto tal consciência é uma parte essencial da “verdadeira” crueldade.

Não sou de forma alguma o único a notar esta aparente inconsciência em relação aos outros que por vezes caracteriza o comportamento negro. Walt Harrington, um liberal branco casado com uma negra de pele clara, faz algumas admissões surpreendentes no seu livro de 1994, Crossings: A White Man’s Journey Into Black America:

“Reparo num carro pequeno … ao longe. De repente … um saco de lixo voa pela janela. … Penso, aposto que são negros. Ao longo dos anos, notei mais negros a deitar lixo do que brancos. Odeio admitir isso porque é um preconceito. Mas ao passar pelo carro, vejo que o meu reflexo estava correcto — [são negros]. “[Ao entrar] num drive-through do McDonald’s … [vejo que] o carro à minha frente tinha quatro negros. Novamente … a minha mente fez o seu cálculo inconsciente: Vamos ficar aqui para sempre enquanto estas pessoas decidem o que pedir. Literalmente abanei a cabeça. … Meu Deus, os meus filhos são meio negros! Mas então o golpe: esperamos e esperamos e esperamos. Cada um dos quatro … debruçou-se pela janela e pediu individualmente. O pedido foi alterado várias vezes. Ficámos e ficámos, e eu voltei a abanar a cabeça, desta vez pelo enigma que é a raça na América.

“Sabia que o sentimento enterrado que me fez prever esta desorganização … era … racista. … Mas a minha previsão estava correcta.” (pp. 234-35.) Os africanos também tendem a deitar lixo. Para entender isso, devemos perguntar por que os brancos não deitam lixo, pelo menos não tanto. Perguntamo-nos: “O que aconteceria se todos deitassem lixo por todo o lado? Seria uma confusão. Então não deves fazê-lo!” A possível deficiência dos negros no pensamento abstrato torna esse raciocínio mais difícil, pelo que qualquer comportamento que exija esse pensamento é menos provável de se desenvolver nas suas culturas. Mesmo após viverem por gerações em sociedades onde esse pensamento é comum, muitos podem ainda não o absorver.

Aplicação aos negros americanos Até que ponto as minhas observações sobre os africanos se aplicam aos negros americanos? Os negros americanos têm um QI médio de 85, que é 15 pontos mais alto que a média africana de 70. A capacidade para o pensamento abstrato está, sem dúvida, correlacionada com a inteligência, e por isso podemos esperar que os negros americanos, em geral, superem os africanos nestes aspectos.

Ainda assim, os negros americanos mostram muitos dos traços tão marcantes entre os africanos: baixa capacidade matemática, raciocínio abstrato diminuído, altas taxas de criminalidade, horizonte temporal curto, grosseria, lixo, etc. Se eu tivesse vivido apenas entre negros americanos e não entre africanos, talvez nunca tivesse chegado às conclusões que tenho, mas o comportamento mais extremo entre os africanos torna mais fácil perceber as mesmas tendências entre os negros americanos.

Gedaliah Braun possui um doutoramento em filosofia e é o autor de Racism, Guilt, Self-Hatred and Self-Deceit. Quem estiver interessado em ler o seu livro pode adquiri-lo em formato PDF no site da AR, AmRen.com.

@ 9bc2d34d:d19d2948

Chef's notes

This recipe is designed for home cooks who want to recreate the delicious buttery hollandaise sauce at home without feeling overwhelmed. It focuses on teaching the basics of the sauce, allowing beginners to master the fundamentals before experimenting with seasonings, hot sauces, or herbs.

Please note the thickness of sauce in the picture. This is after ten minutes of blending.

Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 3 minutes
• 🍳 Cook time: 10 minutes (blending)
• 🍽️ Servings: 2 - 4

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 8 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in the microwave or on the stovetop.
2. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites (reserve the egg whites for another dish).
3. Place the egg yolks in a blender.
4. Start the blender (medium to high settings for blend mode is fine).
5. Slowly pour the melted butter into the cover opening (it will splatter).
6. Add the remaining ingredients.
7. Blend for ten minutes (seriously, walk away and do something else).
8. Taste and adjust the flavors (add extra lemon juice or salt if desired).
9. Serve over your breakfast!

@ 8dc86882:9dc4ba5e

Today I saw a YouTube video from one of the privacy related channels, Techlore maybe? I don't exactly remember. Either way this particular video was going over the pluses and minuses of Android and iOS; and it has made me reconsider some things. I have one of each type of phone and jump back and forth a bit, but always thought I would end on Android. I'm not feeling that way anymore.

After really getting to understand Apple's Advanced Data Protection I think I came to the conclusion that my iPhone more than meets my needs and does everything I like. Yeah, Android sounds like it has most of the privacy coolness as far as mods, roms, and apps, but my iPhone is easily fully encrypted along with iCloud. The few services that aren't are covered by my Proton plan. It also allows me to stop paying for services I may not really need.

• I use and pay for Ente photos, which is great, but my Apple photos are already encrypted and backed up. I don't think I need to be paying for the extra service.
• The Apple Notes app falls under the fully encrypted side, and I can use the free version of Standard Notes for other things.
• I still use Signal Messenger where the OS doesn't matter as much.
• MySudo which I use for numbers is transferable between OSs also.

That's really about it, I mainly use my phone for Email, Calendar, Messaging, Notes, some social, and photos. I don't think I need anything special beyond that. The insecure apps I use on either platform keep their risks though Apple isn't an advertising company, so I feel they are less likely to abuse anything, at least for now. I wonder what other folks thoughts are. Feel free to share.

Cheers!

plebone

@ 6e24af77:b3f1350b

test 44

@ 26769dac:498e333b

Here's to the ones who can\ Feel there cause\ Surrender\ Change their ways\ But keep their fire\ And never give up

We will transform this world\ Restructuring\ One belief at a time

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

February 24, 2024 - Nostr Nests, the premier decentralized audio platform powered by the Nostr protocol, announces the launch of its highly anticipated version 2.0 beta release. This major update brings complete integration with Nostr, a redesigned user interface, and a host of powerful features, making it easier than ever to connect, collaborate, and create in an open and censorship-resistant environment.

Originally launched in January 2023 as Nostr Plebs Spaces, Nostr Nests quickly gained traction as a haven for audio-based interactions across the Nostr protocol. The official rebrand to Nostr Nests in February 2023 further solidified its position as the go-to platform for chatting, jamming, micro-conferences, live podcast recordings, and more with the onboarding of users, shows, and content from around the globe.

Version 2.0 marks a significant leap forward:

Seamless Nostr Integration: Nostr Nests 2.0 was built from the ground up to be a full fledged Nostr client, enabling a truly decentralized experience with direct Nostr authentication. No need for separate accounts, logins, or verification posts. Login with your current Nostr keys via nsecBunker or NIP-07 extensions such as Alby, Nostr Connect, or Nostore for iOS.

Discoverability and User Choice: Find your favorite live audio events like never before, not only on NostrNests.com, but also via a variety of Nostr clients that support live events such as Amethyst, Snort, Iris, Flockstr, Nostrudel, Wherostr and more. Install Nostr Nests as a PWA on Android, iOS, or your favorite desktop operating system.

Redesigned Interface: Navigate with ease thanks to a streamlined and intuitive layout. Find scheduled events, discover communities, and manage your interactions effortlessly.

Enhanced Functionality: Host events with flexible permission settings, record and store audio directly from your Nest, be in charge of your data while you chat on your customized relays, leverage advanced moderation tools for a smooth and secure experience, and broadcast it all across the Nostr protocol. Experience value for value with Zap enabled profiles and chat announcements.

Multi-lingual: Access Nostr Nests in your native language. Nostr Nests supports over a dozen languages, making Nostr Nests a truly global platform for our users. Open Source: The platform's code is fully open-source under the MIT license, welcoming community contributions and fostering transparency. Submit issues and pull requests on GitHub to shape the future of Nostr Nests.

Nostr Nests 2.0 empowers individuals and communities to:

Connect: Host and attend audio events with like-minded people based on shared interests, making new friends along the way or reconnecting with old ones.

Collaborate: Jam with musicians, brainstorm with colleagues, or conduct insightful interviews in a live audio setting.

Express Yourself: Share your voice, thoughts, and ideas with the world in an uncensored and secure environment via text chats as well as audio conversations.

Build Communities: Foster vibrant, customizable communities around shared passions, hobbies, or professional pursuits.

Whether you're a musician, podcaster, entrepreneur, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful audio interactions, Nostr Nests 2.0 invites you to join the conversation. Visit NostrNests.com today and experience the future of social audio.

Join and contribute to the Nostr Nests community:

Website: https://NostrNests.com

GitHub: https://github.com/nostrnests/nests

Current Features:

Nostr Integration: * Sign-in * Live events * Scheduled events * Zaps * Public chat * Reactions * Room presence * Relays (default or custom) * Social sharing * Follow/Unfollow * Profile creation * Profile Editing * Lobby filtering

Lobby: * Active rooms * Scheduled rooms * Filter by global or following * Create new room * View profile

Create room: * Create custom room * Customizable banner * Preselected colors * Custom image (static or animated) * Schedule room * Use default relays or custom relays

Rooms: * Stage and audience * Add/Remove people to/from stage * Public chat (ability to hide/view on mobile) * Raise hand * Mute/Unmute own mic * Mute others (Mod or Host) * Zap * Reactions * Edit profile * View profile * Share to Nostr * Stream audio (coming soon) (Mod or Host) * Record audio (Mod or Host) * Access room recordings (Mod or Host)

Sign-in: * Sign-in as guest to listen only * Create new Nostr profile * Use existing Nostr profile

Future Features:

• Chat zaps, chat reactions, mutes, etc.
• Support additional nsecBunkers
• More room customization options
• Monetization options for creators
• And more!

Please note: While Nostr Nests 2.0 marks a significant step forward, this release should be considered beta software. Users may encounter occasional bugs or unforeseen issues as we continue to refine and optimize the platform. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we work towards a fully polished experience.

Known Issues:

• A lot! It's very new and very beta!
• Sign-in user flow for direct links to rooms
• Mobile UI alignment
• Mobile UI chat bar

@ a39d19ec:3d88f61e

Die Debatte um Migration, Grenzsicherung und Abschiebungen wird in Deutschland meist emotional geführt. Wer fordert, dass illegale Einwanderer abgeschoben werden, sieht sich nicht selten dem Vorwurf des Rassismus ausgesetzt. Doch dieser Vorwurf ist nicht nur sachlich unbegründet, sondern verkehrt die Realität ins Gegenteil: Tatsächlich sind es gerade diejenigen, die hinter jeder Forderung nach Rechtssicherheit eine rassistische Motivation vermuten, die selbst in erster Linie nach Hautfarbe, Herkunft oder Nationalität urteilen.

Das Recht steht über Emotionen

Deutschland ist ein Rechtsstaat. Das bedeutet, dass Regeln nicht nach Bauchgefühl oder politischer Stimmungslage ausgelegt werden können, sondern auf klaren gesetzlichen Grundlagen beruhen müssen. Einer dieser Grundsätze ist in Artikel 16a des Grundgesetzes verankert. Dort heißt es:

„Auf Absatz 1 [Asylrecht] kann sich nicht berufen, wer aus einem Mitgliedstaat der Europäischen Gemeinschaften oder aus einem anderen Drittstaat einreist, in dem die Anwendung des Abkommens über die Rechtsstellung der Flüchtlinge und der Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention sichergestellt ist.“

Das bedeutet, dass jeder, der über sichere Drittstaaten nach Deutschland einreist, keinen Anspruch auf Asyl hat. Wer dennoch bleibt, hält sich illegal im Land auf und unterliegt den geltenden Regelungen zur Rückführung. Die Forderung nach Abschiebungen ist daher nichts anderes als die Forderung nach der Einhaltung von Recht und Gesetz.

Die Umkehrung des Rassismusbegriffs

Wer einerseits behauptet, dass das deutsche Asyl- und Aufenthaltsrecht strikt durchgesetzt werden soll, und andererseits nicht nach Herkunft oder Hautfarbe unterscheidet, handelt wertneutral. Diejenigen jedoch, die in einer solchen Forderung nach Rechtsstaatlichkeit einen rassistischen Unterton sehen, projizieren ihre eigenen Denkmuster auf andere: Sie unterstellen, dass die Debatte ausschließlich entlang ethnischer, rassistischer oder nationaler Kriterien geführt wird – und genau das ist eine rassistische Denkweise.

Jemand, der illegale Einwanderung kritisiert, tut dies nicht, weil ihn die Herkunft der Menschen interessiert, sondern weil er den Rechtsstaat respektiert. Hingegen erkennt jemand, der hinter dieser Kritik Rassismus wittert, offenbar in erster Linie die „Rasse“ oder Herkunft der betreffenden Personen und reduziert sie darauf.

Finanzielle Belastung statt ideologischer Debatte

Neben der rechtlichen gibt es auch eine ökonomische Komponente. Der deutsche Wohlfahrtsstaat basiert auf einem Solidarprinzip: Die Bürger zahlen in das System ein, um sich gegenseitig in schwierigen Zeiten zu unterstützen. Dieser Wohlstand wurde über Generationen hinweg von denjenigen erarbeitet, die hier seit langem leben. Die Priorität liegt daher darauf, die vorhandenen Mittel zuerst unter denjenigen zu verteilen, die durch Steuern, Sozialabgaben und Arbeit zum Erhalt dieses Systems beitragen – nicht unter denen, die sich durch illegale Einreise und fehlende wirtschaftliche Eigenleistung in das System begeben.

Das ist keine ideologische Frage, sondern eine rein wirtschaftliche Abwägung. Ein Sozialsystem kann nur dann nachhaltig funktionieren, wenn es nicht unbegrenzt belastet wird. Würde Deutschland keine klaren Regeln zur Einwanderung und Abschiebung haben, würde dies unweigerlich zur Überlastung des Sozialstaates führen – mit negativen Konsequenzen für alle.

Sozialpatriotismus

Ein weiterer wichtiger Aspekt ist der Schutz der Arbeitsleistung jener Generationen, die Deutschland nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg mühsam wieder aufgebaut haben. Während oft betont wird, dass die Deutschen moralisch kein Erbe aus der Zeit vor 1945 beanspruchen dürfen – außer der Verantwortung für den Holocaust –, ist es umso bedeutsamer, das neue Erbe nach 1945 zu respektieren, das auf Fleiß, Disziplin und harter Arbeit beruht. Der Wiederaufbau war eine kollektive Leistung deutscher Menschen, deren Früchte nicht bedenkenlos verteilt werden dürfen, sondern vorrangig denjenigen zugutekommen sollten, die dieses Fundament mitgeschaffen oder es über Generationen mitgetragen haben.

Rechtstaatlichkeit ist nicht verhandelbar

Wer sich für eine konsequente Abschiebepraxis ausspricht, tut dies nicht aus rassistischen Motiven, sondern aus Respekt vor der Rechtsstaatlichkeit und den wirtschaftlichen Grundlagen des Landes. Der Vorwurf des Rassismus in diesem Kontext ist daher nicht nur falsch, sondern entlarvt eine selektive Wahrnehmung nach rassistischen Merkmalen bei denjenigen, die ihn erheben.

@ 6e24af77:b3f1350b

test

@ 3f770d65:7a745b24

For Bitcoin enthusiasts seeking a haven for like-minded individuals and a chance to experience Bitcoin adoption in its purest form, El Salvador and Bitcoin Beach often come to mind. This is no coincidence, given El Salvador's pioneering role in making bitcoin legal tender. However, the Bitcoin ecosystem extends beyond national borders, with vibrant communities emerging around the world where bitcoin thrives in everyday transactions. One such example is the inspiring grassroots movement of Bitcoin Jungle in rural Costa Rica. Driven by a shared passion for Bitcoin and the "pura vida" spirit, a group of Bitcoiners has established a thriving community centered on a circular Bitcoin economy. This is the essence of Bitcoin Jungle.

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What is Bitcoin Jungle?

Bitcoin Jungle is an open-source community project focused on bringing the Bitcoin ecosystem to life in Costa Rica, particularly in the "Golden Triangle" area – Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal, Platanillo, and Tinamaste. Their mission is to build a circular bitcoin economy and a thriving community centered around bitcoin.

Focus:

• Bitcoin adoption: Encourage businesses and individuals to accept and use bitcoin as a form of payment.
• Education and resources: Provide educational materials and resources about Bitcoin and the Lightning Network to both businesses and individuals.
• Community building: Create a strong and supportive community of Bitcoin enthusiasts in Costa Rica.
• Boost to local economy: Increased tourist and resident spending through Bitcoin adoption to benefit local businesses.
• Financial inclusion: Bitcoin's borderless nature and ease of use offers financial inclusion for unbanked or underbanked populations.

Achievements:

• Bitcoin Jungle app: Developed a mobile wallet app built on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, facilitating easy bitcoin transactions within the community for both Android and iOS.
• Business adoption: Helped over 250 businesses in the "Golden Triangle" accept Bitcoin payments.
• Map and directory: Created a map and directory showcasing businesses accepting bitcoin in the area.
• Grassroots movement: Established a strong community identity around bitcoin and "pura vida" values.
• Integrate Sinpe: Allow sending of bitcoin payments to 90% of the Costa Rican population, both individuals and businesses.

Who's behind Bitcoin Jungle?

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The success of Bitcoin Jungle can be attributed to the convergence of two crucial drivers: passionate Bitcoin enthusiasts and skilled community leaders. Each individual, attracted by the unique allure of the "Golden Triangle" in Costa Rica, brought their diverse skillsets and collective ambition to the table, resulting in this organically developed and thriving hub of Bitcoin adoption. These skillsets ranging from technical, to personal, to community outreach, to spiritual and more, are a synergistic blend of expertise and shared vision, serving as the foundational layer for Bitcoin Jungle's continued progress.

Bitcoin Freedom Festival

Building upon the momentum of their inaugural Nostr unconference held at Awake in Uvita, Costa Rica, in March 2023, Bitcoin Jungle successfully hosted their first Bitcoin conference, the Bitcoin Freedom Festival, last week at the same venue. This conference took place during January 18-21, 2024, bringing together Bitcoiners and like minded, freedom loving folks from across the world.

The inaugural Bitcoin Freedom Festival, hosted by Bitcoin Jungle, offered a diverse and engaging lineup for attendees. Participants delved into the world of Bitcoin through a variety of talks, panels, and workshops catering to both technical and non-technical audiences. Attendees engaged in interactive sessions on building sustainable Bitcoin economies, fostering inclusivity within the ecosystem, and navigating the legal landscape of Bitcoin businesses. Speakers explored the potential of Bitcoin beyond finance, delving into its impact on social change, environmental sustainability, and spiritual connections. Beyond Bitcoin related themes, attendees were graced with various cultural sessions and ceremonies from local indigenous tribes and family-friendly events such as fruit tasting, hot chocolate creation, and hula hooping. For those that wanted to add decentralized communication talks to their schedule, attendees joined a Nostr panel hosted by yours truly along with several other Nostriches.

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Awake describes themselves as "a catalyst for humanity's awakening, celebrating life and serving as a community, retreat center, and hub for individual and collective growth" or the spiritual arm of Bitcoin's ethos, connecting human's together and to nature. Awake is essentially a Bitcoin Citadel.

Bitcoin transcends the function of a mere currency to symbolize the primal layer of existence that harmonizes our myriad experiences. It illuminates our collective path, encouraging truth, integrity, and unity, as we rise above the inner and outer forces that have historically suppressed the individual and humanity.

It seems poetic and fitting that Awake is located in the heart of Bitcoin Jungle, their co-founder Govinda, is also one of the founding members of Bitcoin Jungle, and Awake hosted both Nostrica and the Bitcoin Freedom Festival.

Bitcoin Marketplace

Beyond the conversations of conferences and networking opportunities, the Bitcoin Freedom Festival offered a taste of the future with its bustling Bitcoin Marketplace. This dedicated area brought together dozens of local merchants and vendors from the neighboring Bitcoin farmers' market, showcasing the possibilities of Bitcoin in everyday life. HODLing bitcoin is cool, but the real super power unlocks when you spend your bitcoin for everyday goods.

From delicious tropical fruits and local treats to handcrafted snacks, clothing, jewelry, artwork, and trinkets, the vendors represented the early adopters of Bitcoin Jungle's initiative. In collaboration with Bitcoin Jungle, each vendor utilized a compact mobile Point of Sale system powered by BTCPay server. These user-friendly devices, complete with thermal receipt printers, empowered vendors to seamlessly accept bitcoin payments, directly deposited to their Bitcoin Jungle wallets.

https://i.nostr.build/J7aP.jpg

This wasn't just a marketplace; it was a living, breathing testament to the growing acceptance of bitcoin within the local community. Attendees could witness firsthand the ease and convenience of using bitcoin for everyday purchases. The atmosphere buzzed with a sense of shared purpose and enthusiasm as vendors and customers alike embraced the innovative power of Bitcoin. From buying the freshest mango from a local farmer to picking up a unique handcrafted souvenir, participants experienced the thrill of being part of a pioneering community actively shaping a new economic landscape, all from within the Costa Rican jungle.

Where can you spend Bitcoin in Costa Rica?

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Bitcoin adoption in Costa Rica extends beyond the "Golden Triangle", encompassing over 250 locations spread across the country. While the densest concentration lies within Uvita, the beating heart of Bitcoin Jungle, businesses accepting Bitcoin can be found throughout the nation.

These locations are conveniently accessible on the Bitcoin Jungle map, both within the mobile app and on their website. You may browse Bitcoin Jungle's interactive map to discover various businesses and locations that accept bitcoin, searching by category and location.

https://i.nostr.build/9n9G.png

Rest assured, you won't be scrambling for mobile reception in most cities and towns. For example, Uvita and Dominical boast excellent mobile coverage with major carriers like Claro blanketing the area, providing your mobile bitcoin transactions the bandwidth they need. While mobile data is readily available, many cafes, restaurants, and shops in both towns offer free Wi-Fi for even greater connectivity. This connectivity extends across most of Costa Rica too, with many local businesses boasting high speed fiber connections.

If you happen to visit a business that isn't directly using the Bitcoin Jungle app or accepting bitcoin, there's a high probability that they're using Sinpe. This will indirectly allow you to spend your bitcoin virtually anywhere in Costa Rica.

What is Sinpe Movil?

Sinpe serves as the backbone of Costa Rican mobile payments, enabling instant transfers between bank accounts, individuals, and certain businesses. With an impressive 90% penetration rate, Sinpe has become the dominant payment method for everyday transactions.

https://i.nostr.build/2WO5.png

Thanks to Bull Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Jungle app now supports Sinpe, allowing you to convert your bitcoin into Costa Rican colones directly within the Sinpe network. This means you can seamlessly top up your Sinpe wallet with bitcoin or send bitcoin to an existing Sinpe wallet, effectively spending bitcoin and having it being converted to fiat for the local merchant on the fly.

Do you need the Bitcoin Jungle app?

The short answer: No! You can use whatever you want!

When it comes to spending your Bitcoin in Costa Rica, you have two primary options: utilizing the Sinpe mobile payment system through the Bitcoin Jungle app, or conducting direct Lightning Network transactions at participating businesses.

https://i.nostr.build/Z6V9.jpg

• Over 250 locations in Costa Rica accept Bitcoin payments directly through the Lightning Network. Here, you can utilize your preferred Bitcoin Lightning wallet for seamless and instant transactions.
• The Bitcoin Jungle app is required if you want to convert your bitcoin to colones and utilize them within the Sinpe network. This opens up a wider range of spending options throughout Costa Rica, as Sinpe boasts a 90% penetration rate.

Not everyone will be able to install the Bitcoin Jungle application. For example, if you are visiting Costa Rica from the USA, with a USA phone, there's a high probability that you will not be able to install the Bitcoin Jungle application via Google Play Store or Apple App Store due to region locking. You may have to manually install the Android APK or join Apple's TestFlight program.

https://i.nostr.build/0lOv.png

While the Bitcoin Jungle app offers a convenient gateway for spending bitcoin with Sinpe in Costa Rica, its requirement for mobile phone number registration might deter some privacy-conscious users, particularly experienced Bitcoiners accustomed to self-custody solutions. Fortunately, for those seeking a purely pseudonymous experience, an array of robust mobile Lightning wallets exist and all work as expected.

Personal Experiences

My wife and I first explored Bitcoin Jungle in March 2023, witnessing the early stages of Bitcoin adoption. Now, upon my return for the Bitcoin Freedom Festival, I was astounded to find the number of accepting businesses almost doubled. This remarkable growth, directly attributed to the previous "Nostrica Unconference" with its near 300 Bitcoin enthusiasts, fuels my optimism for an even greater surge following this recent event. Witnessing firsthand the enthusiastic response of local merchants reaffirms my belief in Bitcoin.

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This trip, eager to share this experience with family, I brought my wife and children, armed with four Bitcoin Lightning wallets connected to my Lightning node at home. We embarked on a family vacation, using the Lightning Network exclusively for day-to-day purchases from breakfast treats to souvenirs. From coffee for my wife and pipa fria for my son to fresh fruit for my daughter and delicious meals for all of us, each transaction was seamless and effortless. This culminated in a memorable visit to Seba's, Uvita's premier restaurant, where we enjoyed both food and adult beverages – all paid for with bitcoin.

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This experience wasn't just about personal convenience; it was a testament to the growing acceptance and integration of bitcoin within the local community. Witnessing how families, from coffee shops to fine dining, can seamlessly operate, empowers me to envision a future where Bitcoin flourishes.

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Reaching Bitcoin Jungle involves some planning due to its distance from San Jose Airport. The journey takes approximately 3.5-4 hours by car, offering the most flexibility for exploring the region, attending excursions, and maximizing your itinerary. Car rentals are readily available, though ride-sharing, buses, and even small plane flights are alternative options, depending on your budget and preferences. While Uvita's downtown area features walkable access to many amenities, having a rental vehicle is recommended for exploring the full scope of the Golden Triangle's attractions. For example, my family visited jungle canopy zip lines, jungle cacao tours, waterfalls, and multiple beaches.

Conclusions

Bitcoin Jungle is a successful community-driven, grassroots project, showcasing the potential of Bitcoin adoption and integration beyond El Salvador. We often hear about Bitcoin Beach or how El Salvador is "Bitcoin Country", but I'd wager that Bitcoin adoption is on par or even higher with local merchants in Bitcoin Jungle.

Bitcoin Jungle is a beautiful paradise showcasing freedom at every corner, allowing you to spend bitcoin at nearly every corner. If you're a Bitcoiner seeking a vibrant, welcoming community and a real-world Bitcoin experience, look no further than Bitcoin Jungle. I highly recommend it. Pura vida!

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@ 4fe4a528:3ff6bf06

One of the main motivational factors for people to buy bitcoin is it’s ability to store value over time. During harvest we are doing the same thing. We have now harvested our garlic and 1/2 of our onions because if we don’t use the sun’s energy to cure the plants before winter they will start to rot. Let me explain why God has made the world this way; but, first let me explain why storing things isn’t evil.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Matt. 6:19-21

Is it wrong, then to have a retirement portfolio or even to care about the material things of this world for ourselves or for others? The answer is again both no and yes. The no comes from the fact that this passage is not the only one in the Bible speaking to questions of wealth and provision for those who are dependent on us. Other passages counsel prudence and forethought, such as, “Those who gather little by little will increase [wealth]” (Proverbs 13:11b), and, “The good leave an inheritance to their children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22).

God guides Joseph to store up food for seven years in advance of a famine (Genesis 41:25-36), and Jesus speaks favorably in the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30). In light of the rest of Scripture, Matthew 6:19-21 cannot be a blanket prohibition. But the yes part of the answer is a warning, summed up beautifully in verse 21, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” In other words, the possessions you own will change you so that you care more about the possessions than about other things.” So choose carefully what you own, for you will inevitably begin to value and protect it to the potential detriment of everything else.

How are we to discern the line between appropriate and inappropriate attention to wealth? Jesus answers, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” So if you believe your heart is following God’s direction go ahead and harvest your crops and / or buy some bitcoin. If you would have bought bitcoin one year ago, you would have 127% more purchasing power now. Let’s keep on fearing God and keeping his commandments.

@ 47259076:570c98c4

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