the value of our voice lies in expressing it authentically.

we use truth to pursue freedom and peace, not lies for attention and approval.

how important is the protocol through which we express our voice? who controls how it is heard and seen?

nostr represents authenticity, truth, freedom, and peace. big tech embodies deceitfulness, lies, imprisoned attention seeking, and violence.
https://m.primal.net/Iegz.jpg


My Bitcoin and Nostr article from last year still reflects my views. Open money and open information.

Definitely worth a read if you haven’t done so. I re-read it today on a flight from the Oslo Freedom Forum, where these concepts were a big theme. It organized a lot of things I’ve learned from many people.

Open interoperable ecosystems, choice of algorithms, permissionless foundations for developers, etc.

If I were to write it today, I would emphasize Nostr as a social graph and discovery mechanism for Bitcoin/ecash wallets. That’s really come a long way over the past year.

https://www.lynalden.com/open-networks/


"Knowledge is power. Stop hogging information and bring it to people who need it." – Hadiya Masieh at #OFF


One of my takeaways from #OFF was one of the incredible powers Twitter has at directing the state of the world.

Protests don’t work because, for some reason, tyrants don’t like being criticized. When they do, they work because enough people, probably outside of the regime’s control, care enough to exert pressure on their local governments to, in turn, pressure the regime.

Elon can have the thumb on the scale on what people care about, and equally important, what they don’t.

He can easily manufacture discontent or appease it at a global scale.

Which essentially translates to a single person having control on tumbling, or preserving, regimes throughout the world from the comfort of his couch.

The $44bln he used seems ungodly cheap now; really no human should have this type of power.

Nostr can fix this, but we need to work harder in bringing life/energy here AND away from Twitter.


Incredibly thankful to the HRF crew, nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu , nostr:npub1szpa7cypmyd59083qs3pte9lez22lzfu6pl2guhgqx7q09x68y6qquh3td , nostr:npub1cf3zeytdnwgwzz5pk2ax0vvmmlzad03xcft4d50ejrfhsh8pxcdsefx7gk , nostr:npub1wlkfvm7dvnusz9fv44wuwucu0jp3lc3wqt36ax0lz33hukjga7wq6hqwhy  and everybody else; this was a very enlightening experience that will shape how and what I work on.

Looking forward to next year’s, and building to make a larger impact based on what I’ve learned here.

Thank you.

nostr:note1f8068jnr25w0flcxp0tejvgmh3n5nwv5vp7zeqdz8n0rmeedrvvqww7ale


REMEMBER, Your phone is almost never private. 👇 nostr:note1dzrq48mzd7szs4aschxvunml27drtns948zrh4vku76wtuz25uus68mcur


People really don't realize how utterly dependent modern surveillance is on the idea that everybody is carrying a phone — which is always tracked. Their car has a cellular modem in it — which is always tracked. 99% of investigation is one guy and a search box. If you're not low-hanging fruit, you aren't gonna merit the Eye of Sauron of manual, well-resourced, focused team attention—and if you did, you probably planned ahead for it, right? Because it's not a mystery what would get you on Santa's Naughty List.

Anyway, the point is that even in a big city, the phoneless guy in a "covid" mask is going to be invisible to anything less than that exhaustive manual investigation — at least for a few more years. That may go away once they start networking all the cameras and having AI start trying to match up clothing sets moving from camera to camera, butthat capability is hard to hide, so it'll be in the news. And it won't work that well in places with less camera density and, perhaps, for people who wear the most-common outfits (the visual equivalent of a "shared fingerprint").

Remember: Phones are useful, but dangerous. And the people who will still wear covid masks to the beach are helping to normalize facial obscurity—regardless of their intention. Don't be mean to them. Encourage them to wear them everywhere. For passport photos. In police booking photos. At the customs desk. Family portraits! The sky is the limit—let them push the boundaries so that you don't have to.

nostr:note1dufu3sutqcu4er2pj9k7zmxdf7k23qxn3eskwdr8tp3ffvg7g9qqsv4lrc


This is a highlight created in https://highlighter.com

This is SO spot on.

No client will disrupt the incumbents by themselves.

For the VAST majority of people:

👉 Twitter is better than Primal.
👉 Substack is better than Highlighter.
👉 Youtube is better than Zapstream.

No matter how good the products we make get (and we'll make them REALLY fucking good), the network effects of each player are incredibly hard to overcome.

Primal would need to get 200x or 500x better than the Twitter product for the experience to clear the famous "10x-better" bar an offering needs to achieve to yeild user change.

(One of) the upper-hands we DO have is interoperability.

That's our secret weapon.

But we'll only realize it's full potential if we fully embrace it and lean REALLY hard on it.

nostr:note1let7sydwfug3ar4re5m2akd0wkfvd3tqdjdg9sdr6329v7mr5dssmxhch9


#Bitcoin is a live thing that constantly gets tested on its antifragility, developpers and community do its best to react to market necessities and frequently its multiple adoption cycles bring in new perspective.

Maybe a single conference forever would “ossify” its education and that could drive a wedge with the reality of the bitcoin world.
Besides, conferences are about so much more than its “content” :)

In any case, great thought experiment!
⚡💜⚡


Tips and tricks to GET SHIT DONE!

https://cdn.satellite.earth/3ff56a52bb47b157fe287c50df0e795fcf8cf9077f3e25f1ce142e835c3d2a0b.pdf

Here is a helpful pdf guide about tricks on how to fight procrastination and creative block!

#doshit
#grownostr


Welcome!


huge

(small)

https://www.mining.build/latest-updates-3nm-system/


Management of multiple accounts 🫶✨
Bless you!


We're excited to announce a new initiative to get creators and journalists on to Nostr. This is a project organized by nos.social with   nostr:npub12vkcxr0luzwp8e673v29eqjhrr7p9vqq8asav85swaepclllj09sylpugg,  nostr:npub1w0rthyjyp2f5gful0gm2500pwyxfrx93a85289xdz0sd6hyef33sh2cu4x,  nostr:npub13myx4j0pp9uenpjjq68wdvqzywuwxfj64welu28mdvaku222mjtqzqv3qk,  nostr:npub18m76awca3y37hkvuneavuw6pjj4525fw90necxmadrvjg0sdy6qsngq955, and  nostr:npub1yzvxlwp7wawed5vgefwfmugvumtp8c8t0etk3g8sky4n0ndvyxesnxrf8q. The goal is to get a diversity of content on to nostr and show those creators and journalists that the nostr model of zaps and the new subscription content over nostr is a better alternative to centralized advertising driven platforms. #value4value

Please share this with creators and journalists you know who are already on Nostr and also those who might want to join. This will include both getting these folks on to the nostr apps which make sense for them, setting them up with a wallet, teaching them how to be successful on nostr, and importantly promoting them through a bunch of channels on nostr so they can build and audience.

We don't have the deep pockets of meta and tiktok, nor their powerful AI driven algorithms, but we've got something that can be more powerful, people.

Creators and Journalists know they're stuck sharecropping on centralized platforms that can demonetize or delete or just shadow ban their accounts. One day their content gets broadcast to the world, the next the algorithm doesn't even show it to their followers. Their revenue is dependent on getting a cut from an opaque and arbitrary advertising system.

So, share these links, if you're a creator or journalist sign up, and when we start promoting these folks on nostr, check out what they're doing and if you like it, send them zaps. This is open to both existing nostr creators and journalists and new ones we'll onboard.

https://www.nos.social/creator-residency

https://www.nos.social/journalism-accelerator


Pro Tip: Unless you're paid bonuses or commission, only do what you're paid to do and only do it as efficiently as you need to in order to fill your scheduled work day. Too many employers love to punish their best and most efficient workers by giving them more work for the same amount of pay.


One thing that is glaringly obvious after spending a short period of time off twitter/on Nostr:

The twitter algos are hyperspecialized in inciting and amplifying highly charged emotional interactions.

This becomes more and more evident the longer you spend away from the platform.

The interactions feel much more natural, positive, and communal on Nostr. Good vibes all around.


A lot of people think it's weird that I care so much about the protocol development, but it's not just "a protocol", for someone who needs it to communicate freely.

It's "the protocol".

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5d/dd/1a/5ddd1a32a95459354069e2d3dbbeca5a.jpg


fuck fiat https://image.nostr.build/99e3198d530a2781ad2891cd35d2d5bfeaeba6b6c72166083c536a34b3711501.jpg


Did you ever stop and *really* think about what it means to "do a Satoshi Nakamoto"?

Context for my weird question: I have met many, many bitcoiners over the years. Many of them take a stab at keeping privacy by doing some combo of: not revealing name, not revealing location, not revealing face. Etc. So often, if I happen to meet them in person, they end up revealing the things that they were hiding online. Quite literally a mask came off (pre covid!) once we started drinking - a simple, funny anecdotal example of what I mean. Many complain about photos being taken, many focus on always using a pseudonym. I'm sure most people reading recognize these patterns of behaviour.

I can see the purpose, up to a point, so this is not criticism. It's a little like me doing coinjoin "here and there" - you don't expect to defend yourself against a hyper powerful aggressor, only against a casual criminal looking for an easy score.

But if you do want *real* defence against *strong* attackers, you have a huge problem. These half-measures will be useless, perhaps worse than that, if you get overconfident, because the determined investigator only needs *one* strand to pull on, and the measures I describe above, which are almost always rules only half-stuck to anyway, don't cut it, at all.

Which brings me to my point: is it even possible to "go all the way"? Clearly it is; Satoshi Nakamoto is not the only person who's ever done it, but it's pretty damn rare at the very least.

Imagine what it would mean. If you are engaged in a serious project, that takes let's say at least a year's worth of full time work, then you are going to do that for no reward. Not just, no money, people do that quite often when it comes to things they genuinely enjoy, but no recognition, no social context, not even "oh I won't bother you because I know you're busy with that project". Nobody will say that because nobody will know. Imagine doing a full, intense 8 hour day of work (more likely, split over many days) and knowing that there will *never* be a direct reward of any form, for that. And then doing it again, and again.

What's more, you don't just "not get a reward". You have to do almost double the work, to ensure that at every step, every pushed commit or technical discussion, does not expose anything at the network trace level, or the language, vocabulary etc. Managing tricky pseudonym accounts, handling the headaches of Tor etc. I'm not trying to say it needs super-genius level tech skills, I'm trying to say it's a massive amount of effort.

Could you do that? I daren't even ask the question of myself, because I'm almost sure it's a no. But to *imagine* where that kind of motivation would come from, that's what fascinates me.


Hi!


Loving this one ✨⚡


With my new role at HRF, I look forward to exploring the various ways people living under authoritarian regimes are reclaiming their #financialfreedom with new technologies. That’s why I’m excited to announce the launch of our newsletter, the Financial Freedom Report. 📰

The Financial Freedom Report will arrive in your inbox each Thursday morning and will focus on:
- the role money and banking play in the civil liberties and human rights struggles of those living under authoritarian regimes
- highlight how new monetary inventions like #Bitcoin can help secure more personal freedom for people even in the darkest dictatorship
- showcase real use cases from around the world
- and feature new tools and applications that can protect our financial freedom.

To my understanding, this is the first newsletter to explore the intersection between #humanrights and #financialfreedom, which means you have an opportunity to be at the forefront of this conversation. 🔥

Highly encourage you to subscribe here: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter


When nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m  asked nostr:npub1sn0wdenkukak0d9dfczzeacvhkrgz92ak56egt7vdgzn8pv2wfqqhrjdv9 about ways the public can help bring him home, Snowden wasn't optimistic about his chances but used the opportunity to speak about the importance of #freeassange.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1070445764045705307/1169547422440095744/trim_632CCEAA-FBC8-41B5-AFB7-EC8F127D01C8.mov?ex=6555ccea&is=654357ea&hm=d6a5ce1d9ca3600c33b30326fb97bc3e523eb588751367dfe45b6d6b30b7ec64&


The notes are great, but we must focus on building the Other Stuff to bring creators to Nostr nostr:npub107jk7htfv243u0x5ynn43scq9wrxtaasmrwwa8lfu2ydwag6cx2quqncxg #nostrasia

https://void.cat/d/4CGkRh3TzDqEtH7eja9eh3.webp


I’m loving the nos.social user experience. Many optionalities for visualization ✨💙


15 years. https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf


Totally ✨

https://youtu.be/AQXVHITd1N4?si=WlSAG6J6w8Z-Klsv


Best marketing money ever spent ⚡

#unmarketing

https://mempool.space/address/bc1qy5enkjplrwm4kaag4qgqjppsjy4k3a6fy7z879


The bounty will keep growing until someone cracks the code and takes control of the wallet. At that point, it’s safe to assume the bounty is gone


Been fantasizing about someone doing this for a while 💃🏻

https://media.tenor.com/W_bHuwhxhs8AAAAC/waiting-cat-filing-nail.gif


congrats!⚡


congrats⚡


Today it’s Ross Ulbricht’s birthday and he’s spending his 10th year in jail.

✨A great present for him would be to pay forward his contributions to #bitcoin by sharing and promoting his clemency petition:
👉 https://www.change.org/p/clemency-for-ross-ulbricht-condemned-to-die-in-prison-for-an-e-commerce-website

https://nostr.build/i/nostr.build_62c03c9b2b548821a0bfc8a0c10b8e17273b5e4a66cc3f57b7e9305777f0b90b.jpeg

Really, Ross deserves compassion.
#FreeRoss ✨🏴☠

*All zaps sent to this note will be used to send funds to his commissary⚡or donate directly to his family’s wallets 👇
https://freeross.org/donate/