Back in the '80s, when Gorbachev was in power, I had pen pals in Russia. It was called USSR then.

It took six months to get letters there and back. And all the mail was read. All of it.

We were teenagers then and had to be careful of what we said. I wasn't allowed to send anything that remotely resembled wealth because my pen pal wouldn't get it. The screeners would take it.

Communism eventually fell.

#Letter writing is only free when the contents are not read and inspected.

Letter writing is one of my most favorite things in the world to do.

I remember all their names, their pictures, the "How to teach yourself Russian" book I bought to help me learn, the airmail envelopes, and the ruble with Stalin's face on it.

Letter writing is beautiful.

I'm so grateful I got to have that experience with people on the other side of the world. It was before the internet.

After my long walk this morning, I decided to go to the #cafe I used to sit and work from. Seeing the staff again was great. They gave me the back booth by the kitchen.

I brought my English-interpreted Quran and my transcripts. Had #coffee. No ice cream. It was good to get out of the house.

When I got back, I got to help track down information for another group project I get to contribute to.

Got everything sorted between Beehiiv and Stripe. Learned more about Bitcoin. Did more proofreading.

Soon there will be another walk. Then maybe I can catch up on social media stuff.

I will not attempt to fix the plumbing on my own.

Regardless of location, background, education, creed, religion, mindset, or hopes, most people are tired of being told what they can say, when, and how to say it.

The harsher the government laws, the quieter the voices become, but they're still there whispering to trusted friends and family.

The #truth of being fed up rings true.

Truth is not extinguished because of arrests, censorship laws, forced platform modifications, or seizures.

No.

Truth is truth.

Truth is verifiable.

Truth is complete.

Truth lives.

Truth finds its way through #freedom.

Humans have always found ways around their government's speech laws and those who swallow and regurgitate government propaganda.

People will continue to do so because of our modern-day technology and, more importantly, #decentralized and cryptographically signed messages over peer-to-peer protocols.

You can squelch a platform's reach and place legal gag orders over a person's freedom of speech, but you cannot stop decentralized platforms.

Not completely.

I couldn't find the file I published from Obsidian until I checked on Highlighter. That means some people didn't get to see it.

I just got kicked out of a #Discord server for explaining I don't work with people exhibiting consistently abusive behavior in the workplace let alone as a v#olunteer.

When I drew my line in the sand, professionally of course, I got immediately booted. 😂

🥱Predictable from people with those types of personalities.

Back to my projects!

I like the 2nd one, the top-right corner. It looks like a legacy brand a family might pass down. The first one feels disconnected. The third one adds an element of mysticism, but since you have no idea what that's about or which way that leans, as a potential buyer, I wouldn't want to spend the money to realize it wasn't for me.

Judging by a cover only, I would be more likely to pick up the 2nd one, read the dust jacket, part of the first chapter, etc.

And there is no getting suspended, no getting shadowbanned (not really), no appeals process, no customer service to interact with, and no fees outside the proof-of-work that you choose to offer.

Proof-of-work = notes, likes, zaps, learning, researching, following, laughing, posting, writing, reading, offering information and help, connecting with fellow human beings

nostr:note1es3aj4yz7apzzwwl208gc0swcza3j0anzzk8jze2g3uxel3vcmxqsm32ae

I used to live in the Salt Lake Valley. I've driven near this exact facility.

You can't fully drive all the way up to it without the proper clearances, of course. At least there was a place to turn around.

The closer you get, the deader the air feels around you and your hair stands on end.

It just feels evil.

Every time I passed by on the nearest highway/freeway, same feeling. I don't know any other way to describe it.

I tried to chock it up to the incredible computing power inside and water amounts they suck out of that area to cool their servers as having something to do with it.

But...👀

The cone is to keep him from digging or licking the area. If he isn't he doesn't need the cone. Just keep a super close eye on him. If no one can watch him or while you're sleeping, put the cone on him until someone can watch him again.

At first I thought this was an old-embroidery-floss friendship bracelet. I made a lot of those several decades ago.

Maybe I will again.

I can see the smoke coming out of his ears.

Enter social media with purpose.

Being mentally pulled in 15 different ways in less than 30 seconds starts to steal your energy and can impact your breathing.

I don't want that anymore. If I start to feel negative in any way, I switch off now. Immediately.

Social media was not mean to be this way.

If it's to be entertained, only do it if you're having a good time.

If you're there to learn, only be there to consume the videos that help you solve the problem.

If you're there to engage and help others, only do that. Set a time limit.

If you're there to mindlessly scroll, only do that as long as you aren't feeling negative. The moment you do, stop and spend your energy elsewhere.

#socialmedia #positivity #purpose

--- Update: Now that I refresh the dashboard page of Highlighter, the amount of views + the amount of zaps randomly change with each refresh. What I see in the picture above may be dummy/random data.

Still - I'd like to know what happens to zaps when someone has a wallet/node/lightning address but they can't actually go anywhere if it's not hooked up properly.

What happens to the zaps?

If a person's wallet/node isn't up and someone sends zaps but the other person can't receive them (becuase their stuff is down), what happens to the zaps a person sent?

Are they stuck in some inbetween cyber-limbo? Or do they get a failed transaction notification?

Example:

Yesterday, I asked folks not to zap that article I posted. Today, I see Highlighter shows 24k zaps. Is that attempted zaps or did those zaps go somewhere? Will people get them back eventually because they didn't get my wallet/node?

Thanks everyone, who answered these questions for me. I'm glad I did not make a larger purchase just yet. It seems I was heading in the wrong direction on one part and went overboard on another. I will do a bit more research before I choose my preferred setup. ⏳

Thank you. That was very detailed.

I added this to my collection of helpful Nostr tools.

Thank you for this. I feel better and will consider the information.

The sun was hot this morning even when it wasn't.

The bug guy didn't come yesterday again, and I can't get into my mailbox anymore.

I'll stay on top of management so they do not forget.

Earlier today I submitted several #Bitcoin questions to a network I belong to.

After all my research, I still have some basic questions.

Accounting for timezone differences, if the questions are not answered within 24 hours, I will post them here.

-- I'm posting this from #Obsidian. I can't tell you how much I love this. I use Obsidian as my prime notetaking, writing, markdown editor, and more. This is going to help me publish past written works here and publish other ideas much faster. I'm also not distracted by the UIs.