Thanks. I'll take a look.

Interesting X Algorithm Results

I extended the muted words list to include anything rage-baity, political, put-downs, derogatory terms, plus any other trigger words or phrases I've seen content in this category use often.

Then I took it another step further, clicking the little dots next to a post and choosing "Not interested in this post," "This post isn't relative," or "See less posts from ....."

I expected my time to clear out.

It did.

I expected X to serve me a variety of new content from at least a handful of its enormous daily active user base because I'd shut down most of what it was serving me.

It did not.

As it sits, the X algorithm did not repopulate my timeline with new and exciting content.

Instead, it shows me a handful of posts from people who have posted in the last 24 hours that were already previously sent my way.

Guess what? Only a few people in the remaining display accounts post regularly.

I can now scroll for about 10 minutes and see "everything."

I'm both disappointed and puzzled.

1. Does this mean that the X algorithm only serves content you think you want or deserve without suggesting new things at all?

2. If most of the posts are now gone, and I'm not seeing the rest of the worldwide X content, does this mean that 90% of the X content is toxic, rage-bait, manipulative, or low-IQ?

3. If you can't truly break out of the algorithm (see my past X posts for failed experiments on this) or most of the content is negative, should I stay?

If I want to push this further, I can unfollow the rest of the Tate/TRW/Professor accounts. The best place to reach them is inside The Real World.

I muted Alex Jones. It's not that I don't appreciate what he does, but my blood pressure can't handle seeing the latest theories every day. I can always hop on over to Infowars and check out the latest when I'm curious.

What content remains in my timeline if I push this even further?

Instead of mindlessly scrolling last night, I took surveys for a few cents' worth of sats.

I don't remember which survey, but at the end, it asked me a series of questions about statements that I thought were true or false (or somewhere in between) regarding Muslims, violence, and danger.

I couldn't tell if the statements were things most Americans were already saying or believing or if the people who put out the survey were testing narratives to see which ones the mainstream media should push next.

Of course, all the statements were "Mostly false," which was the only answer closest to "Completely false" shown.

It wasn't comforting.

I won't bother telling you about the new Kamala Harris campaign ads I had to watch. Horrifying.

I don't know what that is, so I have no opinion.

This is new. The Real World isn't loading. TRW attempts to load and then shows a black screen. I know they've been working on a few things. Hope it's up soon.

I don't want to miss today's live call.

Halal are the things the comply with Islamic law. This includes food, businesses, services, products, relationships, and more.

Most things are halal.

There seems to be some sentiment that amongst some that if you're online for business or if you're selling something via social media that you're selling your soul.

This is not true unless you're specifically and purposely operating out God's boundaries.

My original thought was "If you're selling your services online, you're not selling your soul," but OnlyFans -- OnlyFans is a service that is sold online. OnlyFans is not halal for sure.

So, I thought I'd better clarify.

To save time, here is what Gemini spit out when I asked it for a definition of halal items.

___

A halal service is a service or product that complies with Islamic law. While the term "halal" is most commonly associated with food, it can also apply to other products and services.

Here are some examples of halal services:

- Financial services: Halal banking and finance adhere to Islamic principles, such as prohibiting interest (riba) and investing in non-permissible industries.

- Travel services: Halal travel agencies offer packages that cater to the needs of Muslim travelers, ensuring that accommodations, transportation, and activities comply with Islamic guidelines.

- Beauty and wellness services: Halal beauty products and spa treatments are formulated without ingredients that are considered haram, such as alcohol or animal-derived products.

- Education and training: Halal education programs incorporate Islamic values and principles into the curriculum, ensuring that students receive a holistic and faith-based education.

The specific requirements for a halal service may vary depending on the nature of the service and the Islamic school of thought. However, in general, a halal service must be free from haram elements and adhere to the ethical principles of Islam.

___

Selling your halal services online is not selling your soul.

For a few moments this morning, my kitchen smelled like a bustling hometown cafe. Strong coffee. Buttered biscuits. Sizzle on the grill.

This evokes memories I never knew I had.

nostr:note10ycgmu2stplvapazhms8hfprc57umz45hjkee20g4k92t5dee6kq9c9cdu

Thank you. I'll take a look a deeper look at that. I don't remember why I didn't choose Trezor when I was originally looking. There was something, but I don't remember what right this moment.

Oh -- so Sparrow is basically acting like a UI for the Coldcard at that point, right? Because the Coldcard is obviously not a web browser.

If my understanding is correct then Sparrow, in that respect, is DISPLAYING the same information from the Coldcard as if the information from the Coldcard was a mobile or laptop with a UI enabling it to interact with the outside world via the internet.

I thought the steps with Sparrow included the requirement to send all the bitcoin to a NEW & DIFFERENT address within Sparrow first before you sent it Coldcard, making two transactions rather than the one.

The information displaying from Sparrow, in what you described, is all the same stuff on the Coldcard making it one transaction, it just isn't exposing the key to Sparrow and thus not to the outside world.

Do I have that right?

I don't think the prices was the issue. The price of the Bitkey was the same. I think it's more about the steps involved. As another user pointed out, I may need to force myself to learn with small amounts and count it as the cost of learning now for greater piece of mind later.

Thank you. I had not heard of that. I'll look into it.

No, getting the address to send it to is easy. You just need one.

What is intimidating and what I'm scared of messing up is first buying it somewhere, then sending it to Sparrow. To do that, I have to makes sure I first configured that the correct way. Once the bitcoin is in that wallet, then I now have to do bunch of steps to send it to a cold storage which (in coldcard's case) equals exporting the wallet to a file, popping out a microSD card, plugging it in to the computer, getting Sparrow to recognize it properly, doing a bunch of stuff, copy something, copy something else(?) and then pop the SD card out again and then plug it back into coldcard and do something else and something else. If all of that went OK, then I have to deal with something called uxtos.

Compare that to with what I saw with Bitkey:

👉 Set it up. Buy bitcoin. It appears in wallet.

I'll take a closer look at Bitbox again. I couldn't remember now why I didn't initially choose it.

I'll take a closer look at Jade. Thank you.

I didn't think about it that way. Thank you. That's good advice and a better way to approach it.

I'm back to square one on my bitcoin self-custody solution search.

I watched Coldcard "how to" videos, but I'm still scared I'm going to screw that up somewhere. Like, really scared.

I promise, I can follow directions (I write them for a living), but often the directions I'm looking at do not match the current workflow exactly and my intuitive choices in those moments can mess up a process.

This is not something I want to chance.

I opted for a Bitkey because I could buy it and have it transferred there in one step, *not two*. When it arrived today, I couldn't set up the app. Turns out my up-to-date phone does not support NFC. 😔 (It's less than a year old, I never use the NFC function on the phone, and I thought it just came "standard" like an option in a car, so I didn't think about it.)

How do you buy bitcoin and have it go directly into a cold-storage wallet in one transaction?

Ideally, that's the setup I'm looking for.

#asknostr

💰 Technical documentation solutions (information architecture & technical writing) & coming this fall, transcript proofreading. I also run The Stealthy Scribbler Society, an informal organization encouraging people to write by hand more often.

https://www.mistysbledsoe.com

Working to replicate this on npub.pro.

The dog and I got caught in the rain.

The slight drizzle turned into a downpour. I dried him off and he wrapped himself in his blanket. I've changed my clothes and am off for more coffee and proofreading.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Hearing the rain is comforting, just not 10 months out of the year.

☕️ ☕️