So good! I want share with everyone.
Most of my signal conversations have moved to nostr:npub1exv22uulqnmlluszc4yk92jhs2e5ajcs6mu3t00a6avzjcalj9csm7d828
Love it. Am trying to move people across too.
I think it isbrilliant. My number one messaging app. However, now need to get other users across to it...
When eBay replacement on NOSTR?
A good twenty minute podcast in Internet Privacy from TEDTech:
TED Tech: Who owns the internet of the future? | Ordinary Things
Episode webpage: https://audiocollective.ted.com/
Nextcloud, simplex.chat, Feeder, andOSM maps,syncthi g.
Jitsi
Simplex.chat
Ok, I don't know what to make of this.
I'm set to attend the HRF Global Bitcoin Summit in Nashville, 14 - 16 September. Very grateful for the invitation nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu. It'll be my first visit to the states. Very excited!
So I applied for a USA visa.
Anyway, as a South Afican, traveling on the green mamba passport, I've applied for many visas. Very few places I can go without doing that.
And of all the many visa applications I've gone through, this one seemed among the most rigirious, more questions on the application form, more documents, etc.
Anyway. Long story short, yesterday I took a 2-hour local flight to attend an in-person interview. And I'm standing there at the counter with a thick pile of documents, hands sweating just a little after a security check at the consulate entrance that's more strict than most airport security checks.
The lady behind the counter takes my passport, looks at me, asks two or three questions, and says: "Congratulations, your visa has been approved."
Obviously relieved, but also more than a little perplexed, as I turned around and walked out without having touched the pile of supporting documents I had been instructed to bring along.
Anyway, stoked! Looks like I'm traveling to the states in September.
See you at Bitcoin Park, Nashville!
Fantastic. Go go go!
So a current passion is learning to be part of, or even build a mesh network that serves as a backup to your normal internet connection. So if your ISP blocks you, or they are down due to power or malware you have options. So far https://gotennamesh.com/ seems promising. Looking at Ham radio too but for any meaningful data rate and distance you need a 'licence' where you will be owned/doxxed/kycd. Ham radio licences also seem to disallow sending encrypted data?
Hoping to use a combo of gotennamesh, starlink, ham radio and other tech to find a way.
Any thoughts or tips on how to pursue this?
Hi Ray, did not expect a message from you. In my world you are a rock star. I followed the paxful story. Sad in the endp but you helped many people along the way. Now you will make a better product no doubt. Good luck. I will research and test. High fives, train hard and have fun.
Twitter under Elobs's guidance is rebranding as X, the everything app. Elon intends verifying the identity of each user by making them send in copies of their ID. This may feel 'normal' in today's world but it leads to censorship, control and i think unintended consequences. A company in the states and other small groups with money and power can now control who sees what and who is banned. This can lead to negative outcomes and second order effects that you cannot protect. It leads to more targeted surveillance and less freedom. The internet itself is built upon TCP/IP, a language that is robust, proven and free for anyone to use. It makes the internet a free and powerful place where anyone can learn and develop. However, third parties like Paypal, Facebook, Apple, internet service providers, Telecoms companies now own and run their walled gardens, complete with user ccounts, built on top of TCP/IP. Hats off to them, they run such succesful businesses. But you know have much of the internet controlled by a small number of companies. So, to solve this you can build decentralised platforms, protocols (languages) that have permission less platforms. This I think is healthy. Nature is diverse, or perhaps you could say the more diverse a biological system is the more healthy it is.
So, their is a new kid on the block called NOSTR.
It allows anyone to create an identity. It is decentralised. Anyone can build on it and use it.
Resilient, censorship resistant and available to all.
So have a look and learn about tools that allow you to chose, to be free, to decide what you do with your online life. Not Elon, not Apple, not any centralised body.
Elon has done lots of good things, but I think he does not respect or value user privacy. Or perhaps he doesn't see the negative consequences of mass online surveilance. His products like X can offer reach, some verifiability, the efficiencies gained with central control and a platform with a huge network effect. So it is a trade off. But I will no longer use Twitter.
Consider this, AI that is publically available can easily fake your voice and face data, it can solve those annoying captchas, it can even make fairly convincing deep fake movies. AI with hackers and the many data breaches make easy work of finding your personal details online. So fake accounts can be made easily that mimic you. Not the intended outcome, but this happens. So Elon may have good intentions, maybe he has gone mad, maybe power always corrupts. Who knows.
With Nostr, your identity is a number, actually a cryptographic key that you prove mathematically. You can be you, or any nym you want. But you cannot be copied or deleted or censored. This is old tech, been around since 1993. But applied now in a clever way to make a social media platform that is open and has no algorithmic bias.
nostr.com
Watch the short videos on the website, shorter and more entertainung than my 'article!'
Brilliant. I think you should add simplex.chat too. Also consider Tails and Qubes to step up from PopOS. Thank you.
Agreed. I think we should encourage nostr, signal, briar, simplex, LN channels, session etc. Just move off email. SMTP controlled by only a few gatekeepersnoww. Proton.me is our best option in the meantime I reckon. Thanks for all your articles. Brilliant writing.
Setup lightning so you can RX SATs.
Fantastic.