Obsidian really is a game-changer for everything. It has helped me organize the lore for my upcoming books and it has also helped me to take much more efficient notes as I learn and do courses. Absolute must-have piece of software for virtually anyone!

Now worries, I'm down for discussion. I just have some frustrations with the Nostr community these days, so I hope that didn't come across as too hostile.

If you're an Android user who loves classical literature, definitely check out the app called Myne by "Pool-Of-Tears". It's a download manager and e-reader for public domain books hosted by Project Gutenberg. It's the easiest way to download those works in EPUB format!

#books #bookchain #literature #ebooks

Maybe, but we need to be careful assigning fiat usage as sin. It's not.

They don't have more data if you're using cash in person and prepaid gift cards online, neither of which are tied to your identity. And as for non-KYC, I've laid it out in other discussions but I'll summarize here: even with non-KYC methods, you still have to KYC with payment processors. BTC ATMs are an option... if you have any near you. The two near me are at least 40 minutes away and charge a criminally high 20% premium. And if there are only two of those within an hour and a half drive, there definitely aren't going to be any substantial meetups nearby either.

I spent the majority of 2024 trying hard to find non-KYC solutions but came up empty-handed, disappointed and extremely disillusioned with the BTC community over how it treated me when I presented these facts.

If you want BTC to succeed, we need to stop treating it with this cult mentality. It has some issues for some people. You can't fix a problem if the problem isn't acknowledged and if you start treating those people like sinners, you'll NEVER see it adopted en masse. You'll just continue to see it treated as a cult-run ponzi... which is a shame, because I do believe it has great potential to fix a lot of economic issues; we just need to address a few issues before we can make that happen.

It's not a red herring, it's a very plausible threat and it's not hard to see.

It's also most DEFINITELY not censorship.

That argument would work if it was actually a free speech platform. It's not. It's a big tech platform. That's just cope, and now the cancer has returned. Unbelievable BS.

I wouldn't go so far to say as we're "commanded". I'm not being disobedient by not having BTC. On the contrary, I could argue I'm exercising restraint & responsibility by not giving my data to security threats via KYC.

Bitcoin is great and Christians should definitely research it, but I'm not comfortable mixing it in to the practice of our faith. BTC maximalism is cultish enough as it is.

If it's a potential threat to national security by our most powerful rival, it's well within the federal government's purview. In fact, it's one of the few actions they've taken in the last 5 years I actually wholeheartedly agree with. The federal government was meant to keep us united and secure on the international stage and, for once, it actually did its job.

I'm conservative and I'm celebrating. It's worthless, the concerns are legitimate and just because other companies do what they do, that does NOT justify its continued existence.

Not really. Republicans aren't against big government.

By and large, I consider myself to be libertarian. Three things challenge that stance, though: weed, porn and the TikTok ban.

Weed is absolutely disgusting and irredeemable, and I am 110% in favor of keeping it illegal.

Porn is proven to be horrible for the consumer, on top of being horrible for the women involved (many of whom were trafficked) and it's also downright despicable. Producers should be jailed, willing actors should be as well, and consumption should be a fineable offense.

And as for this TikTok ban... that platform is utterly worthless and needed to go. People can make up excuses to cope all they want, the concerns over it are legitimate and it contributes literally nothing good to society.

If those three battlegrounds keep me from being a true libertarian, so be it. I don't like big government but unlike some folks, I see it as still having a role, such as in these csses and international matters.

I've considered both sides, I'm backing this ban with a passion. It's a cancer on our society and the whole "sets a bad precedent" and "US companies invade our privacy" arguments really are just cope at this point. All they had to do was divest to US ownership but they decided to defy that, which should tell you something: there ARE legitimate reasons to ban TikTok and a beautiful consequence is that it's throwing a wrench into the ruin of the three most recent generations.

It's funny, I am so incredibly far from finishing my own "legendarium" (to co-opt a Tolkien term) but I'm sitting here jotting down the way I think I might end it and it feels as though I've genuinely been on the adventure that I see in my head.

Bittersweet, to say the least.

What do they say? It's hard about it. For me, the only thing that's hard is actually acquiring it.

I always knew this song was amazing but I never noticed those background subtleties at 1:06 due to the vocals in the original sorta covering them up.

That clean tone on the guitars is genuinely immaculate.

https://youtu.be/hjm9hRttN4o

#music #metal #progressivemetal

Part of my health and food awakening involved realizing that it's not sugar that causes all the issues. It's insulin resistance and excessive consumption.

I never considered Nix, I'll have to check it out. I've heard the name but didn't know it was rolling release 🤔

I still have nine and a half months to make my final decision but I think I've boiled down my distro choice for my main PC to three distros:

- Fedora (KDE spin)

- Garuda (Dr460nized)

- Linux Mint (Cinnamon)

I still have a little consideration for Manjaro and Pop OS, as well.

Reasons for Fedora:

- Rolling release, but with more stability than Arch

- Large userbase with great support

- The KDE spin is an absolute breeze to use

- Solid feature set

- Seems to be quite supported by third parties

Reasons for Garuda:

- A non-gimmicky gamer distro with great preinstalled software

- Arch-based for rolling release & AUR

- Downright phenomenal custom Plasma layout

- Also a solid feature set

- Non-corporate distro

- Uses BTRFS

Reasons for Mint:

- Extremely familiar and I have quite a bit of experience with it

- Cinnamon is a great "just works" desktop environment

- Fantastic levels of support and community

- Excellent software store and default software

- Remarkably easy to use

I also like Manjaro and Pop for mixes of the different reasons above. Manjaro tests Arch updates before delivery. Pop is basically Ubuntu but better. My main concerns are that Manjaro is considering telemetry, and even with Cosmic, Pop's aesthetics feel quite static & bland.

I'll say that, of the three main ones, right now I'm definitely leaning toward Fedora. That middle ground between rolling release swiftness and stability is extremely appealing. However, I'm primarily familiar with package managers like apt so learning yum/dnf will take time.

When it comes to Garuda, it'd be an EASY "that's my distro" if not for the concerns of stability due to its basis on Arch. Plus, its userbase is small compared to the other two, meaning I won't have quite as much potential for help and support when issues arise.

In terms of Mint, I really love it. I use it on a spare laptop and it really is a "just works" distro. However, even with customization, Cinnamon feels a little dated aesthetically, and I also think it'd be good to advance beyond a "starter distro" for my eventual daily driver.

Like I said, I have time to finalize my decision but the main reason I'm struggling to decide is because I absolutely do NOT want to distro hop. When I settle, I want to settle for a few years at the bare minimum.

#Linux #Fedora #Mint #LinuxMint #CLI #opensource #FOSS

I've had several relatively infamous posts here that describe the issue, because some people on Nostr can't accept that not everything is perfect in Bitcoin world. That said, I don't want to bring up all that drama again, so I'll explain the basic issue here.

The main problem is that even on no-KYC platforms, virtually all of the payment methods require KYC themselves, defeating the purpose. The only other real option is to use cash by mail on platforms that support that and I'm definitely not doing that.

Other suggestions have included gift cards for Amazon and the like, and that might *possibly* be an option, but nobody seems to have any offers that would fit into my budget. I'm not spending more than $50 on Bitcoin at this point because I'm not all-in, per se. I could create an offer, but I don't really have the time to sit and manage something like that. I'd rather just buy and move on.

As for in-person options, there are ATMs and there are meet-ups. In terms of ATMs, the only ones near me charge a 20% premium, which I've been told is way over average, and it's definitely not something I'm willing or able to pay. In terms of meetups, I'm in a rural, small town, kind of in the middle of nowhere. I'd have to drive quite a distance to get to any nearby meetups, and for something that I'm just looking to dip my toes into, that's not really viable, especially right now when I have very little free time to begin with. This is even more of an issue because I don't drive and I'm not Ubering.

So yeah, that's the basic gist of why I've given up on even trying to actually get into Bitcoin. It's not for a lack of trying, I've done all I can possibly do. I'm fine with using cash in person, that's what I've been using my entire life. And in terms of online purchases, there are things like prepaid Visa cards that I can grab, which are just as useful and don't require me to KYC to buy.

After all, going back to a gold standard and ditching fractional reserve banking achieves many of the goals of Bitcoin. For people like me who can't buy Bitcoin, going back to that is the only real solution unless KYC is eliminated or severely restricted, so I'm okay with the USD remaining alongside BTC.