it is a bit deflating. I sometimes feel the same way. But seeing for how long you've already been invested, you've been through worse. It's all a matter of perspective. I have a friend who is just in the middle of his first 4-year tour...he is ~2x up on his investment, yet he is pessimistic about his investment since "everyone is selling".
Still learning how to use muliple Nostr-apps correctly, so one more try hoping the link and the tags are correct this time:
----------------------------------
Here is the free PDF of my bitcoin novel „Walking Banks“ for everyone to download (hosted on nostr.build):
https://d.nostr.build/UlE0X93faO1XxD9l.pdf
It is a murder mystery thriller with Bitcoin as a key plot element without being the focus of the story itself. Please feel free to share it with fellow Nostriches if you like.
I wrote this book for two reasons:
a) To provide a couple of hours of enjoyment. „Walking Banks“ does not aim to be high literature, but rather an entertaining read.
b) To contribute in my own small way to the growth of the Bitcoin community and network. Bitcoin has become well integrated into the lives of those interested in finance and freedom, but discussions about it often remain confined to those bubbles, reaching only a select niche. I believe the next important step for Bitcoin is to become a common topic in everyday pop culture - whether in art, music, films, books, or other media. This book is thus my attempt to "orange pill" a broader audience by weaving Bitcoin into a fictional story. My hope is that it sparks curiosity about it in the reader in a natural way, without being too forceful or preachy, for readers who might not usually consider these topics but enjoy a good murder mystery.
I believe Bitcoin and Nostr are joined at the hip, as both stand for freedom, sovereignty, and independence in an increasingly controlled and surveilled world. Everything that helps Nostr also helps Bitcoin, and vice versa, so I hope I can contribute a bit this way to Nostr's exclusivity and value content proposition.
Thanks to nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx, whose advocacy for Nostr brought me here, nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu whose work at the HRF is inspirational, nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9ac who told me about nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7 so that I can host the file and to nostr:npub1smreuk4gcs0k3jdz8zzckzxy6c7pkr8x6nafd5e2jr0jt0vrkpeqvpxn8w, who first put the idea of sharing the book on Nostr into my head!
I hope you enjoy the read.
AH White
#nostr #bitcoin #books #grownostr #literature #artstr #nostrplebs #btc #freedom #artonnostr #bookstr
Hi everyone!
here is the free PDF of my bitcoin novel „Walking Banks“ for everyone to download (hosted on nostr.build):
https://d.nostr.build/UlE0X93faO1XxD9l.pdf
It is a murder mystery thriller with Bitcoin as a key plot element without being the focus of the story itself. Please feel free to share it with fellow Nostriches if you like.
I wrote this book for two reasons:
a) To provide a couple of hours of enjoyment. „Walking Banks“ does not aim to be high literature, but rather an entertaining read.
b) To contribute in my own small way to the growth of the Bitcoin community and network. Bitcoin has become well integrated into the lives of those interested in finance and freedom, but discussions about it often remain confined to those bubbles, reaching only a select niche. I believe the next important step for Bitcoin is to become a common topic in everyday pop culture - whether in art, music, films, books, or other media. This book is thus my attempt to "orange pill" a broader audience by weaving Bitcoin into a fictional story. My hope is that it sparks curiosity about it in the reader in a natural way, without being too forceful or preachy, for readers who might not usually consider these topics but enjoy a good murder mystery.
I believe Bitcoin and Nostr are joined at the hip, as both stand for freedom, sovereignty, and independence in an increasingly controlled and surveilled world. Everything that helps Nostr also helps Bitcoin, and vice versa, so I hope I can contribute a bit this way to Nostr's exclusivity and value content proposition.
Thanks to nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx, whose advocacy for Nostr brought me here, nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu whose work at the HRF is inspirational, nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9ac who told me about nostr:npub1nxy4qpqnld6kmpphjykvx2lqwvxmuxluddwjamm4nc29ds3elyzsm5avr7 so that I can host the file and to nostr:npub1smreuk4gcs0k3jdz8zzckzxy6c7pkr8x6nafd5e2jr0jt0vrkpeqvpxn8w, who first put the idea of sharing the book on Nostr into my head!
I hope you enjoy the read.
AH White
#nostr #bitcoin #books #grownostr #literature #artstr #nostrplebs #btc #freedom #artonnostr #bookstr
a suggestion:
include the donation link that only pops up for a small duration in the video in your post in the future for easier access. Or something like "any zaps to this post will directly transferred and donated to strengthen the efforts of the Venezuelan opposition cause"? (or even link the zaps to their bitcoin address if that is possible)
Interesting small Nature paper on how LLMs "perceive" the user based on the dialect used. Given how LLMs will be more and more commonplace going forward - often without the user knowing that they are interacting with a LLM - this might have relevant implications for how the user is treated by the LLM (e.g. imagine a LLM that filters out applicant suitability for a loan in a first pass black box filter based on dialect assumptions).
"LLMs produce racist output when prompted in African American English"
https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-024-02527-x/d41586-024-02527-x.pdf
#AI #LLM #chatgtp #future #science
Is there a way I can share a PDF on Nostr?
I'd like to share the PDF of my book for free to every Nostr user as a tiny contribution to grow the network and add some exclusive content to Nostr but so far I am not sure how to do this.
Maybe some Nostr experts can show me if&how this is possible?
nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft nostr:npub18ams6ewn5aj2n3wt2qawzglx9mr4nzksxhvrdc4gzrecw7n5tvjqctp424 nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9ac nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6
#asknostr #nostr #grownostr #artonnostr #literature #bookstr #books
you can never go wrong with David Mitchell ... actually you can never gobwrong with David Mitchells! Both the comedian and the author are fantastic.
I agree, it is a good analysis and definitely supports the main point that this is a problem that needs more attention.
In general, woman's health and just generally considering the differences in man's vs. woman's clinical realities is unfortunately still underappreciated in medical research and physician's training (classical example: knowing the differences in heart attack symptoms). The good news is that it does get better these days and is getting on people's radar more and more.
this is an important issue and the suicide rate and risk is definitely increased for PMDD sufferers (for systematic review and meta-analysis see e.g.: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8721500/) but your absolute numbers are way of. Probably by a factor of 50-100x.
There are not ~700k American women dying of PMDD related suicide every year. That would imply that almost half of all women that die in the US each year die because of PMDD related suicide (see e.g.https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db492.htm). Still a very important issue!
About the dopamine fix:
I am not the biggest fan of dismissing this as something negative and without value. As Paracelsus said "The dose makes the poison". There is something incredible important about regular dopamine fixes for staying engaged and motivated. Having too much dopamine fixes (=twitter) is just as bad as not getting enough (=potentially Nostr). A healthy middle.-ground would be nice.
We (Nostr-advocates) like to point out that Nostr is different from all other social medias in that the user is the algorithm and kind of responsible for making sure he sees the content that interests him/her. Imo, this is not the best way forward and is self-serving but does not lead to the biggest Nostr-gowth. There is a reason why products that offer the best convenience mostly win in the marketplace of ideas.
I thus believe that we actually do need content algorithms for Nostr. But make their rules transparent, make them free to opt-in or out and switch between different algorithms. What I would like to see is a Nostr client like Primal or Damus giving me a menu option to activate "Content algorithm A vs. B. vs C" with each of them providing a different experience (e.g. A=wide net based on all recent posts that have similar content/topics as the posts I liked the most in the last month, B=net based on all the followers that overlap between the people I also follow and have posted the most in the last week, and so on ) . If one is inclined to so so, maybe even provide a checklist of aspects a Nostr-user can activate that then result in a user-specific algorithm that the client software generates.
#damus #primal #nostr #algorithm #engagement
Interesting new neuroscience study shows how memories are stored within differently aged neuronal populations for different purposes and with different plasticity:
#memory #brain #science #neurobiology #neurons #memories
Maybe give Edmund Morris' Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy a go? Fascinating man, Fascinating read
Thank God....I always thought I am just too stupid to understand "lawyernese":
https://news.mit.edu/2024/mit-study-explains-laws-incomprehensible-writing-style-0819
#science #law #psychology #lawyers #legal
A meaningful, insightful stand against the lunacy that is happening in the UK by Rowan Atkinson:
https://youtu.be/xxWMhB4Cfm0?si=vm9A2fVJkPBGxQ3r
#freespeech #uk #england #section5 #freedom #nostr #mrbean
Putting LLMs capacities into context: https://aclanthology.org/2024.acl-long.279/
long story short: let's not overestimate what they are capable of. The main danger might in fact be that we as humans begin to overestimate their ability to reason (of which there is none) and begin to trust or follow their guidance.
#AI #ai #LLM #science #intelligence #chatGTP #cognition
For anyone who is interested in how the brain works and what perception and consciousness might me: give this old but fascinating and groundbreaking book from Oliver Sacks a try. Reading about these weird disorders of the brain set me on the path to study ndurobiology later in life.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat
#consciousness #books #science #brain #psychiatry #neurobiology
New study reports on massive amounts on water within Mars' crust. Hard to get to but if their models are right this would be good news for future Mars missions and a potential long term settlement independent from the water at the poles.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409983121
#science #mars #space #spacex
Why Nostr is struggling…
There is too much of an overlap with X, not only in the feature sets among the primary applications, but more importantly, in the kind of audience that Nostr is catering to.
Sure..censorship resistance at the protocol level is a differentiator, but the to the average person, you may as well be talking gibberish. They don’t know wtf a protocol is in the first place - let alone why it matters for censorship resistance to happen at that level, or more importantly, WHY they should trust Nostr to deliver on that promise. “Bcoz nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m said so” is not an argument.
————
Bluesky is a case in point here.
It’s got a VERY similar feature set to X, claims to be open source / censorship resistant (similar narrative to Nostr), and is growing MUCH faster than Nostr, bc it has captured a key audience, ie; people with TDS and EDS (Elon Derangement Syndrome).
I’ve been on there a few times, and the content quality is enough to make you want to throw up….but at the very least, it’s working for that kind of content, and for the people who want it.
I don’t have a direct answer here..but I think it’s something to do with the over-emphasis on technicals.
nostr:npub1az9xj85cmxv8e9j9y80lvqp97crsqdu2fpu3srwthd99qfu9qsgstam8y8 mentioned increasing the emphasis on design the other day. I agree this is a move in the right direction. We’re taking a very design-focused approach with nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 (we’ll have ALOT more to show in the next 6wks).
That being said, it’s not enough.
IMO, Nostr is technically mature enough for us to go out there and talk about it to more people, and build a narrative BEYOND the 500 of us that are talking to each other on here.
People like nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft or nostr:npub1dergggklka99wwrs92yz8wdjs952h2ux2ha2ed598ngwu9w7a6fsh9xzpc can correct me if I am wrong here. Maybe there’s alot more to do technically.
But if I am right, I’d like to see more initiatives that are marketing oriented being supported by nostr:npub17xvf49kht23cddxgw92rvfktkd3vqvjgkgsdexh9847wl0927tqsrhc9as and nostr:npub10pensatlcfwktnvjjw2dtem38n6rvw8g6fv73h84cuacxn4c28eqyfn34f and other coalitions. Maybe we even need a council of Nostr businesses, who together pool some funds to help drive some marketing initiatives?
Whatever the case, we need to expand upon the Nostr narrative, make it more compelling and speak to more people about it.
At the very least, we have to conquer then Bitcoiners. If we can’t get the segment who are into freedom money onto the freedom of speech network, we’re DOA. That’s a first step.
I know nostr:npub1hz5alqscpp8yjrvgsdp2n4ygkl8slvstrgvmjca7e45w6644ew7sewtysa is working on a very cool initiative in relation to this. The Nostr Booth is IMO a great way to make Nostr more “real” for bitcoiners by having a physical presence at all the conferences.
I know nostr:npub1utx00neqgqln72j22kej3ux7803c2k986henvvha4thuwfkper4s7r50e8 + nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6 are doing some Podcast outreach. That’s super important too. nostr:npub16vrkgd28wq6n0h77lqgu8h4fdu0eapxgyj0zqq6ngfvjf2vs3nuq5mp2va and crew are putting on Nostriga. Amazing. nostr:npub16c0nh3dnadzqpm76uctf5hqhe2lny344zsmpm6feee9p5rdxaa9q586nvr / nostr:npub12vkcxr0luzwp8e673v29eqjhrr7p9vqq8asav85swaepclllj09sylpugg are doing great things with nostr:npub1spdnfacgsd7lk0nlqkq443tkq4jx9z6c6ksvaquuewmw7d3qltpslcq6j7, etc on the content side. I’ve got some things up my sleeve personally which I will begin to do once nostr:npub15xd2mmjnh3caykh77djsv73e0zkrp42jp5mwerx8f4m6su40wdvss7t3l3 is in a position to represent a NEW kind of Nostr-product..
But we need MOAR..
And…we also need to find another angle that is NOT about censorship resistance. That’s clearly not working against X.
I don’t know the EXACT narrative or spin, but it has to be more “running towards” than “running from”.
More white pill, less black pill.
Anyway.
I will probably turn this into an article. I’ve been thinking more and more about “writing in public” as we build Satlantis, and sharing more about how we’re thinking about growing a “network product” on top of a “network protocol”.
If you think this was valuable, please repoast so more people can see and get involved in the discussion.
I think with Elon's takeover of twitter and the continuing alienation of people, Nostr is at the right place at the right time but I agree that it would be great if it could capitalize on this opportunity more rapidly. The "gradually then suddenly" mantra is not wrong but maybe it is too idealistic.
Apart from the no-brainer to capture as much of the bitcoin crowd as possible and - for lack of a better term - better marketing, two aspects could also be considered:
a) similar to bitcoin's value proposition, not looking at it from a western perspective but thinking about the long term appeal of Nostr to people living under authoritarian regimes. It should be immediately obvious to anyone living under such a regime how Nostr differentiates from Twitter & co in many regards (e.g. doxxing risk from the central authority, shutting down their account because the government said so etc.). Make Nostr better known to those people and maybe we see a rapid rise in participation. I realize many good people like nostr:npub1trr5r2nrpsk6xkjk5a7p6pfcryyt6yzsflwjmz6r7uj7lfkjxxtq78hdpu are working that angle already but could we do more in that direction?
b) that might be controversial but I strongly believe if one could convince a major celebrity to switch to Nostr exclusively from twitter, you will have a big portion of their following joining along. Imagine if Taylor Swift tomorrow declares that she quits twitter and will continue on Nostr! Nostr would immediately gain millions of users. Question is, if/how to convince a celebrity with a strong following to become exclusive? Apart from idealistic arguments, maybe purely financial motivation is needed? I realize this is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way but what if instead of nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m supporting Nostr development work with the next round of money, Swift gets paid $5M to become Nostr exclusive for 3 months? This might have a bigger impact on Nostr' popularity and uptake than anything else.
Not the morally best way to do it and the numbers might be off but I'm more playing devils advocate a bit here for brainstorming reasons.