You know, I was just a little kid when history "ended" as the Wall came down and the USSR fell apart, but I do remember the sense of optimism from then. I remember being able to walk down the street by myself to the corner store -- wherever do you see those anymore? -- out of sight of the house, when I wasn't even ten years old, without anyone having to worry if I was safe or not.

I was around when Windows 95 came out, and I pissed off my best friend's parents by installing a pirated copy of it on their computer. I first got access to the internet in '98 through a BBS, and shortly afterwards through a real ISP connection. It was still the "World Wide Web" back then, when Gopher was still a recent memory. They called it "the information superhighway" and it was. There was so much you could find and learn if you just looked for it, from every corner of the globe and from any perspective.

I lived through the entire era of the free and open internet, and I watched as it was closed off, piece by piece, into the walled gardens of "Web 2.0" -- no longer a web at all, nothing but a glorified interactive cable TV subscription. I saw it. All that there was, all that's been lost, all that could have been. And I miss it so much.

So what does this mean

Sorry, I don't use Primal much apart from posting podcasts but I thought I would share some of the work we are doing here trying to fix Bedford.

Beyond starting a football club and owning local businesses, I have become active in trying to fix the endless issues in the town.

We have economic issues, in that businesses are under pressure from the economic climate as well as growing government red tape. This is being compounded by a massive rise in anti-social behaviour. We have a plague of addiction issues, with large numbers of crackheads, alcoholics and shoplifters in the town. We have a rise in crime, including assaults on women.

This is not a good situation.

Two months ago I threatened the police, that if they did not fix the issue then I will. During August I am funding a private security initiative in the town, where 10 security guards will be deployed across the town as scarecrows, providing a security blanket for residents and businesses.

We have met with the local police and our activity will be coordinated with them. We are also trying to work with the local council too. I am considering establishing a shadow council in the town, outside of party politics, driving civic action.

Alongside the private security, we are building teams for cleaning, events and marketing to drive economic activity in the town.

I just thought I would share this. Bitcoin world has become a little stale to me, it is time to get out there and do things. The UK is pretty fucked at the moment so it is fight or flight time.

⚡️🚨 ALERT - If you're in the UK, France, and some other European country you'll need to provide ID to use X fully.

I've just checked: You can't use a VPN to get around this requirement.

Everything is speeding up good luck, but the UK and Europe are doomed and I have no illusions.

The police have already shown they can arbitrarily arrest you for "inciting hatred". With compulsory ID, how far will they go? #asknostr

i've come to the conclusion that the best way forward for liberal democracies is a "Centrist Reformist" stance that opposes ideological maximalism with facts, reason and long term thinking. the increasing polarisation and emotional responses to societal problems i'm seeing is kind of scary tbh.

I can't find a reliable wallet to use anymore. All the goods ones seem to disappear. What do you suggest? Primarily bitcoin, but lightning works be great to. My sats are stuck on nostr. Can't figure out a good wallet.

#asknostr

Thoughts from the left would be a lot more interesting if they didn't just immediately take the opposite side of Trump

GM☕

The world's mood right now.

(name the movie)

I wonder what they did wrong

Does anyone know a good VPS provider that takes lightning?

If you could choose one restaurant to start accepting Bitcoin, which one would you pick? 🍽️⚡️

My previous home in Taiwan blessed us with beautiful sunset views over vast rice paddies, just a 10-minute motorcycle ride to the Northwest Coast with its isolated beaches. It served us well as a sanctuary for meditation and watching my children grow, and though it was far more house than our journey needed at the time, I have such fond memories.

#IKITAO

I deactivated X. Have you? 😎🤙

#Nostr