spraveenitpro

Music

Kids often want to listen to the same track over and over again. Sometimes it can drive you mad! I've found the better the track, the longer it takes the repetition to drive you crazy. 

So in no particular order, here are my favorite tracks to play for my toddlers. Enjoy!

Also, what tracks are your toddlers obsessed with? Please share!

## Watermelon - Justine Clarke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiOc_Z-Q5Uk

Nice and simple latin groove. Great musicians!

## Pinball Number Count - Seasame Street

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUL4T8WcFdA

I love the odd bars and beats with a killin melody. It's an amazing skill when you can write complex music that just flows.

## Bathtime - Raffi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy0lOzb7Vf4

The fake trumpet scat is great! I can't tell if he's making fun of jazz musicians or just having fun.

## Robot Kevin - The Mighty Buzzniks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBULq0VNK4U

This is my sons favorite. Techno beat and funny lyrics about robots caring about earths trees!?!?

## Dancing Face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amktwaRgOy4

On this album she hired some amazing musicians. They get to have some fun here with some call and response.

## Robot Number 1 - High Five

https://youtu.be/qLl6XvZeK7Y?si

I wanted to add a track from High Five as I think they're all great singers and dancers.

## Scary Flying Shark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N5HmYj_iE0

They use a "scary" melodic line with some funny lyrics. Very creative!

Top Toddler Tracks

bitcoin_beginners

I got this idea on my mind the other night: what would I do if I need to relearn Bitcoin from scratch again? ( *Interestingly enough, zapsammy asked a similar [question ](https://stacker.news/items/638124)*) ; Here was what I came up with, sharing it out loud, hopefully they are also useful for anyone feeling a bit overwhelmed in the ocean of information. 

______



### Unlearn to Learn

**I've noticed that everyone will understand Bitcoin at the time when they are ready, that's something that can't be rushed or forced.** 

![](https://m.stacker.news/45971)

It took me quite a long time to fully understand Bitcoin and I'm still learning something new from time to time, and it [changed](https://stacker.news/items/232964) me in many ways - I started to simply use Bitcoin as a tool for **international transfers** because I was nomading around and needed to have the local currency in hand, but the banks either charged too many fees, offered bad rates, simply too slow or even with certain restrictions. Later, I saw it as a good **investment** as the number was going up. Logically, I turned my attention to the shiner crypto projects too, but then I found out that, wait, Bitcoin is actually **freedom money**, it's my own money and NO one can take it away, that was a really powerful wake up moment, but then can I really **spend** it and where? As I kept exploring, I wanted to figure out how I could **earn** this hard money too. 

Not sure which stage you are in, but you are in the right place if you are curious and with an open mind to get a glimpse of the future!



_____



### Simple Steps

#### 1. Read the White Paper

Don't freak out if you still have no clue what it means: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf


![](https://m.stacker.news/45972)


___



#### 2. Read Darthcoin's Guide

**This is the one you need, especially If you have limited time**: https://darth-coin.github.io/

I was quite an average Bitcoiner before finding Darth's guide, and I spent some time reading as much as I could and safely said it's the best and most practical Bitcoin guide out there, even full of humor. Take your time to absorb and pay attention to the details; it could be one month, six months, one year, or even longer; Be patient and enjoy the journey.


![](https://m.stacker.news/45973)


*Two MUST reads*

- [Bitcoin - Be your own bank, think like a bank](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/bitcoin-be-your-own-bank-think-like)
- [Natural Law and ₿itcoin ](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/natural-law-and-bitcoin)



____



#### 3. Get your Hand Dirty 🧪

You can't learn how to swim simply by reading, using $20 or any small amount that you are comfortable with to get some Bitcoin, of course, you can even earn it; Here are some recommendations for going down this rabbit hole `or simply learning as you go, your curiosity is the best teacher!`



##### -> **Buy or earn some Bitcoin to get started**

The first step is the hardest, but you can either buy it from exchanges, from friends, ATMs, or earn it. 


*Resources*

- Non-KYC exchange: [Robosats](https://learn.robosats.com/) and [Hodlhodl](https://hodlhodl.com/), here is a guide on [how to use them](https://stacker.news/items/287984) and watch out for the [bad counterparty ](https://stacker.news/items/619262).

- Be aware of the cameras and fees in Bitcoin ATMs:

  [Have you used a Bitcoin ATM, Why or Why Not?](https://stacker.news/items/218327)

  [Bitcoin ATM](https://stacker.news/items/632183)

  

##### -> **Create an Onchain Wallet**

Learn how to create a wallet and most importantly: how to [keep the seeds](https://stacker.news/items/638672), then withdraw the BTC you buy or earn to this freshly created Onchain wallet and restore it from another wallet to see the magic!


*Recommended wallets*

- For beginners: [Blue wallet](https://bluewallet.io/) 
- For more advanced users: [Sparrow](https://sparrowwallet.com/) or [Electrum](https://electrum.org/) 


And understand the difference between hot and cold wallets, optionally, even create your own [cold wallet](https://stacker.news/items/569901) instead of buying any hardware wallets, as this could be one of the *most empowering moments* in your Bitcoin journey. ✨



##### -> **Swap from Onchain to Lightning**

Try to understand what's Lightning and why it exists in the first place, aka what problem it is trying to solve and learn how to use it. **In an ideal world, you should only use Onchain funds for saving and opening LN channels, while funds in Lightning is for daily spending.**



*Resources*

-  [Explain Lightning Network in a simple analogy](https://stacker.news/items/552822)
-  [Submarine Swaps Guide](https://stacker.news/items/163372)
-  [The Art of Swapping ](https://stacker.news/items/333907)



##### ->**Test with Different Lightning Wallets**

There is no such thing as the BEST wallet, better learn how to use each, from custodial wallets to non-custodial ones, and maximize what each wallet has to offer. 

*Recommended wallets*

- Custodial wallets: [Blink](https://stacker.news/items/341247) / [CoinOS](https://coinos.io/)

- Non-custodial wallets: [Zeus](https://zeusln.com/) / [Blixt](https://blixtwallet.github.io/) /  [Alby](https://getalby.com/) ( *new [change](https://blog.getalby.com/what-is-alby-hub/) with Alby* )

More [here](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/lightning-wallets-comparison)



##### -> **Learn about the Nodes**

**Running your own node brings a much better understanding of how Bitcoin works;** I started to run an [Umbrel node](https://umbrel.com/) around 2021, and I had absolutely no clue what I was doing at that time, but I kept digging, doing tests, and learning from mistakes, all those experiences made my testing with mobile nodes and transitioning living in Bitcoin so much easier.

But [read this](https://stacker.news/items/76869?commentId=77038) before getting into running a home node; if you decide to walk this path, here is a good and simple direction: 

- [Choose](https://stacker.news/items/269305) which Node to get started.

- How to choose the right peers with [1ML](https://1ml.com/).

  *one trick on the peer's choice depends on your usage, e.g. do you use it to spend or receive?*

  - if mainly for spending, then you can connect with the shops or companies' nodes where you spend mostly; 
  - if mainly for receiving, then you can connect with the popular wallets' node;
  - Or, simply look for those with low fees and well-connected good nodes.

- How to open and close channels with [Thunderhub](https://thunderhub.io/), especially paying attention to choosing *public* or *private* channels.

- What are the inbound and outbound liquidity, and how to manage them.

- Most importantly, how to [restore](https://stacker.news/items/464537) it when SHTF.



However, as time passed by and many improvements have been made, e.g., you can even run a node in your mobile now with [Zeus](https://zeusln.com/) ( [I](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/getting-started-zeus-mobile), [II](https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/zeus-node-advanced-usage) ) and [Blixt](https://blixtwallet.github.io/), both are really powerful and a MUST to have.



##### -> **Go More Technical**

Learn about [Mempool](https://mempool.space/docs/faq), [UTXO](https://stacker.news/items/298282?commentId=298648) and how to [do labels](https://stacker.news/items/278285), how to [verify](https://stacker.news/items/481039) software, or even [nerding out](https://stacker.news/items/600187).

And, all these mentioned above are only the iceberg; Stay curious and keep digging!



___




#### 4. Leverage the Brains in SN

Checking out some of the great posts, making good use of the `search`, asking good questions, and sharing what you have learned while having fun and even earning some precious sats; `A well-kept secret here is that you are pretty much being paid to learn`, and I've written two guides to help you level up the fun, and including some other really good ones:

⚡

- [The Zen of Stacking Sats On Stacker News](https://stacker.news/items/184545)

- [ The Art of Using Stacker News ](https://stacker.news/items/252695)

- [The Art of Using Stacker News II ](https://stacker.news/items/39255)

- [The data to help you become a better Stacker ](https://stacker.news/items/441843)

  

https://imgprxy.stacker.news/u-M2pOoqnYZFGcUR3nMxAZ6HaiU1kDxNIKcaHDU_eQs/rs:fit:2560:1440/aHR0cHM6Ly9tLnN0YWNrZXIubmV3cy80MjEy


`Here is the simple hack of SNing:`

[Writing](https://stacker.news/items/541664) original content, [zapping](https://stacker.news/items/287074) the great work that you like, or [contributing](https://stacker.news/items/240442) with your skills, or simply hanging out in the daily @saloon to share fun things or newly learned tips and tricks. ✌🏽



___



#### 5 . Stay humble and Integrate Bitcoin into your Life

You don't need to wait for the whole world to start accepting BTC, or the so-called "Bitcoin country", all you need is people or businesses around you to start; `Be the change! Bitcoin Circular Economy starts from a normal living man and woman like you and me.`

*Some first-hand stories from Bitcoiners:*

- [Renting an apartment for bitcoin](https://stacker.news/items/265707)
- [Paying For Breakfast With Bitcoin At The Melville Deli](https://stacker.news/items/267725)
- [Maybe All you Need is to Ask - Do you Accept Bitcoin? ](https://stacker.news/items/293271)  | [ Part II ](https://stacker.news/items/300593) | [ Part III ](https://stacker.news/items/474707)
- [Spending Sunday series](https://stacker.news/search?amount=&q=Hey+it%E2%80%99s+Spending+Sunday%21&what=posts)


Here is my first attempt at simplifying the Bitcoin learning rabbit hole, these shall cover the basic information one needs to reach a good understanding of it, but the learning journey never stops! And I realized that most information about Bitcoin is already freely available as I was writing this piece, there is really no excuse for saying that you don't understand Bitcoin. 

**And for the more experienced Bitcoiners, what would you do if you need to relearn Bitcoin from scratch again?**



What If You Need to Relearn Bitcoin from Scratch Again? 🤔

Natalia

devs

Voltage Tipper - Free & Easy Lightning App Template

bitcoinplebdev

bitcoin

This is a continuation of [PART 1](https://stacker.news/items/538702)

# Hardware:
Raspberry Pi projects like [RaspiBlitz](https://raspiblitz.org/) and [RaspiBolt](https://raspibolt.org/guide/backstory.html) are great, but the Pi feels barely powerful enough anymore to run a node. With an all-in budget of $200-$300, you can have something much more powerful.
+ Lenovo ThinkCentre M910q. $100-$200. I got a Quad Core i5-6500T. 32GB DDR4 RAM for $152, free shipping. Not bad. 
+ 2TB NVMe M.2. You can snatch a decent one for $120.  

# Software: 

Even though node services like Start9 and Umbrel are great (and I continue to use them), they still constitute chokepoints that can become vulnerabilities. Not to mention, the only way I know of to make a reliable backup of the Core Lightning (CLN) node, is with a natively-ran instance over command line interface. As I mentioned in Part 1, The Mines of Linux is the only path forward.

The core of it is based on the video tutorials from [MinistryofNodes](https://bitcointv.com/c/ministryofnodes/videos) and [402PaymentRequired](https://bitcointv.com/c/402paymentrequired/videos). Make sure to follow them and zap some sats their way!

When it comes to installing everything as someone non-technical, I always get a headache when I have to look at written instructions. That is why almost all the tutorials here are **VIDEO** tutorials, so you can literally follow step by step. There will still be some bumps here and there, since the OS they are working on probably has different software installed, which means you might run into dependency issues, but these are usually minor hiccups that are easily remedied. 

1. **Linux**. I used Ubuntu, though other distributions should also work: [Github](https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu.com/releases), [Website](https://ubuntu.com/), [Tutorial](https://bitcointv.com/w/o5v6noAHVuL9rvos9Gbkvc)

2. **Bitcoin Core**: [Github](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/), [Website](https://bitcoincore.org/), [Tutorial](https://bitcointv.com/w/aapLXqT5aVc2Mu8MmBaauW)

3. **Electrs or Fulcrum**: I seriously considered these 2 choices for indexer. If you only use Sparrow wallet, Fulcrum might be better. But I tried to connect other wallets like Electrum and Green Wallet to Fulcrum and it did not work, so if you use many wallets, maybe Electrs is the way to go. Fulcrum does seem to be faster though. Check out the [side by side Comparison](https://www.sparrowwallet.com/docs/server-performance.html).
+ **Electrs**: [Github](https://github.com/romanz/electrs), [Tutorial](https://bitcointv.com/w/b6TcphJpjhWZtsKaBE2sPo)
+ **Fulcrum**: [Github](https://github.com/cculianu/Fulcrum), [Tutorial](https://bitcointv.com/w/17RUP2Qpd65KJnueZV6meP) (Bonus: Tor access is not setup in the tutorial. You can get the instructions from [Raspibolt’s site](https://raspibolt.org/guide/bonus/bitcoin/fulcrum.html#remote-access-over-tor-optional))

4. **Mempool Explorer**: [Github](https://github.com/mempool/mempool), [Website](https://mempool.space/), [Tutorial (Docker)](https://bitcointv.com/w/8fpAx6rf5CQ16mMhospwjg)
There are a couple different ways to install the Mempool explorer. Docker is probably the best and easiest one from the “Advanced Installation Methods.” However, MinistryofNodes’s tutorial does not cover how to make it accessible over TOR. I spent many nights trying to figure it out to no avail, so if anyone knows how to enable TOR access over docker, please feel free to let me know. In the end, I resorted once again to [Raspibolt’s amazing written instructions](https://raspibolt.org/guide/bonus/bitcoin/mempool.html), and opted for the full manual installation. 

5. **Core Lightning**: [Github](https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning), [Website](https://docs.corelightning.org/docs/home), Tutorial, [Part 1](https://bitcointv.com/w/aW8P77SskdimfSL7KZsdWJ), [Part 2](https://bitcointv.com/w/nMvWubL9DJdEY5wCA1qVYV), [Part 3](https://bitcointv.com/w/79P9EndAEGNZNF7FfXjusy), [Part 4](https://bitcointv.com/w/roWN9V3qfdUxrRdCfMkEzB)
These tutorials should get your up and running and a CLN node, Ride the Lightning for GUI node management, and Zeus for mobile wallet. 

The last thing you need is to install **CLBOSS**, the automated node channel manager, so you won’t have to bother balancing channels or fussing around with it. [CLBOSS’s github page](https://github.com/ZmnSCPxj/clboss) comes with installation instructions, but they are confusing as hell, and there isn’t a single video tutorial. Thus, it took me hours, for something that should take minutes. 

This is the key: After you install all the dependencies, download the source code and unzip it, you need to first execute: “autoreconf -i”. Then run “./configure && make && sudo make install”. Without the autoreconf command it will just say the config file is missing. For some reason the latest release doesn’t come with a compiled installer, only the source code.

Also, before being able to generate bolt12 static offers, you will need to enable it by [adding “experimental-offers” in the config file](https://docs.corelightning.org/reference/lightningd-config#experimental-options). 

That’s it! If anyone gives this a try, let us know how it goes!

A pleb’s journal to running BOLT12 with CLN, PART 2 (Nuts and Bolts)

Godot

tech

Would I buy the car again?

It depends. I feel that having a Tesla is an experience everyone should be privileged to have. Nothing like any other, even after comparing it to many different EVs I've had the opportunity of testing. Having said that, it's a real luxury most cannot afford and I consider myself fortunate to have had the experience of owning a Model 3. As we all know, for the common people like me, cars are neither an investment nor an asset - and Teslas are particularly expensive - so the commitment to buy one is a pretty big deal.

If I could part with the money after making a sound and financially conscious decision, I would definitely buy the car again only if it were to be used as a secondary vehicle for my household. Using it for small commutes, picking up the kids from school or going to get a frozen yogurt on the weekend. It's a fun luxury, no doubt about it. I really feel it's a privilege to have this grown-up toy if you can. Everyone knows its fast, has instant torque, is comfortable and comes with lots of cool gadgets and widgets.

However, if you're still stacking up your savings or emergency fund, if you still have a mortgage to pay that you can amortize, if you don't have a garage to charge it overnight, or if you plan on using it as the main transportation means for your family, my honest advice is just to forget about it. It's not worth it. Be sure to focus first on your financial stability and get a good cheap all-rounder internal combustion engine car for yourself and maybe revisit the idea in about five years. In the near future, EVs will be cheaper, offer greater autonomy and hopefully benefit from a decent public infrastructure by then not only in terms of availability but also faster charging times (which is one of my biggest complaints).

To be totally frank, at the point I am in my life right now, I wouldn't buy it. I would rather use the money instead to mitigate high interest rates or save it as a financial cushion.

I'm still struggling with the idea of whether I've only reached this conclusion because I was lucky to drive one around. If I hadn't, maybe I would be disappointed for not seeing what the buzz was about and for feeling left out. Having said that, I prefer to believe that I am bit less shallow than than. You see, at the end of the day, the problem was making it our main family car, and that was simply a big and costly mistake. I love the car, but it's not suited for that and I would rather have used the money more wisely.

If you're still reading this, maybe it's because you're thinking of getting one. If so, my key takeaway for you is to really think it through. If you see it as an inexpensive toy for ocasional drives, by all means be my guest and get one! If money, practicality and logistics are a concern, get a cheap ICE instead.

I hope this helps.

My Tesla Model 3 after 3 year: would I buy it again?

mikethemaxi

Flaunt your proud parenting stories

cryotosensei

mostly_harmless

### separate the success you need from the success you want

Thriving demands clean water, nutritious food, and great friends. If you're healthy and have those things, everything else is *extra*. When you only need essentials, you can fail as fast and as frequently as your time on Earth will allow.

### it's about quantity not quality

Becoming skilled at failing is like becoming skilled at anything. You express your present skill level as frequently as you can at the cost of nearly all other measures of performance. You'll make an earnest and diligent attempt at *something*, and to fail, *something* needs to be something that you're unlikely to succeed at.

You may notice that as your failures grow, you begin to succeed reflexively and inadvertently. When this happens, you only need to find something harder that you'll definitely fail at.

### embrace your weakness

Most of us have self-prophesies about our strength. This is only useful for manipulating ourselves and others into believing we can't fail. Fortunately lies don't survive contact with reality. Test your strength through action, not your stories about its action, and discover how to fail.

If you are in fact strong, you may feel like you can't fail, but you can. Any strength has limits beyond which we are weak. Strength often has a narrow area of application too. To fail, identify those limits and pursue feats of strength beyond them. 

### surround yourself with failures

Successful people often teach us how to succeed but not how to fail. They tend to omit their failures and over generalize their success. We succeed by failing until we succeed or by getting lucky, and often we can't tell which made us successful exactly. One surprising way to fail is to take a successful person's wrong advice. 

To learn how to fail as fast as possible, find people diligently failing to do the *something* you want to fail at. Move near them virtually and physically and learn how to fail with them. You will inherit their experience and increase your quantity of fails passively.

### steer into skids

It's our nature to avoid failing. Seek discomfort to find ways to fail. Seek a quality of discomfort similar to the discomfort of puberty. Puberty is confusing, awkward, and exciting. It's a rapid and automatic succession of misunderstandings and novel failures. Puberty is what growth feels like and failing at worthwhile things will feel similar. To fail, pursue these feelings.

Learn how to fail because failure accompanies growth.

How to Fail

k00b

builders

Learn Rust by FuturePaul now has over 13k views 🤯

Nostr Workshop with Super Testnet now has over 5K views 🤯

privacy

It's obviously too early to talk about new years resolutions. We all know, that we won't keep them up until February. The intention with this post however is to telegraph a plan for ~privacy next month.

The goal: get Stackers off from using services that don't give a duck 🦆 about user privacy.

![Duck'n new years resolutions](https://image.nostr.build/20c861b81a84b3ddbc7e0b4c25d5543dc55781ef447ec22f8c04fb775e465b8d.png)
> *📸 Remix of a cartoon from [FoulLanguageComics](https://www.fowllanguagecomics.com/).*

### The Privacy Problem
Far too many of us (including myself) are still relying on centralised servers and corrupt-corporations for nothing more than convenience. Given the awesome reaction to the [SN Privacy Directory V1](https://stacker.news/items/342249) last week, I'm sensing an acknowledgment that people are ready & wishing to consider alternatives. They maybe just need a shove.

We could of course use tough-love to shame stackers that are ignorant to alternatives. Or we could do things a little bit differently around here and lead by example...

------------

### WTF happens until January 21
`January 1 - January 21 2024`

The proposal is to have a single day to try-out a privacy task or free and open-source 'challenge'. A chance to experiment with new software & new methods. Even if for nothing more than having some additional redundancy in our technology stack, as well as to generate some cowboy-camaraderie for good measure...

### What is the schedule?
I have given this not much more thought than 45 minutes, but I am proposing for us follow a schedule something along the lines of:


|  Jan 24   |  Category                                       | **Description of task**                                                |
|-----------------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| `1`  | **VPN**                                    | Buy MullVad / Proton / alternative VPN subscription with 🌽 (starting small & simple)                                   |
| `2`  | **Domain**                                 | Buy a domain privately with BTC and set-up 21 email aliases.                                                       |
| `3`  | **Coinjoin**                               | Celebrate proof-of-keys by normalising a coinjoin spend. Tuck it away in cold storage right after.             |
| `4`  | **Passwords**                              | Password manager, e.g. KeepassXC / Vaultwarden. We'll store, switch & segregate all our services into new email addresses from #2. |
| `5`  | **Email & Browser Clients + Search** | New default apps & experiences. `Afuera` with Google & Apple!                                                   |
| `6`  | **New Computer OS**                        | Setup Linux (and/or Start9, Umbrel) - even on Mac hardware, with/without partitions                    |
| `7`  | **2FA**                                    | Yubikey / Aegis / other FOSS solutions + linking to all our online accounts.                                          |
| `8`  | **File Server**                            | Setup NextCloud / Rclone / ProtonDrive / TrueNAS on devices. Or configure a purpose-bought Synology NAS.                                                      |
| `9`  | **Spend Bitcoin**                          | Buy physical products to an alternative address than your home (or fund a FOSS project as your 'fine') |
| `10` | **Nostr relay**                            | Configure your own Nostr relay, for when censorshit 💩 hits the fan.                                      |
| `11` | **2nd Phone**                        | Your first open-source operating system on a (Pixel) mobile device, together with some favourite FOSS apps              |
| `12` | **Site Hosting**                           | Pay with BTC and host your own Wordpress website with BTCPay, Mutiny or LNBits instance.               |
| `13` | **Heavy 'Metal' Day**                      | A day to stamp seeds on metal and/or listen to Metallica. Bonus points if you disturb your neighbours!   |
| `14` | **Videocalls**                             | Try-out open-source videocalls with a friend/family.                                                   |
| `15` | **Backups**                                | Secure encrypted local file storage & boring best practices.                                            |
| `16` | **SECRET 16**                              | Absolutely not because I ran out of ideas. Leaving a space open for suggestions & a surprise... |
| `17` | **Managing Identities**                    | Swapping-out and segregating IDs / keys, plus best practices when posting online.                         |
| `18` | **Messaging**                              | 'Sack-off' Telegram, Whatsapp and even Signal. A chance to test out new secure direct messaging.       |
| `19 ` | **Lightning Channel**                      | Private node & channel open, performing atomic swap (& perhaps payjoin) to open.                       |
| `20 ` | **Orange-Pilling Merchants**               | Ask a business/worker if they accept Bitcoin as payment/tips & send them P2P kyc-free sats.            |
| `21` | **Bitcoin Buys**                           | Purchase non-KYC or P2P only. Celebrating Day 21 in style!                                                    |

*Note*: This is by no means set-in-stone, but I wanted to share a first-draft to get the Stacker's thoughts. Are you interested in such a daily format?

There'll be many of you who have already taken all these steps and even gone beyond. But I suspect the vast majority are still creatures of comfort and habit, having (like me) a handful of items still to check-off their list.

-----------

### Why now?
In-spite of not being blessed with a lot of time next month, I do really want us Stackers to level-up our privacy, with nothing more than a **30-60 minute commitment each day.** It needs to be accessible.

If we all do similar tasks on similar days, it's my hope that it is going to be much more impactful and insightful. People can jump-in & out. Stackers can be sharing their first-time experiences on a similar schedule. We can also invite "vader-veterans" to break-down and provide input into what has worked for them in past months.

I'm posting this in advance because if there is demand for this 21 day series, you're going to need a bunch of **non-KYC corn to purchase software & services** from bitcoin-affiliated projects. You may either need to stack or coinjoin in these coming weeks, finding an opportune time for when the mempool clears it's bowels of JPEGs.

### What you might need?
This is also an announcement of an announcement, simply because you may wish to put 1 or 2 things on your festive wish-list. 

By the second week, there's the option to adopt some new hardware. This will be useful if you want to get started with Graphene (mobile), Linux (laptop/desktop) or say a Yubikey for example. Ask Santa nicely!

`Tip` - If you are making any hardware purchases (particularly phones), it may be best to do so in cash using second-hand marketplaces. Buying directly from the manufacturer's websites will have them record your serial number against that transaction. It *will* take a little more effort, but your future self/nym may thank you for it. Ignore this advice for hardware wallets & yubikeys, for obvious security reasons.

### How it works?
Much like [book club](https://stacker.news/items/317108/r/davidw) instigated by @elvismercury, which has been an overwhelming success on SN, this will be a collaborative effort. **Each day in the month of January up to the 21st**, will likely be a new post. Inside we'll compare solutions, setups and early impressions. Evaluating whether we will transition over to FOSS software or not.

Depending on how things go, we may find some additional techniques and tricks to extend it to a full month. Who knows if I can coordinate all of this and reliably post each day, but at least we'll see if Stackers can provide some needed accountability here.

At the end of January 2024, I will post the StackerNews post links in the comments to each of the sessions. That way, anyone living under a rock can discover all of that stacker gold from this very place in future. 

On each day's post, I can make a habit of mentioning what is coming up the following day, so people are aware and can prepare some time in their tomorrow to join (or make intolerable excuses).

--------

### Want to be notified on particular days?
if you want to be tagged on a particular day, shout in the comments, e.g:
- *`Spam me - Days 9, 13, 21`*
- *`Spam me - All days`*

### Any recommendations or questions?
Got any suggestions on how to schedule or make this as productive as possible? Or entries you'd swap in or out? Hit that reply button also...


------

*P.S. I'm probably going to call this series `Privacy Pub`, rather than `Privacy Club` . Mainly because the regulars hang-out in the saloon all day, it's a pub-lic discourse and (importantly) it's 1 less character to type-out each day. Hope you dig the format & idea...*

![](https://i.gifer.com/origin/64/64f408113a871004776909391c185a69_w200.gif)

Privacy Club - January 2024 📆

davidw

videos

📺 How to Escape Mediocrity and Mental Illness - The Road Less Traveled

This is an idea how to improve your bitcoin backup setup. You can use it for yourself or as a dead men’s switch for your loved ones to get access to your bitcoin holdings if something happens to you.

__Caution__: While this method improves the resiliency of your backup if could potentially harm your privacy.

# Summary:
The idea is to create a signed bitcoin transaction which will become valid in the future (e.g in two years). To do that we leverage bitcoins [timelock](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Timelock) feature.
The target of the transaction is an empty wallet which you can keep with the signed transaction.
If you lose your keys or something happens to you, the signed transaction can be broadcasted after the specified time by someone who holds the transaction and the empty wallet. If you don’t need it, you just must move one utxo of the whole transaction to invalidate the signed transaction.
I assume you know how to handle your wallets and seed phrases and familiar with creating on-chain bitcoin transactions.

# Step 1: Create empty wallet
First create an empty wallet where the transaction will be sent to. To do this, use your favorite way to create a fresh wallet. You could either use an existing hardware-wallet, [a seed signer]( https://seedsigner.com/) or [electrum]( https://electrum.org/) booted on a [tails OS](https://tails.net/). Write down the seed phrase and generate a new address which we will need later to send the funds to.

# Step 2: Create a signed bitcoin transaction
For the purpose of this example I will use the [sparrow-wallet software]( https://www.sparrowwallet.com/). 
Open the wallet you want to “protect” by the dead man’s switch and navigate to UTXOs. There you can see all your available outputs to spend. Now select all the utxos you want to include in your dead man’s switch, mark them, right click them, and select “send selected”.
![1.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/5725)

Next paste the generated receiver address which you generated in step one. Use a fee that is not too low. Of course, you don’t know how the fees will be in the feature but if necessary, you can always do a [CPFP](https://bitcoinops.org/en/topics/cpfp/). Click “Create Transaction”. 
![2.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/5726)

This is the important part of the transaction. You must lock the transaction to make sure it is only valid in the future. Click on “Detail” in the transaction screen and choose the appropriate locktime. You can either select a block after which you transaction will be valid or a specific date.
![3.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/5727)

Now “Finalize Transaction for Signing” and click “Sign”. 
![4.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/5728)

After that you can save the transaction as a Transaction file or a QR Code. 
![5.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/5729)

If you open the .txn file with a text-editor, it looks something like this: 
![6.jpg](https://m.stacker.news/5730)

It is safe to keep this information on a “hot” device as long as the locktime not passed.

# Step 3 Use the transaction or invalidate it
In the best case nobody needed this transaction. Now make sure that you invalidate the transaction bevor the locktime is reached. To do that, you only need to change one of the utxos you choose in step 2. Spend it to your wallet and the signed transaction is invalidated.

If you need to use the dead man’s switch after the locktime period is passed, make sure you have access to the wallet you created in step one. 

Now you can broadcast the signed transaction and all the utxos will be sent to your wallet created in step one. To broadcast the transaction you can use one of the following websites: 
- https://mempool.space/tx/push
- https://blockstream.info/tx/push
- https://btc.bitaps.com/broadcast
- https://bitaccelerate.com/pushtx
- https://www.coinb.in/#broadcast 

# Additional information
This additional information is manly if you create the transaction to make sure your loved ones can access your Bitcoin if something happens to you.

__Important__: If you handle over the signed transaction to someone else, that person knows immediately how much Bitcoin you signed. This is a huge privacy issue with this method. Use carefully.

If the person, you give the transaction does not know about Bitcoin (maybe your grandmother) make sure you pass enough information to that person that she can handle it. Maybe write down some contact information about someone you trust and know how to handle it.


Dead man’s switch – How to improve your bitcoin backup

megaptera

I hate parenting to the core. 

I have two kids: a 4-year-old boy and an 11-month-old girl. I have wanted to be a father. So, don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. But the whole business of parenting is so intense and exasperating and exhausting that I literally sigh my deepest before I open the door to my house these days.

I embraced the birth of my first child. I remember sharing with my friends that I thought parenting ennobles my job because my salary would be used to raise another human being. There’s an added layer of purpose to my job.

But I soon came to dislike parenting with a vengeance. Obviously, I knew that my life would undergo several drastic changes, but I just wasn’t prepared for the way it would consume my days and nights and suck my time, energy and efforts.

I think the problem lies in that my wife and I have no support. My mother has passed on; I can’t possibly rely on my 80-year-old father to take care of his grandkids; and my parents-in-law are based overseas. So we have to undergo the daily grind alone. Every day. 

How about a nanny or helper? I hear you ask. I don’t think my wife would entrust her kids in the hands of other people. I don’t want to raise something that is already a foregone conclusion and incur her displeasure. 

So why am I so frustrated? I think parenting takes away my need for solitude and companionship without offering me anything in equal measure. All of a sudden, I have to give up my social life. I haven’t met my friends in months. I crave for night-out sessions, in which I can just stay out late to catch up with my friends.

I don’t have to be around people all the time. I’m perfectly fine signing up for seminars and workshops and attending them alone. I miss being exposed to people outside my usual realm of work and expanding my horizons. I hate that I have to rush home every week day after work because I need to pick up my kids from the childcare centre. I hate that I have to spend my weekends taking my boy to the indoor playground so that he can release his pent-up energies. In fact, right now I’m at the indoor playground. All I see around me are equally bored parents passing the time buried in their handphones. Since when did my activity-filled life turn out to be so mundane?

As for solitude, sometimes I feel the need to be alone and decompress and not have to engage with anyone. But parenting doesn’t allow me to do that. I need to feed food to a screaming baby (who wants her natto NOW!) and a talkative toddler who just talks non-stop. I yearn for peace and quiet desperately. 

I find that parenting is akin to being trapped in an enclosed cage, where I cannot breathe in fresh air and have to sustain myself on the limited oxygen available. Prior to fatherhood, I had anticipated it to be similar to a terrarium. But nope, I just feel suffocated by the whole experience.

I don’t regret being a father. But every day, I ask myself why I am so unhappy even though I have two beautiful kids. I just want them to grow up quickly so that I can regain some semblance of my previous social life. I don’t like how parenting deprives me of everything else and denies me balance.

My workplace grants me access to a counsellor. Perhaps I should seek his services. Then again, the idea of spending an hour to talk about parenting (as opposed to sipping a nice cup of coffee before I go home) doesn’t quite appeal to me. I guess I will monitor my mental well-being and see how things go.

Thank you for reading my rant. I like that this site provides me a safe space to share my deepest, darkest thoughts.



Confessions of a burnt-out father

In a particularly frustrating moment, I threw caution to the wind and wrote about my struggles as a father: https://stacker.news/items/304937/r/cryotosensei. I didn’t expect many Stackers to read it actually, so I was floored and bowled over by the outpouring of good advice, support and encouragement. Even the more critical ones were written with compassion and well wishes. I can’t exactly explain why, but my heart feels so much lighter this week.

I digested every comment and pondered it over and over again. Thank you for sharing a piece of your heart.

Tips to Cope with Parenthood

1. Talk to a counsellor
2. Talk to older fathers who have experience you don’t have yet
3. Have a heart-to-heart talk with your wife, even if the conversation is going to be difficult
4. Break the mundane routine. Embark on adventures with your children.
5. Get a baby sitter and take an hour or 2 with your wife
6. Collaborate with other parents to take turns to look after each other’s children. Schedule play dates
7. Spend less time on social media and focus on being present for your kids
8. Wake up earlier than the rest of the household and do something that fills your cup
9. Reset your priorities and cut out the things you used to love doing but aren’t the best use of your time. 
10. Think about the alternative. Do you really want to usher in old age, having focused on your career but still unceremoniously disposed of by the workplace because you are increasingly seen as irrelevant?
11. Read to make your mind feel relaxed.
12. Similarly, instil a love of reading in your child so that he will want to read non-stop (and give you some space in the process).
13. Trust that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Remember the Stoic philosophy - (“the obstacle is the way”). 
14. Hang in there. Hang in there. Hang in there.

And yes, I will schedule a counselling session soon. Many thanks.

Tips to cope with parenthood

Hi folks,

I'm a programmer that was lucky enough to find the Bitcoin Standard, Mastering Bitcoin, etc. before I was very invested in my career. I am deciding on my next project and would appreciate community feedback...

I use Sparrow wallet with Bitcoin Core. Sparrow is a robust and truly great app, but I can't help thinking that it could be easier to stack sats with a hardware wallet. My current setup is buying Bitcoin on Strike and moving the UTXOs to Sparrow, feels a little hacky to me. I know that Specter has a Swan integration but I didn't pass the KYC test with Swan for some reason lol. 

Another feature that could be cool is an intuitive LN integration that would make moving UTXOs from cold storage into a LN channel with Phoenix or whatever app the user choses to make LN payments. 

Appreciate any feedback on if this idea might be worth pursuing further. My work so far may be found at https://github.com/rustaceanrob/flow, but I plan to refactor my backend from rust-bitcoin to bdk. 

Do you think the companion apps for hardware wallets are sufficient?

rustaceanrob

What are your expectations for bitcoin in 5-10 years?

Monotone

I only trust the guy (time traveller? ;) - who wrote this (shocking) prediction **10 years** ago:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1c5j46/you_people_are_seriously_not_thinking_clearly/

We are at stage 6. and observing signs of 7.
Hopefully stage 8. in 5-10 years.


jk_14

What are you working on this week?

Yes!

Our frontend is currently SolidJS written in TypeScript:https://github.com/MutinyWallet/mutiny-web

All of the lightning-related libraries are written in rust and binded to typescript, ie, the package I linked above is here on npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@mutinywallet/mutiny-wasm

We have a dev chat room on Matrix if you wanna join and contribute to the conversation or code: https://matrix.to/#/#mutiny-community:lightninghackers.com

Would be happy for other contributors, we are pretty much doing everything in the open so check out the github project boards and milestones on the repos.

TonyGiorgio

nostr

Getting Zaps on Nostr to my own node

gkrizek

Excited to share a project I've been working on this week - a Personal Bitcoin Tip Card created using Flutter Web and BTCPay API! 🚀 

It's a simple but powerful tool that displays your social network links and has a Tip Bitcoin button for others to easily send you a tip.

Here's how it works: when someone clicks the Tip Bitcoin button, they'll be taken to a tipping form where they can enter the amount, their name, and a message. The form then generates an invoice using the BTCPay API, which the user can pay using their Bitcoin wallet.

One of the best things about this project is that it follows the best practices for generating invoices securely. For example, the XPUB is stored only on the BTCPay API server in watch-only mode, which means that an infinite number of Bitcoin addresses can be generated for receiving tips while keeping everything secure. 

If you're interested in setting up your own Personal Bitcoin Tip Card, check out my GitHub repository and blog article below for more information. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback! 

Github: https://github.com/aniketambore/personal-bitcoin-tip-card
Blog: https://makers.bolt.fun/story/developing-personal-bitcoin-tip-card-with-flutter-web-and-btcpay-api-setup--625
Project Demo: https://aniketambore.github.io

Developing Personal Bitcoin Tip Card with Flutter Web and BTCPay API

anipy

I like to think my finger rests on the pulse of bitcoin, its culture, innovations, these things I can feel. My feeling in 2021 was that the LN turned a corner, and this was correct I think; now it feels like an absolute explosion rapidly approaches, datelined perhaps for later this year, maybe early next year. I've over the last 6 months left bitcoin layer 1. My Coldcard still protects keys down there for my main UTXO stack, and I auto-dispatch DCA coin for saving of course, but I really don't fuck with L1 much anymore. 

> **My LN channels haven't closed in forever. I wonder if they ever will.**

After operating and noding around LN for long enough, drivechiains, sidechains, and spacechains seem passé, like pre-covid shit. Talk of an *op_vault* soft-fork seems redundant now that we have miniscript, sovereign vetos, and a PSBTv2 coming sometime, which imo, few realize is the future of all smart contracting. Many of the DeFi things that *crypto* aspires to do can be done so much better with Lightning, but with a real service, a real product, or securities, not a fucking vaporware token pushed by a CEX and their dying business model. 

L2 has given me a better appreciation for the slow, safe, methodical pace that L1 has chosen, staying the course, letting technology inflate around it, letting bitcoin's value get abstracted with smart software pattern design. Many of the proposed forks of the past seem questionable now—Taproot and SegWit I don't count amongst them. In the moment, people arguing about *Ordinal Theory* and angry about blocks getting filled with inscriptions are missing a much bigger picture. Talking about *StratumV2* adoption amongst miners seems more worthwhile, developing an eagerness to run nodes like many of the *Theorists* have done seems like something bitcoiners not running nodes should copy, preferably Taproot, because its updates are critical and purpose-built for the LN to take its next giant steps. 

All the passion of well-intentioned bitcoiners needs to move to L2 and the mining space. L1 really doesn't need anything. It's L2 where we begin disintegrating the discrete payment networks of Visa, ACH, PayPal, Western Union, etc, offering a superior technology and experience to CBDCs, and get a jumpstart on reputation-identity which is the next wave via 0auth, slashtags, DiDs, Holepunch, and endpoint functionalities. The world's currencies will try bifurcating in a mostly East/West arrangement, basically think of a default where they try to start the same game over again from 0. We won't let them, not successfully, because our network will be open, permisionless, instant, neutral, global, and enforce rules. Along its rails, wires, and waves will travel the hardest money known to mankind. We don't get there without a robust L1 adjacent though—the Lightning Network. Here's a post I wrote on the obliteration CBDC's face if you're interested: https://stacker.news/items/134290

> **I'm a lightning maximalist. I'm a lightning man.**

Anyway, some favorites from the LN:

-Running LN channels, nodes, and contracts remotely with ZeusLN
-Quickly swapping BTC in and out of L1/L2 with Robotsats without running a node
-Derivative trading with LNmarkets
-ThunderSats lol
-LnURL for stupid easy LN addresses
-BTCPayserver
-Stacker News
-Nostr

Do any of you feel the same way? We finna explode? Wen? What are your favorite LN applications?






I'm an LN maxi. Are we on the cusp of major network effect? (sats for replies)

mallardshead

Running self custodial lightning is not as painful as it once was, this is my setup.

I run an umbrel node (LND + BTCPayServer) with a reverse tor proxy to expose BTCPayServer (I use the cheapest Lunanode VPS).

I run tailscale on the umbrel node and on my phone, using Zeus to interface with my node from anywhere.

I have just 2 channels with well connected nodes and rarely have issues routing.

Setup Cost: 
- Pi4  (I wouldn't buy this again today, I'd get a cheap micro computer.)
- 1 TB SSD (Might be worth a 2TB if you can get a good deal)

Monthly Cost: 
- m.1s on Lunanode for reverse proxy ($3.5 / mo)

With this setup I can
- Accept payments / tips via the BTCPayServer store (tips.orange.surf)
- Accept payments / tips via LN Address (sats@tips.orange.surf)
- Make payments (From Zeus)
- Manage channels (From Zeus)


All that is missing is NIP57 support from BTCPayServer to accept Zaps on nostr.  

The only issue is the loading speed of the btcpayser, it takes 20 seconds to load the tips page and a further 20 seconds to load a LN invoice. A faster reverse tor proxy, or a more powerful machine running BTCPayServer would help, but tor is probably the bottleneck. I may try using tailscale as the proxy instead.
