culture

![](https://m.stacker.news/49190)

I had preconceptions about the United Nations, of course, but I was looking forward to seeing the real thing in person; only then would I know if my guesses had been correct. So, I made my plans.

My Adventures At Climate Change Central

FmpPerspective

mostly_harmless

Toxic people will always be snarky and sarcastic when you're winning at life. That's how you know that they're toxic.

The envy that they feel is channelled into cutting you down. This is particularly vicious with people with an entitlement mindset. They hate feeling inferior and they feel a deep need to cut you down to size when they perceive you're getting "too big for your britches."

Honestly, this is loser behavior and should be recognized as such. Engaging in debate and going back and forth on a real substantive argument is one thing. Snark and sarcasm is almost always toxic envy. Sarcasm is not argument. Snark is not reason. Sarcasm and snark are emotional weapons to sideswipe logic and reason. Toxic people do this to make you submit to their frame, to get you to emotionally abandon your position rather than rationally be argued out of it.

Sadly, this is how most of the world works. They are not convinced by argument, but by tribalism and emotion. In a fiat world, such tactics are extremely effective. It's called peer pressure and it robs us of our individuality. Becoming immune to such peer pressure is exactly what thinking for yourself means. Hence, cutting toxic people out of your life is not just healthy, but necessary if you want to grow.

What's nice about the Bitcoin community is that there is a deep respect for real argument, particularly from first principles. That's good because the fiat system lends itself to centralized groupthink. And centralized groupthink will have its share of bullying, toxic Karens.

Thankfully, we can cut the toxic people out of our lives under a Bitcoin standard and leave them powerless to influence us, but to do that we need to not just get on a Bitcoin standard, but also change our mentality to be self sovereign.

On Toxic People

jimmysong

nostr

I've seen some discussions on Nostr lately talking about the need for relays. I find it to be something I can maybe do to help the community, since I'm not a coder. The downfall is I haven't been able to find a good up to date guide on what is needed. There are a ton of relay projects, but I do not know which are stable enough to run with any kind of reliability. If anyone has input, guides, etc.. It would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks!

How to run a Nostr relay?

plebone

BooksAndArticles

The Library of Ctesiphon, located in the capital of the ancient Sasanian Empire, is one of the most notable examples of centers of knowledge in Antiquity.  Ctesiphon, located on the banks of the Tigris River near modern Baghdad, was an important cultural and political center for several centuries, housing one of the largest collections of texts from the ancient world.

 Founded in the 3rd century AD, the Library of Ctesiphon flourished under the reign of the Sasanian kings, who valued knowledge and culture.  The library was a repository of vast collections of scientific, literary, religious and philosophical works, written in several languages, including Persian, Greek, Sanskrit and Aramaic.  Among his treasures were texts on medicine, astronomy, mathematics, as well as philosophical and religious treatises.

 The library was not only a repository of books, but also an active center for translation and intellectual exchange.  Scholars from different parts of the world gathered at Ctesiphon to translate and comment on important works, promoting a vibrant exchange of ideas between Persian, Greek, Indian and Mesopotamian cultures.  This period of intense intellectual activity helped to preserve and transmit much knowledge from Antiquity to future generations.

 One of the most notable figures associated with the Library of Ctesiphon was the Persian sage Borzouyeh, who traveled to India in search of medical and philosophical texts.  He brought back the famous collection of fables known as "Panchatantra", which was translated into Persian and significantly influenced Persian and world literature.

 Unfortunately, the glory of Ctesiphon and his library did not last forever.  In 637 AD, the city was sacked by Arab armies during the expansion of Islam, resulting in the destruction of many of its cultural treasures.

![](https://m.stacker.news/32084)

The Library of Ctesiphon: The Center of Knowledge in the Sasanian Empire

CuriositiesInTheWorld

earth

Live 24/7 CO₂ World Emissions of Electricity Consumption

0xbitcoiner

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

history

In the ancient annals of trade and maritime mastery, the Phoenicians, those intrepid seafarers of the Levant, carved a legacy as vibrant as their famed purple dyes. From the bustling city-states of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos emerged a maritime empire that glittered across the Mediterranean like a gem-studded crown. These Canaanite-speaking people, hailing from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, rose to prominence between 1500 and 300 BC, establishing themselves as the preeminent traders and colonizers of the ancient world.

Riding the waves of commerce, the Phoenicians soared to their zenith between 1000 and 600 BC, a golden age spanning four centuries where their ships plied the seas, laden with treasures from distant lands. Their trade routes crisscrossed the ancient world, linking the Levant to the riches of Cyprus, Sicily, and Spain, with Tyre and Sidon standing as beacons of prosperity in a sea of opportunity. The Phoenicians' mastery of shipbuilding and navigation allowed them to dominate the Mediterranean, establishing trading posts and colonies from the Iberian Peninsula to the Black Sea.

As the Phoenicians flourished, their artistry in purple dye, glassware, and ivory captivated markets far and wide, enriching not just their coffers but also the cultural tapestry of the Mediterranean. Colonizing regions from the shores of North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula, they wove alliances and partnerships that shaped the economic landscape for generations to come. The Phoenicians' trading empire was built on the foundation of their skilled craftsmanship, with Tyrian purple, a vibrant dye extracted from the murex sea snail, becoming a symbol of luxury and status throughout the ancient world.

Yet, like all tales of antiquity, the Phoenician saga too faced the ebb and flow of time. By 600 BC, their once-mighty empire began to wane, succumbing to the tides of history as newer powers emerged on the horizon. The rise of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC and the subsequent conquest of Phoenicia by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC marked the beginning of the end for the Phoenician trading empire. But the legacy of the Phoenicians, those trailblazers of trade and craftsmanship, endures in the annals of history, a testament to the indomitable spirit of those who dared to sail beyond the known seas in search of fortune and glory.

Beyond their maritime exploits and mercantile triumphs, the Phoenicians, those seafaring pioneers of the ancient world, not only traded goods but also enriched the cultural fabric of civilization. Beyond their purple-dyed sails and exotic wares, they bequeathed a gift that transcended borders: the Phoenician alphabet. This script, born of their need to record transactions and communicate across vast distances, laid the foundation for the written word in the Mediterranean and beyond. From the shores of Tyre and Sidon emerged a legacy that would shape the very essence of language, as the Phoenicians, in their quest for trade and conquest, unwittingly became architects of the written word, leaving an indelible mark on the annals of human communication. The Phoenician alphabet, with its simple and efficient design, would eventually evolve into the Greek and Latin scripts, influencing the development of writing systems across Europe and the Middle East.

The Phoenicians' love for wine extended to their religion, and its ceremonial use mirrored that of other Near Eastern religions. The Phoenicians' wine production and trade played a significant role in the development of the Mediterranean wine culture. They introduced wine-making techniques and grape varieties to their colonies, which in turn influenced the wine-making traditions of the regions they colonized. The Phoenicians' wine production and trade also had a profound impact on the development of the wine culture in ancient Greece and Rome, with the Phoenician god of wine, Melqart, becoming associated with the Greek god Heracles and the Roman god Hercules.

The legend of Dido and Carthago is a testament to the Phoenicians' enduring influence on the Mediterranean world. According to legend, Dido, the Phoenician princess, founded the city of Carthago in North Africa after being banished from her homeland. The city became a major center of trade and commerce, and its legacy continues to shape the modern world. Carthage, with its strategic location on the North African coast, became a formidable rival to Rome, leading to the Punic Wars between the two powers in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

The Phoenicians' genetic legacy also lives on, with studies suggesting that they left a significant genetic imprint on the modern populations of the Mediterranean. Their genes can be found in the DNA of people from Spain, Italy, and North Africa, a testament to their extensive trade networks and colonization efforts. The Phoenicians' intermarriage with local populations and the spread of their culture through trade and conquest have left a lasting impact on the genetic makeup of the Mediterranean basin.

The Phoenician legacy faced its ultimate test during the Punic Wars against Rome, where Carthage, their greatest colony, clashed with the rising power of the Roman Republic. Despite their naval prowess and strategic acumen, the Phoenician city-states eventually succumbed to Roman might, marking the end of an era. The fall of Carthage in 146 BC signaled the twilight of Phoenician influence in the Mediterranean, but their legacy as pioneers of trade, culture, and language endured, shaping the course of history for centuries to come. The Punic Wars, with their epic battles and larger-than-life figures like Hannibal and Scipio Africanus, have captured the imagination of historians and storytellers for millennia, underscoring the enduring impact of the Phoenician civilization on the ancient world.

The Phoenicians were a remarkable people who left an indelible mark on the ancient world. Their achievements in trade, craftsmanship, and wine production continue to shape our understanding of the Mediterranean world, and their legend endures as a testament to the power of human ingenuity and perseverance. From the bustling ports of Tyre and Sidon to the far-flung corners of the Mediterranean, the Phoenicians wove a tapestry of commerce and culture that continues to captivate and inspire us to this day.

More: https://youtu.be/-p8OZz5KJoo?si=Sn6CkbK0bUL9T9jf

![](https://m.stacker.news/30616)

The Magnificent Legacy of the Phoenicians: From Trade to Triumph

GhostofTruth

tech

Although there are many scientific search engines available on the web, Google is a very powerful search engine that manages to dominate and hide these specific search engines.

 I recently came across a list of search engines that can be used to find specific information on a wide range of topics. 

Here's the list I recently discovered and I'd like to share it with you: 

[www.refseek.com](https://www.refseek.com/site/about) - **Academic Resource Search**. RefSeek is a web search engine for students and researchers that aims to make academic information easily accessible to everyone. RefSeek searches more than five billion documents, including web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers. RefSeek's unique approach offers students comprehensive subject coverage without the information overload of a general search engine—increasing the visibility of academic information and compelling ideas that are often lost in a muddle of sponsored links and commercial results.

www.worldcat.org - **WorldCat** is a great resource for locating unique, trustworthy materials that you often can’t find anywhere except in a library. And by connecting thousands of libraries’ collections in one place, WorldCat.org makes it easy for you to browse the world’s libraries from one easy search box. During the past 50+ years, thousands of libraries have entered their information about millions of books, magazines, movies, songs, maps, genealogical records, research theses and so much more into WorldCat. And not just the physical items you could find when you visit a library, but many kinds of digital content like open-source e-books, articles, downloadable audiobooks, and photos. You can also find article citations with links to full text, authoritative research materials, one-of-a-kind documents and photos of local or historic significance, and digital versions of rare items that aren’t generally available to the public.

https://link.springer.com - **Springer Nature** advances discovery by publishing robust and insightful research, supporting the development of new areas of knowledge, making ideas and information accessible around the world, and leading the way on open access. Key to this is our ability to provide the best possible service to the whole research community.

www.bioline.org.br - **Bioline International** is a pioneer in the provision of open access to peer-reviewed bioscience journals published in developing countries. These journals contain timely research on public health, international development, tropical medicine, food and nutritional security, and biodiversity. Bioline increases the visibility of this research by making it readily available to researchers across the world. Bioline is not a publisher, but an aggregator that provides a free platform for journals who wish to participate in the global open access movement.


http://repec.org - **The RePEc bibliographic data** is in the public domain and thus used by other services as well. Over 2,200 archives from 103 countries have contributed about 4.5 million research items from 4,000 journals and 5,500 working paper series. Over 65,000 authors have registered and 75,000 email subscriptions are served every week. RePEc is entirely based on the contributions of volunteers.

www.science.gov - **Science.gov** is an official website of the U.S. government providing ready access to the massive stores of federally funded scientific research results, without needing to know which agency funded the research. Research results include scientific and technical reports, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, digital data, software, conference presentations and proceedings, and other scientific and technical information that federal agencies publish resulting from their research investments. Originally launched in 2002, Science.gov searches content from across multiple federal agencies that fund scientific research and provides top-level results from those agencies, where users get the most relevant results for the information they search. Unlike typical web-based search engines that crawl and index web content at unknown frequencies, Science.gov uses a search technology that retrieves results in real-time. This ensures that the most recent content is available for search and retrieval by Science.gov.

www.base-search.net - **BASE** is one of the world's most voluminous search engines especially for academic web resources. BASE provides more than 340 million documents from more than 11,000 content providers. You can access the full texts of about 60% of the indexed documents for free (Open Access). BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library. We are indexing the metadata of all kinds of academically relevant resources – journals, institutional repositories, digital collections etc. – which provide an OAI interface and use OAI-PMH for providing their contents (see our Golden Rules for Repository Managers).

Google is so "powerful" that it "hides" other search systems from the users 

Taft

# Shits 💩

`Dogshit` - Very poor quality
`Bullshit` - Not true
`Horseshit` - Nonsense
`Apeshit` - Rambunctious
`Batshit` - Insane
`Chickenshit i` - cowards
`Ratshit` - poor quality
`No shit` - Obviously
`Holy shit` - mind blowing/unbelievable
`Hot shit` - very good
`Dipshit` - a total dumbass
`Tuff shit` - Take it or leave it.
`Jack shit` - nothing
`The shit` - perfection

[@ MicroDose⚡(btc)](https://njump.me/nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzpm30g8ag5jueauu3ns0l33rkrfpvkhwgzhk5vvyaf4v57s342tamqythwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskuep0qydhwumn8ghj7um5w4jxjmenxy6zumn0wd68yvfwvdhk6tcqyrhysyy4n8um9wgx80tztatxeelw8r2ge6p04cvwec5d2n8tf9w8xrzfkjh)

To Be Truly Fluent in English, You Must Know Your Shits

privacy

Using email as key id of your key pair has many unwanted implications: If you provide a genuine email address that is yours then you expose this email to spam and attacks. If you use a fake email that is not yours then there are two problems associated with that. First, such email address may exist and belong to someone else - in that case you expose this email to spam and attacks. Second, whether such email exists or not id it is not your email then people attempting to contact you will be disappointed. To remedy all this when generating a GPG key pair leave the fields name and email empty and use comment as the key's id.
Below is a quick tutorial on how to change key id associated with an email, `kid7@nonexistant.hex`, to a comment, `kid7`.
Run 

`gpg --edit-key kid7@nonexistant.hex` 

 That should leave you to an interactive prompt. From this prompt run 

`adduid` 

and follow the querries of GPG, leaving email and name empty while specifying `kid7` as comment. Then run

 `list`

This should give you the list of identities with their respective integer indices. In our case the identity that we want to delete has the index of `1`. Run 

`uid 1` 

to select it, then again 

`list`

to see it selected with `*` and then 

`deluid` 

to finally  delete it.

Privacy tip: use comment as the id of you PGP / GPG key instead of email.

denationalized

Do not fall for it again.

Legalese is tricky for those not versed within it. Surprisingly, many (low level) judges &  lawyers still do not understand the statutory construction concepts of *ejusdem generis* or *noscitur a sociis*.

Let's look at the last sentence of Section 1 of EO 6102:

**The term "person" means any individual, partnership, association or corporation.**

At first glance, it looks like the word "individual" would apply to an actual human being. When a definition contains a list such as this, the terms within the list must be within the same class. Human beings are not within the same class as the other commercial/statutory entities within this list, so in this case, an "individual" is just *one* of those other "persons".

Rarely does a person mean a human being, but it is often misapplied to us. Those that know how to fight it in court can ensure that it is not, but unfortunately, many do not have the want to learn court process and fight it.

To see when a person actually means a regular human being, look at the definition of "person" within your state's penal code.

Executive Order 6102 did NOT apply to regular men and women

kytt

From Naomi Brockwell

# Video Description
Financial privacy has practically vanished over the last 50 years. Most people are in denial about it, and still believe that their relationship with their bank or their credit union is confidential -- the reality couldn’t be further from that.

In this video we walk you through the history of how financial privacy slowly disappeared, and how we built a gargantuan financial surveillance system that no one really understands the extent of.


00:00
 Financial Privacy is an Illusion

02:14
 Pre-1970

03:23
 Bank Secrecy Act

08:02
 Annunzio-Wylie AML Act

10:38
 Patriot Act

12:51
 $600 Rule

16:17
 The Future Ahead

18:24
 Is This the World We Want?

We have slowly built a gargantuan system of unchecked financial surveillance, and it’s time to question whether this is the world we want to live in. The first step is just making people aware of how far financial surveillance norms have shifted in just a few decades.

The Truth about Bank Privacy

Undisciplined

Radicle is an open source, peer-to-peer code collaboration stack built on Git. Unlike centralized code hosting platforms, there is no single entity controlling the network. Repositories are replicated across peers in a decentralized manner, and users are in full control of their data and workflow.

Radicle 1.0.0-rc.1 released (p2p Git)

megaptera

bitcoin_beginners

Cryptography is one of those things that’s incredibly beautiful and mind blowing, but most people miss it because it’s difficult to explain and understand. That's too bad, because you don't have to be a tech nerd to see how cool it is! The problem is, most of us nerds don’t take the time to put these concepts into basic terms.

Relatedly, I've found that a lot of people come to bitcoin without much technical understanding, especially when it comes to the coolest part of bitcoin, which imo, is cryptography.

So if that's you, this post is for you! There's no math or code here - I'd love to help you understand a key function (sry not sry for the pun) in the bitcoin protocol by explaining it in basic conceptual terms. 

This is a long post, but I think it will be worth your time and hope you find it helpful and interesting!

*(PS - Even if you are a nerd, I've always found it helpful when people have explained things like this this for me, so I hope this helps you in some way as well.)*
_____
## Symmetric / Asymmetric Encryption Basics

I’m going to assume you’re somewhat familiar with symmetric encryption (if you ever played with codes and ciphers as a kid, you know this). In a nutshell, symmetric encryption means you and your friend share the same key, and that key is used for both encryption and decryption.

*(If you're not familiar, check out the [Shift Cipher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6jqKRXSShI) as a very basic example.)*

Public Key Encryption is a kind of Asymmetric encryption. **One key can decrypt what the other encrypts.** The operation is reversible, which is how this becomes relevant to bitcoin, but we’ll get there later. The main difference between the public and private keys is that one is derived from the other. **The public key is derived from the private key.** If you have the private key, you inherently have the public key. Keep the private key private, or it defeats the purpose. 

In short - with symmetric encryption, both parties have the same key. With asymmetric encryption, you are the only one with your private key, and the other party has access to your public key. The next section explains why this was originally necessary. 

_____
## Here’s the traditional problem of symmetric encryption that is solved by PKE:

**You need to send a secret message to a friend. You cannot send an encryption/decryption key to your friend because an eavesdropper can see and hear all communication channels.**

*(i.e., we needed a way to privately communicate via the internet, but don't worry about putting it in that context)*

Here’s how PKE solves this: 
* Your friend generates a private key (**kept secret from the eavesdropper AND from you**). 
* Your friend derives the public key and broadcasts publicly.
* You encrypt your message **in secret** *with the public key* and broadcast the encrypted message.
* **The message can only be encrypted with the private key, which is known only to your friend.**
* Now you have a way to send secret messages to your friend!
* If you want to *receive* encrypted messages *from* your friend, you can simply generate your own, separate private/public key pair, and have your friend encrypt their message with *your* public key.  

If you’re confused, it might help to read those steps again, keeping in mind that the eavesdropper can only see/hear what is broadcasted between you and your friend, but they cannot see/hear what you do alone and in secret (in this case, encrypt/decrypt). 

So far this isn’t relevant to bitcoin yet. 

*(Side note #1: this is computationally difficult compared to symmetric encryption. So when two parties need to send private messages in the presence of an eavesdropper (i.e., over the internet), PKE is used to encrypt and send only a symmetric encryption/decryption key. That way, both parties have the symmetric key and the eavesdropper does not, so symmetric encryption can be used safely from there.)*

_____
## Reversing the operations of PKE, and how that is useful

So far we’ve discussed encrypting data with the public key, which can only be decrypted by the owner of the private key. I mentioned earlier that you can reverse the operations, so now we’ll discuss encrypting data with a private key, which can then ONLY be decrypted by its derived public key. 

**In this scenario, everyone can decrypt your data** - so what’s the point of doing this? (*Spoiler alert: identity verification*).

The scenario is something like this: You want to post messages to a public forum, or send private messages via a previously secured channel, and you need to verify your identity w/ each message.

**Prerequisite**: in most cases, you must be able to previously establish and prove your identity as you simultaneously broadcast your public key. 

Once your identity is established and associated with your public key, you can encrypt your message with your private key, and, as stated, anyone can decrypt it with your public key.

**Crucially, the public key will only be able to successfully decrypt the message if and only if it was encrypted with its associated private key.**

The point is not to send secret data. 

Instead, PKE allows you to “encrypt” a *signature* with your private key, and the associated public key is able to reveal the signature via decryption, mathematically proving to everyone that you are the true owner of the public key, validating your identity.

*(Side note #2: going back to that prerequisite - there are third parties, called Certificate Authorities, that handle this for the most part. You know you’re sending stuff to Facebook because Facebook is able to verify their identity via PKE, and that is facilitated by a CA. The CA gives Facebook their private/public key pair, and the rest of us essentially trust the integrity of CA.)*

_____
## Finally, here’s how this applies to bitcoin, and this part is relatively simple.

The bitcoin blockchain is a ledger of transactions between **public keys**. 

There is no "identity" inherently associated with a public key.

**The only thing associated with a public key is the amount of bitcoin that has been sent to it according to the ledger.**

The only thing you prove to the bitcoin network via PKE is ownership of a public key, which leads us to the final piece of this puzzle: **signing transactions**.

Transactions are initiated and validated by broadcasting a message to the network that essentially says **“here’s my public key, here’s the amount I want to send and which public key I want to send it to, and here’s a signature that has been encrypted by my private key and can only be decrypted by my public key which proves that I am the owner of the private/public key pair.”**

*(Side note #3: To add a new public key to the bitcoin network/blockchain, you simply generate a new private/public key pair - **AKA, your wallet** - with the PKE algorithm used by the bitcoin protocol, and it is added to the blockchain once bitcoin is sent to it from another wallet.)*

That’s it! When you send bitcoin, the bitcoin network doesn’t know who you are, they just have mathematical proof that the owner of your public key has authorized the transaction. Don't lose your private key!

If you made it this far, feel free to ask questions (or make corrections if I have misstated any of this)!

If you found this interesting and want to dig deeper into the math itself, [this video below is a great place to start](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNzaMrcuTM0).

The bitcoin beginner’s guide to Public Key Encryption

frostdragon

printf "%s\n" "Hello world!"

🎉 MicroBolt v1.0 released! ⚡️

A self-hosted Bitcoin & Lightning full node guide on a personal computer.
With all you need to be a self-sovereign, Bitcoin + electrum + explorer + mining pool + lightning, based af 🥵

- 🗻 build on top of [@alpinelinux](https://twitter.com/alpinelinux)
Simple. Small. Secure.
- 🫧 bloat-free. ~~GNU systemd glibc~~
- 🆎 multi-language (Catalan & English)
- 👀 tool-agnostic
- 🚫 anti-ordinals first
- ⛏️ #Bitaxe and #TeamNerdminer ready. by [@skot9000](https://twitter.com/skot9000) & [@BitMaker_](https//twitter.com/BitMaker_)
- 🟠 Bitcoin Core || [@BitcoinKnots](https://twitter.com/BitcoinKnots)
- ⚛ electrs || fulcrum
- 🐦‍⬛ [@SparrowWallet](https://twitter.com/SparrowWallet)
- ⛓ BTC RPC explorer
- 🌊 [@Public_Pool_BTC](https://twitter.com/Public_Pool_BTC)
- ⚡️ LND [@lightning](https://twitter.com/lightning)
- 🌩 [@thunderhubio](https://twitter.com/thunderhubio)
- 🌞 [@ZeusLN](https://twitter.com/ZeusLN)
- 🧙 more to come... this is only the beggining

Website -https://microbolt.guide
GitHub- https://github.com/microbolt-guide/microbolt
Twitter - https://twitter.com/microbolt_guide
Telegram - https://t.me/microbolt_guide

@doitwithnotepad on tw & tg


The MicroBolt v1.0 is here

doitwithnotepad

NixOS

Don't Get too Exited, but The Nix Phone is being Worked On

nerd2ninja

I've seen a couple of "NixOS is hard" comments now, and so I wanted to make a guide for those people who aren't developers.

You see, NixOS actually has some pretty good tooling that makes it as easy as Linux Mint. The documentation around it though is geared towards developers. Developing a program is hard. The Nix configuration file runs in a statically typed programming language. In order to build your own flake you need to know this programming language, but to take advantage of the 80k+ packages already put together, you can actually just be a normal user. Maybe my next guide will gear towards WSL (or running nix programs on windows), but for now, this is how to install NixOS on bare metal. 

Assumptions: 
You currently use a Windows computer
You want to install NixOS on a dedicated computer
You want to run the Cinnamon desktop environment
You don't want to even look at the contents of /env/nixos/configuration.nix

We start as most OS installs start. With a USB flash drive (at least 3GBs or larger), the iso file, and rufus.

Rufus is the program that will install your NixOS image file to your USB and make it into a magical bootable USB.

You can install Rufus here: https://rufus.ie/en/

Next, the iso file. This file is the entire operating system. It will be written to your USB flash drive. You can download it here: https://nixos.org/download#nixos-iso and if you're still lost, I'll even give you a direct link with no confusing options to choose from here: https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-23.11/latest-nixos-plasma5-x86_64-linux.iso

Once this file has completed its download, you will see it in your downloads folder. Now, with everything prepared, plug in your (empty!) USB. Know that everything on this drive will be no more when we're done so rescue any files you need now!

Be very familiar with the name of your USB drive when you plug it in. Run rufus.exe, select the name of your USB drive under "Device". If you are mistaken, your precious files on your other USB drives that may be plugged in at this time will be nuked from existence. Unplug any other USB devices you may have plugged in if you're unsure which drive might be the one you want to put the image onto!

Now, with everything prepared, press "Select". This can be tricky. If you press the arrow instead of the button you might get confused. A file explorer should pop up and if it doesn't it means you pressed the arrow. Just move your mouse closer to the left and click "Select"

Now, navigate to your downloads folder. You may have changed it from the default without remembering. If you go back to your browser and select "Downloads" or (chrome://downloads/ in the address bar of Chrome if you need the extra help), you can click "show in folder" and it'll show you exactly where the file is located. Just go back to rufus and try to find it from there.

Now with the iso file selected, the USB drive ready to go, press start! Your USB will explode and destroy everything you've ever known or loved on that poor drive and take on a brand new personality: NixOS

Anyway, when that loading bar is done, you can safely eject the USB and plug it into the computer you want to image.

Now, this part can be tricky. It involves *gasp* the BIOS. Sadly, its difficult to write a guide for this. Every motherboard BIOS is different. When you turn on the computer for the first time, there's usually some information there. "Press F12 for BIOS" "Press F2" "Press Esc" who knows which of these will take you to your BIOS. I can only recommend that you look up your computer make "Dell" and model "Optiplex" for example and research how to get into the BIOS.

Alternatively, you can spam "Esc" "F2" "F12" and "Del" until something happens. Really play around with it and try to get familiar with your BIOS. (Its probably F12 tho that will give you the most options and will allow you to then select the BIOS) You'll want to go find boot options and enable booting from USB, then save and exit and boot from your USB. 

If anything so far could use further clarification, you can try this video tutorial instead, but just use the NixOS iso instead of Ubuntu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hic70IYR9i4

And you can always google "How to install Ubuntu on" and then the make and model of your computer and you'll probably find something useful. 

Now we have the NixOS installer loaded up. You should already see a desktop environment and GUI window welcoming you to the NixOS installer. If that's not the case, and you're wondering which of two or more options to install instead, its the first one or you can wait and it will automatically select it and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you just see a desktop, don't worry about it you probably weren't paying attention to the menu I'm talking about and that's fine. 

Here's a video about navigating this GUI:
https://youtu.be/9fWrxmEYGAs?si=_diVsSKOtGdCNNZe&t=91

Its pretty quick. You can pretty much follow it step by step, but for our case, there's one thing we want to do differently. Whereas the person in the video selects "No Desktop" for this tutorial you should select "Cinnamon". This is because I don't use the other desktop environments and I don't know how to guide you if you use the other ones. 

Now, with the computer rebooted, remove your USB (and probably restart again lol) you now have a desktop environment with a browser and everything. You can connect to the internet, surf the web and wait...how do you install programs? I know you're looking at me right now saying "You told me I could install programs without opening the configuration.nix file. Come on now out with it!" Alright alright fine.

For this next step you will have to open *gasp* THE TERMINAL. Its called "Terminal" in your start menu and you can even search for it by typing.

NOOO not the terminal! This was supposed to be for non-developers why are we installing the terminal! Well dear fellow, its because the program we need doesn't come pre-installed and we need the terminal to type one command. That's all just one command.

```bash
nix profile install github:snowfallorg/nix-software-center --extra-experimental-features nix-command --extra-experimental-features flakes
```

Its a long command for sure, but thankfully you can copy and paste it! All you gotta do is go to SN using firefox (which does come preinstalled) and come back to this guide first!

Just ignore this paragraph its for the developers out there, just want to give a quick shoutout. Hey guys, so I found this software store over here at this github page: https://github.com/snowfallorg/nix-software-center you can review the code and there's other installation instructions here too if you prefer them

With that out of the way, once this program has finished installing, go to your desktop. Right click somewhere empty and click "+ Create a new launcher here..." Go ahead, give it a name. Its original name is "Nix Software Center", but you don't have to name it that. Name it whatever you like. 

In the next box to the right of "Command:", you have to type another command here, but hey you're not typing it in the terminal so technically it was still only one command that you had to type in the terminal. You can copy and paste the command into this box. 

```bash
nix --extra-experimental-features "nix-command flakes" run github:snowfallorg/nix-software-center
```

Once you do that, click okay and it'll ask you if you want to add it to the menu also (that's the place where we typed terminal and got the terminal and where you can type what you named this thing too if you click yes) so click yes. 

Go back to your desktop and open that software center you just installed. It might have a menu that asks you for the location of your configuration file. Just click the box, look for configuration.nix and select, click continue and experience the magic.

https://github.com/snowfallorg/nix-software-center/raw/main/data/screenshots/overview-dark.png#gh-dark-mode-only

If you don't like my instructions, here's some other instructions you can follow instead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjG2d6kEXUg

Welcome to NixOS. Enjoy the 80k+ programs and welcome to your new computer. 


NixOS for People Who Aren't Developers

This post is the second in an experimental Stoic Philosophy book club series on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Participants expressing interest are tagged at the end of the post, let us know if you're new and would like to join and be tagged!

Prior posts for context:
* [Book 1: Debts and Lessons](https://stacker.news/items/423469)
* [Geneisis Post](https://stacker.news/items/417471)

# Book 2: On the River Gran, Among the Quadi

## Summary and Highlights

The second chapter has a different format compared to Debts and Lessons, a set of numbered journal entries. To me, there was a continuity of various themes between them, namely contemplation on anger/desire, mindfulness and temporality/death. I expect we'll encounter these same topics a lot more through the course of the work. Each of the entries is packed with meaning and insights. Here are my highlights.

1\. The work begins with Marcus reminding himself that people around him are "meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly... because they can't tell good from evil". But what feels like a harsh judgment is transformed into a statement of compassion:
> But I have seen the beauty of good and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own... possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together...

He is wrestling with anger, and I sense a very subtle expression of the frustration that his mind knows he should be acting differently, but find it difficult to control his emotions. He sounds like he's quite hard himself, perhaps self-judgmental (me too)?  Perhaps he's exploring how the anger we feel toward others can often be a reflection of anger directed at ourselves?

2\. His injunction to "throw away your books; stop letting yourself be distracted" is a bit odd at first. Books might be just what I'd expect a Stoic philosopher stereotype to be immersed in. After a visceral description of the horrible mundanity of the body and the air it breaths, Marcus admonishes himself,
> You are an old man. Stop allowing your mind to be a slave, to be jerked about by selfish impulses, to kick against fate and the present, and to mistrust the future.

Again, a slight attitude of self-judgmental frustration here, but his attitude on books is clarified in suggesting that they represent the ephemeral distractions of the world of ideas for the mind, pulling it out of the present moment. Perhaps the entertainment of books were the equivalent of doomscrolling or technology saturation in our time today? I also find it interesting that the Emperor of Rome finds himself a slave to his own mind and is quick to acknowledge the analogy to himself without comment on his position - a natural humility, perhaps.

3\. The quote,
> The world is maintained by change -- in the elements and in the things they compose. That should be enough for you, treat it as an axiom. Discard your thirst for books, so that you won't die in bitterness, but in cheerfulness and truth, grateful to the gods from the bottom of your heart.

reminds that Nature is fundamentally changing. I find the statement of the axiom particularly powerful and am still working it out, but essentially it means, "be here for the change". And again, with the books! Books probably represent a favorite "distraction" and I think he's exposing the antithesis to anger here, desire. When we get lost is desiring what's not really in front of us, the dissatisfaction embitters us and kills gratitude.

4\. "At some point you have to recognize what world it is that you belong to..." echoes the previous sentiments, but with a subtle acknowledgement that his place in the cosmos is not fully known, and the search is still a work in progress. The sentences that follow convey an urgency, perhaps at his older age, and again, he's a bit hard on himself.

5\.  His statement,
> Concentrate every minute like a Roman -- like a man -- on doing whats in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice... as if it were the last thing you were doing with your life.

To me, this is an extremely devoted attitude of mindfulness. He has high standards, but that is what is necessary for mastery over the mind. I also find it interesting that these ideals were shared in both societal values at the time and his ideals of masculinity.

7\. Marcus identifies a polarity between distracting desire and ignorance when he says,
> People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse towards are wasting their time -- even when hard at work.

I can relate since I left my job in order to search for more meaningful work (in Bitcoin ?), but have since been challenged by distractions and lack of focus, or knowing where to commit my energy. It's one of the reasons I began reading this book, actually. Navigating this polarity is a balancing act.

10\. It is a fascinating consideration, that the sins 
> committed out of desire are worse than the ones committed out of anger... the angry man is more like a victim of wrongdoing, provoked by pain to anger. The other man rushes into wrongdoing on his own , moved to action by desire.

The relationship between anger and desire appears again. If we imagine that the previous topic of ignorance in additionally carried forward, a causal relationship explored here. Ignorance of what is good for man leads to the desire of things that are naturally unfulfilling, whereby man becomes angry and suffers as a victim. I think these three states of mind are identified in Buddhism as the primary sources of suffering. It's easy to see how a cycle of cause and effect can draw the unconscious one down deeper, but I also believe that by staying present and examining oneself, these experiences can be symbols in the process of learning and soul development. Maybe more on this later...

11\. After an exercising in questioning the existence of the gods and the intent of Nature, the last statement brings it home:
> But death and life, success and failure, pain and pleasure, wealth and poverty, all these happen to good and bad alike, and they are neither noble or shameful -- and hence, neither good nor bad.

This is an assertion of Epictetus' discipline of Perception, to stay objective and avoid value judgments and interpretations. In this phrasing, I find it much easier to tap into a sense of humility and compassionate connection with others that Marcus describes in #1, but prefaces with a slightly harsher tone.

12\. The interesting point here, for me, is where Marcus says that our world of sense perceptions is "loudly trumpeted by pride". Firstly, it is a reminder that what we perceive in the world around us is a reflection of ourselves, often with our prideful ego as the center-point. Marcus says that the exercise of reason and logical analysis can help us realize the truth behind the illusions of appearances. I agree mostly, however, I've done some thinking recently about the relationship between rational thought and the prideful ego. I have some unresolved questions on this one. More below.

13\. Admittedly, the initial bit of the first sentence here triggered me a bit with guilt,
> Nothing is more pathetic than people who run around in circles, "delving into things that lie beneath" and conducting investigations into the souls of people around them, never realizing that you all you have to do is be attentive to the power inside you and worship it sincerely.

I definitely have a probing mind and natural to explore root causes. And I'll admit, too, that sometimes I get caught mind-reading (poorly) the intentions of others. I felt slightly less pathetic as he continues the sentence and throughout the rest of the entry when he advocates self-inquiry as the only meaningful pursuit. I can see myself in this, as well. It's a balancing act to navigate in life, and like Marcus, I'm a work in progress. Perhaps a penetrating mind is an asset for a philosophy student, but also a distraction and weapon when pointed at others? I have this entire entry highlighted.

14\. This passage is really beautiful. To avoid the temptation to quote the whole thing, Marcus' best summary is, "The present is the same for everyone; it's loss is the same for everyone, and it should be clear that a brief instant is all that is lost." Again, to me, a very poetic description of living in mindfulness or existing in a state of yoga. Sometimes I feel discouraged by my self-created high standards of perfection to "never lose the present moment". It's worth remembering that the present moment is also always there and available to return to.

17\. This passage is an immaculate conclusion to the book and his passionate description of philosophy wraps up so much Truth. The final part is worth another quote:
> Above all, that it accepts death in a cheerful spirit, as nothing but the dissolution of the elements from which each living thing is composed. If it doesn't hurt the individual elements to change continually into one another, why are people afraid of all of them changing and separating? It's a natural thing. And nothing natural is evil.

What a gem. The syncretist in me can't help pointing out that the "dissolution of the elements" is a description found in Tibetan descriptions of dying, probably the Book of the Dead. This inspiring conclusion leaves no doubt of his conviction and of the authenticity of philosophy as a spiritual path, as practiced by Marcus.

## Reflections & Discussion

While most of my own thoughts are captured along side the highlights, here are a few more general reflections and points for discussion.

### A Man in Process

I observed an evolution in the tone of Marcus' writing throughout the book. The first few entries seemed quite frustrated, even angry. In contrast with the last passage, which feels incredibly clear and triumphant, it sounds like the journal accompanies a process of psychological growth.

### Natural Anger?

It also took me some time to come to terms with what I initially felt was a contradiction. He speaks about anger in #1 as an obstruction and seems to express some frustration with others and with himself. I can relate. However, I'm not altogether convinced that anger, or ignorance or desire for that matter, is *unnatural*. There is a very fine line between *feeling* angry and allowing that anger to overpower oneself.

So far, it seems to me like there is a ongoing exploration of boundaries in Stoicism. The things outside us are fate and should be accepted. The things inside us should be mastered and performed with dexterity. But what about the things inside us that we are not aware of? If we carry unconscious anger, desire and ignorance, the experience of them arising may feel "uncontrollable". That doesn't mean we don't try, or learn, but for me, it doesn't make them "unnatural".

To carry on from my musings in #12, perhaps with philosophical introspection the *feelings* of anger and desire can be *signals* to the philosopher that alert them to inner processes and help them refine their understanding of their proper place in the world. From this perspective, I initially took Marcus earlier attitude toward anger in contradiction with his final closing statement. However, presently I see the whole thing as a man in process with himself ending in a victorious result. There is probably a lot more to work through with this idea and I'm interested to read from others in the comments :)

### Pride and Reason

I am very interested in the relationship between pride and reason. If reason is our capacity to understand our place in the world, I wonder if pride is it's shadow counterpart. I have seen in myself how easy it is to become prideful *because of* the ability to reason coupled with ignorance. When Marcus asserts that only philosophy can guide us, I can't help wonder if there's a little more to the process. The Greeks brought us reason and philosophy, but their heroes also suffered and died dramatically from hubris. I don't fully know what I'm saying here, yet but will keep exploring.

### Question on #16

At the end of #16, when Marcus finishes his list of activities degrading to the soul, he says,
> But the role of rational beings is to follow the rule and law of those most ancient of communities and states.

This quote is intriguing and perplexing. What do you think this means? What are the most ancient communities and what are their laws? Drop some wisdom for us in comments.

# Participants

Thank you everyone who has been reading Meditations, this post and expressed interest in participating. I hope we get to a point of fostering lively discussions.

@siggy47 @cryotosensei @carlosfandango @Bitman @gd @sudocarlos @BitByBit21 @bc52210b20 @Atreus @byzantine @davidw @Roll @grayruby

Please tag anyone I missed or signal interest in the comments!

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