Welcome new users to Nostr! Probably the most helpful resources I've seen for those curious, for example in #introductions: 1- A lot of people will try to "zap" you. This means sending you Bitcoin for your posts via Lightning Network. If you set up a wallet, you'll get the sats and be able to send them. Probably the easiest way to do it is with @`Wallet of Satoshi`. I've heard that @`primal`has a setup for those in the United States. This guide covers how:

Set up your first zapping wallet

A guide to setting up a lightning wallet for zaps in Nostr.

2- Though people have been sharing their npubs, there is a way to create a more human-readable NIP-05 like the one I have (loki@nostr-verified.com) that can be easier to share. This guide covers how:

Get NIP-05 verified

How to verify your identity on Nostr to get a verification checkmark and an easier way to share your account.

3- If you're interested in running your own Lightning Node and relay, there are tools like @`Start9`and @`Umbrel ☂️` that can help.

Node Academy

Node Academy

Node Academy is an initiative of Vancouver Bitcoiners to help enthusiasts getting started with their own Bitcoin Lightning Network node. It is part...

from @`Leo` is a great resource on how to spin up a Lightning Node on your own.

Join Nostr

works for setting up a Nostr relay. The two together are immensely powerful - and show the fullest potential of Bitcoin and Nostr. Be your own social media, your own app store, and your own bank - censorship-proof.

My favorite movies are fairy tales for adults: The Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky I'd love to get more suggestions along the same vein.

We sold ~30 books at the Bitcoin Block Party in Vancouver and of those, 90%+ were done with Lightning payments. We had no way of accepting debit card/credit card payments on-site for the bookstore and still managed to basically sell out. A few observations: 1- Bitcoiners love physical goods. Having a book in hand and being able to put it on a bookshelf still gives off a ton of good vibes. The demise of books seems oversold. 2- People did ask for audio versions of books and etc., so it's still critical to reach people looking for information about Bitcoin in the way that they prefer. 3- For those curious, @gladstein's book, Hidden Repression, absolutely killed the game - the bookstore was out of its copies before the first hour was over. 4- Special props to @Jeff Booth who sent two signed copies of The Price of Tomorrow - they're in very good hands! 5- People came up and asked me about the writing process behind my book "Would Mao Hold Bitcoin" and I was able to sell and sign all copies I had on hand. The support from people in the Vancouver community and beyond as well as continuing curiosity, remains amazing. Onwards! Already looking forward to the next edition of the Bitcoin Bookstore, hopefully coming to a city near you.

China could have been a vastly different country if Hu Yaobang - who thought Mao left nothing worth emulating, wanted freedom of the press, and wanted to erode centralized leadership and his faction of reformers had kept power. Instead, his death sparked the Tiananmen Square Protests that was the nail in the coffin for his "heir" Zhao Ziyang's career. And ironically, Hu Yaobang's rehabilitation of Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping's father, has led to a China now governed by the principles he always feared would root the Party out - a central tyrant like Mao who believes in crushing even the smallest pockets of dissent.

The Long Reach of Hu Yaobang

China’s famous political reformer ironically helped pave the way for Xi’s current crackdown on dissent.

It's @BTC Sessions at Vancouver in Funk Coffee. Vancouver easily has one of the most underrated Bitcoin meetup scenes in the world

In an attempt to get more Bitcoin-related content and CBDC to non-Bitcoin events (that usually avoid Bitcoin content because they're sponsored by alts), I have to give credit to @npub17xvf...c9as for advancing panels on Nostr and CBDCs. CBDC and human rights panel featuring me, @Nick Anthony, and @Charlene Fadirepo:

SXSW PanelPicker®

Nostr panel featuring @Lyn Alden, @ODELL, and @primal:

SXSW PanelPicker®

Vote for them both and help us spread the orange and purple pill among one of the largest audiences on Earth. There's until August 18th to vote content in. CC: @jack, @gladstein, @Arsh Molu, @Ayelen, @Alex Li,

1940s Los Angeles became the cultural capital of German and Austrian exiles - taking the cafes of Munich, Berlin, and Vienna and placing them between physical paradise and writing purgatory. In LA, airy aristocrats like Thomas Mann were put together with Marxist firebrands like Bertolt Brecht - what ensued was boredom, tedium, but also resilience and hope - and some of the most defining post-war literature to reflect on what led Germany to madness. I often wonder about what city or perhaps online community this might mean for the exiles of Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China and more. Perhaps Nostr?

The New Yorker

The Haunted California Idyll of German Writers in Exile

Wartime émigrés in L.A. felt an excruciating dissonance between their circumstances and the horrors unfolding in Europe.

until the next time Bitcoin price dips, friends

Remember your heroes: From top to bottom: Anna Politkovskaya, Liu Xiaobo, Francisco Ortiz Franco, Aaron Swartz.

Part of the reason why I think Nostr will win, eventually, is that nations understand how to control and co-opt corporations very well, but don't understand how to do it with protocols. There is no clear "face" or "villain" to paint. This is important because now Elon is seen as controlling X, which makes it an easy target and reduces the attack surface. Maduro, the hamfisted and bloody tyrant calls Elon out - Starmer, the incompetent looking to implement force to cover up his failings has also side eyed Elon. This has come up with "left-wing governments" like Lula's Brazil as well. The sentiment makes for sport and is the kind of emotional BS that politicians ply to control their peoples every day. But this sort of attack is confusing at best when it comes to Nostr and Bitcoin - because who exactly do you attack? "Shadow coders" isn't as easy to define as "Elon Musk".

if you find yourself caring about Bitcoin's short-term price trajectory, remind yourself not to care about Bitcoin's short-term price trajectory

Proton Wallet got suspended by that cursed X/blue bird app. @Proton Wallet is still on Nostr, not suspended, as things should be.

It was great to see a lot of in-person Nostr engagement and meetings in Nashville. Normalize sharing npubs