CTRL + f

I think one thing that bothered me is that a lot of people were skeptics of all control/power overreach/government/etc….and then trump and Elon came into power and everyone was just like cool? I unfollowed a lot of people tho so not sure if that’s still the case. But that’s not only it, and I’m not quite sure what else it is about nostr lately. I’ve taken long breaks, but I’m here for now.

I think most social medias have been accused of becoming echo chambers of some sort, whether it’s the entire platform, or user specific algorithm. Do we think the same is true for nostr? I’d say likely.

I feel the need to just do something

I had a dream that I went back to a company that I worked at for many years, and now I’m wondering if I should actually do it

“We’re so early” …well, I’m not getting any younger over here, so maybe let’s just try and be on time.

Gm. Grateful.

It’s interesting that Katy Perry has gone to space but not Elon Musk

nostr for normies Feel free to edit or use as you choose: I don’t know if you, like me, are tired of corporations controlling our social media and data. Why do the Elon Musks and Mark Zuckerbergs of the world get to be the gatekeepers of what we see online? We’ve all seen Elon suspend the X accounts of people who make fun of him, and Zuck shadowban political options he doesn’t agree with. I love tik tok, but if it’s true that our algorithm is controlled by the Chinese government, or any government, I’m not cool with that either. If you can relate to all this, I suggest trying out nostr. Nostr is a protocol with many different clients or applications in its ecosystem (think for example, of email as a protocol, with gmail, outlook, etc. being the existing clients). There isn’t one corporation or government that owns or controls nostr, but rather it’s made up of a bunch of various smaller clients, and you as the user can choose which ones you want. You’re in control. So how exactly does this work in practice? If someone else had mentioned the above to me, my first instinct would be to search “nostr” in the app store, or go to nostr.com. But as I mentioned, nostr itself isn’t an app (I can’t just search “email” in the app store…or maybe I could, I haven’t tried…but it probably wouldn’t get me the results I was searching for). You have to search for one of the existing clients within the nostr ecosystem. If you are new to this, I personally would suggest Damus or Primal for iphone users. I think they’re pretty beginner friendly. I have also heard that Amethyst is good for Android, but have not used it myself as I do not have an Android. When you first register for any of these clients, you will be assigned an npub and nsec. An npub is your public name that anyone can see (kind of like a user name, but a longer code. You can still create your own user handle). The nsec is also a long code which is essentially your password or private key. That is what you want to keep secret and what you use to access your account. It’s also super long, so unguessable and hopefully unhackable. Don’t lose it. Damus, Primal, Amethyst, etc. are all text centered apps, similar to twitter, and are created by independent developers. The skeptic in me would immediately ask, well, if I don’t want corporations controlling my data, or Musk or Zuck, why would I want to use the app of an independent developer, that could do the same? This is what makes nostr different. If you use an app like Damus for example, and aren’t happy with the owner/creator/developers on the app, you can always switch to another one. Try Primal. With nostr, the cool thing is that as long as you use your nsec to sign into any of the apps, it will retain all your previous posts, your following lists, all your followers, etc., so you don’t have to start over. If I left X, I would lose my entire history with the app. However, within nostr, I can use any of the apps, and retain everything. Also, if I really didn’t trust any of the developers, I could always create my own app within nostr, and use my nsec there as well. I’m just not technical enough to do that, so I will always be beholden to an app or developer to some degree. But I like that I can choose which one, and I think (hope?) this also holds the developers somewhat accountable. Right now, I’ve only tried out the text based apps, but I know there are developers who have created apps for photos, videos, etc., which hopefully can be the next instagrams and tik toks of the world. One thing I will say, is that the content on nostr at this moment is not fully there for me. It’s probably my biggest critique, and what keeps me from using nostr full time. It’s pretty small, and the community is a lot of developers and tech people who care about freedom tech (all the internet freedom I mentioned above). People who care about freedom tech also are probably likely to care about freedom money, so a lot of the content centers around bitcoin, as well as nostr development. Any time I’ve joined an app in the past, it’s been because I’ve heard there’s interesting, fun content on it, or my friends are already on it and I want to check it out. Not because I like the way the app works or freedoms it provides. However, with everything going on in the world lately, I do think it’s time to reinvent social media and how we share information. So maybe we need to focus on the apps that care about decentralizing from corporations, and that allow us to be in charge, rather than a few big corporations. I think the first step is just to join something like nostr, and post about or seek out content that interests you. In time, if enough people do that, the community will grow larger, and naturally the variety of content will increase, and hopefully there will be something to appeal to everyone’s interests. Finally, I can’t talk about nostr without mentioning zaps. Monetizing content is also a big concern for many, and within nostr, there is a way to do that. However, once again, the power is with the users, and not the owners of the app. I don’t think I’m the best person to discuss exactly how zaps work, but I will mention the basics. When you join, you have the option to create a wallet. Once you have the wallet set up, users can “zap” your post, or essentially send you money because they appreciate it. The money transfers instantly to your wallet. You can also do the same and zap someone else’s content, and the money will be taken from your wallet. It’s as quick and easy as that. Money flows freely, and people can be paid for their content, by those who enjoy it. That’s it. Check it out when you have a moment, and hopefully we can begin to return the power of the internet back to the users.

gm. i’m happy you’re here.

I’m not making plans anymore, because I’ve seen how those turn out. But I wouldn’t mind a little scheming…

I unfollowed a lot. I don’t dislike everybody, I just needed to quiet the peanut gallery

I just thought of like 18 lyrics with the word damn, but can’t think of any with the word node. Work to be done.

I keep trying to come back to nostr, and then keep realizing I do not fit in here at allll

you’ll be okay, follow your heart

I need life advice. Please reply with some, even if you don’t know anything about me.

Everybody should be watching Severance on Apple TV. It’s soooo good.

Apple TV

Watch Severance - Show - Apple TV

Watch the thriller Severance, winner of two Emmy® awards starring Adam Scott, Britt Lower, and Patricia Arquette. Streaming on Apple TV.

I listen to jack speak and I’m like yup, agree with that, agree with that, agree, agree. And see the time and money he puts into nostr, which is very admirable. But then see him invested in Elon’s companies, or never speaking too critically about Elon and it’s like ??? Once again, sorry if I sound like a hater, I’m just really trying to wrap my mind around this, because I don’t get it at all

Curious as to why @jack is always critical of Zuck but complementary of Elon, when they’re both doing the exact same thing (Elon, often worse, imo). Probably sounds like I’m being a hater, but I normally really admire jack….but am always very curious as to why jack stays invested in Elon, when the things Elon does often seems very contradictory to the things jack talks about and seems to find important

Evade the system by making it, and yourself, irrelevant.