11 - On Location... Vacation at last!
Issue 11 already - I will be including numbers going forward to make past letters easier to find and refer to. The past two weeks I have been on vacation - my first real vacation is a couple of years. Monday I am back to work for a bit. I have decided to work from here rather than subject myself to more international travel - we are still refugees from the insanity in Hong Kong. We really have been relaxing and enjoying life on the island. Levada hikes and Jeep tours!
We had plenty of time to relax and enjoy life. Madeira is a fantastic place to visit with lots to see and do and even more weather!. I did think that HK was mountainous - but Madeira is next level! Portuguese is also something else; have not yet made much progress but we did not try much and English will generally suffice. As you see in the video above, Madeira is getting serious about attracting Digital Nomads and as you will see below they have forward-thinking local government - exactly as foreseen in my top book pick - The Sovereign Indvidual.
I did get to read quite a lot of interesting books and material - will be sharing insights below and going forward. Happy to discuss too - that offer is still open.
Among other things I got to appreciate more the Apple ecosystem and the seamless integration between Mac, iPhone and iPad - in combination with working with no/limited WiFi and using tethering from my CalyxOS Pixel. Strong privacy is important and Apple scores reasonably well - though you will want to take some additional precautions, I have been enjoying reading my kindle on all platforms and listening to the audio-books with reading-location syncing (fantastic). I am considering sharing tips and tricks on secure setups as well as aspects that I find particularly useful - do talk to me if you have questions or suggestions.
Bitcoin BTC
Given how important Bitcoin already is and will become I think it is right that I should include a section here with relevant news, insights and provocations to discuss. Note that Bitcoin is different from "Crypto"; do not get them mixed up!
- Madeira is not just trying to be friendly to digital nomads - photo above and Ponto do Sol. Last week the President of the Government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque attended the Miami conference to announce that his government will “work to create a fantastic environment for bitcoin in Madeira.” This is part of the Game Theory of Bitcoin Adoption by Nation States
- Announcing Taro, Multi-Asset Bitcoin & Lightning - this has potential to be something really big. It complements, and may even be better than, Jack Mallers' Strike. Their Blog post is here and the Wiki with the detailed specification is here.
- Michael Saylor is one of today's pre-eminent thinkers and communicators. Listen and learn from his revcent interview with Lex Friedman.
- SLP365 Anita Posch - Bitcoin For Fairness in Zimbabwe and Zambia — A great interview by Stephan Livera. Key takeaways: Learn how to use it before you really need it. if it works in Zimbabwe and Namibia it will work anywhere It’s still early and governments will give no help; rather they will be busy putting sticks in the wheels and sand in the gears…
- For those who look for education on Bitcoin - a starting point can be Anita Posch's The Art of (L)earning Bitcoin with many useful resources linked.
Discovery of the week - Obsidian
For years I have been an avid notetaker. I caught the bug when I did Electronic Engineering at Southampton University and we had to keep a "lab book". Ever since then in my professional work I kept a notebook and took daily notes. Recently this evolved into taking notes on computer. With the arrival of online working and screen-sharing such notes can be very useful and this unleased new value in note-taking.
For personal notes I found great value with Apple Notes - a tool that has improved dramatically in recent years and works perfectly on Mac, iPhone and iPad. However, like many notetakers I often felt that I was "missing a trick". The reality is that searching and retrieval is not as easy as you want it to be and it's hard to reassemble and repurpose your collected information into new output.
In recent years I have considered using several tools but found none of them compelling enough to put in the time to learn and adopt. There is also the fear of "lock in" and endless subscriptions to pay - as anyone who has used Evernote will know!
Big thank you to Rachel for this one. She did get me thinking and encouraged me to give Obsidian another try - I had looked at it last year but it felt overwhelming compared to Apple Notes - I could never have imagined how great it could be!
The absolute best overview of Obsidian and how to use it is FromSergio - his playlist is required watching. Particular highlights:
- Kindle Highlights - this is a superbly useful feature that normally you can only get with a subscription service - do buy the developer a coffee!
- No Lock-in - your files are simple markdown and you have full control
- Works perfectly on Mac and iPhones using iCloud - no annoying sync subscription to pay for
- It's free for personal use - no payment or annoying subscription
- Lots of high quality training material readily available and a great community of people to help you
Reading
- Empires Rise and Fall this extracts and summarises from John Glubb's paper of nearly 100 years ago, The Fate of Empires - I think you call that foresight! I do identify with his frustrations about how history has been taught considering how important it is to learn from past generations.
- The Sovereign Individual is required reading for everyone - I did dip back into it a few times over the last week or so, making Kindle highlights that magically sync into Obsidian - how great is that! If you read nothing else, read chapter 7.
- From Paris to Karachi – Regime Change is In the Air - Tom Luongo is a most interesting character and he does speak his mind. Read and consider. You might prefer to listen to him discussing with Marty.
- Aleks Svetski: The Remnant, The Parasite & The Masses - inspired by the incredible 1930’s essay by Albert J Nock; Isaiah’s Job. Aleks discusses this in his Wake Up podcast - also recommended.
- In my TBR queue (to be read): Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - I must admit, I am in intrigued by Odolena's review in addition to Aleks' recommendation.
- I also think that I need to restart on (and finish) Foundation by Isaac Asimov - after watching Odolena's review of it!
- ...and I need to add Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - again inspired by Odolena's review and I have seen others recommend it too!
Watching and Listening
- Joe Blogs: Who is BUYING Russian Oil Now? Can Europe really change SUPPLIERS & are SANCTIONS Working? - do stop and think - in who's name are the governments implementing all these extreme measures - go back and re-read section "So what can you do about it?" in issue 9
- Rupert Murdochizing The Internet — The Cyberlaw Podcast — whether you agree with him or not Stewart Baker is just the best podcast provocateur!
- AntiWarhol, Culture Creation, & The Pop Art Syndicate — One of The Higherside Chats - perhaps this might open your mind and make you question some things. The rabbit hole goes deep.
- How Britain's Bankers Made Billions From The End Of Empire. At the demise of British Empire, City of London financial interests created a web of offshore secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it behind obscure financial structures in a web of offshore islands.
- Secret City - A film about the City of London, the Corporation that runs it.
- How things get Re-Priced when a Currency Fails — An important explainer from Joe Brown of The Heresy Financial Podcast — keep an eye out for signs!
- E76: Elon vs. Twitter — the All-In Podcast. I do not agree with all these boyz say but it is interesting to listen to see how the Silicon Valley types think. David Sacks nails it, and Chamath is not far behind! If you were in any doubt as to how corrupt things are this should put you right!
For those who prefer a structured reading list, check References
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