🇬🇧 Summer weather in Belfast continues as usual.  Cool and mostly cloudy with frequent showers, heavy at times.  I think it has rained every day since we got here.  The locals say that there are 7 types of rain here: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, ...   I was chatting with a subscriber in Sydney and he has better weather there where it is winter!  Just like last year it does seem that everywhere else has warm and sunny weather.  Oh well...

Book of the week

With all the wet weather it is perfect climate for reading.  This week I dug out my copy of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" for a re-read - this is the second in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams.

"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

The book tells of a Restaurant where its elite clientele gather to witness the ultimate destruction of existence.  Noteworthy characters beyond Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect include the self-absorbed and pretty useless President Zaphod Beeblebrox (with his hidden agenda) and the intelligent but depressed (AI) robot Marvin.  This might give you food for thought already.

Noteworthy encounters on the way to the restaurant include:
- Disaster Area's Concert that is famous for being so loud and extravagant that it is deadly to the audience;
- Ford and Arthur get captured by the Vogons and subjected to their excruciatingly awful poetry, which is considered the third worst in the universe;
- They visit the legendary party planet of Magrathea, where they attend a lavish party held in Zaphod's honor. The party is full of eccentric guests, bizarre events, and absurd happenings and a surprising revelation about the true nature of the universe.

And then this is particularly pertinent

“How can you have money,” demanded Ford, “if none of you actually produces anything? It doesn't grow on trees you know.”
“If you would allow me to continue.. .” said the Management Consultant.
Ford nodded dejectedly.
“Thank you. Since we decided a few weeks ago to adopt the leaf as legal tender, we have, of course, all become immensely rich.”
Ford stared in disbelief at the crowd who were murmuring appreciatively at this and greedily fingering the wads of leaves with which their track suits were stuffed.
“But we have also,” continued the management consultant, “run into a small inflation problem on account of the high level of leaf availability, which means that, I gather, the current going rate has something like three deciduous forests buying one ship’s peanut."
Murmurs of alarm came from the crowd. The management consultant waved them down.
“So in order to obviate this problem,” he continued, “and effectively revalue the leaf, we are about to embark on a massive defoliation campaign, and. . .er, burn down all the forests. I think you'll all agree that's a sensible move under the circumstances."
The crowd seemed a little uncertain about this for a second or two until someone pointed out how much this would increase the value of the leaves in their pockets whereupon they let out whoops of delight and gave the management consultant a standing ovation. The accountants among them looked forward to a profitable autumn aloft and it got an appreciative round from the crowd.”
― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

You may find this passage helpful to explain to others what is happening and why.  It also hints at what will happen if people do not stand up and push back on the madness that you see going on around you today.

Discovery of the week

This week I was delighted to discover Voice Audiobook Player - you can download it from Google Play below and you can also find it on F-Droid (even better) - it is open source Github is here.  This is a fantastic utility.  It enables you to manage your audiobooks just like audible but without all that comes with audible.

iPhone users are out of luck on this one - but as you know I do think that everyone needs to consider having an alternative and de-googled phones (eg with CalyxOS) are a sensible choice.

Voice Audiobook Player - Apps on Google Play

minimalistic - intuitive - fast

Apps on Google PlayPaul Woitaschek

The first book that I loaded into this is Saifedean's Principles of Economics.  You may recall that this was my Book of the week back in issue 67 and I am delighted to have it now also as audiobook.

More in this issue

• Photo memories - around cool and rainy Belfast this week
• Project Updates - Lightning developments and Nostr
• Plenty of useful links - don't say nobody told you!
• Closing out - you may or may not be ready for this but you should know

🛠️ Project Updates

The following are updates from some projects that I am following, supporting and collaborating with.  What are you doing?

New Computer

This week, thanks to a local subscriber and a bit of Facebook Marketplace, I became the happy owner of a lightly used Lenovo T470.  It is brilliant - I have installed Linux Mint Cinnamon on it and it works like a charm - I am delighted with it.   As you know I continue to warn you that everyone needs workable and working alternatives to the Apple, Google and Microsoft monopolies that we live under.  I am doing my part - how about you?  My T470s is still around and is busy on another important mission!

V is a bit jealous, considering how nice the Lenovo keyboard is with its Trackpoint mouse (and this reminds her of her T470 and all those IT projects); yes - Apple really did lose their way with keyboards and they never got back on that front.  I will do a bit of a review in a few weeks on how I find things with this machine - first impressions are very positive.

Lightning Channel Splicing - coming soon

This is a fascinating interview and you have got to love Dusty's enthusiasm and passion for what he is developing.  The interview starts non-technical with user- and provider-benefits explained and then they dive in the technicalities and challenges.  Interesting among them include the potential to undermine surveillance heuristics and well as overall capital efficiency gains.  Nice!

They expect two of the lightning implementations to be supporting this within the coming 2-4 months at which point it becomes stable and standard and the others are known to be working on releasing their implementations in the near future.

Phoenix is already working on their release and it is at the point where beta testing is under way.  How exciting.

Introducing the new Phoenix

Splicing changes the game. Phoenix now manages a single dynamic channel, no more 1% fee on inbound liquidity, better predictability and control, trustless swaps.

Introducing the new Phoenix

Mutiny Wallet

We have discussed before about how the App Stores on iOS and Android are being, and will be further, weaponised against you.  Many of us have already seen "this app is not available in your region" (even if it used to be).  We also have the recent Damus experience where Apple is now refusing apps that enable people to make peer-to-peer transactions if Apple considers there to be any "digital goods or services" involved.   This sort of overreach is why Mutiny Wallet came about.

MutinyWallet the first self-custodial lightning wallet that runs entirely in your browser, putting the control of your funds in your hands.   There's no need to provide identity to a regulated institution, making Bitcoin accessible to 5 billion global browser users.  Just like most Bitcoin wallets, your seed words secure all your funds on Mutiny. And they have taken it a step further by adding encrypted & remote storage for restoring your latest Lightning-related data.

Mutiny also integrates with  Nostr Wallet Connect, a social tipping feature. It allows you to request payments from your wallet, tip users, and more.  They have partnered with Voltage to be the main Liquidity Service Provider, enabling you to receive your first Lightning payment within seconds of opening the app.

Mutiny Wallet

The unstoppable bitcoin wallet for everyone.

Going forward I will be exploring further using MutinyWallet together with Cahsu and Nutstash.  You might consider this too - it will be a great learning experience.  It's good to know and have practised these skills before you need them.

Nostr - from strength to strength

We have discussed quite a few times about the need to have alternatives to the social media monopolies that most just accept today.  I do believe that Nostr is one such good alternative.  It is fully open source and is being actively developed by hundreds of developers who are making open source releases into the ecosystem.   Max explains what is happening, why and how:

You can find my Nostr address on the contact page - follow along; lots of helpful information here to get you started.  Going forward I do expect the App Stores to become more hostile to such user-oriented solutions and this is why the developers are working to build Progressive WebApp versions that can bypass such controls.  Some more examples of how to circumvent these evil and unfair restrictions are here.   This is a great interview and you I recommend that you try Primal which is one of many great Nostr clients you can use.

Thanks to Odell and Miljan - you can find Primal here and getting started tips here.   I am encouraged the the millennial and younger generation also see through what is happening and they are waking their friends up to it - thanks Luke.

🔗 Links for your edification

The following are links from my NetNewswire feeds - learn, enjoy and share.

The hypocrisy is limitless

Guy further highlights the hypocrisy of the empire.  For years they tell you that Bitcoin is worthless.  Now they are falling over themselves to obtain it themselves and to tax you in every way they can.

Ways the government steals your money:

• if you earn it, income tax
• if you spend it, VAT
• if you invest it, capital gains
• if you start a business, profit tax
• if you give it away, gift tax
• if you die, inheritance tax
• if you save it, inflation and war
• last resort, restrictions and confiscation

Peter sums this all up pretty clearly here - and it is not just in US - pretty much all western governments are doing the same.  How long will you continue to accept this?

Project FASTT - what a surprise (not)!

The same names keep coming back with everything that you never voted for and do not support.  How long will you let this continue?

Dark sides

Many places have a dark side - here are a few.  You might begin to see a common thread.  Hint: we have been talking about this in most newsletters recently and you ought to be able to spot it by now.

Can you see it?  What do you think?  Happy to discuss...

🤔 Closing Thoughts

Closing out this week with a truly mind-opening documentary.  I did consider to put it as "Video of the Week" but I realise that not everyone will be ready to receive the information.  If in doubt, you can read the description below the video when you click through but if you start to watch it you must watch it to the end - there are very special messages at the end that you must hear in context.  

This recent follow-up interview with Joseph Atwill is rather encouraging - It is fascinating to listen to his story of his research and release of the documentary - also to his thoughts on the recent C19 situation - you will likely be happy to have found this interview.

And all of the above leads into this next one - read and reflect....

Shakespeare’s apocalyptic “Brave New World” - POSTFLAVIANA

The plot of The Tempest is framed around a re-enactment of the book of Isaiah, including revenge against Prospero’s enemies.

POSTFLAVIANAJoseph Atwill

Do let me know your thoughts - reach out and I am happy to discuss.

❤️  Enjoy this newsletter?

Forward to a friend and let them know where they can subscribe

No one can be told what The Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.
- Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix

Remember this?  From one year ago - this one is a classic.  BTC is 30% up from one year ago; or you might say that fiat money is 30% down in one year!  Everyone gets bitcoin at the price they deserve....

You have to see it for yourself.

Any questions or anything else?  Feel free to comment below!
You can also email me at: LetterFrom@rogerprice.me

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