Nostr notes by Matt Haldane

Sure, but then you'd have to use a Xiaomi phone

2025-09-26T15:26:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…stpl
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Sure, but then you'd have to use a Xiaomi phone

Aren't rechargeable AA/AAA batteries more convenient? Instant ...

2025-09-01T03:06:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…wg29
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Aren't rechargeable AA/AAA batteries more convenient? Instant top up.

Possibly

2025-08-04T17:11:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…xz4j
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Possibly

The Bitcoin Conference is already in talks to have Bitcoin Asia ...

2024-05-12T05:22:51Z

The Bitcoin Conference is already in talks to have Bitcoin Asia return to Hong Kong, ideally at the more centrally located Convention and Exhibition Centre next year. Tokyo and Singapore are also possible future locations, mcshane (npub16vr…p2va) said.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/3262235/bitcoin-asia-hong-kong-attracts-major-interest-mainland-attendees-look-top-market-where-crypto

The CEO of Tether has a new project making what he calls ...

2024-04-05T04:15:29Z

The CEO of Tether has a new project making what he calls "unstoppable apps", just like bitcoin is the "unstoppable money". But he sees anything using relays as flawed in this respect. He had some comments on Nostr that wound up on the cutting room floor, but may be of interest here:

> "The issue with Nostr, [which] has become popular, is it has relays. The relays are part of the equation. Without the relays, Nostr cannot work … There was [once] Kazaa, Nutella, Limewire – all had relays and all were shut down or all failed. The only peer-to-peer protocol that worked and could not be shut down was BitTorrent because it did not have any point of failure. So that's our benchmark. We could have taken many shortcuts to make it easier for us, but it took six or seven years to develop something that is truly resistant to the wrath of God."

The new company, called Holepunch, has developed a protocol called Pear Runtime that is solely P2P. Its first flagship app is a video conferencing and chat app called Keet, and it supports Lightning wallets. I suspect Nostr at least served as some inspiration.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/blockchain/article/3257878/stablecoin-giant-tether-backing-unstoppable-chat-app-crypto-take-big-tech

Neal Stephenson was there!?

2023-11-03T08:21:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…5ak6
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Neal Stephenson was there!?

Nostr event nevent1qqsxj42xj0nkc5rf9ptmlrs0e4m6qawqe0anhecc56hwgsyullgxtgqzyph8zrexpkwagjehynrl5kgkqcm65zhplr8e2gwcnne84xkqqs3hjejtnq8

2023-10-17T09:04:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…tmxv
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An imaginary number, from the looks of it

2023-10-15T15:32:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…w0cq
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An imaginary number, from the looks of it

“It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.” ...

2023-10-15T15:24:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…usqy
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“It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.” –Friedrich Nietzsche

I think this is mostly right. I'm also on the record as ...

2023-10-15T14:49:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…send
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I think this is mostly right. I'm also on the record as saying that having to manage your own keys is a major hurdle for the average person: https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3236382/decentralised-social-media-super-app-elon-musks-dreams-already-exists-growing-interest-china

My point was more that having the code accessible is not necessarily a problem. It may be unsightly, but I don't think it's too confusing for people to understand. Many Nostr apps are visually fine. People who do not understand or care about the technical stuff can ignore it. But best design practice is to have all the technical stuff hidden until or unless it is intentionally shown.

Regarding Obsidian, the user base might be more diverse than you think. I suspect you're right that technically proficient users make up at least a plurality. But it does have a big following among writers. I see a lot of Obsidian-related content from academics, journalists and fiction writers, especially those involved in world-building. Pastors, too, seem to love the program for some reason, as do D&D players. I don't know what the exact demographic make-up is (and neither does the Obsidian team, apparently), but it does seem to bring together all types.

I don't think tech needs to choose between being friendly ...

2023-10-15T12:05:52Z

I don't think tech needs to choose between being friendly towards average users and tinkerers. You can strike a happy medium. fiatjaf (npub180c…h6w6)'s post makes me think of the recent Fast Company article on Obsidian: https://www.fastcompany.com/90960653/why-people-are-obsessed-with-obsidian-the-indie-darling-of-notetaking-apps

The crux of the piece is basically that the note-taking app Obsidian has grown to 1 million users despite not being very user-friendly because it requires knowledge of Markdown. I don't think Markdown is the major barrier here. Most of the things a user might want to do with text notes (bullet points, bold and italics, headers) can be easily toggled with UI buttons in Obsidian. I think most digital natives have at least a passing familiarity with markup languages or can easily adapt.

Obsidian is actually good example of how software can be both user- and programmer-friendly. Nostr still has a lot of hurdles in the way of mass adoption, but being able to peek under the hood isn't one of them.

quoting
note1hru…7ekx
Nostr cannot compete against the big platforms on the same field. If you try to make Nostr apps exactly like Twitter they will just be an inferior copycat. Nostr's competitive advantage is the fact that it is an open protocol, trying to hide that from users is the asking for defeat.

Frustrations abound with the crypto exchange licensing process in ...

2023-10-15T08:10:06Z

Frustrations abound with the crypto exchange licensing process in Hong Kong so far. Joseph Wang, the astrophysicist who spoke with gsovereignty (npub1myg…sn5p) on Nostrovia Podcast (npub1tr0…qqpx) back in June, offered some of his insight, having gone through the process to kind of kick the tires. He has a dour outlook, although other industry players say the Securities and Futures Commission is on the right track.

Full story: https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3237817/hong-kongs-crypto-hub-dream-mired-high-costs-other-barriers-one-year-jpex-one-stumbling-block

Another Nostr-adjacent piece I wrote recently for the Foreign ...

2023-10-11T13:16:39Z

Another Nostr-adjacent piece I wrote recently for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong. This was written more for other journalists, but maybe some people here will appreciate it.

An enthusiastic group of pro bono programmers strewn across the ...

2023-10-05T03:28:59Z

An enthusiastic group of pro bono programmers strewn across the globe, including in Hong Kong, are building the open source, crypto-focused super app of Elon Musk’s dreams – but without the app.

Featuring Sherry (npub1ejx…t3tv) and gsovereignty (npub1myg…sn5p)

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3236382/decentralised-social-media-super-app-elon-musks-dreams-already-exists-growing-interest-china

Young people in China are embracing lightning travel… but not ...

2023-09-12T15:58:21Z

Young people in China are embracing lightning travel… but not Lightning travel
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/21-dishes-in-24-hours-China-s-youth-embrace-lightning-travel

It's already popular with certain segments of the crypto ...

2023-09-08T11:03:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…x8qe
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It's already popular with certain segments of the crypto crowd and it's censorship resistent. Would seem like a natural fit.

Actually, I spoke too soon. Apparently it's open source and ...

2023-09-08T06:35:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…5nl0
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Actually, I spoke too soon. Apparently it's open source and can be self hosted: https://github.com/cryptpad/cryptpad

I think Synology has something like that if you use their NAS, ...

2023-09-08T06:31:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…qy56
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I think Synology has something like that if you use their NAS, but I've never tried it. Also, this isn't self-hosted but it's fully encrypted: [CryptPad](https://cryptpad.fr/)

https://youtu.be/3I-D8Ozc4Oc?si=4HeZ5PrXnsLTpJr4

2023-09-08T05:42:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…jclu
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https://youtu.be/3I-D8Ozc4Oc?si=4HeZ5PrXnsLTpJr4

It should have read 8 million followers each. This is the story: ...

2023-09-08T05:03:36Z

In reply to nevent1q…mrex
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It should have read 8 million followers each. This is the story: https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3233703/china-crypto-crackdown-weibo-banishes-80-prominent-cryptocurrency-influencers

80 Chinese crypto influencers with a combined 8 million followers ...

2023-09-06T11:03:45Z

80 Chinese crypto influencers with a combined 8 million followers were recently removed from Weibo. Have any of these people found Nostr yet?

What phone did you go with?

2023-09-03T13:49:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…msgc
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What phone did you go with?

How do you find new people to follow?

2023-09-01T05:14:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…xqdj
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How do you find new people to follow?

What's going on here? Lol ...

2023-08-31T10:27:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…gxhg
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What's going on here? Lol

👋 I'd like to RSVP

2023-06-27T13:05:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…xdhg
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👋 I'd like to RSVP

One significant challenge to overcome, though, is a lack of ...

2023-04-10T10:11:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…q25p
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One significant challenge to overcome, though, is a lack of agreed standards for exchanging trade data on a blockchain and between blockchains. Shipping containers and electronic data interchange documents were only widely adopted after a push from standards bodies.

Why use blockchain at all when trade seems to work just fine ...

2023-04-10T10:10:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…07xl
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Why use blockchain at all when trade seems to work just fine without it? Advocates say it can help reduce some of the remaining barriers to digitization, like the fact that the bill of lading is still largely paper-based.

GSBN has eight major shipping and terminal operators as ...

2023-04-10T10:09:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…8a3f
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GSBN has eight major shipping and terminal operators as shareholders, each with equal voting rights in the governance of its blockchain. The nonprofit is out to prove blockchain has a future in supply chains, but the CEO admits it could take a while.

Supply chain management was supposed to be a killer application ...

2023-04-10T10:08:06Z

Supply chain management was supposed to be a killer application of blockchain outside cryptocurrencies and NFTs. But the end of Maersk and IBM’s TradeLens last fall caused some to doubt the tech’s applicability – but not Hong Kong’s GSBN. https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3216365/blockchain-based-logistics-looks-increasingly-chinese-after-exit-maersk-hong-kongs-gsbn-has-global

I think IPFS has some big advantages over torrents. But for ...

2023-04-09T04:51:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…v3tq
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I think IPFS has some big advantages over torrents. But for distributed collaboration, how does this compare with something like Radicle? https://radicle.xyz/

So we can expect an official HSBC Nostr account soon?

2023-03-03T11:49:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…l40l
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So we can expect an official HSBC Nostr account soon?

You can sign up for the waitlist here: https://bsky.app/

2023-02-20T14:51:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…79pp
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You can sign up for the waitlist here: https://bsky.app/

Hong Kong's New crypto policy proposal shows its ...

2023-02-20T14:25:19Z

Hong Kong's New crypto policy proposal shows its "commitment towards being the leading Web3 hub", but it also limits retail investors to big-cap coins and requires exchanges set up committees to regularly review tokens to determine if they should still be traded.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3210863/hong-kong-allow-retail-investors-buy-big-cap-crypto-tokens-boost-global-digital-asset-hub-ambitions

Censorship in China has created a restrictive media environment ...

2023-02-20T06:11:47Z

Censorship in China has created a restrictive media environment that hampers the development of large language models.
https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3210754/chatgpt-has-grabbed-headlines-developing-chinese-competitor-will-face-censorship-cost-and-data

> By attempting to cut China off from advanced semiconductors, ...

2023-02-12T07:11:27Z

> By attempting to cut China off from advanced semiconductors, America is incentivising China to focus on more mature forms of chip manufacturing, where the choke points are weaker and China already has a large share of the market. These sorts of chips are required in great numbers in electric cars and weapons. If artificial intelligence turns out to be less important than the American government thinks it is, incentivising Chinese firms to take greater control over commodity chips may end up looking like a mistake.

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/02/08/the-history-and-limits-of-americas-favourite-new-economic-weapon

Still no cryptocurrency trading in mainland China, but The ...

2023-02-09T17:40:56Z

Still no cryptocurrency trading in mainland China, but The Ministry of Science and Technology is setting up the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Centre in Beijing.

> The centre will focus on areas of blockchain regarding fundamental theory, software and hardware, with the aim of developing related key technologies and industrial applications, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
>
> The new centre will also focus on major use cases related to the national economy and personal livelihoods, making blockchain an important foundation for China’s new digital infrastructure, Beijing Daily said, offering scant details.

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3209639/china-approves-blockchain-research-centre-beijing-aiming-make-breakthroughs-while-maintaining

Do you get a lot of Chinese spam on here? The vast majority of ...

2023-02-08T14:22:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…w9q9
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Do you get a lot of Chinese spam on here? The vast majority of the posts I see on my global feed are in Chinese. Much of it porn, or more likely scams pretending to be porn.