So the European Central Bank is dead set on introducing this "digital Euro" (CBDC) this fall. They're going to force merchants by law to install the necessary equipment. Nobody even asked for this. Sure, existing payment methods, including cash, will still be around, but it's pretty obvious they're going to make using them harder over the next 5 years. They'll do this by targeting merchants. Carbon taxes, whatever it takes. For me, this means years of cutting back. I'm especially thinking about buying things like computers and phones while I still can, and then nothing for a while. But I've got a counter-strategy too. We can push back. I'm thinking about going into stores, looking at something for a long time, and then saying, "Hmm, I like this. Do you accept Bitcoin? No? That's too bad, I would've bought it right away." And just keep doing this over and over. No idea if it'll make a noticeable impact on sales, but psychologically, it stings the merchant every time. That expensive item could have been sold immediately if only... It's the least I can do.

It's 1867, and Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz is making history as the first sultan ever to embark on a grand tour of Europe, a real turning point in the Tanzimat era, when the Ottoman Empire was starting to embrace modernity. He's welcomed with all the pomp and circumstance in London, and at this glamorous ball in Buckingham Palace, his young, open-minded nephew Şehzade Murad (who'd later briefly become Sultan Murad V) is twirling around in a lively waltz with the graceful Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, a real stunner from Danish roots. Meanwhile, the conservative Abdülaziz, who admires Western tech but sees mixed dancing as downright scandalous, is watching the whole thing with growing unease. It's the ultimate culture clash: Ottoman traditions bumping up against Victorian social freedoms! The anecdote comes from Turkish memoirs and history books, like those by historians Murat Bardakçı or Yılmaz Öztuna, drawing on eyewitness accounts. It fits perfectly with Abdülaziz's hot-headed personality and highlights the empire's internal struggles, while Murad is soaking up the Western vibe, his uncle is grappling with serious culture shock. English sources like The Times rave about the dance without mentioning any drama. So, when Sultan Abdülaziz sees his nephew dancing so closely with the Princess of Wales, he's said to have whispered: "Biz burada boynuzlu pezevenk değiliz, söyleyin şu karıyı bıraksın" – "We're not a bunch of cuckolded pimps here, tell him to let go of that woman!" [Image generated by AI]

Whatever software or service, if I see "Support via Discord", I'm out. And this isn't something new, Discord has had many security flaws and data breaches in the past. But lots of people only have a 4-second memory. Only morons use Discord. View quoted note →

You don't have to be scared of #CSS anymore. AI Assistance is coming to Chrome's DevTools. I'm curious to see how far this support will go. Whether it'll also solve complex inheritance issues.

Chrome for Developers

Chat with AI assistance | Chrome DevTools | Chrome for Developers

Learn how to use the AI assistance panel in DevTools.

I'm getting the feeling more and more that the original SAIF movement is somehow inauthentic, too artificial. Kind of just an "non-binding declaration of intent," at worst a more pretentious form of piety signaling. BTW, "non-binding declaration of intent" is also how advertising is defined, which is why legally speaking, it can spread lies about a product or service. I'm coming to this view more and more, not just because of recent events, but I had this impression from the beginning, from the first so-called "SAIF-OGs." It's not about the abstract, very theoretical articles they write, but more: - Lack of practical relevance - None of the SAIF-OGs are active here on Nostr (despite a certain number of supporters in the Muslim community) - I hardly ever see them talking about Bitcoin or OPSEC - They're not involved in the FOSS scene and talk too little about it ... just idealistic yada yada blah blah in hard-to-digest articles all the time. In short, it feels like every crap we modern Muslims set up these days: Fake, without substance, quickly passing. Basically like an Islamic shitcoin. There are some real SAIF Muslims, don't get me wrong. They were SAIF before the term even existed. Like @ابو مريم and @Muslim Bitcoiner for example. They take the ideas behind it seriously from the beginning. I myself have written articles on my domains that could be classified as "SAIF," but never labeled them as such. But the guys behind

SAIF - Home

Society for an Alternative Islamic Futurology - Home

Yeah, nice website, so what? It seems to me like this new, artificial SAIF movement just settled into the ready-made nest and is somehow trying to take it over. I've observed it for a long time, kept quiet for a long time, didn't want to be the critic who ruins a good thing right at the start with criticism. But now? Stay away from me with "SAIF," you hypocrites. I myself will only use the term mockingly from now on. And I'll understand it that way if someone brings it up to me. With a contemptuous smile.

At some point we have to accept it. There are countless agents of the Matrix who would do anything to defend it and who aren't ready to be unplugged yet. And then there's us. And I say this without any sense of superiority, because God wanted it this way and made it so. All credits and thanks belong only to Him.

It happens quietly. Unannounced. Unpublished. View quoted note →

Man, LinkedIn is such a shitshow. Mid-20s privileged white chick writes: "Waah, I worked from home, remotely for 2 years. Got such bad depression. Hardly any human contact, boohoo... Tried sitting in a cafe to work, waah, that wasn't great either. But then I worked in a co-working space. Met people again, smiles that turned into chit-chats, a cafeteria with healthy food one floor below me, and now I'm happy again, look, a selfie video of me smiling" And at the end, the obligatory footer: "I'm a social media manager, follow me for my oh-so-exciting (short) life story, subscribe to my newsletter... yada yada blah blah" Man, what are these young privileged chicks thinking? That everyone thinks they look so beautiful (btw, nearly everybody does in their twenties) and would therefore be interested in their shabby little life story?

DuckDuckGo's AI now allows customization of responses. However, my first test with GPT-4o mini showed that this AI model doesn't give a damn about these instructions.

Notedeck is already pretty cool. It shows me more notifications than Jumble. Jumble and Yakihonne recently started omitting some notifications which is not ideal. Also a column with last notes from contacts is a nice idea. I guess, I'll go with notedeck for a while.

Damus

A new social network that you control

Normies really think the government should raise inheritance taxes to create financial equality. And they even post it publicly without any shame. Honestly, with that much brainwashing, discussion doesn't help anymore. They took a wrong turn very early on. By the way, I'm saying this as someone who didn't inherit anything from their parents.

npub16g4umvwj2pduqc8kt2rv6heq2vhvtulyrsr2a20d4suldwnkl4hquekv4h guys, you need to fix your web app on mobile. And how can I log in with my existing credit ID that I have on desktop?

Great app idea! View quoted note →

Oh, great feature @PayPerQ ! I was just thinking yesterday that favorites would be nice.

I'm a bit jealous. Something like that's been floating around in the back of my mind for a while too. Seriously, screw all this crap. What's the point of it all anyway? View quoted note →

"I like things I can touch" ... and that lose value over time.

In football, I like the playmaker, the assist provider, the classic number 10 position more than the number 9 who just scores goals. Michael Laudrup, with his exceptional vision, was a master of this playmaking role.

TIL: A Mac system indexes every drive, that's connected to it (like external USB drives). You can prevent that by simply adding an empty .metadata_never_index file to the drive's root directory. touch /Volumes/YOUR_DRIVE/.metadata_never_index

There's nothing more satisfying than watching an old pro at work.

Daily reminder: Bitcoin price is not rising. This is not an ATH. It's just fiat devaluing rapidly. They're printing money like crazy. BTC ATH was at 41 oz gold. We're at 35,36 oz now. Let that sink in.