I don’t understand the nostalgia for pre-Euro currencies. Except for the D-Mark, all national currencies replaces by the Euro had much higher inflation rates than the Euro does now. If inflation is bad, isn’t more inflation worse?

Lucky enough to have celebrated the end of Indian Summer with a short train ride across the Pitt River, British Columbia

Presenting: The Orange Gift🎁 It’s like zapping someone in real life, even if they don’t (yet) have a wallet. You take out one of the business card-sized cards, scan the QR code with any LNURL-compatible Lightning wallet, set any amount you want to gift, add a personal note and hand it to the lucky recipient, who can redeem the funds by scanning the code with their Lightning wallet. Built on @LNbits using the #Laisee🧧extension.

When you’re syncing a Bitcoin node and the progress bar goes down…

It may be very tempting to “vibe” a menu, but this looks just so much more appetizing. When the menu is slop, the food likely is, too. Not here at Aureliana!

Should phones come with warning labels, like cigarettes, peanut butter or high-voltage appliances?

This is the 動感號 Vibrant Express, an 8-car train for up to 581 people serving short distance routes from Kowloon Station in Hong Kong to Futian, Shenzhen North, and occasionally Guangzhou. They’re the only high-speed trains not run by China Railway operating in China, instead they’re run by the semi-private Hong Kong MTR. Traveling from Hong Kong to the first station in China (and the final stop for a lot of these trains) takes just 14 minutes, plus another four to Shenzhen. They’re essentially high-speed subways and should probably not require advanced reservations.

I’m running Taproot Assets! This is a live demo of me buying a coke with USDTL on Lightning. You can see my channel’s balance and capacity in the TUI, my channel peer Amboss is acting as the edge node, the asset itself is issued by Speed Wallet, backed by USDT.

High-speed sleeper D941 from Shanghai to Shenzhen. There are rooms with four and two beds, but booking them, at least through cTrip, feels a bit chaotic. The beds are very slim and hard, but generally comfortable. The couch seems to be primarily used by staff. You get basic toiletries and water for the 10h, 1623km ride. There are two toilets and a water boiler in every car, but no showers.

Just noticed Organic Maps now takes Lightning donations. Amazing product, especially if you care about privacy or move around a lot in areas without cell reception

Donate to support the development of Organic Maps

Your money pays for all project-related expenses and motivates us to improve Organic Maps.

Complimentary snacks served on train G11 from Beijing to Shanghai, somewhat edible, unlike what you can get at the onboard bistro. You’re expected to order and pay through Wechat, but walking to the counter and paying with cash is also an option. Through the app you can also order from any restaurant at the next station, and the food will be brought to your seat, something that seems to be mainly done by first class passengers, who somehow don’t mind stale cold dishes. Additionally, all cars have a hot water dispenser for any cup noodles you might have with you. Conclusion: Don’t eat on trains in China. #trainstr

Show up and do stuff! At DCTRL Vancouver

I’m now two weeks clean (no card transactions). My skin is much smoother, and my stomach feels great. I’m thinking more clearly, I fall asleep easily and wake up well rested without an alarm. Hoping I can keep it up!

Would you pay extra to ride the subway “first class”?

The art and the artist. #foodstr

Spanish train travel is probably not the worst in Europe, but the heavily gated train stations and older equipment disappoint. There’s some competition between operators, but Renfe’s AVE has even worse food options than SNCF. I do hear Trenitalia’s Iryo has a decent first class, will have to confirm that on another trip… #trainstr

Ahoy, I see we’re just renaming the deck chairs on the Titanic now

Lunch served on TGV 9713 between Paris and Barcelona. As a rule of thumb, the better the food in a country, the worse the food on its trains. #trainstr

I’ve been informed at a restaurant that the seafood selection is very limited as it’s been “a bad week for fish.” What do you mean, sir, sounds like it’s been a great week for the fish!

Crowds gather outside an office of the Spanish National Police for a pro-independence rally on the National Day of Catalonia. Paint and smoke bombs are thrown at the building, with plenty of riot police on standby around the corner.