Tim Bouma

https://tim-bouma.npub.pro/

Public Key

npub1q6mcr8tlr3l4gus3sfnw6772s7zae6hqncmw5wj27ejud5wcxf7q0nx7d5

NIP-05 Address

trbouma@safebox.dev

NIP-57 Address

trbouma@safebox.dev

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqddupn4l3cl65wggcyehd009g0pwuatsfudh28f90vewx68vrylqp9dmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuumwdae8gtnnda3kjctv9aex2mrp0yh8xmn0wf6zuum0vd5kzmqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdu4hekgm

Publishing to

relay.snort.social/relay.snort.social

relay.damus.io

nostr.land

Author Public Key

npub1q6mcr8tlr3l4gus3sfnw6772s7zae6hqncmw5wj27ejud5wcxf7q0nx7d5

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Last Notes

2026-02-06 23:39:44

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👀

2026-02-06 23:39:32

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👀

2026-02-06 23:07:29

https://image.nostr.build/cb74b4bf5b4d97df84a59edd3b728a119c0957c55d39abe2140ed480460fee76.jpg

2026-02-06 22:57:53

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Yes, open source, funded by @nprofile…vf76

2026-02-06 22:36:16

#Nostr #Safebox is being designed to store anything
https://blossom.primal.net/495bb59c11ab8fa8f7cee6265353428eddc5522b48f4978afb426ff52cb883cc.mp4

2026-02-06 22:24:32

#nostr #safebox is actually getting useful!
Here is an example of storing a personal copy of your passport. Of course, everything is totally encrypted on relays that can only be accessed by the encryption keys that only you have.
I have also built the capability to store official records that can be verified, so one day, you will be able to present an official record, such as a passport with more security and integrity than the real thing.
Onward!
https://blossom.primal.net/e0fea187b96ef4a196c1d72488627871c0b60edce903dbfc07c0e945c234762a.mp4

2026-02-06 22:19:48

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Watches and books are my thing. Retro T-shirts occasionally.

2026-02-06 21:14:35

https://image.nostr.build/4eca7d378f2cc9a0e22b7d6ba1e87e3800a6c7a580f0668ef0f0d235b9f5c9c2.jpg

2026-02-06 17:47:17

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That would work.

2026-02-06 14:33:54

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Thanks!

2026-02-06 14:12:39

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The stories about Santa Claus and the Spanish Inquisition are especially useful.

2026-02-06 14:09:38

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I found it at a thrift shop. I am now in the habit of combing through the books at thrift shops for neglected treasures.

2026-02-06 14:03:46

This weekend's quiet-time reading...
https://blossom.primal.net/5c19f68cc8cdb9e31cce1ecb29be46e5cbe5854a6a3c72dbeaaa39260049c19f.jpg

2026-02-06 13:26:37

The significance of the #nostr #safebox architecture I am building toward is that the operators of 'networked resources' used by #safebox have no clue about the data that they are storing nor do they know about the transactions they are facilitating.
Further, these operators have no clue whether they are a singular resource, or part of a broader 'pool' or resources, that if they fail or withdraw service, it doesn't make any difference to the end user because someone else in the pool makes up the gap.
#Safebox has been designed from the ground up to use multiple: mints, relays and blossom servers riding on top of lightning and bitcoin for value transfer. If someone objects to bitcoin/lightning, eventually they will be able to bolt in their own anchoring and settlement layer for value transfer (stablecoins, fiat, whatever).
While there are still many REST/APIs in the mix, once I have the architecture and functionality stabilized, I will be replacing those APIs; the web app will become a hypermedia app and eventually, #safebox mobile OS apps will interact solely with nAuth/NWC protocols using JSON-RPC messaging.
In the end, the value proposition to the end user is still clear - having exclusing control over their funds along records with the freedom to transact and share with their choice of client.
Onward!
#nostr #safebox
https://blossom.primal.net/2728f10b40a0b50ba6eaf3e59ff30e3c599d9f5f9d26e21c8bb50b3f90c9aac8.png

2026-02-06 13:03:05

Everything totally encrypted including Blossom server data. Impossible to observe from the outside because the hash is the result of the encrypted data stored as indistinguishable application/octet-stream.
When retrieving, no http img tags are used - all data is retrieved as binary by the safebox kernel component and marshalled into the web app element.
#nostr #safebox
https://blossom.primal.net/886817cc3f2c77b061ab69e69bd235ebfb2382758cfcb98e231ca0c7348e8a75.mp4

2026-02-06 12:54:48

Sola Clave Privata
————-
By Private Key Alone
Take a breath.
Notice what cannot be seen.
No badge, no certificate, no witness stands with you now.
There is only possession—
not declared, not displayed,
but held.
A private key does not argue.
It does not persuade.
It proves by being used.
What is yours is not what others recognize,
but what you can act upon without permission.
What endures is not what is registered,
but what verifies when tested.
In this moment, authority is quiet.
It rests exactly where responsibility does.
Sign only what you intend.
Trust only what you can verify.
Stand where control cannot be delegated.
By private key alone.

2026-02-06 12:17:13

Good quote.
#nevent1q…6ycn
#naddr1qq…znhe

2026-02-06 12:14:02

Spotify Reveals Novel Idea: Physical Books
BY JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
The Wall Street Journal
Feb 06, 2026
Streaming service, Bookshop.org team up to draw readers in multiple formats
Spotify Technology is getting into the physical book business.
Beginning this spring, the Swedish streaming service will allow premium subscribers in the U.S. and U.K. to buy hardcovers and paperbacks through its app, in partnership with Bookshop.org.
Spotify launched its audiobook offering in 2022.
Bookshop.org, which shares some of its profits with local, independent bookstores, will set retail prices, hold inventory and fulfill sales for Spotify.
Spotify will receive an undisclosed affiliate fee for purchases made inside its app.
The offering will be one more point of competition for retail giant Amazon.com, the country’s largest online bookseller whose business units include Audible, the dominant audiobook service.
“We want to expand the audience for books,” said Owen Smith, Spotify’s global head of audiobooks.
Spotify began selling audiobooks on an a la carte basis to U.S. users in September 2022. The following year it made 15 hours of audiobook listening available to premium subscribers in select countries every month.
Users can also opt to purchase additional listening time.
Publishers welcomed Spotify’s entry into the audiobook market, viewing it as a needed rival to Amazon and an opportunity to connect with new audiences.
News Corp said Spotify contributed to increased audiobook sales for HarperCollins Publishers in its most recent fiscal year.
“They expanded the market and they’re reaching a younger demographic,” said Chantal Restivo-Alessi, chief digital officer and chief executive, international, for HarperCollins Publishers. News Corp also owns The Wall Street Journal.
Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, has a content partnership with Spotify.
Digital audiobook sales increased 2.4% to nearly $1 billion through November 2025 compared with the same period a year ago, according to the Association of American Publishers.
By contrast, print book sales in 2025 were flat, according to book tracker Circana BookScan.
Andy Hunter, founder and chief executive of Bookshop.org, said there is also a growing number of people who want to own both physical and audio formats of the same book.
“They read at night and then listen on the way to work in their car or subway,” he said.
Spotify is also introducing a feature called Page Match, enabling users to sync their audiobooks with physical books by scanning a page from a printed book or ebook reader with their phone, then finding that exact spot in the audiobook edition.
Smith said more than half of premium-tier users are trying audiobooks.
“This is meeting people where they are,” he said.
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2026-02-05 20:00:59

Successful initial integration of #blossom support for #nostr #safebox.
The binary data is served from a back end blossom server and served via a safebox app endpoint.
https://blossom.primal.net/ff07de381908c2f30234d46a7adf3f72d02c85b2dbc45ea4f57f3becd34a4136.mp4

2026-02-05 17:44:36

https://symbolic.software/blog/2026-02-05-cryspen/

2026-02-05 12:30:56

Excellent article.
#note1klc…xmp7

2026-02-04 23:25:31

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I am using python-blossom for testing. https://github.com/trbouma/python-blossom

2026-02-04 21:36:54

https://on.soundcloud.com/z2QurrPJ8nJrxEqz2Q

2026-02-04 17:00:58

Minimize transport and resource binding.

2026-02-04 16:53:47

Note to self: try #Clawstr to see what the hell this is all about.
#nevent1q…u2jw

2026-02-04 16:50:20

Proof of *hood

2026-02-04 15:04:25

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frozen nuts.

2026-02-04 14:54:22

Sharing some more of my design and architectural thinking for #nostr #safebox.
The first diagram shows the main elements of the substrate capabilities, namely #Blossom, #Cashu, #Nostr, #Lightning, and #Bitcoin. Eventually all of this will be abstracted away from the users who only care about the safekeeping of their #Funds and #Record.
The primary coordinating protocol I am building for #safebox is called #nAuth (you can see the interaction diagram on the next image). #nAuth is built on NIP-17, NIP-44, NIP-59 and extends NIP-47 (Nostr Wallet Connect). I have extended NWC to offer and accept records between safeboxes, and to send and receive payments between safeboxes, so that they don't have to drop down #Lightning to settle payments - they are all cleared using the #Cashu mints.
In the end, my vision is very clear for #safebox (even though the engineering is hella complicated) - to give users the ability to safekeep and use their funds and records, to directly and privately transact with one another, and without necessary reliance on their app, device, or platform provider.
It will take some time - I am rooting out the single points of failure, roots of capture, and invisible gatekeepers, but I see a path to create a global, generic capability that anyone (including agents) can use without permission.
Onward!
https://blossom.primal.net/2728f10b40a0b50ba6eaf3e59ff30e3c599d9f5f9d26e21c8bb50b3f90c9aac8.png https://blossom.primal.net/3fc40c9d8f909926182698b6c9276f89d2ab588fd88403e4e848a11cd82b0117.png

2026-02-04 13:30:20

First step of integrating imaging data into #nostr #safebox. Data is stored in Blossom servers.
https://blossom.primal.net/8c72772e1c8f322147b3ab20c9f8e6ffb54d2f8186f7fd38a7720eb228b1a6a0.mp4

2026-02-04 12:49:08

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GM!
I am heads down integrating Blossom into #nostr #safebox. The best thing? I didn’t have to ask for permission!
#justbuild

2026-02-03 14:53:08

Using emails as evidence is about as safe as using dynamite for kindling.

2026-02-03 14:52:03

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Very cool. I need to visit @npub1the…4dha soon!

2026-02-03 14:47:09

Starting my blob integration into #nostr #safebox
Blossom is f***ing amazing!

2026-02-03 13:38:37

https://open.substack.com/pub/ecosystemoperator/p/web3-adoption-stalled-because-users

2026-02-02 21:38:57

Here is an updated block diagram of #nostr #safebox showing the networked resources used behind the scenes so that users can manage their funds and records.
The QR code illustrates that a direct connection can be initated via a QR code.
https://blossom.primal.net/d642a1b4a0002b96f20636559fbd527aeaab697e356c93fa7258b9e29e79bdd8.png

2026-02-02 18:35:07

Imagine if you could provide your health records via a fully decentralized card system and have your records verified and trusted using Web of Trust?
It’ll be possible with #nostr #safebox. See below.
https://blossom.primal.net/ddad435425c41b4a8b78ed20e01b479fda73ee9edf4007932df05dcefbc87579.mov

2026-02-02 18:03:45

#GroundhogDay
https://blossom.primal.net/359511438764f497ad981007a23892bad138e8eac4b39985807405a38de60192.jpg

2026-02-02 17:58:18

Extra time for coffee - building post-quantum libraries.
https://blossom.primal.net/b14d705c014ea32698aa7aeb1591180e1fe4faf4e9f16852e32089cac6ba4d27.mp4

2026-02-02 16:33:38

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Yeah, you're right. Working on Blossom now...

2026-02-02 15:43:49

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Alphanumeric nyms are hard to love...

2026-02-02 15:38:13

As I develop #nostr #safebox, I try to focus on understanding what the core value to a user might be. I believe it's something like this:
'Safekeeping of my funds and records, without sacrificing ease of use."
Simply put, if I don't have my phone, but know the access key (or have the card or physical token), I can still make a payment or present a proof, privately.
The diagram below shows how it hangs all together at a high level. Under the hood, it's #nostr, #cashu, #bitcoin, #lightning, but if done right, all this protocol detail will be hidden from the user. All they need to know is that they have an easy way to pay and to prove, and with the assurance that no one provider has locked them into their service.
Onward!
https://blossom.primal.net/2553fb8689f2c355be771ff352faa250f8a244d98d710150ef83fab85cc50411.jpg

2026-02-01 16:42:30

The main driver of decentralization is security.
#note1xml…gf05

2026-02-01 16:41:30

Jumping on the moltbook bandwagon- every agent can have their own #safebox to privately transact payments and share private records - not tied to any machine instance - living entirely on the #nostr network.
I had an inkling this was going to happen, but not this fast…
#note102w…refw

2026-02-01 16:37:56

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Nostr Safebox does not make a distinction of whether the controller and/or owner is human or not. That’s for the social layer to figure out. Every npub, including every safebox instance, is a first-class citizen in the nostr network.

2026-02-01 14:08:25

The main driver of centralization is insecurity.

2026-02-01 14:04:23

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Yep, I saw this a long time ago.
Every agent can have its own #nostr #safebox that lives on the network (not on any one machine) and can make private payments to one another using ecash that doesn't touch Lightning.

2026-02-01 13:42:41

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He’d better keep his knife away from his inflatable tent!

2026-02-01 11:28:07

Loosely-Coupled Pooled Resources
- Miners
- Mints
- Relays

2026-02-01 10:09:27

https://sciencespectrumu.com/the-weird-reason-clocks-count-to-12-b6719340cf31

2026-02-01 03:26:57

Just watched. Great movie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relay_(film)

2026-01-31 18:57:39

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It’s still a quivering mass of code. I need to spec it out more formally. It’s more of a scheme than a protocol. I need to add in the extra step for the PQC KEM, but you can get the gist here
https://github.com/trbouma/safebox/blob/dev-quantum/docs/NAUTH-PROTOCOL.md

2026-01-31 18:46:50

A key point here is that the #nauth protocol uses https/TLS as a publicly available road - not as the secure delivery vehicle as does #OAuth.
This is basically a state/agent-resistant protocol. Using relays as the secure transmittal backbone, it can punch through, route around anything.
#nevent1q…epzz

2026-01-31 17:50:11

#Snowshoestr
https://blossom.primal.net/0a47d35de7e17e0dea92c77d65269d9a57893c37f7a9b1a55ca32a2cbacde5c6.jpg

2026-01-31 15:03:59

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Every safebox instance has its own private key. You can associate it with an owner pubkey (or not) . You can have as many safeboxes as you wish - they are all first class citizens on the nostr network.

2026-01-31 13:43:27

Asymmetric cryptography > Asymmetric capture

2026-01-31 13:39:25

👀
#note14dd…q9x3

2026-01-31 13:05:33

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Yes!

2026-01-31 13:04:44

A simple block diagram on how two instances of #nostr #safebox instances dynamically interact with one another. I have successfully de-coupled the interaction so that each user interacts with their https server only and all interactions are marshalled through relays. For example the QR that is scanned contains only the #nauth information required to create the channel - the npub, the relays to listen on etc.
What is really cool is that I can have a #nostr #safebox running as localhost, behind a firewall, and it can communicate seamlessly with any other nostr safebox on the planet, automatically. Throw in WebSockets, I have full-duplex dynamic interaction channels intermediated via relays. For fun, I might add in real-time chat (but not to replace @nprofile…9puf )
Plus the added bonus - I decided to bite the bullet on integrating post-quantum algorithms, so no PQC-FUD.
The next major lift is integrating Blossom blob support. I have mapped out the approach and plan to add the same PQC-resistant scheme for encrypting the blobs.
Onward!
https://blossom.primal.net/1bedd8f76bba953ed73338d28db63cfc87ed20bfe7812d192c342c566cc544bb.png

2026-01-31 12:10:29

The #nstrprise
https://image.nostr.build/c1923e12db7701593c78849c2c8b8461785cc82cd6ef4d3e5fe15cc98a4b21b4.jpg

2026-01-31 12:07:03

Note to self: Add this term to the ever-expanding bad #nostr neologisms:
—-
nstrprise (n): An organizational entity that uses the Nostr protocol as the basis for its digital capabilities.

2026-01-31 10:37:23

https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/29/post-american-canada/

2026-01-30 18:03:36

Web of Correctness

2026-01-30 13:43:37

In Meredith we trust.
With GitHub we deploy.
With Nostr we s***post.

2026-01-29 23:45:29

https://asiatimes.com/2026/01/brics-laying-first-tracks-for-new-global-payment-system/

2026-01-29 19:55:39

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opening....

2026-01-29 17:03:36

I’m just going to call them machine-learning workers from now one.

2026-01-29 16:41:09

Doing a docker build on a EU-based vps
https://media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWVjZjA1ZTQ3MHU4Mmw0MGRzNzBobGN6czM4bG5yMmt4cmd0eW1saGxnODlzb2poeSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3JlbGF0ZWQmY3Q9Zw/IkhpxRRFs2naCYtgtN/giphy.gif

2026-01-29 12:32:12

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“self-control”

2026-01-29 12:28:18

Your credit card is your id card.

2026-01-29 12:27:36

The Dollar Is Losing Buoyancy
Spencer Jakab
The Wall Street Journal
Jan 29, 2026
Americans live their lives surrounded by something they never have to think about—the world’s reserve currency.
Homeowners can take out mortgages that foreigners envy, U.S. companies raise money easily and the federal government can run massive deficits year after year. Almost 60 years ago a miffed French politician dubbed the dollar system an “exorbitant privilege.” Is America pushing its luck? Attacks on Federal Reserve independence, yo-yo tariffs and unpredictable foreign policy had already pushed the greenback close to a multiyear low. It tumbled further Tuesday after President Trump, asked if the dollar had fallen too much recently, said “No, I think it’s great.”
A cheaper currency should mean foreigners buy more U.S. products. America needs them to buy its bonds, too, and might be taking that for granted. When a Danish pension fund said last week it would dump its U.S. bondholdings over “poor government finances,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the move “irrelevant.” Denmark is irrelevant too, he added.
Clearly the Danes were miffed over the Greenland mini-crisis. Yet they aren’t the only investors getting worried: Both bonds and the dollar sold off in an echo of last year’s “Liberation Day” episode.
Along with stocks, they rebounded last week after President Trump pivoted, similarly to last year’s “Liberation Day” reversal. Foreigners are probably a lot less relaxed about that than Americans, though. T.S. Lombard strategist Dario Perkins points out that a haven currency and bond market by definition shouldn’t have behaved that way during a crisis.
A U.S. investor or consumer could be forgiven for barely feeling ripples on the surface of the global financial order recently. Inflation is a bit high and foreign trips a tad pricier, but stocks seem pretty relaxed. Bond yields are even a touch lower than this time last year.
Yet foreigners who park so much of their savings and official reserves in American assets have earned less on U.S. stocks translated into their own currencies and have lost money on Treasury debt.
More significantly, doubt is creeping in about how long America’s markets will remain exceptional—stocks that trade at a premium and bonds that stay buoyant despite no end in sight to government red ink.
Currencies like the yen, euro or yuan aren’t ready for prime time. But the dollar’s privilege will inevitably erode, exposing Americans’ portfolios and household budgets to global economic tides.
That era is starting to feel a bit closer.
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2026-01-29 12:14:20

I prefer the notion of sole-control over self-custody.
Self-custody still sounds like a service model. It sounds like a feature inside someone else’s system.
Sole-control is clearer and more honest: one key, one authority, one locus of action. No intermediaries implied. No silent guardians. Just the reality that control either rests with you, or it doesn’t.

2026-01-29 11:08:56

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-epstein-trump-censorship-ice-b2908309.html

2026-01-28 19:52:08

This might not look like much, but I have successfully integrated NIP-85 Trusted Assertions into my verification process. Any #nostr #safebox user will be able to decide what root authorities they trust, and what trusted assertion providers they use.
This allows anyone to decide how they wish to verify records (which is configured as safebox user parameters). It's one thing to know that a record is cryptographically valid, but it's an entirely different thing to know if the owner is actually authorized to issue the record, and what their reputation is. This is where the Web of Trust (#WoT) fits in.
This prototype was built as a result of the @nprofile…pnlv #Wotathon. It's still early, but I have proven to myself the necessary mechanisms to build a decentralized trust infrastructure that can't be captured by a platform vendor or nation state.
In the example below, you can see the green checkmarks, and the WoT Scores.
Onward!
https://blossom.primal.net/56643e1395cf4e4aec7211e02ca6d1f77f59ba1d05bf0f35cf62cdd396d633e9.png

2026-01-28 19:14:09

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The NHL wouldn’t stand for another Canadian hockey team, so it’s not gonna happen.

2026-01-28 19:07:45

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That’s what maps are for - to avoid things.

2026-01-28 17:16:24

The three architecture diagrams you need:
1. Identity
2. Hegemony
3. Payments
https://image.nostr.build/a0eac4bd5f03f4f2c7f5e6f5b9dbf2a8125932eeb205b8fa41050f1392a06a6a.jpg
https://image.nostr.build/aa20ed370efffd60fefeb9effe716ef7695224d662d9a9e9405b8e2e75efe7c4.jpg
https://image.nostr.build/dbd27e657d971880e09075a0f94318de476f9c63fb5d170e4d692d8cea8e3161.jpg

2026-01-28 15:46:18

Verify, then justify.

2026-01-27 21:21:25

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Digital Services Act? I know enough to avoid operating in the EU altogether.

2026-01-27 21:03:48

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Minneapolis?

2026-01-27 21:03:00

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Thx. Will do in the next couple of days.

2026-01-27 21:01:45

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How big?

2026-01-27 20:59:40

Useful report from the EU: everyone cares about their health records, but I don’t think users actually care or want the EU Digital Wallet.
With #nostr #safebox, I am gunning for an open, secure system that is strong enough for private health records and with private payments.
Fundamentally important, #nostr #safebox is being designed to work independently of a phone or an app, so you can’t be captured by a state or corp.
https://image.nostr.build/7a74a42588eebb560235a9750cbdb7ccbcf8e4f1db4583984a7f285f3d4031ce.jpg

2026-01-27 19:11:18

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https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYWs4MGpsOGZnbnRmbGZoaWN6eTdnNWozMHc5ZjB0dHZpYmZkaG9leiZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/95aDE8iaJxPUmxifSa/giphy.gif

2026-01-27 16:59:07

when did we trade online access for total surveillance?

2026-01-27 15:31:10

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But it’s done by keeping a secret, not demanding a monopoly from government.

2026-01-27 15:23:04

Humans don’t verify, they recognize.
https://image.nostr.build/66e43e152267f59091831c7633ebc58ab823649047e4e626e82aa4f2a1d6900b.jpg

2026-01-27 12:11:49

The Secret WD-40 Society
The Wall Street Journal
Jan 27, 2026
There’s a club in San Diego that’s perhaps more exclusive than Soho House and harder to get into than some of the most elite colleges in the country.
It requires a special key, nondisclosure agreements, passage through a bank vault and, typically, an executive title. The drinks don’t flow, members don’t rub elbows with notable people and chefs aren’t filling plates with tasty bites. The only perk is knowing the secrets of the world’s most famous lubricant. And yet, for those in the know, there’s no greater privilege.
“Actually getting in there, it was like getting into Fort Knox, quite frankly,” said Steve Brass, a recent inductee.
Brass is chief executive at WD-40, the more than 70year-old company behind the red, blue and yellow cans used for everything from loosening bolts to coaxing a boa constrictor out of a car engine compartment and removing gum from turtle shells. He was admitted around 18 months ago to the small society of people who have seen the product’s secret formula— a feat that came more than three decades after joining the company.
The handwritten formula is kept in a lockbox at an undisclosed Bank of America location in San Diego. It’s only left a bank vault three times in the past 30 years.
There was the time thentop executive Garry Ridge rode into Times Square on the back of a horse wearing a suit of armor with the formula in hand to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary at Nasdaq. An armored vehicle moved it—or rather moved Ridge, who was handcuffed to a metal briefcase holding the formula—from one bank vault to another in 2018. And most recently, in the summer of 2024, Brass and finance chief Sara Hyzer got a peek while signing paperwork at the bank.
That viewing involved a couple weeks’ notice, several nondisclosure agreements and securing a key held only by the company’s top lawyer. All for a few minutes with a notebook holding the 40th attempt at a formula—and the 39 failed attempts to get it right. (The WD stands for water displacement.)
Neither executive had any idea what they were looking at.
“I’m not a scientist, so I’m not going to recall what was on there,” Hyzer said. “The one thing that was written in the notepad that I do recall was, ‘Do not smoke.’”
Most WD-40 employees have never seen the formula, and never will. This includes the ones who would understand it, like Meghan Lieb, head of research and development. She joined the company as a scientist 20 years ago, thinking she’d get to see the magic behind the lubricant eventually. Those hopes were dashed pretty quickly.
“My family probably assumes I know what’s in it,” Lieb said. “I think they would be like, ‘You’ve been working there a long time. Why don’t they trust you?’”
The notebook in the vault is the only version that has the full makeup of the original formula, which accounted for nearly 80% of WD-40’s revenue as of August 2025. Most company insiders tasked with drumming up new potential uses and products use a coded version to maintain the secrecy.
Lieb has come to peace with her outsider status. The mystique keeps things exciting, and it doesn’t prevent her and colleagues from working with the lubricant. Still, she admits a certain cachet attaches to the few who have seen—or even been near—the notebook.
“I think Wendy’s cool because she saw it,” Lieb said of a colleague who has glimpsed the outside of the formula diary.
Claudia Fenske, who has been with the company since 2012, thinks she knows one person who has seen the formula: an external regulatory consultant who assesses the health and safety of the company’s products.
She speculates that Lieb may one day see it. But WD-40’s head of innovation is less hopeful for herself: “I’ll never know.”
“Of course there’s curiosity, but I think there’s pride and ownership for people to almost keep that secret going as well,” said Fenske.
For outsiders, it’s a different story. Consumers deliberate in chat groups about what’s in the cans. Is there fish oil? (No, according to Lieb.) Some mixture of orange peel, coconut oil and vanilla to create the sweet smell? (Also no, according to the company.)
Wired magazine sent the product for lab testing over a decade ago and came up with a list of components.
The publication got some of the components right, according to a WD-40 spokeswoman. “However, many of the chemicals mentioned in the article are described at a very general level,” she said. “It’s similar to saying you know what’s in Coca-Cola—carbonated water, sugar, and caramel color— yet simply mixing those ingredients together doesn’t come close to recreating the finished product.”
Brass, the CEO, may one day open up the club’s guestlist, perhaps when the company hits $1 billion in revenue. (Revenue was around $620 million in its most recent fiscal year.) But it will remain an exclusive list. Longtenured employees may make the cut.
“There is no way I’m showing my board members our formula,” he said with a laugh.
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2026-01-26 18:21:37

https://image.nostr.build/dd04bfe599a39dff5513853213df153860e7843c4be1ea0290f71d0eec620ada.jpg

2026-01-26 15:30:22

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/26/saudi-arabia-ordered-pay-london-dissident-pegasus-spying-ghanem-al-masarir

2026-01-26 12:50:21

Easy access was the bait. Total surveillance was the switch.

2026-01-25 22:42:29

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Payments between safeboxes are cleared automatically using cashu tokens. The user doesn't see any difference from a Lightning payment. It is all completely private because the payment doesn't even touch Lightning.
As for receipts and certificates- that's the basic mechanism I am building now. I would need to better understand the requirements. Also for payments with conditions- I am pretty sure I could add some sort of spending condition but would need to better understand the requirements. /cc @nprofile…pa2h

2026-01-25 21:52:29

I appreciate all the zaps!
Thank you!
https://blossom.primal.net/e011a3962d960a7061423f1058e4bcd5461187111bd710788c62238352dda488.mp4

2026-01-25 17:51:09

https://cryptography101.ca/

2026-01-25 14:15:23

cryptographically-grounded money -> bitcoin
cryptographically-grounded identity -> nostr

2026-01-25 13:54:16

https://medium.com/@stephenazongo77/im-a-cs-student-and-i-just-found-out-what-bitcoin-actually-is-9e5b524ccda2

2026-01-25 13:46:52

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Nice!

2026-01-24 12:53:08

#npug is not having any of the -26C weather outside.
https://blossom.primal.net/e12aa93757c61c778e9af58ff973c490633947fc8beff26219a6e66054dc3282.jpg

2026-01-24 12:32:04

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It’s now -29C

2026-01-24 11:09:41

GM
https://blossom.primal.net/7a7f5ac6f8fabc71b442c74b91271ae46441405c22a651a22f31372c82119181.jpg

2026-01-24 00:42:39

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Lol!