bobmcelrath / Bob McElrath is on Nostr

Theoretical physicist who dabbles in Bitcoin.

Last Notes

2023-07-03 22:18:37

Why haven't we discovered alien life? There's a missing element from the Fermi Paradox: life is rare because if a planet has only one metabolic mechanism, it will consume its source material until it is gone, resulting in a remaining atmosphere that is the by-product of that metabolism. I hypothesize this is why Mars is red, Venus is CO2, Titan is methane, and Europa is oxygen and water.
Earth evolved oxygen respiration and photosynthesis close enough in time for them to achieve a self-regulating balance. Self-regulating balances are rare in chemistry. Most of the time it burns out.

2023-07-03 21:00:14

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This is...bad. sorry.

2023-07-03 20:50:31

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Aaaaaahhhhh I took so many friends to see it. One at a time. I saw it at least 5 times in the theater. Each time as great as the last. Such a masterpiece!

2023-07-03 20:25:06

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Blocking. My first block on Nostr.
Post something interesting, not garbage NGU memes.

2023-07-03 20:21:51

I block all promoted tweets on Twitter. It's like 1 every 3 now. I don't have time for this.

2023-07-03 20:19:51

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Hello hello!

2023-07-03 13:34:49

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What now I have to block scammy giveaways on Nostr too?
For shame.

2023-04-04 20:28:11

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For a good time visit Fidelity in Boston. They have a visitor's room with the walls covered in charts from various important points in history.

2023-02-27 16:27:40

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A long time ago SMTP (email) crossed having the majority of messages being spam. This is because the cost of distribution is placed on the RECEIVER. Nostr is the same way with the cost on the relays and receiver. This is a breeding ground for spam and within a few months Nostr will be unusable. The true solution to this is to place the cost on the sender, somehow. But with zaps in place I think there's probably a way to do it.

2023-02-26 04:08:20

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Well that's the price you pay. But it could also be a syndicated/centralized service.
Content (topical) discovery is another problem...

2023-02-25 22:06:38

Is anyone developing local filters for Nostr? It will soon have an information overload problem that Twitter etc al handle with centralized algorithms, but Nostr will handle with local filtering.

2023-02-23 15:20:36

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This is literally the first and only thing I look at when buying a laptop: appropriate dual NVME.

2023-02-23 15:18:36

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That face you make when you see "50 unused apps deleted" and you realize Android has helpfully deleted Bitcoin and lightning keys, and login credentials you don't have saved elsewhere.

2023-02-21 20:03:56

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That's not a good reason not to try... I guess I'm asking if people *want* it to be ephemeral...

2023-02-21 16:33:38

Is anyone archiving all posts on Nostr or are things here effectively ephemeral?