Can we be anonymous online? VPNs don't work and we live in the panopticon... are we the last free generation or is there hope for us yet? Timestamps: 0:00 The system 2:52 The VPN problem 7:33 Tor, the not so dark web 10:29 The all-seeing eye 12:22 Palantir 16:18 Nym: the mixnet revolution 18:12 anonymity loves company 20:17 the last free generation? 21:22 not if we have anything to do with it

Just finished filming one of my most important stories ever. Got a bit emotional at the end, can’t wait to share it

Privacy advocate @nevscape used to be on the other side of this. Straight out of uni, he was walking into rooms with big brands, pitching retargeting and installing the Facebook pixel. He honestly thought it was harmless, just personalized shoe ads. "I was building the surveillance machine. I know how it works because I built it."

Who does age verification benefit? Certainly not the user…

Every politician pushing age verification should have to answer this one. Who actually benefits when you hand over your ID to go online? Privacy advocate @nevscape says it isn't the user, and he could only come up with one group that wins.

Before he became a privacy advocate, @nevscape worked on a big tobacco account at an ad agency. Part of the job was sniffing tobacco to figure out how to make it smell better. He lasted a few months before he quit. He thinks big tech will be remembered as the big tobacco of the mind. His fix is to make every social media company open source its algorithm, so anyone can see what's keeping them scrolling.

The inspiration behind the @nym mixnet is back! Don't forget that the reason @nym exists is due to discussions over the new threat model AI surveillance and the possibilities of cryptocurrency funding between @JulianAssange and @harryhalpin back in 2017-2018. Long live @JulianAssange!

Imagine if the algorithm was programmed to prioritise truth, what a different world

The cypherpunks didn't spend decades building cryptography so you could upload a selfie holding your passport to buy $50 of crypto. Somewhere along the way we seriously lost the f*cking plot. Make crypto cypherpunk again...

Just shipped a massive update with 0.3.0 @getprivt Voice + Vault. It's like @NotionHQ but it's free and E2EE encrypted and we cannot read a single page you create.

A quick rundown of the headlines we covered in this week's newsletter: - The fruit fly brain wetlab experiment - Trump says @AnthropicAI's CEO is pretending to be a "perfect little angel - A look at how to earn more @get_truenorth credits - The market’s growing appetite for privacy and encryption ft. @nillion - DOJ charges two @RobinhoodApp engineers with front-running token listings on @HyperliquidX perps - All about v4 Strategy positions on @PeapodsFinance - Onchain options projects like @layerv_official gaining steam - The messy @arc show - Thesis-aligned projects: @hibachi_xyz and @PulsarMoneyApp - Is the world really ending? @nevscape takes a look at whether we can save it - The Clarity Act hits a wall - @Plasma enables global spending with zero FX fees for Platinum Card users - Onchain stocks venues get the temporary green light to operate in the US - @krakenfx's parent Payward to offer HIP-3 perps to US clients - @finkd issues a rejoinder on AI pacing

Humanity steered the ship here, humanity can steer it out. It is an active, critical choice! We got this. Comments like this mean a lot to me, thanks for watching

creative people are, by definition, weird af. by experiencing reality at odd angles, artists exist outside the norm. this is essential for the creation of novel and interesting thoughts. if we saw reality only as it already is, no new worlds would ever be born the flame of careful insanity has to be protected, treasured, kept alive against all the forces that would smooth it into ‘normality’

This was a beautiful read and you should read it too. I’ve often felt the same deep sadness that can only be answered by another lurching heavy step forward, squatting so fast to the ground my hands barely stop my momentum from crashing into a heap. Digging with nails into the dirt, reaching into my pocket for a handful of seeds … placing those seeds in the dirt. Patting it over and pouring what’s left of my water bottle on it. Even if I knew the world would end tomorrow I’d still plant my apple tree. The creatives are almost ready to fight, the world can never change for the best without them. Satire, Fantasy, Bliss, Nostalgia. AI is not an anathema to creativity, for those who can grow to a higher vision than existed in their prior stilted workflows, Who can sleep well in the knowledge they are able to bring creative joy to more people than ever before. If they would just let themselves be creatively free. If anyone wants to imagine their workflows at a grander scale and you have no idea how to leverage AI to do this. Just reach out.

Kind of lost for words tbh

Ummm, so three dudes and AI subscriptions hacked OpenAI. Hmm.

the price of creating internet portals I spontaneously wrote this personal essay, it started as an X post, then long-form, then I just kept writing. It's about: - my love of creating that I view as portal making - my love of the internet and its cables - media's abuse of human instinct - disappointment in the way many use both today. - my self-sabotage to solo quiet making for years - recent acceptance and reframing of creating these portals for a greater whole I hope you like it! A lot more personal than expected from what started as a post about yt thumbnails howtosaveworld.substack.com/…

holy sh- (burmese edition) ft. great company

Nev documenting the hopecore. Let’s dial up the p-bloom !! Nothing changes if nothing changes Remember AI shows up in amplifying the specialist and generalist to build / reach positive impact further into the world. Your answers are almost guaranteed to not be with the researchers in the labs … it will be with the people who were doing positive things BEFORE AI and now are doing even more. This is what I see at Physical AI Builders events I run in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. The people building the most hopeful things often don’t come from tech.

the biggest thing missing in sf right now is sincerity and nuance around the tech conversation yes we have intoxicating positivity about AI in this city we also have supreme amounts of p(doom) lurking below the surface. but every once in a while, there comes generational talent like @nevscape who is willing to lift up the veil with honesty and courage - and still choose to be optimistic about the future HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD will probably change how you think about the world - so go give it a watch and thank me later

AI HAS A RACE PROBLEM! Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published "We Must Pace the Frontier," calling on the industry to deliberately slow AI development. Reactions are split, though Sam Altman and Elon Musk both signaled agreement within hours.