New York City's iconic Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue recently featured two of KnowBe4's leading cybersecurity experts...

KnowBe4's Cybersecurity Experts Shine at Barnes & Noble in New York City

Although the results were to be expected, a team of researchers led by University of Amsterdam’s Tess Heeremans won an Ig Noble Prize “for using chromatography to separate drunk and sober worms.” The experiment, published in Science Advances, consisted of putting several worms — half ...

Mammals that breathe through their anus and drunk worms: The craziest scientific studies of 2024 | Science | EL PAÍS English

Noble

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NobleBlocks introduces a fresh perspective to scientific publishing with its blockchain-based platform, emphasizing Decentralized Science (DeSci). Striving for gradual and meaningful change, NobleBlocks offers an innovative solution to several longstanding challenges in scientific publishing, including inefficiencies, biases, and limited access to scientific research. Addressing Scientific Publishing Challenges with Modesty and Innovation Recognizing the intricate dynamics of scientific publishing, NobleBlocks introduces a thoughtful approach to enhancing accessibility and fairness in the dissemination of scientific knowledge. This is achieved through: Creating a more inclusive platform for researchers from diverse backgrounds to publish their work. Decentralizing Scientific Publishing: Streamlining the review process to ensure timely and objective evaluations of scholarly work. Efficient Peer-to-Peer Review Process: Leveraging blockchain technology to maintain a permanent and unalterable record of publications. Immutable Publication Records: Lowering the financial barriers to publication, making it more accessible to a wider range of scientists. Reduced Costs for Researchers: Empowering the Scientific Community NobleBlocks is more than a publishing platform; it is a network that fosters collaboration and social interaction among its users: Facilitating connections and discussions among peers to enhance the review process. Social Peer Review Networking: Encouraging partnerships and collaborative efforts across various scientific disciplines. Collaboration-Focused Platform: Recognizing and rewarding the contributions of reviewers and editors, fostering a community-driven approach. Tokenized Rewards System: A Multidisciplinary and Integrated Future Embracing various fields, NobleBlocks encourages submissions from an array of disciplines, promoting a multidisciplinary approach to research. The integration of Web3 technology highlights the platform's commitment to data ownership and user privacy, aligning with modern digital trends. Future Prospects: AI Integration NobleBlocks plans to incorporate AI to assist in managing the publication process more efficiently, further enhancing the platform's capabilities. Navigating New Paths in Scientific Publishing While acknowledging the inherent challenges and risks associated with introducing new technologies, NobleBlocks is dedicated to navigating these challenges with a focus on responsible innovation and sustainability within the scientific publishing sector. A Call to Join a Growing Scientific Network NobleBlocks warmly invites researchers, academics, and innovators to participate in this evolving journey. Together, we aim to foster a more connected, accessible, and fair scientific publishing environment. For more information about NobleBlocks and to join our network, please visit: Website This story was distributed as a release by BTCWire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program. Learn more about the program here: https://business.hackernoon.com/

NobleBlocks: A New Approach to Scientific Publishing through Decentralized Science (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: বিকেন্দ্রীভূত বিজ্ঞানের মাধ্যমে বৈজ্ঞানিক প্রকাশনার একটি নতুন পদ্ধতি (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: Ein neuer Ansatz für wissenschaftliches Publizieren durch dezentrale Wissenschaft (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: un nuevo enfoque para la publicación científica a través de la ciencia descentralizada (DeSci)

NobleBlocks : une nouvelle approche de la publication scientifique grâce à la science décentralisée (DeSci)

नोबलब्लॉक्स: विकेंद्रीकृत विज्ञान के माध्यम से वैज्ञानिक प्रकाशन के लिए एक नया दृष्टिकोण (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: 分散型科学による科学出版への新しいアプローチ (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: 분산형 과학(DeSci)을 통한 과학 출판에 대한 새로운 접근 방식

NobleBlocks: uma nova abordagem para publicação científica por meio da ciência descentralizada (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: новый подход к научным публикациям посредством децентрализованной науки (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: Merkezi Olmayan Bilim Yoluyla Bilimsel Yayıncılığa Yeni Bir Yaklaşım (DeSci)

NobleBlocks: Một cách tiếp cận mới để xuất bản khoa học thông qua khoa học phi tập trung (DeSci)

NobleBlocks：通过去中心化科学 (DeSci) 进行科学出版的新方法

Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . A Noble Lord Dies here A Noble Lord Dies. George Vavasor remained about four days beneath his grandfather's roof; but he was not happy there himself, nor did he contribute to the happiness of any one else. He remained there in great discomfort so long, being unwilling to leave till an answer had been received to the request made to Aunt Greenow, in order that he might insist on Kate's performance of her promise with reference to Alice, if that answer should be unfavourable. During these five days Kate did all in her power to induce her brother to be, at any rate, kind in his manner towards his grandfather, but it was in vain. The Squire would not be the first to be gracious; and George, quite as obstinate as the old man, would take no steps in that direction till encouraged to do so by graciousness from the other side. Poor Kate entreated each of them to begin, but her entreaties were of no avail. "He is an ill-mannered cub," the old man said, "and I was a fool to let him into the house. Don't mention his name to me again." George argued the matter more at length. Kate spoke to him of his own interest in the matter, urging upon him that he might, by such conduct, drive the Squire to exclude him altogether from the property. "He must do as he likes," George said, sulkily. "But for Alice's sake!" Kate answered. "Alice would be the last to expect me to submit to unreasonable ill-usage for the sake of money. As regards myself, I confess that I'm very fond of money and am not particularly squeamish. I would do anything that a man can do to secure it. But this I can't do. I never injured him, and I never asked him to injure himself. I never attempted to borrow money from him. I have never cost him a shilling. When I was in the wine business he might have enabled me to make a large fortune simply by settling on me then the reversion of property which, when he dies, ought to be my own. He was so perversely ignorant that he would make no inquiry, but chose to think that I was ruining myself, at the only time of my life when I was really doing well." "But he had a right to act as he pleased," urged Kate. "Certainly he had. But he had no right to resent my asking such a favour at his hands. He was an ignorant old fool not to do it; but I should never have quarrelled with him on that account. Nature made him a fool, and it wasn't his fault. But I can't bring myself to kneel in the dirt before him simply because I asked for what was reasonable." The two men said very little to each other. They were never alone together except during that half-hour after dinner in which they were supposed to drink their wine. The old Squire always took three glasses of port during this period, and expected that his grandson would take three with him. But George would drink none at all. "I have given up drinking wine after dinner," said he, when his grandfather pushed the bottle over to him. "I suppose you mean that you drink nothing but claret," said the Squire, in a tone of voice that was certainly not conciliatory. "I mean simply what I say," said George—"that I have given up drinking wine after dinner." The old man could not openly quarrel with his heir on such a point as that. Even Mr. Vavasor could not tell his grandson that he was going to the dogs because he had become temperate. But, nevertheless, there was offence in it; and when George sat perfectly silent, looking at the fire, evidently determined to make no attempt at conversation, the offence grew, and became strong. "What the devil's the use of your sitting there if you neither drink nor talk?" said the old man. "No use in the world, that I can see," said George; "if, however, I were to leave you, you would abuse me for it." "I don't care how soon you leave me," said the Squire. From all which it may be seen that George Vavasor's visit to the hall of his ancestors was not satisfactory. On the fourth day, about noon, came Aunt Greenow's reply. "Dearest Kate," she said, "I am not going to do what you ask me,"—thus rushing instantly into the middle of her subject. You see, I don't know my nephew, and have no reason for being specially anxious that he should be in Parliament. I don't care two straws about the glory of the Vavasor family. If I had never done anything for myself, the Vavasors would have done very little for me. I don't care much about what you call 'blood.' I like those who like me, and whom I know. I am very fond of you, and because you have been good to me I would give you a thousand pounds if you wanted it for yourself; but I don't see why I am to give my money to those I don't know. If it is necessary to tell my nephew of this, pray tell him that I mean no offence. Your friend C. is still waiting—waiting—waiting, patiently; but his patience may be exhausted. Your affectionate aunt, Arabella Greenow. "Of course she won't," said George, as he threw back the letter to his sister. "Why should she?" "I had hoped she would," said Kate. "Why should she? What did I ever do for her? She is a sensible woman. Who is your friend C., and why is he waiting patiently?" "He is a man who would be glad to marry her for her money, if she would take him." "Then what does she mean by his patience being exhausted?" "It is her folly. She chooses to pretend to think that the man is a lover of mine." "Has he got any money?" "Yes; lots of money—or money's worth." "And what is his name?" "His name is Cheesacre. But pray don't trouble yourself to talk about him." "If he wants to marry you, and has plenty of money, why shouldn't you take him?" "Good heavens, George! In the first place he does not want to marry me. In the next place all his heart is in his farmyard." "And a very good place to have it," said George. "Undoubtedly. But, really, you must not trouble yourself to talk about him." "Only this,—that I should be very glad to see you well married." "Should you?" said she, thinking of her close attachment to himself. "And now, about the money," said George. "You must write to Alice at once."—"Oh, George!" "Of course you must; you have promised. Indeed, it would have been much wiser if you had taken me at my word, and done it at once."—"I cannot do it." Then the scar on his face opened itself, and his sister stood before him in fear and trembling. "Do you mean to tell me," said he, "that you will go back from your word, and deceive me;—that after having kept me here by this promise, you will not do what you have said you would do?" "Take my money now, and pay me out of hers as soon as you are married. I will be the first to claim it from her,—and from you." "That is nonsense." "Why should it be nonsense? Surely you need have no scruple with me. I should have none with you if I wanted assistance." "Look here, Kate; I won't have it, and there's an end of it. All that you have in the world would not pull me through this election, and therefore such a loan would be worse than useless." "And am I to ask her for more than two thousand pounds?" "You are to ask her simply for one thousand. That is what I want, and must have, at present. And she knows that I want it, and that she is to supply it; only she does not know that my need is so immediate. That you must explain to her." "I would sooner burn my hand, George!" "But burning your hand, unfortunately, won't do any good. Look here, Kate; I insist upon your doing this for me. If you do not, I shall do it, of course, myself; but I shall regard your refusal as an unjustifiable falsehood on your part, and shall certainly not see you afterwards. I do not wish, for reasons which you may well understand, to write to Alice myself on any subject at present. I now claim your promise to do so; and if you refuse, I shall know very well what to do." Of course she did not persist in her refusal. With a sorrowful heart, and with fingers that could hardly form the needful letters, she did write a letter to her cousin, which explained the fact—that George Vavasor immediately wanted a thousand pounds for his electioneering purposes. It was a stiff, uncomfortable letter, unnatural in its phraseology, telling its own tale of grief and shame. Alice understood very plainly all the circumstances under which it was written, but she sent back word to Kate at once, undertaking that the money should be forthcoming; and she wrote again before the end of January, saying that the sum named had been paid to George's credit at his own bankers. Kate had taken immense pride in the renewal of the match between her brother and her cousin, and had rejoiced in it greatly as being her own work. But all that pride and joy were now over. She could no longer write triumphant notes to Alice, speaking always of George as one who was to be their joint hero, foretelling great things of his career in Parliament, and saying little soft things of his enduring love. It was no longer possible to her now to write of George at all, and it was equally impossible to Alice. Indeed, no letters passed between them, when that monetary correspondence was over, up to the end of the winter. Kate remained down in Westmoreland, wretched and ill at ease, listening to hard words spoken by her grandfather against her brother, and feeling herself unable to take her brother's part as she had been wont to do in other times. George returned to town at the end of those four days, and found that the thousand pounds was duly placed to his credit before the end of the month. It is hardly necessary to tell the reader that this money had come from the stores of Mr. Tombe, and that Mr. Tombe duly debited Mr. Grey with the amount. Alice, in accordance with her promise, had told her father that the money was needed, and her father, in accordance with his promise, had procured it without a word of remonstrance. "Surely I must sign some paper," Alice had said. But she had been contented when her father told her that the lawyers would manage all that. It was nearly the end of February when George Vavasor made his first payment to Mr. Scruby on behalf of the coming election; and when he called at Mr. Scruby's office with this object, he received some intelligence which surprised him not a little. "You haven't heard the news," said Scruby. "What news?" said George. "The Marquis is as nearly off the hooks as a man can be." Mr. Scruby, as he communicated the tidings, showed clearly by his face and voice that they were supposed to be of very great importance; but Vavasor did not at first seem to be as much interested in the fate of "the Marquis" as Scruby had intended. "I'm very sorry for him," said George. "Who is the Marquis? There'll be sure to come another, so it don't much signify." "There will come another, and that's just it. It's the Marquis of Bunratty; and if he drops, our young Member will go into the Upper House." "What, immediately; before the end of the Session?" George, of course, knew well enough that such would be the case, but the effect which this event would have upon himself now struck him suddenly. "To be sure," said Scruby. "The writ would be out immediately. I should be glad enough of it, only that I know that Travers's people have heard of it before us, and that they are ready to be up with their posters directly the breath is out of the Marquis's body. We must go to work immediately; that's all." "It will only be for part of a Session," said George. "Just so," said Mr. Scruby. "And then there'll be the cost of another election." "That's true," said Mr. Scruby; "but in such cases we do manage to make it come a little cheaper. If you lick Travers now, it may be that you'll have a walk-over for the next." "Have you seen Grimes?" asked George. "Yes, I have; the blackguard! He is going to open his house on Travers's side. He came to me as bold as brass, and told me so, saying that he never liked gentlemen who kept him waiting for his odd money. What angers me is that he ever got it." "We have not managed it very well, certainly," said Vavasor, looking nastily at the attorney. "We can't help those little accidents, Mr. Vavasor. There are worse accidents than that turn up almost daily in my business. You may think yourself almost lucky that I haven't gone over to Travers myself. He is a Liberal, you know; and it hasn't been for want of an offer, I can tell you." Vavasor was inclined to doubt the extent of his luck in this respect, and was almost disposed to repent of his Parliamentary ambition. He would now be called upon to spend certainly not less than three thousand pounds of his cousin's money on the chance of being able to sit in Parliament for a few months. And then, after what a fashion would he be compelled to negotiate that loan! He might, to be sure, allow the remainder of this Session to run, and stand, as he had intended, at the general election; but he knew that if he now allowed a Liberal to win the seat, the holder of the seat would be almost sure of subsequent success. He must either fight now, or give up the fight altogether; and he was a man who did not love to abandon any contest in which he had been engaged. "Well, Squire," said Scruby, "how is it to be?" And Vavasor felt that he detected in the man's voice some diminution of that respect with which he had hitherto been treated as a paying candidate for a metropolitan borough. "This lord is not dead yet," said Vavasor. "No; he's not dead yet, that we have heard; but it won't do for us to wait. We want every minute of time that we can get. There isn't any hope for him, I'm told. It's gout in the stomach, or dropsy at the heart, or some of those things that make a fellow safe to go." "It won't do to wait for the next election?" "If you ask me, I should say certainly not. Indeed, I shouldn't wish to have to conduct it under such circumstances. I hate a fight when there's no chance of success. I grudge spending a man's money in such a case; I do indeed, Mr. Vavasor." "I suppose Grimes's going over won't make much difference?" "The blackguard! He'll take a hundred and fifty votes, I suppose; perhaps more. But that is not much in such a constituency as the Chelsea districts. You see, Travers played mean at the last election, and that will be against him." "But the Conservatives will have a candidate." "There's no knowing; but I don't think they will. They'll try one at the general, no doubt; but if the two sitting Members can pull together, they won't have much of a chance." Vavasor found himself compelled to say that he would stand; and Scruby undertook to give the initiatory orders at once, not waiting even till the Marquis should be dead. "We should have our houses open as soon as theirs," said he. "There's a deal in that." So George Vavasor gave his orders. "If the worst comes to the worst," he said to himself, "I can always cut my throat." As he walked from the attorney's office to his club he bethought himself that that might not unprobably be the necessary termination of his career. Everything was going wrong with him. His grandfather, who was eighty years of age, would not die,—appeared to have no symptoms of dying;—whereas this Marquis, who was not yet much over fifty, was rushing headlong out of the world, simply because he was the one man whose continued life at the present moment would be serviceable to George Vavasor. As he thought of his grandfather he almost broke his umbrella by the vehemence with which he struck it against the pavement. What right could an ignorant old fool like that have to live for ever, keeping the possession of a property which he could not use, and ruining those who were to come after him? If now, at this moment, that wretched place down in Westmoreland could become his, he might yet ride triumphantly over his difficulties, and refrain from sullying his hands with more of his cousin's money till she should become his wife. Even that thousand pounds had not passed through his hands without giving him much bitter suffering. As is always the case in such matters, the thing done was worse than the doing of it. He had taught himself to look at it lightly whilst it was yet unaccomplished; but he could not think of it lightly now. Kate had been right. It would have been better for him to take her money. Any money would have been better than that upon which he had laid his sacrilegious hands. If he could have cut a purse, after the old fashion, the stain of the deed would hardly have been so deep. In these days,—for more than a month, indeed, after his return from Westmoreland,—he did not go near Queen Anne Street, trying to persuade himself that he stayed away because of her coldness to him. But, in truth, he was afraid of seeing her without speaking of her money, and afraid to see her if he were to speak of it. "You have seen the ?" someone said to him as he entered the club. Globe "No, indeed; I have seen nothing." "Bunratty died in Ireland this morning. I suppose you'll be up for the Chelsea districts?" About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Anthony Trollope (2006). Can You Forgive Her?. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19500/pg19500-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

A Noble Lord Dies

Dedicated to Barnes and Noble

The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman

Food and Flavor: A Gastronomic Guide to Health and Good Living: Chapter V - A NOBLE ART

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Chapter X - The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

Growing up in a rural town of 700 people, the odds of me talking with a member of parliament were slim at best—let alone talking with them about monetary systems, policy, remittances, GDP growth, etc. But there's one conduit that led to my discussion with Lord Fusitu'a and it's #Bitcoin. And through that discussion, I learned exactly why he drafted a proactive bill aiming to help the citizens of Tonga better their lives through Bitcoin adoption. A Look at the Kingdom of Tonga Tonga is an island nation comprising more than 170 islands in the South Pacific. Spread over an area the same size as Japan, Tonga lays just east of Fiji, south of Samoa, and is 2,000 km northeast of New Zealand. Tonga is one of two Kingdoms in the world to never have been colonized so ancient noble bloodlines still exist today. A testament to its people, Tonga is commonly referred to as "the friendly islands." The Tonga political structure was modeled after the UK system that has a House of Lords and a House of Commons, except Tonga practices a unicameral parliament that combines government in a single house. Meet Lord Fusitu'a Lord Fusitu'a is a Tongan Noble, politician by career, and barrister and attorney by vocation. By his own description, he has, "always been a bit of an IT/computer nerd." Knowing this, a relative of his in the US called him in 2013 to tell him about a new technology called Bitcoin. A few years later, Lord Fusitu'a invested money with a businessman claiming to buy Bitcoin on his behalf, only to have the man disappear without a trace. In 2019, when Lord Fusitu'a had to be airlifted for a lifesaving surgery in New Zealand, he found time to immerse himself into Bitcoin and blockchain during his recovery. He was amazed at the technology. "Once I understood the technology, it became apparent that as a store of value, it's the most pristine, hardest money and asset that mankind has ever created for the developed world. But for the developing world, it can be life changing right now." Since then, Lord Fusitu'a has become a diehard Bitcoiner, and aims to use the technology to help Tonga as a developing nation. He was kind enough to do a Q&A with me about Bitcoin and how it can improve the lives of many people in Tonga, and even enhance the global monetary system. Have the locals started downloading Strike or other wallets and looking into BTC for remittances? Q: No downloading Strike yet, as it's not currently available outside the US. But its implementation is what will free us of remittances. We are using Muun Wallet, Blue Wallet and Wallet of Satoshi for now as well as sending remittances on layer 1 to Warm Wallets. A: Do you have a group of people in Tonga driving BTC adoption, like Bitcoin Beach did in El Salvador? Q: I do have a team of people going out to villages to discuss anticorruption and financial literacy as a foundation for understanding Bitcoin, and then Bitcoin proper. A: Let's say the Bitcoin bill, as you have amended it, passes. How will life change in Tonga? Q: Effects of proposed bill: A: 1. Adding 30% of every remittance, and thus disposable income, back into the pockets of every remittance receiver (most of the population) by using Strike or other lightning wallets. This is a commercial solution using an app on everyone's phone since an app at the point of sale doesn't require an Act of Parliament. Because our GDP is 40.1% remittance dependent, it's adding 30% to that 40.1% of the GDP to the tune of over $60m. 2. In our country, the government charges a 15% Goods and Services Tax on everything. So, if everyone has 30% more disposable income, they're paying 30% more into that 15% the government collects, and therefore increasing the amount of taxation revenue. 3. Of course, increasing disposable income by 30% does not mean everyone will spend it. Some will spend a part and save a part; remembering they got by on 70% in the past, they will keep living on 70% and save say 15% and invest 15%. Even if they lose the 15% investment, this is money they never previously had so they are not worse off. Some will save the whole 30%. If they save it in Bitcoin rather than Fiat, they are laying the foundation for future financial freedom and generational wealth by saving when they have never afforded to have savings before. In addition, saving in an asset that appreciates on a CAGR year-on-year average of 200% per annum, increases their net worth when they'd previously been hand-to-mouth for generations. Below is a graph comparing saving in BTC vs the S&P* Could you share why Bitcoin's monetary system will beat the traditional monetary system? Or tell us why you favor it? Q: Bitcoin will beat the traditional money system by: A: 1. Converting the 40% who are unbanked in our country to bank users. Tonga lost its national bank a while ago. We now only have expatriate predatory commercial banks who tend not to give capital to the large part of our population who are artisanal farmers, fishermen, fine mat hand crafters and tapa cloth producers. Bitcoin will give these people a way to have a central bank in their pocket and get paid directly from the export markets to which they sell, peer-to-peer cross borders, in a nano second, effectively for free. 2. As with everywhere else in emerging markets, we have been negatively affected by the influence of the IMF and the World Bank. What they do is provide loans to developing nations but they attach conditions to these loans which most often are austerity measures to cut public spending. Thus, we cut wages to civil servants, which in 2006 caused the only riots in our country's history by disgruntled government workers who were upset about their wages being cut. So it causes social upheaval. Also, since they force you to suppress public spending, you don't get to develop secondary and tertiary industries, which forces, for example, Africa to remain a mine and South America, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific to be plantations that service the developed world. This way, developed countries receive cheap raw goods to consume and then process into manufactured goods that they sell back to us at a profit, thus trapping us into a perpetual trade deficit. All while the loans trap us into a perpetual debt cycle. Further, our economists get trained in traditional Keynesian economics at first world universities, only to come home and take up positions as central bankers fostering relationships with their academic mentors who either transition to the IMF or World Bank or have influence there. Thus, our own economists as central bankers work in cahoots, either naively or deliberately, to help first world central banks exert their hegemony over us. Bitcoin fixes this. We get to transact and save outside this generational cycle of oppression and lay the foundations for financial freedom and possible generational wealth. Choosing Bitcoin as a monetary system for us is not an attractive alternative—it is our only choice for survival. Is there anything the Bitcoin community can do to help expedite adoption in Tonga and help residents change their lives? Q: A: 1. Lobby your politicians to be pro-Bitcoin. More adoption in the first world gives more validation and credibility to the large number of emerging market nations who will adopt it earlier than the G7 by necessity, like El Salvador. 2. Keep on operators like Strike to encourage them to support adoption as the commercial solution in Tonga. 3. The Bitcoin community has been awesome for this, but just as a reminder, keep advocating for adoption in Tonga on social media. Many on Bitcoin Twitter have our flag in their names and tweet about Tonga, such as Bitcoin Citadel. This is great and this support will help propel adoption. 4. Of course, you can send people sats to help them get off zero and begin their Bitcoin journeys. Proactive Measures Lord Fusitu'a aims to add Tonga to the list of developing nations using Bitcoin in some form or function to help their citizens. El Salvador recently made Bitcoin legal tender and added Bitcoin to its reserves. Other countries look to follow suit: Ukraine and Cuba just passed bills legalizing Bitcoin and digital assets, while Paraguay and Panama are redrafting bills to promote the adoption of Bitcoin. It can be eye opening for westerners to put themselves in the shoes of the citizens of developing nations. Bitcoin can remove 99% of remittance fees. Plus it has money transferred directly to the recipient, saving time and energy. This also eliminates a third-party with a central point of failure, keeping the money in the pockets of those who need it most.

Q&A on BTC with Tongan Noble: Member of Parliament Lord Fusitu'a

Fallout 4’s modding community has an obsession with making impressive recreations of clothes and armor from both reality and fiction. There are mods for modern-day military uniforms lined up next to an expansive collection of k-pop outfits. It is only natural that modders would stretch out to create Fallout 4 Halo Armor mods in the process. After all, there is already one . Fallout 4 Halo Weapon Mod There are two main groups involved in creating these mods. The first is responsible for Misriah Armory, the Halo Weapons mod we have covered in the past and has their mods uploaded by NovaFinch. The other group has their work uploaded by Kelcken. Collectively, they’ve produced four Fallout 4 halo armor mods that are distinct from each other despite covering some very similar subject matter. Mjolnir Mk V(B) Assault Armor by NovaFinch Picture credit: NovaFinch on the Nexus Based on Halo Reach’s armor designs, NovaFinch and the team responsible for this mod have gone ahead and made faithful recreations to the Mk V(B) Armor NOBLE Team uses in Halo: Reach. It features most of the armor customisation options available in Reach, allowing players to customise their own suit of Mjolnir armor to their liking. The mod does also feature a wealth of upgrades for the player to apply. It ranges from very basic stat improvements like improved damage resistances to methods of recreating some of the armor abilities from Halo: Reach. One example would be imitating Armor Lock, one of the cheesiest armor abilities from Reach. Instead of a 1:1 imitation, the mod increases the player’s armor rating while standing still. This mod also features the higher-resolution models for the Mjolnir Mk V(B) mods. One can choose between 4k and 2k textures, both of which look great. The subtle details like the weathering on the armor and the different materials used in their construction are some of the best on the Nexus. Link to the Nexus page Mark V(B) Armory by Kelcken Picture Credit: Kelcken on the Nexus Not to be confused with the first mod, Mark V(B) Armory is a Fallout 4 Halo Armor mod that takes liberties with the existing Halo designs. This mod offers a level of customisation far greater than Mjolnir Mk V(B) Assault Armor. Not only does it have more armor models included, more areas can be customised such as the shins and backpack. Each armor piece itself can be extensively customised. Helmets can be altered to take on sensor suites not possible in Halo: Reach or Mjolnir Mk V(B) Assault Armor. Shoulders can have knives attached and decorative weapon magazines can be strapped to armor plates across the body. Creating a personalised suit of armor with this mod is overwhelming and amazing. Kelcken’s work is especially impressive considering the liberties they took with the mod.. They have skillfully merged textures from existing armor to create wholly new designs. Some, like the Headhunter set, only exist in fringe media such as the books or Halo: Legends. Others are brand new and have never existed at all yet feel as though they should. This mod is also compatible with Wasteland Energy Shields, letting the suits operate like they do in the Halo games with regenerating energy shields. It is also compatible with overlays, letting the helmet’s design influence the overlay. However, the mod suffers from lower-resolution textures than Mjolnir Mk V(B) Assault Armor. It is unfortunate, though the extensive customisation options more than make up for this slight deficiency. Click here to download the mod! 3.ODST Battle Fallout 4  Halo Armor by darkman32197 Picture credit: darkman32197 on the Nexus The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers have armor almost as recognisable as Master Chief’s. While the ODSTs are just backup in most Halo games, they got their own game in Halo 3: ODST. This Fallout 4 Halo Armor mod uploaded by darkman32197 on the Nexus draws inspiration from Halo 3: ODST, drawing many of its designs from the Squad’s personalised armor. It does also have variants for Halo 2’s version of ODST Armor and standard Marine armor. It does offer a good degree of customisation for what it is and covers all of the permutations encountered in Halo 3: ODST. It is not as much as any of the Mjolnir Armor mods but it’s hardly the fault of the mod. Interestingly, this mod has the strongest integration with Fallout 4’s content as it can be acquired from a custom space underneath the Castle. It’s a fully realised space that even includes a model of a Longsword Fighter. Visually, the mod is the same quality as Mjolnir Mk V(B) Assault Armor, which makes sense as NovaFinch has been credited for helping with this mod. Link to the Nexus page 4. Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor by Kelcken Picture credit: Kelcken Having the Spartan III’s SPI Armor is a treat. The SPI Armor was really only mentioned in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx and it hasn’t really been featured in any Halo games. That makes its existence as a Fallout 4 Halo Armor mod all the more surprising. There aren’t many references to draw from, outside of book covers and concept art. It does look like what one would expect based on the art. This mod does have a degree of upgradability and colour customisation but it is not as extensive as any of the other mods on this list. Visually, it’s not the best to look at but it doesn’t look bad. Link to the Nexus page Final thoughts on the four Fallout 4 Halo Armour Mods The creators involved with creating these mods have put in an incredible amount of effort to recreate these mods in Fallout 4. While they are barely lore-friendly and potentially balance-breaking, they are always fun to look at and even more fun to use in the game. Lead Image Credit: Little Light on the Nexus

Fallout 4 Halo Armor Mods: From the ODSTs to NOBLE Team

The big question, not only for both tech behemoths China and the USA but also for the rest of the world, is whether the above countries are enemies or allies? Unfortunately, no matter what you read on the net, it is not so simple to determine, as the relationship of these countries is based on a practically infinite amount of aspects, influencing the core of the bond itself. Before skipping to solid conclusions, it is safe to say that the interlink between the western and eastern superpowers respectively is definitely based on technopolitical rivalry, making it even harder to determine who’s “right” and who’s “wrong’ in this case. More specifically, we could probably talk about whether the US and China are friends or foes in the scenario where one of the countries produced and sold just pants, and the other produced and sold shirts. Depending on their respective customers-base, they could be either working together to provide both customer batches with a uniform or play against each other promoting only American shirts or strictly Chinese pants. Technopolitics is the new politics Once again, and unfortunately, the case is not limited to pants and shirts, and the main controversy tackling with the relationship of the countries is based on technology, modern politics, intel propagation, and monetary dominance. In early 2000, politics used to be the top shelf science that seemed to act as the determining power on where we’re heading as a society, and even as a species, and technological advancements were undeniably subject to political influence. Today, that is clearly not the case, especially when Facebook can influence a political campaign, Russian hackers can alter an election’s outcome overseas and China’s politics are pretty much relying on physical and digital monitoring technology. The Huawei incident last year sparked the ongoing US-China trade war, and regardless of their excuses on why this technological war is happening, the real practical reason was the fact that Huawei was and probably still is the only commercial company that has ready-to-go 5G infrastructure. Even titan-scale alternatives such as Ericsson, Vodafone,  and Nokia, confirmed that their own solutions are partly based on Huawei equipment. This is a perfect example of technopolitics, and US’s major problem was the fact that they’re losing technological power once perceived as a ‘cheap-copymaker’ China, who now is capable of deploying better products tech-wise and design-wise, for a cheaper price, and on a bigger scale. Practically whoever owes the majority of the 5th generation telecom medium frequency, can theoretically also access delicate behavioral and other personal information otherwise impossible to harvest in large quantities and so fast. Economy, Religion, and Arts are already absorbed by the tech domain Traditional diplomatic politics may be the last standing influencing force unaffected ‘fatally’ by technology’s hyper-growth in the last decades, but all the other major points of social interest have been already integrated within the digital realm. Talking about the economy nowadays essentially means talking about the ‘digital economy’, even if we save some time and intrigue during the spelling. Take for example an economic article from 2000, and compare it to modern economics. On one side you have fancy-dressed European gentlemen talking about investing in cattle, or how the Euro should be fixed internally in order to be able to keep beating the USD, always under the Pound’s skirt. On the other hand, today, economic developments are nine out of ten times focusing on , decentralization, stablecoins, government-backed digital currencies, electronic banking, PayPal, Libra, , etc. blockchain technology SWIFT As a matter of fact, President Xi Jinping publically announced the country’s intention to become a global leader in electronic payments using distributed ledger technology, a tech-aspect that was previously considered as a tool for Ponzi-schemes. To make it short, digital economy is so deep-rooted into society nowadays, that in China, homeless people are not sitting down with a hat or a jar, but a QR code. Furthermore, the domain of fine arts, not only has shifted its referential point towards digitalism but what ‘art’ means as a concept has also changed into a new sack of conditions. Human units are now able to generate audible frequencies dubbed as ‘music’, paint, and even sculpt 3d objects using nothing more than their personal computers, and not only it works, but art consumers on the other side will purchase these creations electronically, using their digital banking account, PayPal, or cryptocurrencies. Conservatives would call this a ‘thin-air’ for ‘thin-air’ trade, while Y-gen and latter generations understand that the ‘data-for-data’ is the only way things get done in the digital era. Last, religious-wise, we might be in a chronological point where a bearded old-man behind the clouds doesn’t make much sense but summing it up, the concept of a situation where you are being monitored by a third authoritarian party, that can judge you based on your choices, and grant you social privileges and status or deny it at any moment, is not as far-fetched as ‘God’ seems. Technology today does everything God was supposed to do, and more, as it even stores, carries, and distributes data regarding the concept of God himself on a worldwide scale through the internet. Conclusion Skipping the boring part about how we got here without even realizing it, we should focus on maintaining the current condition, where mankind is still relevant and evolving. USA and China, should not be considered as just two rivals, that want to prove to each other who’s better in a diplomatic cock-fight. Instead the two countries should examine why Ancient Greeks believed in ‘Noble Fair Play’ ( ), and how following a set of decentralized, pragmatic-focused rules can lead to a better era for everyone, not just for the US or just for China. Ευγενής Άμιλλα It is known that an unbiased code-of-conduct was agreed among friends and enemies, even during wars in the past. From the samurai’s respect between each other, even when in opposing battlefronts, to the Mafia’s code where you had to follow a certain set of rules even if your enemy is sitting right next to you, a Noble Fair Play is what’s missing from the US-China relationship, which is pinched everyday by people who are short-visioned and don’t even think about what’s yet to come. I believe that this is eventually unavoidable, as both countries are focusing on tech innovation, and working together is not just the best option, but in fact the only option, considering that an extreme rivalry-based alternative will eventually lead to a physical war we so far managed to avoid for more than half a century.

The US-China Rivalry Could Be More of a Noble Fair Play

Default choices, irrational human beings and lessons for building products. The Nudge. Image courtesy: http://www.ellisjones.com.au/ I’ve been reading a lot of behavioral economics books lately. I came across Richard Thaler’s book — ‘ ’ when I was reading Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow. Nudge was a natural progression from Kahneman’s book. Nudge — Improving decisions about health, wealth and happiness The art of the Nudge is especially relevant to products managers who depend on soft influence to affect decisions. In a team/organization usually, different stakeholders can have different aims. For example the designer wants to optimize for users, the engineer wants to solve for elegance of the solution, the business person wants to optimize for revenue. Building consensus requires a lot of subtle nudges — whether it’s calling a meeting to discuss a design decision or an email listing down the minutes of a meeting or presenting user feedback to emphasize urgency of the problem to the engineer. Thus I was excited to read Thaler’s work. In the book Thaler discuss an idea called ‘libertarian paternalism’ — . For example, a company might, by default, enroll new employees in a 401K plan and put a certain salary percentage into that plan. The employees can opt out or change their contribution amount at any time, but by enrolling everyone by default, the company does an end run around its workers’ natural procrastination tendencies, forcing them into anything. gently, non-coercively pushing people toward doing something that they really want to do without The power of defaults Experience shows that most users don’t bother to change the default settings — whether it’s your WhatsApp background or phone ringtone. Thus designing good default settings is crucial to improving the overall user experience. The iconic WhatsApp background: The iconic Whatsapp background The legendary Nokia ringtone. More info here: http://mobile.softpedia.com/blog/Nokia-s-Famous-Ringtone-Is-Much-Older-Than-You-Think-483226.shtml Another good example of power of default settings is a SIP — systematic investment plan. Surely we’ll be richer if we timed the market, studied stocks and invested in the right ones. However usually we’re too busy or too lazy to spend any meaningful time researching stocks. SIP ensures we’re diligently investing a % of our salary every month thus avoiding extra expenditure & ensuring a compounding return on our investments. Consider MakemyTrip which adds an insurance to your ticket by default. MakeMyTrip adds an insurance to your ticket by default How does one choose the ‘right’ defaults? Does one optimize for the user or business? In some instances the choice is clear, the right choice for a user and business are one and the same — like the Google widget on the home screen. However it isn’t always so clear — consider autoplaying videos on Facebook. Autoplay on Facebook — why oh why? While auto-playing videos help increase video views for Facebook, it consumes precious data for the user. How does one choose between the two? Private products and companies are answerable to their users & the stock market. Free market competition ensures that companies strive to build products optimal for users. Thus if a default choice is detrimental to users it gets panned on the playstore forcing the developer to make changes. However in case of public policy, how does one ensure the default choice is in interest of the citizen? Thaler says that the individual should be nudged towards the choice — something a rational human being or in his language 'econ' would choose. There are 2 variants of such a choice — 1. Helping an individual make a choice that is rationally better for himself 2. Nudging an individual towards a choice that is rationally better for the society but not necessarily for the individual. (Example everyone being an organ donor by default). more rational Consider the example of retirement savings — contributing to your 401k or your PF account in the Indian context. While contributing more to your PF account might be more ‘rational’ choice in the long term, it reduces the amount of money available to people who might need it to send their school to children and to get food. The 2nd variant is more controversial. No framework is presented on when and how to make such a decision between 'good for the society' and 'good for the individual’ cases and how to inform the user about the choices being made. We see that in cases of public policy a nudge turns to a mandatory requirement — example Aadhaar. In conclusion, Richard Thaler makes an important point that we should pay keen attention to default choices as they have a big effect on our product experience/well being. Awareness about Thaler’s work helps us understand the innumerable default choices that the government and other products make for us and how it affects us. However we need to think about frameworks that ensure nudging is used in a constructive way, especially by governments. If you liked my article, please hit the clap button multiple times. At Comic Con, 2 years ago! Hello 👋 : References https://www.forbes.com/sites/washingtonbytes/2017/10/21/when-the-nobel-prize-goes-pop-richard-thaler-and-the-uncertain-future-of-nudge/amp/ — echoes similar thoughts on the pros and cons of the Nudge approach.

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