the Cypherpunks mailing list

In the early 1990s, as the internet was beginning to shift from a government and academic experiment into a globally connected system, a quiet revolution was forming among a small but determined group of mathematicians, programmers, and digital activists. They saw what few others did: that the very architecture of this new digital realm could become either a tool of unprecedented freedom — or a mechanism for total surveillance and control. ...

April 18, 2025 · 4 min · 746 words · bjr

The Shift Left Data Manifesto

A core idea behind shifting Data Left is simple but often overlooked: data is code. Or more accurately—data is produced by code. It’s not just some downstream artifact that lives in tables and gets piped into dashboards and spreadsheets. Every record, event, or log starts somewhere—created, updated, or deleted by a line of code. And just like DevOps demonstrated, if you want to manage something well, you start at the point of creation. ...

March 27, 2025 · 1 min · 81 words · bjr

The Berkshire Hathaway letters

The Berkshire Hathaway Letters, written by Warren Buffett to shareholders, offer a refreshing perspective filled with specific facts, figures, and timeless business insights. Shareholder Letters

March 26, 2025 · 1 min · 25 words · bjr

How North Korea Will Wash Crypto via Perpetual Futures

The latest twist exploits perpetual futures platforms with deep liquidity and lax KYC, effectively turning ill-gotten funds into legitimate-looking trading profits. This has gotten easier as the trading depths on perps exchanges has grown significantly over the last year. Let’s take a look at exactly how it’s done: High-Leverage Alchemy The core concept is to use extreme leverage on a no-questions-asked futures exchange to deliberately liquidate “dirty” funds, while profiting from an opposite position taken with clean money elsewhere. On these perps platforms, you have exposure to no expiry futures often offering 50x, 100x or higher leverage. At 50x leverage, a price move of just ~2% can wipe out a position entirely, along with the collateral margin supporting it. ...

March 26, 2025 · 2 min · 406 words · bjr

VC startup ownership by valuation

According CARTA, the VC startup ownership by valuation.

March 25, 2025 · 1 min · 8 words · bjr

how much data is stored online?

Digital industries are booming. Data storage business alone are projected to grow by nearly 18% anually, reaching $778 billion by 2030.

March 25, 2025 · 1 min · 21 words · bjr

ai adoption : supercharging modern business

March 25, 2025 · 0 min · 0 words · bjr

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is gaining traction

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard created by Anthropic to facilitate seamless integration of AI assistants with external data sources, tools, and systems. It addresses the challenge of delivering real-time, structured, and relevant information to AI models while ensuring security, privacy, and modularity. MCP is rapidly gaining traction, transforming the way AI connects with external systems. Businesses can now use AI to manage real-time operations, drive data-informed decisions, and automate processes seamlessly. MCP acts like a universal adapter that lets AI models connect to any system using a standard method. Instead of building custom connections for every data source, MCP provides a single plug-and-play interface that any AI model can use to fetch information or execute tasks. ...

March 19, 2025 · 2 min · 414 words · bjr

Venice: A City Built Upon a Sunken Forest

Since 421 AD, Venice has stood atop millions of wooden piles driven deep into the clay bed of the lagoon. Unlike modern cities built on steel and concrete, Venice’s foundations rely primarily on alder wood, with some oak, chosen for its durability in water. This intricate network of submerged timber supports the entire city, allowing it to rise above the water. Over centuries, constant exposure to saltwater has petrified these wooden pillars, hardening them into a stone-like state. This natural preservation process has enabled Venice to withstand the test of time. St. Mark’s Campanile alone rests on a staggering 100,000 piles, while the grand Basilica della Salute required over a million. To create this massive foundation, ancient builders drove the tree trunks into the seabed with precise craftsmanship, forming an immense submerged forest beneath the city. ...

March 16, 2025 · 2 min · 215 words · bjr

The first portuguese serial killer

Diogo Alves was one of Portugal’s most notorious criminals, often considered its first serial killer. Born in Galicia, Spain, around 1810, he moved to Lisbon, where he worked as a servant before turning to crime and leading a gang that terrorized the city. Between 1836 and 1839, he robbed and murdered victims at the Águas Livres Aqueduct, throwing them from a height of over 60 meters. Authorities initially mistook the deaths for suicides, allowing the killings to continue. He is believed to have murdered 60 to 70 people. When security increased, his gang shifted to home invasions and killings. Captured and sentenced to death for murdering a family, he was hanged in 1841. In 1867, Portugal became the first country in the world to abolish the death penalty. ...

March 16, 2025 · 1 min · 179 words · bjr