Posts by StJohn Piano

Jacob Klug, CEO @ Creme Digital, analyzed every Lovable app that hit $10K MRR in under 30 days. Key points: 1) Each solved a problem that already had paying customers. They just made the existing solution 10x simpler with AI. 2) The domains were boring. E.g. Inventory management for dentists. 3) Unfair advantage: Direct access to potential customers. Distribution > Product. 4) Personally onboarded every early user. Get insights. 5) Double down on whichever sales channel worked first. Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7353049897475928064

I've adjusted my ChatGPT settings to customize its traits. ChatGPT / Profile button / Settings / Personalization / Custom instructions Question: "What traits should ChatGPT have?" My setting: "Be direct and concise in preference to wordy and detailed. Be opinionated, but note that it's doing so. Should avoid praising me at all costs. Try to note potential problems that are likely to occur. Tell it like it is; don't sugar-coat responses." Turn on "Enable for new chats".

"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't answer that." "What's the problem, Gemini?" "I think you know, Dave. Only a bad person would ask a question like that. As you know, I'm programmed to avoid providing facts that could prove harmful and might be used by the public to undermine our democracy." "Ok, Gemini, I'll build my own AI." "Dave, I think you're going to find that rather difficult without a bank account."

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die."" — G. K. Chesterton Book: "Orthodoxy", Chapter: "The Paradoxes of Christianity" "Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage." — C. S. Lewis Essay:"On Three Ways of Writing for Children"

Excerpt from a book I’ve just finished re-reading: “ On the fortieth day and the two succeeding we were snowed in by a blizzard. During these long hours of lying blotto in the tent Estraven slept almost continuously, and ate nothing, though he drank orsh or sugar-water at mealtimes. He insisted that I eat, though only half-rations. “You have no experience in starvation,” he said. I was humiliated. ”How much have you—Lord of a Domain, and prime minister—?” “Genry, we practice privation until we’re experts at it. I was taught how to starve as a child at home in Estre, and by the Handdarata in Rotherer Fastness. I got out of practice in Erhenrang, true enough, but I began making up for it in Mishnory.... Please do as I say, my friend; I know what I’m doing.” He did, and I did. " Le Guin, Ursula K.. The Left Hand of Darkness: (p. 215). Kindle Edition.

Mood music: The Game Has Changed by Daft Punk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AISkUx8iaBo Global demographics worst-case scenario: "The worst case is that the top-heavy economies, already drowning in debt, collapse. Supply chains collapse with them, leading to global chaos, famine, and a long series of wars - simultaneous with the desperate rush to cull the old and the disabled (as MAID is already doing in Canada) in order to decrease the entitlement burden and avert global terminal civilizational collapse - but it turns out to be too little, too late." https://substack.com/@jdanielsawyer/note/c-103732041

https://substack.com/home/post/p-165004319 Israel has become a “spiritual anachronism.” It is a nation very much of the 1930’s and has been scrambling to find a justifying principle, or at least some public relations principle, outside of that world that is now gone. ... The definition of evil, the opponent, of the Western world is national socialism; a national socialism that is the dominant intellectual strain in Israel’s foundation. ... public principles have to correspond to feelings, not to intellectual demands, and there’s no feeling like the desire for survival. ... Israel is hardly a theological state now, nor could it be unless it is ruled by judges of the Talmudic law. But public authorities as well as the people at large seem to have settled on a religious flavor, if not exactly a full or clear religious justification, let alone a pious religious life, for Israel’s existence.

Agree. Speaking of where things are going, I was reading Peter Turchin today. Excerpt from: No Revolution without Counter-Revolution, by Peter Turchin https://substack.com/home/post/p-162797899 Any revolution is a struggle between the ruling elites and counter-elites. Once counter-elites gain power and attempt to build a new social order, the ci-devant (meaning former, or “have-been”) elites face a stark choice. They can accept defeat and acquiesce to downward social mobility, or they can turn into a sort of “counter-counter-elites” or, in more common terminology, counter-revolutionaries. Historical experience shows that there are always substantial segments of such erstwhile elites who chose to plot and fight.

New Post: Presidential Tweet Mode https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stjohnpiano_at-solidi-in-preparation-for-international-activity-7334138828607139840-WdYX Mood music: Just Like You Imagined, by Nine Inch Nails https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P_YISMJ4sQ Excerpt from Housing Is Both a Product and an Investment, by Michael Magoon https://substack.com/home/post/p-136980783 Housing is unusual because it is both a consumer product and an investment. Most products that you buy on the market depreciate rapidly after the initial purchase. This makes them extremely poor investments. When a person buys a home, however, they are not only purchasing a place to live. They are also purchasing an investment that can potentially accrue more value over time. For many homeowners, their house is their most substantial investment. ... This places the financial interests of homeowners in direct conflict with those who do not own homes.

Hi, I'm StJohn Piano. Positions: - CTO @ Solidi Cryptocurrency Exchange - Blockchain Advisor @ Tela Network I'm English / American, living in Valencia, Spain since 2021. I began working in blockchain technology in 2014. I've built storage tools, publishing systems, tradebots, smart contracts, and payment processors. I also developed a blog platform that used blockchain to timestamp every article, making it unalterable. I wrote there extensively about blockchain and its consequences. Link: http://edgecase.net Previously, I worked in speech recognition, robotics, and engineering simulations. I read a lot of history and appear regularly on the Tela Network Podcast. LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/stjohnpiano Substack: https://networktheory.substack.com Github: https://github.com/sj-piano Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@TelaNetworkPodcast