Glad OpenSea puts up warnings about any emojis or Zero Width Joinders etc.

Should I double my sponsorship of this project?

From the announcement "The number of people keeping this project going is tiny (currently just 121 supporters), but this small group of passionate Linux users are creating meaningful forward progress to improve the touchpad ecosystem for hundreds of thousands of Linux touchpad users. For those who don't want to rely on a future beholden to Apple, we hope that you'll consider supporting us? We could be getting more done if we had 250 supporters. "

That way he can be patio11 across all platforms if he wishes (and doesnt need to worry about getting "patio11" on every new platform that's created). Or, he can just create a subwallet with a different identity but still rolls up into his main wallet.

It also protects against somoene putting their twitter in their profile and pretending to be patio11. i.e.:

Hey HN I'm patio11, here's proof, I linked my twitter: https://twitter.com/patio11

You and the author might also check out the new ENS (Ethereum Name Service), it support emojis for use as crypto identity/wallets. "Triple pures" (three base-level emoji) are popular as a wallet address.

This article (linked by a poster above) has everything you need to know: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/the-matrix-awakens-is...

1. Their own Paypal-like system

2. Partner with a Paypal

3. Their own cryptocurrency (ie Libra)

4. Partner with a cryptocurrency

Do I have that right? And for some reason #4 allows them to be global and not face antitrust concerns in the USA.

> "When you add money to your Novi account, we convert it to USDP (Pax Dollar), a stable digital currency issued by Paxos Trust Company, a regulated financial institution. USDP is designed to have a stable value relative to the US dollar. So on Novi, 1 USDP is equal to 1 US dollar."

To me that implies it's done on chain...I guess it could just be in their centralized database though.

Curious what the Whatsapp UI does for moments when USPD hits $0.99 like December 1 2021 when it hit $0.989.

Source: https://www.novi.com/WhatsApp

As someone new to DeFi, I found the article sparked new questions, even though as you said it wasn't deeply researched.

If Celcius is basically reinvesting into a bunch of other assets, it's possible, or even likely, that the high yield assets are too good to be true. That's where my concern would be. Is BadgerDAO rock solid? Compound? I would be curious to see expert analysis of these. Celcius is simply built on top.

- Disclosure: I own crypto

1. stopping crypto assets from being used to launder money

2. taxation of crypto investments.

3. financial regulation: protecting consumers from fraud, reducing systemic risk and ensuring fair competition

All of these seem like fair measures. How successful they will be? Exchanges like Coinbase are a key point of regulation.

Also regarding the lobbing, "The Economist calculates that crypto firms spent around $5m lobbying the American Senate in the first nine months of 2021".

For those more experienced in lobbying, is that a lot?

Yes please please please put these disclosures at the top. Find some way to celebrate it even. Pinephone is an incredible project from a development standpoint and because of its potential to someday be a consumer phone.

But it is still YEARS away from being a daily driver. You are not helping anyone by implying the phone is ready for a daily driver. And unless I'm misunderstanding your audience, 99% of people who read this will say "oh neat, Linux phone, I'll try that".

I did that with Pinephone. I'm reasonable with copy pasting command line stuff, but overall I wanted a phone that works as a daily driver. I resold my Pinephone within 24 hours on eBay.

Pinephone is NOT ready as a daily driver. That is the exception rather than the rule, anyone who says they can use it as a daily driver in my experience means as a feature phone (makes calls, sends texts). I highly doubt any of the other options on your list are better.

Here's my situation. I WANT there to be open source options for phones. And I'm fine that the option doesn't exist today, that's okay, I can wait. But to get where I need it to be, Linux phones need tons more development, developers, enthusiasts, and enthusiasm.

People like me coming in and potentially buying one and then saying "oh it sucks" does NOT help the cause. It kills enthusiasm.

Please help stir up enthusiasm in the right place. Help non-enthusiasts get excited too and understand their role. Maybe include a paragraph for "people excited about linux phones who aren't linux wizards", and tell them that this exciting phone option is in the works for them, baking in the oven, you can even smell it -- and it will be ready in a year or two, which is sooooooo cool.

What about the title "The best phones for Linux wizards to mess around with"?

I would also disclose in the article which phones you've actually tested and how you tested them. One might presume that you've simply read online about all these options.

Hat tip to HN for being the type of place I can talk to the author of this article :)