Incoming links: Email
Cisco Updated 2025-07-16
Nerds 2.0.1 excerpt about Cisco (1998)
Source. - youtu.be/mhz24AR3nIc?t=45 the founders both worked at Stanford University but because they were in different departments they couldn't send an email to one another.
- youtu.be/mhz24AR3nIc?t=54 Sandy Lerner is very nice and chilled. She says how she was amazed by Leonard's manners!
- youtu.be/mhz24AR3nIc?t=86 "sincerity begins at a little over 100 hours a week". The dude is a robot.
- youtu.be/mhz24AR3nIc?t=279 earthquake!!!
- youtu.be/d0ya8DggDYs?list=PLn7AqqWS1I_9EHEHy6sw-v6hUMhbeOTRW&t=3268 she bought a manor house, probably in Chawton Hampshire, England, possibly Chawton House
- youtu.be/d0ya8DggDYs?list=PLn7AqqWS1I_9EHEHy6sw-v6hUMhbeOTRW&t=3312 he started donating to search for extraterrestrial intelligence
How to contact Ciro Santilli Updated 2025-07-26
Ciro Santilli is very happy to meet people with related interests, he really loves his like-minded online friends. Even if you don't have something a specific goal in mind for the contact, please just say hi.
To contact Ciro publicly about any general subject that is not covered in a more specific GitHub repository, including saying hi or suggestions about his website either:
- create a GitHub issue at: github.com/cirosantilli/cirosantilli.github.io/issues/new or Giscus thread
- at mention Ciro's main Twitter account
For comments about China, first read:
and then create a GitHub issue at: github.com/cirosantilli/china-dictatorship/issues/new
Publicly viewable contact is preferred if possible to more effectively share Ciro's wisdom with the world.
But if you feel more comfortable with private contact, no problem, either:
- email: username
cirosantilliwith provider ProtonMail which has domain nameproton.me. Note that Ciro also controls the Gmail address with that same username, and keep in mind that dots are ignored in Gmail addresses. But ProtonMail preferred because why should we give our private minds to the CIA by default? Push notifications disabled. - Signal: username
cirosantilli.89signal.me/#eu/BuJjV0enXYTOnFFc1FZV5LFcWodL1a2Oy9VZ5uyQU7xrYxqw+npIcaHBqghWudrI. 89 is a reference to Ciro Santilli's birth year 1989. Push notifications enabled, but treat like email unless we are actively chatting back and forth.
For other less good methods that will also likely work, use direct messages of the following profiles from under Section "Accounts controlled by Ciro Santilli":Ciro's Twitter DMs are also open, but note that Ciro receives endless Chinese language SPAM there which Twitter is doing nothing to combat, so it's not as reliable.
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cirosantilli
- Reddit: www.reddit.com/user/cirosantilli
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/cirosantilli
- Telegram: telegram.me/cirosantilli. Note that end-to-end encryption is present on secret chats only, which don't have device sync. Ridiculous.
If you are a privacy freak or are going to tell Ciro state secrets Ciro has this GNU Privacy Guard public key: pubkey.gpg, but it's not something that he has ever really used.
Disqus comments were removed from his website in 2019-05-04, a manual dump is available here, removal rationale at: why Ciro Santilli removed Disqus comments from his website in 2019-05-04.
Dots in Gmail address Updated 2025-07-16
gothinkster/realworld Updated 2025-07-16
Ahh, you can't have new ideas anymore!
Basically puts together every backend with Front-end web framework to create the exact same website.
The reference live demo can be found at: demo.realworld.io/#/ It is based on Angular.js as it links to: github.com/gothinkster/angularjs-realworld-example-app TODO backend?
There are however also live demos of other frontends, e.g.:Note that all those frontends communicate with the same backend.
- React: react-redux.realworld.io. But note that tag addition at post creation is broken there as of March 2021, but not on master: github.com/gothinkster/react-redux-realworld-example-app/issues/151#issuecomment-808417846 so they forgot to update the live server.
- Vue.js: vue-vuex-realworld.netlify.app
As of 2021 Devs are seemed a bit too focused on monetizing the project through their "how to use this project" premium tutorial, and documentation could be better: just getting the hello world of the most popular backend with the most popular frontend is not easy... come on.
github.com/gothinkster/realworld/issues/578 asks for community support, as devs have moved on since unfortunately.
Remember:
- by default, the frontends hardcode the upstream public data API:
https://conduit.productionready.io/apiso you have to hack their code to match the port of the backend. And each backend can have a different port. - when you switch between backends, you must first manually clear client-side storage cookies/local new run will fail due to authentication issues!
Important missing things from the minimum base app:
- server-side rendering:
- github.com/arrlancore/nextjs-ssr-real-world-app-example. As advertised, that global instance does render with JavaScript disabled! Proposed for upstream at: github.com/gothinkster/realworld/issues/423
- github.com/gothinkster/realworld/issues/266
- no javaScript bi-directional communication library built-in... come on: github.com/gothinkster/realworld/issues/107
- email notifications however as tested on the live demo: demo.realworld.io/#/
- error handling is broken/missing/inconsistent across apps
First you should the most popular backend/frontend combination running, which is the most likely to be working. We managed to run on Ubuntu 20.10, React + Node.js Express.js as described at github.com/gothinkster/node-express-realworld-example-app/pull/116:Then just:on both server and client, and then visit the client URL: localhost:4100/
- github.com/cirosantilli/node-express-realworld-example-app/tree/mongo4 which has a simple patch on top of github.com/gothinkster/node-express-realworld-example-app/tree/ba04b70c31af81ca7935096740a6e083563b3a4a for MongoDB 4 supportThis requires you to first install MongoDB on Ubuntu and ensure you can login to it from the command line.
- github.com/gothinkster/react-redux-realworld-example-app/tree/9186292054dc37567e707602a15a0884d6bdae35 patched to use the correct server host/port
localhost:3000:diff --git a/src/agent.js b/src/agent.js index adfbd72..e3cdc7f 100644 --- a/src/agent.js +++ b/src/agent.js @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import _superagent from 'superagent'; const superagent = superagentPromise(_superagent, global.Promise); -const API_ROOT = 'https://conduit.productionready.io/api'; +const API_ROOT = 'http://localhost:3030/api'; const encode = encodeURIComponent; const responseBody = res => res.body;
npm install
npm startYou have to hit the Enter key to add tags, it's terrible: github.com/gothinkster/react-redux-realworld-example-app/issues/151#issuecomment-808417846
One cool thing is that the main repo has unified backend API tests:so the per-repository tests are basically useless, and that single test can test everything for any backend! There is no frontend testing however: github.com/gothinkster/realworld/issues/269 so newb.
git clone https://github.com/gothinkster/realworld
cd realworld
git checkout e7adc6b06b459e578d7d4a6738c1c050598ba431
cd api
APIURL=http://localhost:3000/api USERNAME="u$(date +%s)" ./run-api-tests.sh Governments should provide basic Internet infrastructure Updated 2025-07-16
Taxes pay for the physical car roads, so why shouldn't they also pay for the "online roads" of today?
The following services are obvious picks because they are so simple:
Other less simple ones that might also be feasible:
- geographic information system. Notable anti-example: United Kingdom's Ordnance Survey's apparently non-free-data
- App stores
All of them should have strong privacy enabled by default: end-to-end encryption, logless, etc. Governments are not going to like this part.
And then if you ever forget a password or lose a multi-factor authentication token, you can just go to an ID center with your ID to recover it.
Sponsor Ciro Santilli's work on OurBigBook.com Updated 2025-08-08
Ciro Santilli is actively looking for donations and contracts so he can continue to work full time on OurBigBook.com sustainably, and develop free hardcore university-level STEM education for all ages!
For 300k USD I will quit my job or not get a new job and work on OurBigBook full time for a second year to try and kickstart The Higher Education Revolution. Status: ~44k / 300k USD. At 2M USD I retire and work on open STEM forever.
I first quit my job 1st June 2024 to work on the project for 1 year after I reached my initial 100k goal mostly via a 1000 Monero donation. In this first year I improved project tech, but didn't go and solve university courses to create super targeted content, and didn't obtain a single contributing user except myself, see a summary at Section "OurBigBook Project Update March 2024".
For a followup, it would be an interesting experiment to spend on year full time solving as many courses as I can from a world class university in the city where I live in the UK, and adding that as content to the platform to see if that would attract interest, and reaching out directly to course takers at their university environment to try and help them. I intended to do that in year one but my got distracted by tech. It is quite possible that no one has ever done that before in history: a highly motivated technical person with the time and opportunity to do one single thing: help top university students learn their STEM courses better and have more fun doing so. I have in particular identified one course where this would be particularly feasible: the mathematics course, given that much of their course materials, and also their building are quite open. I do sometimes wonder if doing this would be just a waste of my life. But part of me tells me it could generate big interest and is worth a try.
For a second follow up year, I increased my requirement to 300k USD to give me more peace of mind. So the total donation so far is 244k, and if I reach a total of 300k USD, then I'll work on the project for a second year.
At 2M USD I retire and work on open STEM projects forever. At these timelines, I can't guarantee it will be specifically on education technology specifically all the way, but I guarantee that whatever it is it will be open and extremely well explained as usual.
It's necessary to be slightly underemployed if you are to do something significant - James Watson
Total donations to date ~244k USD. Donation breakdown:More details: Section "Accounting method"
- 2024-03-18: $126,352 (!!!): anonymous 1000 Monero donation to self-custody wallet. Further comments: Section "1000 Monero donation"
- 2024-03-13: $1,375: anonymous 10 Monero donation to self-custody wallet
- 2023-11-20: $14.563: anonymous 100 Monero donation to Binance wallet
- 2023-09: $810: anonymous 0.032 Bitcoin donation to Coinbase wallet
- subscriptions up to 2024-01: $143,795
How to give:And if you have a different preferred payment mechanism not listed above, please contact Ciro, and he will set it up.
- one time donations:
- cryptocurrency: note that Ciro is not a regular crypto user, so you might want to make a smaller test donation and confirm that it worked by contacting Ciro before going for colossal amounts (one can dream):
- Monero address: 4A1KK4uyLQX7EBgN7uFgUeGt6PPksi91e87xobNq7bT2j4V6LqZHKnkGJTUuCC7TjDNnKpxDd8b9DeNBpSxim8wpSczQvzf. Secret view key: 7ccaf885ff5540b0ff18927e6ac5da30130afb1eaee09ad95d3c4536a6337e0f. This is a self-custody wallet on a "clean" dedicated Monero laptop connected the Internet. I check for incoming transactions from my dirty main laptop via a view-only wallet each weekend. The cash out method used is latest simplest thing that wasn't yet blocked in my country on a given week, the last time that was centralized swappers[ref]. The fact that the cash out method changes weekly confirms that Monero privacy hadn't yet been broken by countries and that Monero is still one of the most useful cryptocurrencies: Section "Are cryptocurrencies useful?". For transparency, I announce all non-trivial transactions on social media, and the full list of transactions can be seen by anyone with the secret view key provided. I previously had different addresses, so pre-existing donations on older addresses will not be visible there.
- Bitcoin address: 3KRk7f2JgekF6x7QBqPHdZ3pPDuMdY3eWR. This is a Coinbase wallet, off-chain transactions with no transaction fees accepted from other Coinbase users. This method has been tested, I have been able to receive funds from this address in 2023. Fees: non-fixed trading fees[ref] + 0% withdrawal fee on top of any Bitcoin network for on-chain transactions[ref]
- Ethereum address: 0x44cF8C9C015F46d3b2Df730b6492823FD7A91044. Test transaction recommended.
- Solana address: DjdaGawoVFdqxJEqpBGsSWuR4G4MVFNiNkAEu89HuKcE. Test transaction recommended.
- TransferWise tag: wise.com/pay/me/cirod3. It shows as "Ciro Duran Santilli" and that's correct. No fees apparently? Love it!
- PayPal: paypal.me/cirosantilli. Note that dots in Gmail address are ignored, and it is perfectly normal if the email you see has some extra dots in it. Fees: 2.9% + 0.30 GBP[ref].
- cryptocurrency: note that Ciro is not a regular crypto user, so you might want to make a smaller test donation and confirm that it worked by contacting Ciro before going for colossal amounts (one can dream):
- monthly subscriptions of 1$/month or more on either:Symbolic 1 dollar/month donation are extremely welcome to signal your interest! This way if a certain critical mass of sponsors is ever reached (~100?), Ciro can start to more actively asking slightly higher amounts to really try to achieve full time self sufficiency.
- GitHub Sponsors: github.com/sponsors/cirosantilli. Fees: 0% for individuals, up to 6% for organizations[ref]
- Patreon: www.patreon.com/cirosantilli. Fees: 8% pro plan + 1% PayPal withdrawal capped at 20 USD[ref]. We are waiting to reach the cap to withdraw!
- larger grants/contracts from filthy rich individuals or organizations: contact Ciro as mentioned at: Section "How to contact Ciro Santilli" to discuss.Ciro is interested in contracts/voluntary work that would be compatible/synergic with the OurBigBook.com project. Some possibilities include:
- interacting directly with classes of university students to help them learn the class subject, while at the same time spreading the university knowledge outside of the university walls
- one-to-one mentoring of individuals of any age that are looking to make an impact in the world, and not just pass their exams
- fixing specific bugs in related projects Ciro has experience in. These could be either via one-off contracts, or on platforms such as:
Ciro's current ambitions require him to remain in developed countries, because Ciro wants to document advanced science and technology by liaising with top universities, and there is not nearly as much high technology in poor countries. Remaining in developed countries is also a required due to family reasons.
Note to potential anonymous crypto donors: I live in the UK, and after some messy back and forth that included freezing my account at one point, Barclays finally decided that they do not allow me to receive anonymous donations. And I'm pretty sure that the same would happen on any other British bank sooner or later. Therefore, while I continue to accept anonymous donations, they will not count towards my "if I get X I do Y"-type donation goals, since I can't reliably spend that money. If you want to donate in crypto, and clearly give me your real identity and an explanation of how you got the money, then that is fine, it can count. Just be warned that I will need to give that information to my bank and clear it with them beforehand, and if they are still not happy with it, I'll just give it all back. Your identity does not have to be publicly disclosed, only the dates and amounts. But my bank has to know.
If you would like public acknowledgement for your support, Ciro will very gladly give it, just let Ciro know how you'd prefer it. Due to Ciro Santilli's campaign for freedom of speech in China, many supporters have chosen to be anonymous, and that is totally fine, not everyone is interested in politics, or has a situation where going public is acceptable, so we don't have a standard setup yet, let's build it together. A acknowledgement section at the bottom of this page would be a minimum, but I for larger donations we could add a your advertisement in a locations such as:
- near the top of of the accounts controlled by Ciro Santilli, e.g. one of Ciro Santilli's Twitter accounts, github.com/cirosantilli or stackoverflow.com/users/895245
- near the top of cirosantilli.com
100k USD/year is a semi arbitrary amount that sounds nice. My last day job total compensation as of 2024 was about 150k USD/year.
Ciro Santilli playing with a pipette at the University of Cambridge circa 2017
. Although totally disqualified for it, Ciro would really like to understand and explain cool scientific experiments in insane detail much as he does with computer software, related:Maybe if he ever gets enough credibility, such opportunities would actually materialize. It could be a bit like Periodic Videos, but for molecular biology and physics, and backed by OurBigBook text/tree with minimal openly licensed videos. The fact that such opportunities are essentially impossible outside of the boredom of the university system is something we should really change about education.