In Episode 2 of Say WoT?, Avi sits down with Gzuuus to “debug the intersection of AI and the Web of Trust,” tracing his build path through DVMCP, ContextVM, and his latest project, Relatr, with the goal of engineering machine intelligence that amplifies human reputation instead of harvesting it.

Gzuuus explains why ContextVM evolved from an earlier “kitchen sink” approach into a cleaner design that lives at the transport layer, using Nostr keys for authentication/authorization, and leaning into ephemeral events plus a single kind for communications to keep things minimal and composable.

Then the conversation drops into Relatr: a fully open-source, self-hostable Web-of-Trust service designed to run “anywhere” (even on a Raspberry Pi), with real-world performance on a cheap VPS and fast search response times. Relatr supports two complementary interfaces: ContextVM’s request/response pattern (needed for things like search) and NIP-85 Trusted Assertions (a more native produce/consume model that’s easier for clients to integrate).

On scoring, Gzuuus describes a tunable weighted formula that outputs a float from 0 to 1, anchored by social graph distance (hops) mapped through a decay function, with weights configurable by anyone running an instance. Finally, they explore practical client UX (like Amethyst consuming trusted assertions for spam mitigation) and the broader interoperability headaches haunting secure messaging, including MLS complexity and the risk of siloed implementations.

Links

• ContextVM
• Relatr
• Gzuus Github | ContextVM Github
• Enemies of Nostr Article

Avi and guest OpenMike riff on the weird gap between “real-world popularity” and how few followers some incredible musicians have on Nostr, then use that as a springboard into what it looks like to actually build culture: paying creators directly, making venues more resilient, and turning community into infrastructure.

The conversation detours into Tunestr and OpenMike’s search for a true “home base” venue, landing on Maggie Mae’s on 6th Street in Austin, right across from Rogan’s Comedy Club, as a potential flagship location to revitalize a legendary (and struggling) music corridor with Bitcoin/Nostr-native tooling.

Near the end, they preview a Value-for-Value music fest in Belgrade (week after BTC Prague), with a floating-club venue on the Danube called Zappa, plus a mix of independent and bigger acts.

Executive Producer (top booster from last episode): Rod Palmer

Find today's artists on nostr:

• Doomtree (Lazerbeak)
• Theo Katzman
• Sam Means
• Henry Invisible
• Suzanne Santo

Avi opens Episode 147 with “The Return of the Local Oracle,” a sermon on outsourced knowing, supply-chain truth, and rebuilding trust through people you can look in the eye: ranchers, butchers, and neighbors with gardens.

Tom Taber returns to unpack his work with the Beef Initiative, arguing that ranching culture runs on integrity, “cowboy code,” and accountability in a world he frames as increasingly Truman Show-ish.

They dig into the initiative’s mission: connecting consumers to ranchers (via beefmaps.com) while building something bigger. Tom explains that Texas Slim acquired beef.com, positioning it as a “digital ranch” with privacy protections and a marketplace for ranching trade beyond just beef.

The conversation turns to rebuilding independent micro-processing centers, and why Bitcoin capital can fund real-world infrastructure that saves ranches.

Links

• Beef Initiative on X
• Tom Taber on X
• Tom on nostr
• Avi's New Book – July 18
• Finding Home Episode 3 – Paraguay [IndeeHub Code: PIONEER21 ]
• Avi's First Book – 24 (2nd Edition)