Tim Bouma

Our neighbor relocated about 40 squirrels. She maintained a neighborhood leaderboard of red, black, grey and brown squirrels. Once the city found out, they threatened to fine her big time.

2024-10-31 10:22:47

On #nostr you build a world without necessary apps and certificate authorities.

2024-10-29 16:05:23

"The basis of alphabetic abstraction is the phoneme, the irreducible meaningless bit of sound, which is translated by a meaningless sign."
Sounds like the phoneme is like the satoshi - a meaningless unit of value translated by a meaningless number.

2024-10-26 12:05:33

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Exact same thought I had in the grocery store yesterday. 24 bucks for a coffee tin that is now two-thirds of its former size. Lots of 5 dollar cups to be made from that tin.

2024-10-24 01:04:44

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Nice!

2024-10-21 15:41:23

“All wars have been fought by the latest technology available in any culture.”
Marshall McLuhan, 1964

2024-10-18 21:43:40

Dang, this is good. Jack is so precise in his arguments. His talk 'Bitcoin is Time' was super when I saw it in Madeira
#nevent1q…zvgn

2024-10-18 13:26:29

This very cool. Replicating signed events (notes, etc.) opens up a whole new world of possibility. What hyperlinks did for the web, signed events can do for whatever we want to call it (don’t have a good name yet). #note1x7e…y2vr

2024-10-17 19:11:22

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I did something similar:
- User enters npub to authorize
- Server visually displays one-time code and also send encrypted DMs to user
- User visually confirms DM code is same and replies ‘OK’ if satisfied.
- Server listens for decrypted DM ‘OK’ from npub where event.created_at > DM sent event created at.
- If ‘OK’, sets a status login ok for one time query
- Browser client polls for one time status, if login True, session cookie is set for logged in, status is cleared.
I had this all working for NIP-04, upgrading to NIP-17.

2024-10-17 17:47:11

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Yup. Very cool.

2024-10-17 11:44:53

Great insights about web of trust #note15pw…rv24

2024-10-17 08:31:27

https://image.nostr.build/be5614038ef353dfa5ab6169bb4ae53992ec428db620f57be3c2cd3710e908a4.jpg

2024-10-16 21:05:23

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Sure, if you want to run your own mint. That’s what I do, as well have my own relay. The point is that it is completely flexible.

2024-10-16 20:05:20

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I am designing this first and foremost as a backend component to my Lightning payment system. Each user will have their own #safebox instance stored on relays, versus a wallet stored in a database system. It solves a big problem for me, in that I can provide a custodial lightning payment service, but give the use independent control if they want to move the safebox elsewhere n

2024-10-16 18:18:13

I am pinching myself on how NUTS (pardon the pun) this is. Every #nostr #safebox instance becomes its own payment, clearing and settlement engine. A #safebox can send ecash directly to any other #safebox, it can receive ecash, swap it for new tokens or clear out the funds to any lightning invoice or address.
All of the data (wallet state, proofs, etc.) are stored, encrypted in relays and can be replicated, if a relay becomes adversarial or unreliable.
I’ve also implemented the storage and sharing of private data, and am thinking of adding the ability to store medical data (prescriptions, etc.).
When this prototype is stabilized, I am planning to do another reference implementation (likely Go) and create a very minimal Android/iOS app that can interface to the wallet component.
Onward! #note1l9p…vh5n

2024-10-16 18:02:09

Very cool.
I just got NIP-17 chat working between separate #nostr #safebox instances. That means every #safebox can communicate directly to send funds, messages, statuses, etc.
Doesn't look like much, BUT IT WORKS!
https://image.nostr.build/32b7d2fd2f83a5ddfc9fb05663d16f61ae952a24dc705e83e9be3ea2645cf46b.jpg

2024-10-16 15:26:20

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A relay is a web server that can additionally store and retrieve signed events?

2024-10-16 13:26:41

GM https://image.nostr.build/cd4efa2d9ed562362401fc5b4a792077502f28d80b1e1a5653eb744d8eda357f.jpg

2024-10-16 11:47:03

Similar to the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system (x,y,z), #Nostr can be thought of a non-Euclidean cyberspace coordinate system of (n,e) where n is a 32 byte #npub, and e is a 32 byte hash of an event.
With (n,e) you can reference and attribute anything in cyberspace. That’s all you need for a standardized coordinate system. With #Nostr, you get some additional nice things like Schnorr signatures and and event kinds, but these are conventions, not core to the standardized coordinate system.
Thus, in the physical realm, you have (x,y,z) and in the digital realm (n,e).
Time (t) can be added, but that’s a function of the observer.

2024-10-16 11:11:18

Layer 2.
https://blockstream.com/press-releases/2024-10-15-blockstream-secures-210m-dollars-led-fulgur-ventures-drive-layer-2-growth-expand-bitcoin-treasury/

2024-10-15 20:54:24

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Yup. I have moved off NIP-04. It was great while it lasted, but now NIP-17 all the way!

2024-10-15 18:26:34

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Agree wholeheartedly, but trust is taken from the users; they have little choice but to give their trust unconditionally.

2024-10-15 15:44:39

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I grew up on a dairy farm. I can relate. I need to process this.

2024-10-15 15:21:17

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Goalie!

2024-10-15 15:20:47

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That’s good news. I need to look at the details, but the general idea is that if you ‘buy’ something and the merchant refuses to accept cash, your obligation to pay is then discharged and you get to keep the good - and your cash!

2024-10-15 12:21:24

Nothing is more trippy than reading Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (1964) with a working knowledge of the #nostr protocol
https://i.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExaHV1YTk3dGpndHRqOXAzNnIyaWU5MGp0Zmp6OXQ4NmdhMm8zamEycyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/Tp0DoOS8C7eBG/giphy.gif

2024-10-15 12:14:54

Convenience is the number 1 driver for most users. Convenience is about reducing complexity AND maximizing optionality. Convenience has little to do with security or sovereignty and that’s how the big platforms are winning - convenience and optionality between a limited set of platforms (e.g., Apple vs. Google).
The trick is to understand the tradeoffs between complexity/optionality versus security/sovereignty. The regular user usually is concerned only with the former, not the latter.
It’s for us on #nostr to design for the latter, while enabling the former.

2024-10-14 13:20:21

This is so good... Marshall McLuhan https://image.nostr.build/094f75317693e4fb33d520adaff18981616aa32a702c953e8e459a848d037323.jpg

2024-10-14 13:16:35

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Oh dang, it's gone! Lesson learned!

2024-10-14 13:15:12

"[Money] is action at a distance, both in space and time."
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, 1964

2024-10-14 11:04:01

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Hi Lez! Thanks for sharing.

2024-10-13 18:24:57

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The 90s are back in style!

2024-10-13 18:17:26

This is the eventual form factor I want for #nostr #safebox
https://vimeo.com/995905340/3c6162f3b8

2024-10-13 16:56:12

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Time is a great big one-way hash function, too!

2024-10-13 11:46:10

“Speed produces division of functions”

2024-10-13 11:24:59

Reading Marshall McLuhan - floored by the insight that the invention of the phonetic alphabet was the cultural and technological steamroller for Western Civilization- flattening everything in its way, amplified by the wheel, papyrus, and eventually, electricity.

2024-10-13 11:19:40

War is business by other means. #note148g…r6ve

2024-10-13 11:18:01

Written in 1964… https://image.nostr.build/384e5eee87c4fd66c46772b3dcef9fa7643e54366f39caa1f7cc7d6d415e67bc.jpg

2024-10-12 23:27:00

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Just checked. I was making a chainmail shirt for my son. https://image.nostr.build/31ce69ee88ef97bc60e54fa81475a3dfedfb6c5daed56f531488c5fe66ec2762.jpg

2024-10-12 19:58:24

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We just pulled it out for the winter https://image.nostr.build/c549eef42ebd4b61cfa2499f7c6d8c3cbb3017bf1148870c53d9bc5f77e33de3.jpg https://image.nostr.build/c4489b1e85d192511b2f62f221fc5aef74fa22cf9090932679b0016a70db66a1.jpg

2024-10-12 13:28:30

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I use monstr - it's really good.

2024-10-12 13:02:10

"Tribal cultures cannot entertain the possibility of the individual or of the separate citizen"
Marshall McLuhan

2024-10-12 12:55:35

I will need to grok this.
#nevent1q…vctn

2024-10-12 12:54:28

This is the way.
#nevent1q…q6v7

2024-10-12 12:53:09

#nostr protocol enables the separation of trust from authority.

2024-10-12 00:36:45

Pooches https://image.nostr.build/c5d61b9823050799c5c628f7b850f445b9eab078ee2280b2776e76189d545df1.jpg

2024-10-11 16:59:23

Using my Kindle as a point of sale terminal https://image.nostr.build/427f74f44e2859e8185a262f6b0fe726144262395cce74087fae79795a4f1d52.jpg https://image.nostr.build/3f370d782753452b0c8a1d2b53b99b05b2f1188b1f81c9514b566a2474f9a8d0.jpg

2024-10-11 11:35:05

Almost as good as being there!
An excellent presentation on NIP-60/61 by @npub16dh…0nkq
Thanks for the shoutout on #nostr #safebox!
https://www.youtube.com/live/E81VNB3CRsY

2024-10-10 23:59:19

GN Northern Lights!
https://image.nostr.build/0065457116a681e0f56de445ea48b55142dca6ececc15f8b2ceb8c176ac9aefc.jpg

2024-10-10 19:30:03

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https://media0.giphy.com/media/xdKi4fkIO1YRy/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952s8ryt5e7unmeeuto3uvab9c7nj20vfj7yjt1k2c7&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

2024-10-10 19:27:34

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Don't tempt me. I might just come!

2024-10-10 19:26:23

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Dang. Jealous. I gotta start up #NostrOttawa

2024-10-10 18:57:05

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Yes. This might be the killer use case that we are looking for.

2024-10-10 15:56:06

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This book is excellent. Understanding Cryptography by Christof Paar and Jan Petzel. This is where I learned the math from first principles
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-662-69007-9
If you’re looking for something more hands on, Jimmy Song’s Programming Bitcoin is a great Python resource
https://github.com/jimmysong/programmingbitcoin

2024-10-10 15:26:25

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I view mints more like trustless payment processors. I wouldn’t hold a substantial balance - I’d move funds to a channel-based lightning wallet or to on-chain.

2024-10-10 13:26:56

Publishing events > Issuing credentials

2024-10-10 11:56:32

Wow. Homebrew Computer Club in the making. #note1hn9…34rr

2024-10-10 11:25:51

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Gradual rugpull is the same as fractional reserve. If I know that I only need 10% of the funds to do day-to-day clearing, then I am tempted to use the other 90% for other purposes (loans). Medieval goldsmiths who issued receipts on deposits of gold for safekeeping, figured this out quickly, and started lending out the gold they had in their safekeeping. Modern banks figured this out with central banks who now demand a 0% reserve.

2024-10-10 10:28:51

Proof of Liquidity > Proof of Reserves.
This is the way for the new banking system, where there is a global denomination (sats) and every bank is subject to a potential bank run at all points in time. The only way to survive in this ecosystem is to be perfectly liquid and perfectly honest. A bank can be fractional if they wish, but if it impacts liquidity, they are immediately branded as such, and the funds flee until the rug is pulled. The system naturally self-calibrates.
This is how the banking system used to work in Scotland and Canada, until central bank monopolies took over. #note1sl4…ht94

2024-10-10 10:17:01

Protocol System Experience
https://www.youtube.com/live/GtHp7DVt3jQ

2024-10-09 20:42:57

Give me a Simple Protocol over a Super App anytime. #note1qqq…uuvv

2024-10-09 20:32:26

“You cannot have an encryption system which is only a little bit insecure any more than you can be a little bit pregnant. Encryption systems are either secure or they’re not – and if they’re not then it’s a question of when, rather than if, others are able to exploit the vulnerability.”
https://9to5mac.com/2024/10/08/chinese-hack-of-us-isps-shows-why-apple-is-right-about-backdoors-for-law-enforcement/

2024-10-09 13:51:34

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They’re “Apps”. Normies think “Clients” are patients.

2024-10-09 13:00:48

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Yup. My son just graduated from a top-level engineering school. Now he’s making handmade canoe paddles in the garage. Some of our Quebec fam does maple syrup, but hockey sticks aren’t our thing. Need to diversify.

2024-10-09 12:58:18

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Love your photos. Keep ‘em coming!

2024-10-09 12:51:22

Canadians only know how to make maple syrup, canoe paddles and hockey sticks.

2024-10-09 11:18:05

You’re only one AI bot detected bad listing away from having your online business destroyed
https://x.com/cassieceleste/status/1843702724090835178

2024-10-09 10:18:15

Remember all those crappy ‘under construction’ websites in the mid-90s? That’s the vibe of #nostr right now.

2024-10-09 10:15:49

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I am thinking about this for #nostr #safebox. The owner could create a payment request (similar to a NWC) along with the relay to connect to. This could be written on the card. The phone or payment terminal can use this info to formulate a payment request authorization; there is enough data to confirm the request is legitimate and the payment can be negotiated as a lightning payment, a zap or issue of Cashu tokens. This would be very similar to how tokenized payment card already works when loaded into your phone wallet, except that you are using #nostr rails, not the bank payment rails.

2024-10-08 10:53:47

What have the Romans ever done for us? https://image.nostr.build/5e879404f68ae625a7ceae8100ded967f4e9e6f17057556a64d976d2d4a4c36c.jpg

2024-10-07 20:05:34

This is cool - I can now directly send funds between different instances of a #nostr #safebox. If I know the npub of the receiving safebox, I can just do the command:
$> safebox send 21 @npub1l3e…e9w5c
The receiving safebox does a check
$> safebox check ecash
And voila, the funds (21 sats) appear in the receiving safebox.
I am currently using NIP-04, but switching to NIP-17 as I now have an implementation working for #safebox (It was a late night last night)
I will also be doing some further abstraction so that the user need only care about sending and receiving funds, they won't have to care if it's lightning, ecash, or zaps. I am also thinking about adding in a currency rate option, so a user can specify that they want to send a fund equivalent for a local unit of account (USD, CAD, EUR, etc.). Easy to do as I already support that in my lightning payment service; I can just bring the code over to the wallet.
I am also thinking about adding in a key signing capability. Right now the device stores the nsec, but I'd like the option to push that out to a hardware signing device. I am hoping to just plug in something that someone else has developed, but that is still a while away.
I'll be taking a close look at the badge NIPs, because it should be pretty each to add a badge issuance/verification capability. Every wallet should be able to do this - not just special issuer/verifiers as the current commericalized models imply.
More to come!
#nost r #safebox
https://geyser.fund/project/nostrsafebox/

2024-10-07 19:51:16

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It is exciting!

2024-10-07 18:56:12

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All I really care about is signed events that I can parse and verify with a npub. Plus a few conventions around kinds. If signed events can be serialized for more efficient transmission, great, but that’s icing on the cake.

2024-10-07 18:50:15

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Yup. That’s a given.

2024-10-07 18:43:44

Don’t let anyone tell you anything differently but “Mandatory Backdoor” and “Own Goal” are one and the same.
https://www-bleepingcomputer-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/atandt-verizon-reportedly-hacked-to-target-us-govt-wiretapping-platform/amp/

2024-10-07 17:45:39

Just returned from a ramen restaurant where the walls were adorned with framed pictures of AI-generated cats drinking beer and eating ramen.
So glad that AI-generated art has finally found its true home.

2024-10-07 16:41:26

“We’ve leased our central nervous systems to various corporations.”
Marshall McLuhan, 1964

2024-10-07 16:00:34

GM https://image.nostr.build/60e7836a3bad1fdeb4ffb8dfec8d98359558057b5d3164cbfd959dab220dd163.jpg

2024-10-07 13:07:16

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Interested. Can you DM further details?

2024-10-07 12:40:38

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Nice blog. You’re right, the system is broken and the ones who want to ‘fix it’ just want to take away freedoms that are not in their favour.
Not sure how to fix it, but I know it’s partly about keeping the power balance tilted in favour of the individual, especially for all of those digital services.
Thanks!

2024-10-07 12:30:47

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Thx. Still pretty raw. I try to compile the binaries ASAP. You can find the link at: https://github.com/trbouma/safebox

2024-10-07 12:26:55

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I’d be keen to replicate the #nostrbooth for some local events.

2024-10-07 12:19:54

Good progress with #nostr #safebox this weekend. I got the sending part of NIP-17 dms working; you can dm any npub or NIP-05.
The command line looks like this:
$> safebox dm trbouma@openbalance.app "hello from a safebox"
Next part is converting all of my ecash dms to NIP-17 (currently using NIP-04). That'll take a few days.
I also implemented an interesting feature which enables me to share a private record from a wallet. If I do the commend to create a private record:
$> safebox put private_record "This is content for a private record"
I can retrieve it by:
$> safebox get private record
Retrieving private_record "This is content for a private record"
I can also share the contents via a dm to a npub or nip05 address
$> safebox share private_record trbouma@openbalance.app
Not exactly sure what the use case will be, but I think it's pretty cool that you can share private details to someone you trust, in case of an emergency. The big use case I see, is storing and sharing medical information - I am exploring this possibility.
Anyway, I am having great fun building what I believe is a true sovereign wallet that can integrate payments, proofs, and private information - all under your sovereign control!
https://image.nostr.build/4aa5af3208e3a944d1717693654daa8c07b902efee9778d72b10a20743825c85.jpg

2024-10-06 22:21:06

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Asperitas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperitas_(cloud)

2024-10-06 21:59:53

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Ottawa

2024-10-06 21:41:56

Snapped another nice pic just before the Endtimes arrive. https://image.nostr.build/07d6c862470c2ba80bcfa10f67df58cf2c31dac764ca6771e2fb18336099b8f7.jpg

2024-10-06 14:30:14

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Great book!

2024-10-06 14:14:38

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Chromium has a multi-billion dollar company as an enterprise user. Most #nostr users are still in their underwear and fljp-flops.

2024-10-06 11:28:54

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More rotting bananas…

2024-10-06 11:03:12

Fruit flies > AI
“Fortunately for the worriers, AI today is incredibly inefficient. It requires power inputs which would service a small city and such vast quantities of data to train itself that the entire internet is not enough. By contrast, flies, which are powered by rotting fruit, can do things no AI can yet manage. If their ability to navigate and avoid objects could be replicated, for example, then designing self-driving vehicles would be a doddle.” -Economist

2024-10-06 08:31:46

https://image.nostr.build/df7763ceb7ef6a161988fe78549166c71a8324b0f35c62512094fe48d0751773.jpg

2024-10-06 02:04:15

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It was!

2024-10-06 01:28:52

Tonight’s dinner: beef ribs, mac’n’cheese, corn and salad. https://image.nostr.build/c1e2011a82fb49d63f98e6831c63224cec40bccfec0cbe5639d546711564707b.jpg

2024-10-05 15:15:25

Next big task for #nostr #safebox - upgrading all NIP-04 to NIP-17 messaging.
See you on the next commit!
https://geyser.fund/project/nostrsafebox/leaderboard

2024-10-05 13:25:17

Reading NIPs - always amazed at the foundational concepts that jump out at me:
* signed event
* unsigned event = rumor
* sealed event = signed rumor (signed event with rumor as content)

2024-10-04 21:18:06

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Pro tip.