GBKS
Christoph Ono

https://www.germanysbestkeptsecret.com/

Designer & developer. Helping improve bitcoin design with many others at http://bitcoin.design. I write a weekly update at http://gbks.substack.com. ✌️

Public Key

npub1kuc70777tsvj67fl75s2dmy376t97hv05xmyuyshzzy6vhj5q5jstv0eyw

NIP-05 Address

gbks@nosta.me

NIP-57 Address

gbks@getalby.com

Profile Code

nprofile1qqstwv08l009cxfd0yll2g9xajgld9jltk86rdjwzgt3pzdxte2q2fgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqgdwaehxw309ahx7uewd3hkcdlft0s

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

nos.lol

relay.damus.io

Author Public Key

npub1kuc70777tsvj67fl75s2dmy376t97hv05xmyuyshzzy6vhj5q5jstv0eyw

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Last Notes

2024-10-16 12:26:07

Got lots of these stickers, which are all meant 100% literal, delivered for TABConf. Say hi if you attend next week.
https://m.primal.net/LXZs.jpg

2024-10-15 13:35:11

Very excited for this. It's bitcoin dev education, an epic sci-fi story, and a very ambitious UX design & generative AI project at the same time.
#note153y…67wm

2024-10-15 13:31:48

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No idea at all?

2024-10-15 06:57:51

Matthew launched a new BDK example wallet, in Swift. Really nice. https://matthewramsden.substack.com/p/introducing-bdk-swift-example-wallet

2024-10-14 10:02:40

Is this a good way to have users enter lightning offers? For example, in a Nostr client when editing your profile. Trying to use technical terms to the least amount possible.
I threw identicons in there just for fun. Would be nice to have visual hashes for a quick gut check, but that would obviously relay on broadly standardized implementation.
https://m.primal.net/LVgV.jpg

2024-10-09 06:16:39

To request bitcoin, you can share a
- (Legacy/Script/SegWit/Taproot) address
- Reusable payment code
- Silent payments address
- Lightning invoice
- Lightning offer
- Lightning address
- Human-readable address
As text, BIP21 URI or QR Code. Or ask for a Fedimint/Cashu token.
Probs overlooking some other options (including bad ones like sharing xpubs) and details, but either way this is a lot to wrangle in UX and for users to have a general framework for. Let's see what solutions we converge on.

2024-10-07 15:56:58

A byproduct of @npub1vy6…27hr is this bitcoin script editor. The team built it for chapter 9, where you learn how to construct different spending mechanisms, and now it's available as a separate tool. It's brand new, we'd love to hear your thoughts. https://script.savingsatoshi.com
https://m.primal.net/LNuM.jpg

2024-10-07 11:51:23

Good UX finds that sweet spot between the "grain" of the tech and the complex needs and behaviors of people.
https://m.primal.net/LNkq.jpg

2024-09-27 04:58:39

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Have to think of a group of older women I overheard in a cafe once. They were talking about how they spend their youth rebuilding Germany after the war and how their youth was stolen.

2024-09-25 08:10:39

We're having our 100th design call for the Bitcoin Core App (https://bitcoincore.app) project today. First one was almost exactly 3 years ago. Slow, steady, and deliberate (OK, it's a little messy sometimes).
https://m.primal.net/LBar.jpg

2024-09-25 05:24:46

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I think these names are fine for early phases of projects. Rethinking name & brand is a good exercise if/when they grow and "professionalize" a bit.

2024-09-25 05:22:57

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Whaaaat.... you don't like Nosta? That cuts deep... 😭😉

2024-09-23 07:20:17

Did ReplyGuy move to Twix? My notifications keep blowing up all of a sudden from likes by obvious spam accounts.

2024-09-19 06:14:03

Lots of conversations the past weeks around education efforts for helping more designers find their ways into the open-source bitcoin ecosystem and do good work. Great to see, lots to do to make it a reality.

2024-09-18 05:16:37

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We switched the Bitcoin Design Guide to all lowercase a few years ago. The lowercase/uppercase distinction might be a nice subtle approach, but will most people really get that? Isn't it easier to read when things are a bit more explicit, like using "the bitcoin network"? And does it translate across languages (for example, Germany has very different capitalization rules)?

2024-09-17 15:23:22

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Exactly. World domination is not enough. Galactic multiverse domination is where it's at.

2024-09-16 11:31:55

This may or may not become the new home page of Saving Satoshi.
https://m.primal.net/KriG.jpg

2024-09-16 11:29:48

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https://bitcoinicons.com - No second best.

2024-09-11 12:42:43

Something to think about for Nostr builders - how can clients be designed for positive social effects?
https://m.primal.net/Kmni.png
Research:
https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/qe9rn
Source:
https://newsroom.snap.com/13-years-at-snap

2024-09-10 06:35:11

Two projects I've been involved with since the start are nearing big milestones. Saving Satoshi, started ~2 years ago, is nearing completion of the first 10 chapters. And Bitcoin Core App, started ~3 years ago is working towards an MVP stage. Both are very ambitious, with great teams, and true to the spirits of bitcoin and open-source. I'm excited.

2024-09-05 08:40:08

There's an Open Boards Summit on Oct 24. An online event for board members and organizers of open projects and organizations (very relevant right now for the Bitcoin Design Foundation). http://openboardssummit.org

2024-09-05 07:30:48

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It is super hard to imagine... but then again it's amazing what we take for granted today that was super hard to imagine 20 years ago.

2024-09-05 06:48:52

Enjoyed this book. Great insight into various technical developments (AI, nanobots, health, etc), wrapped in glorious visions of the future. Are you down with nanobots in your blood stream and 10-dimensional thinking powered by your cloud-extended brain? https://m.primal.net/KfAk.jpg

2024-08-30 08:25:35

Amazing to see OpenSats continued unwavering support for Bitcoin Core, and now also include the Bitcoin Core App project in that support. Exciting times. https://opensats.org/blog/caring-for-bitcoin-core#bitcoin-core-app

2024-08-29 08:48:29

Still enjoying Secret Agent, especially the random James Bond samples. SomaFM is well worth supporting, they rely on donations. https://somafm.com/secretagent/

2024-08-11 08:40:05

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Great topic. My talk at BTC Prague was in this vein (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YwqTG9xtKQ). The three groups are a good start, but we can push much further and look at income-level categories around the world, prioritize use cases based on impact, estimate efficiencies tech improvements will bring, etc, and then construct possible futures from that. My talk was not about finding final answers, that would require a much more comprehensive effort (which I'd love to see), but about digging layers deeper than the conversations I've seen happen. More of this please.

2024-08-06 11:27:42

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You actually don't need a banner for cookies that are required for website functionality, like login, shopping cart, etc.
Server-side tracking is also OK and can get you quite a bit of data.
IMHO, many websites would be just fine with good implementations of those two options above and could avoid the stupid banners.

2024-08-06 08:57:06

Would you agree? If not, I guess that means you like taxes 🤪 https://m.primal.net/JpoW.jpg

2024-08-05 08:47:58

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Here you go, dear sirs. Let me know if what works for you. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LGMTHHIbEV6uA1JvtIKZY_Uo_kZlefI9?usp=share_link

2024-08-01 10:42:17

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It can block video ads, too?

2024-08-01 10:26:23

The YouTube user experience in 2024:
- Consider ad-exposure to content value trade-off
- 50% chance of bailing
- Mute device
- Click link
- Do something else for ~3 minutes
- Come back
- 50% chance of giving up since ad is still running
- Unmute and watch for ~5 minutes
- Ad comes on, mute and do something else
- Repeat...
My default is now to not watch videos unless I am really sure ahead of time that they are worthwhile. The ad/content ratio is not reasonable. This used to be very different 1-2 years ago.

2024-07-31 15:15:32

Bitcoin drink from the future (byproduct of Saving Satoshi brainstorming).
https://m.primal.net/JkRB.jpg

2024-07-31 07:42:09

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I am not sure about iOS, but a system notification is how the new Bitcoin Core App stays alive in the background.
But is Calle even asking about notifications? His question is about persistence in progressive web apps, which might be more local storage and background service workers.

2024-07-31 07:39:30

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Great idea. Let me speak to the person running the project to make that happen and get back to you.

2024-07-29 07:58:14

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Yes, drink lots of liquid. Good to stay hydrated, especially in summer.

2024-07-25 08:59:49

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Usually not, but it really depends on the use case and visual style. For this Penpot plugin I messed around with, I generated a base illustration (pixels) and then converted it to vector to have more control over the colors directly via JS/CSS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KYLuvunSsE
How about you?

2024-07-25 05:34:57

AI tools are now thoroughly entangled in my workflows and it's a huge power-up. Github Copilot in VS Code, Midjourney for illustrations (bits of Photoshop Generative Fill also), Claude/ChatGPT for text. Nothing for UI yet.

2024-07-23 07:16:45

Finally finished reading this. I find it a helpful framework for some of the dynamics around bitcoin and crypto. https://m.primal.net/JbEx.jpg

2024-07-05 09:47:41

It's a little tricky to tame the various payment request formats in receive screens into a coherent experience, they are just so different. Here's a rough stab at it.
Hopefully we end up in a situation where we can just use one of them. But tech is evolving right now and we don't have broad interoperability yet. Plus, new users need to learn and sometimes make decisions on the fly to optimize fees, etc. We'll see...
https://m.primal.net/JIeA.jpg

2024-06-24 07:51:32

Quick mock-up of lightning liquidity visual from a conversation in the @npub13s5…l03e Discord. Avoiding the terms liquidity, inbound, outbound, etc.
https://m.primal.net/Ivzq.png

2024-06-21 12:23:40

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They do. They just expect the people who make the products they use take care of that.

2024-06-18 11:41:07

I re-recorded my talk "Building the right thing" from @npub167n…zu3r dev/hack/day design track. It's really just a series of loose thoughts and questions around scaling and adoption and finding something impactful to work on. Hope it's interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YwqTG9xtKQ

2024-06-13 08:12:14

Sounds like a good idea. @npub167n…zu3r
https://m.primal.net/IiwS.jpg

2024-06-11 06:35:07

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The first one is mysterious. Wonder what that’s supposed to be used for.

2024-06-07 19:09:02

European elections are on. Use your vote, or others will decide for you. I’ll make my way to the voting booth on Sunday morning right when they open. https://elections.europa.eu/video/en/ov/en/

2024-06-07 13:47:18

Recordings of the Oslo Freedom Forum talks are online. Very much worth watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtqqP4X9Os

2024-05-26 17:58:25

Let’s do that “translate war into peace” thing. Seems better, doesn’t it?
https://m.primal.net/IOCD.jpg

2024-05-22 09:37:22

There's a lot in the Bitcoin UI Kit. @npub1u2j…50au put together a great video walkthrough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArOorMe9GP0&list=TLPQMjIwNTIwMjTDJW5D889cGA&index=2

2024-05-20 10:36:53

Quick test using AI to identify and fix accessibility issues (here the reply buttons under Damus iOS notes, using Github Copilot in Visual Studio Code). Looks very promising and should safe tons of time and brain power. Why not always run this on UI PRs?
https://m.primal.net/IIdh.png

2024-05-20 05:52:00

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I have a hunch that AI is a great helper for this task. Did some quick tests over the weekend, throwing code at ChatGPT and asking if it's accessible and then telling it to make it accessible, and the results were very good. It might not be a heavy lift.

2024-05-18 06:06:58

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There have been some efforts to counter people losing themselves in feeds, like Instagrams “Take a break” feature. https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/instagram/159343-what-is-instagram-take-a-break-feature-how-it-works-turn-on-off/

2024-05-17 11:11:31

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I am not a pro on Qt development, but you might get a lot of this for free if you use the built-in UI elements. The new Bitcoin Core App will also be built in Qt (QML though), so there might be an opportunity to collaborate. https://bitcoincore.app/
Did you check out the docs? https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/accessible-qwidget.html
As for testing, it depends on your OS. MacOS has a great screen reader built-in, not sure about the others. We have some info and resources in the Bitcoin Design Guide. https://bitcoin.design/guide/designing-products/accessibility/

2024-05-17 05:42:38

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Regarding the comparison, downloading something can be a much simpler experience than registering with a company and going through KYC and all that.
We had a design review with 10101 Finance recently about creating two separate experiences for casual users and traders. That could be a good approach. AFAIK, Kraken and Coinbase also have regular and pro interfaces (and charge much higher fees for the regular one).

2024-05-17 04:53:12

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Yes it is. Front-end devs deal with all kinds of complexity, adding aria-label="Send" to a button, or using a button tag instead of an image tag is dead simple. There are even linters that tell you what the problems are and how to fix them.

2024-05-16 15:03:03

For accessibility awareness day, I tested several apps and it's not good.
Amethyst Android - Grade B+
eNuts iOS - Grade D
Mutiny iOS - Grade D
Snort Android & Web - Grade E
Damus iOS - Grade E
Primal iOS & Web - Grade F
You're pretty much left out in the cold as a blind user.
I know some of these are super new, done by small teams, open-source contributions, etc. But there just seems to be a general disinterest in properly marking up UI elements. This stuff is easy to fix, just needs a few motivated hands.
https://m.primal.net/IHRL.png

2024-05-16 14:49:36

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Thanks. That's pretty much what it's meant for and it doesn't do a much else yet.

2024-05-16 09:41:57

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Yep, that's me. What's up?

2024-05-16 06:22:06

Zapper is really well done. https://zapper.nostrapps.org/

2024-05-16 06:21:18

It's Global Accessibility Awareness Day today and we have a kick-off session in @npub13s5…l03e in about 40 minutes. We'll also test a bunch of Nostr apps for accessibility issues today. You're welcome to join. https://accessibility.day

2024-05-13 11:31:11

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YMMV, but I feel like the EU is constantly being hotly debated from all angles. Also, we have Europawahl coming up. Munich has a ton of initiatives (https://europa-mai.de) around that to learn, debate and participate. Not sure how it is in your area, but I do feel like things are out in the open for anyone who cares (<- key point) to look into.

2024-05-13 10:14:27

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This is about dictators/tyrants/autocrats/etc like Hitler/Putin/etc, which is pretty one-sided to me and I don't think their perspectives should be defended.
The arguments in the book are pretty general (think for yourself instead of repeating propaganda, fight for your right to vote, etc), but include some pointed examples about Trump (like undermining elections).
Probably OK for teenagers who show some interest in more serious topics, but not as accessible as books in the same genre like the Sapiens Graphic Novel.

2024-05-13 10:03:17

😱
#note17lk…257p

2024-05-13 07:43:49

Good read.
https://m.primal.net/IGJp.jpg

2024-05-02 06:55:51

"Import XPUB" or "Link key"? Some explorations around multi-key wallet setup for the Bitcoin Core App. What's good terminology for this stuff? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIb3EYGnNsU

2024-04-27 05:45:42

Nice post by Umami about how they balance open-source and running a company. https://umami.is/blog/challenges-of-running-an-open-source-company

2024-04-24 09:42:22

https://i.nostr.build/oMw45.jpg
Some quick concept explorations with @npub1u2j…50au around beefing up the visual expression of @npub1mut…23vg. Would you use it?

2024-04-22 10:40:24

Nice to see another accessibility improvement merged in Blue Wallet. This one is around QR codes. https://github.com/BlueWallet/BlueWallet/issues/5388

2024-04-11 09:02:53

Another lovely update to the design docs, this one is a first draft for the snapshot (assumeUTXO) feature UX. https://bitcoincore.app/snapshot/

2024-04-10 06:07:07

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A ton of apps have built their own onboarding and key management approaches. Do you know if any specific best practices have crystallized that would be good to follow?

2024-04-09 13:08:30

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Thanks. I very intentionally designed it the way it is, in order to run several Nostr concepts past users, while never pressuring them into actually acting on them. So they at least have it in the back of their heads for the future.
If you look at the onboarding of something like iOS (https://static.lukew.com/ipad_start2014.png), you also go through tons of screens. Each one is focused on a single thing, and afterwards you're really well set up for your future use and don't really have to putz around with basic settings that much anymore.
I totally understand the desire to just cut everything and drop people directly into some UI, but I don't think we're always well served by that. All the social-media focused Nostr apps already do that. And then you have the problem of having to bring the basic concepts back up with users later, sometimes to their surprise.
With Nosta, my idea was to be upfront. Obviously debatable whether that's the best approach or not, and maybe the ideal is somewhere in the middle, but that was my thinking.
Also, I really need to find way more time to work on it (also, it's open-source, so contributions are welcome). So much to do there to make it better. Thanks your your comments, I will note them down and think about them more.

2024-03-18 08:20:39

Had a fantastic time at Advancing Bitcoin. Big thanks to the organizers. Super high signal with so many whip-smart and friendly people. Now, how do we make all this bleeding-edge tech easily usable...?

2024-03-13 21:40:57

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Yes, check it out here: https://www.summerofbitcoin.org

2024-03-13 21:40:39

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A summer program for students to contribute to open-source bitcoin projects. Mostly about development, but also some design and other contributions. https://www.summerofbitcoin.org

2024-03-13 16:51:53

I'd love to see more designers help mentor in the Summer of Bitcoin program. Happy to answer questions if this sounds remotely interesting.

2024-03-13 14:04:08

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Huge thanks. I am at a conference the rest of the week but will take a very close look. The design is months ahead of development for most things related to the wallet. So we have room for refinement. It's also a reason why I am working on the web prototype, so we can get a more realistic feel for the experience will be. Also agree with your last point. We'll give it our best shot and expect iteration via feedback and testing.

2024-03-13 08:13:02

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It is linked directly from the top of that link above. There's also a link to a web prototype that is a decent rendition of what is being built. And you can download the first version of the app that only has the node functiontionality (desktop & Android). Everything is in motion. https://www.figma.com/file/ek8w3n3upbluw5UL2lGhRx/Bitcoin-Core-App-Design?node-id=616%3A0

2024-03-13 06:01:51

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Working on it. Wanna help? https://bitcoincore.app/

2024-03-11 07:19:19

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Could the first one ("no censorship...") be re-worded to a positive statement? Something like "An account that's really yours" or so? It describes things that don't exist on Nostr, but then what does exist on Nostr and how is it helpful?

2024-03-01 16:03:44

My weekly open-source work update is out with video ramblings on human-readable addresses and assumeUTXO. https://gbks.substack.com/p/90-01100010-01101001

2024-02-27 07:27:08

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Yes, it takes a while to find your groove. I really dislike Tailwind. I understand the intent of attaching style on a component-level directly in the markup and how that can be helpful for larger teams/projects. But it is just so ugly and hard to read. Just feels like it's an abstraction layer for people who either dislike CSS or don't want to properly learn it. And why not use CSS directly instead of a slightly different vocabulary for it that is much harder to read? A nice separation between structure, style, and function is so clean, and frameworks like Vue also provide nice encapsulation.
/End of rant and for anyone who loves Tailwind, that's great for you.

2024-02-23 09:34:43

People always complain about CSS, but I find it an elegant system. But, it takes a really long time to learn to use it well.

2024-02-18 14:37:39

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Nosta gets most traffic from the US (108K page views), then Singapore, Hong Kong, France, UK, Germany, Finland. Pretty random. Why did you remove the analytics?

2024-02-16 08:43:28

Have not had the time recently to work on Nosta because I am so swamped. There's a long list of things I'd love to add and improve, I'll have to find some time to squeeze that in.
I deploy the site with Netlify and it told me a few days ago that I reached the limit of the free tier for cloud functions (or something like that). I have not had any tracking on the site, but wanted to get a sense for what's happening so I can take appropriate measures. So I enabled Netlify metrics (server-side and GDPR compliant).
It backfilled the last 30 days, which shows 178,000 page views by 8,100 unique users. A bunch of that is probably bots (e.g. 98 page requests for /wp-login.php), the analytics are not good enough to tell how much.
I have no sense how to place those numbers in the context of the Nostr ecosystem, but it's super cool that the site is being used. It can be so much better and more useful, too. If you run a Nostr site/service, what do you see?
And what is everyone's perception of privacy-respecting tracking services like Umami? I'm considering implementing it and making the dashboard public.

2024-02-08 16:55:35

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These default customer support channels are just not built for this type of request. Maybe call their phone hotline and ask for an escalation due to a security issue?

2024-02-08 13:56:56

The future of bitcoin UX once the AIs replace designers.
https://i.nostr.build/nl6a.jpg

2024-02-02 09:22:10

https://i.nostr.build/qAwn.jpg
Saving Satoshi chapter 6 is now live. In this one, you learn how to write Javascript or Python to construct bitcoin transactions. Story-wise, you're scheming to find out what really motivates your nemesis Vanderpoole.
https://savingsatoshi.com
https://i.nostr.build/LA0M.jpg
If you give it a whirl, we love hearing feedback.
@npub1vy6…27hr

2024-01-31 13:31:14

We refreshed the website of the Bitcoin Design Foundation (we only had a placeholder previously). Let me know what you think. https://bitcoindesignfoundation.org

2024-01-26 16:08:06

Weekly update time. Quite a bit going on in @npub13s5…l03e and the projects I'm helping out with. https://gbks.substack.com/p/86-200x

2024-01-19 16:09:24

My latest weekly update with design stuff I worked on this week. https://gbks.substack.com/p/85-treeception

2024-01-12 12:38:30

We have a Bitcoin Design huddle coming up in a bit over an hour. I'll probably work on diagrams to illustrate different key management setups. https://github.com/BitcoinDesign/Meta/issues/609

2024-01-08 11:41:24

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Is this basically inscriptions on Nostr?

2023-12-18 08:52:50

https://i.nostr.build/R6zq.jpg
Happy HODL day. 10 years ago today, a drunk forum user unintentionally coined this abbreviation in this post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375643.0

2023-12-14 12:56:23

If I adopt the projects I reviewed, I can earn sats by streaming video, going to restaurants and sharing links, and convert them to synthetic stablecoins and Ecash for coinjoin payments to AI to help code Miniscript, transcribe videos, and organize my japanese bitcoin community.
A glorious potential future to behold. But seriously, lots of interesting explorations and capabilities in those projects (and I only looked at a fraction). https://bolt.fun/tournaments/legends-of-lightning-vol2/projects

2023-12-14 12:00:07

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You know which foundation is even better? https://opencollective.com/bitcoin-design-foundation
Agreed. I got lost during season 1. Second one was great.

2023-12-14 08:02:52

Reviewing Legends of Lightning hackathon projects right now. Tons of great work there, congrats to all the participants. Make sure to take a look and support your fellow builders. A little bit of feedback can go a long way. @npub1fun…gs0p https://bolt.fun/tournaments/legends-of-lightning-vol2/projects

2023-12-12 15:19:16

Listen to Jonas, @npub1shh…56zk and I talk about @npub1vy6…27hr
and @npub1fun…gs0p for an intense 54 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4EA3auDtII

2023-12-12 09:16:08

We put together a teaser and demo video for our submission of
@npub1vy6…27hr to the @npub1fun…gs0p Legends of Lightning hackathon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW6tmJMNc5g
Can't believe the project is already a year old. We have a great team working on it and making good progress with the lesson content. Also, we're just hackathoning for fun and glory and not competing for prizes.
Congrats to all the other teams that participated and put their hearts and minds into their projects. You can check them out here:
https://bolt.fun/tournaments/legends-of-lightning-vol2/projects

2023-12-08 09:40:34

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Yeah, half of Figma design system features are off-limits these days because there are no reasonable pricing options. I built some handy tools for myself with the UI Kit plugin. Maybe what you're looking for can also be easily hand-coded?

2023-12-08 09:32:56

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Which feature?

2023-12-07 12:07:31

Just submitted a talk proposal for FOSDEM about open-source design and sustainability in @npub13s5…l03e. Proposals are due tomorrow if you'd also like to present something. https://opensourcedesign.net/2023/11/14/fosdem-cfp-2024