Some interesting points about this topic are made by @LynAldenContact in lynalden.com/proof-of-stake/. Going to summarize a few of my takeaways RE the question of blockchains as political systems 1/
One of the points Lyn makes and which I got in the replies is that blockchains are more of a market-choice system
1) users choose which chains to use, 2) users choose which forks to use (which is kind of the same thing as which chain), 3) users choose which software to use
2/
Jan 7, 2022 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
This is something Ive been stewing on for years; heres my latest attempt and Id like to hear thoughts
A blockchain is a political system for operating a shared dataset which is constitutional (operation constrained by rules) and legislative (operation changes by rule change). 1/
Decentralized consensus is generally the mechanism for upholding the active ruleset. Because it's difficult to assert a new state that differs from the majority of other miners' expectations, the miners operating the network are bound to the rules. Thus: "constitutional." 2/
Nov 30, 2021 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
I've been kindly asked to participate in this panel and to do a quick 🧵 on the topic.
So: Who's got my data? Let's look at how a decentralized Twitter might use distributed data networks such as @HypercoreProto or @IPFS 🧵🧵🧵👇
P2P, distributed data networks like Hypercore and IPFS are basically BitTorrent variants
The whole idea is you can share files, databases, and logs using 1) a cryptographic URL, and 2) bandwidth-sharing, where downloaders can become seeders
Nov 29, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Nothing bad ever happens when you get an angle grinder involved, I assume as I watch my friend try to get through a lock that he lost the key to
This is a lock on the hitch of a car. Will he
This gets into the weeds a bit, but for anybody following the ecosystem, here are some bits that you might find interesting:
In the past, Hypercore has used a daemon called "hyperspace." This was used to centralize all the data and networking logic, which apps would then share.
Well: It looks like that won't be necessary anymore! Apps can just run Hypercore and its network themselves.
Jun 19, 2021 • 25 tweets • 4 min read
How could Clubhouse turn around its growth trajectory?
I'm not much for analysis threads but I've been following this closely and I'm curious about how new networks can (or can't) challenge the incumbents.
I'm going to push through feeling self conscious about doing this thread and just share. I hope you find it interesting!
Jun 19, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
How many of y’all own a Roku or use their software? I’ve never seen it personally but it dominates the market (at least in 2019) by a significant margin
Just look at these datas
Jan 25, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
So the way this is shaking out in terms of information flows is:
For instance, if I’m on server1 and I follow bob@server2, I’ll see comments and notifications from server1 and from bob@server2 but nothing else from server2
Jan 10, 2021 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Yo, decentralizers. If our projects are ONLY about censorship resistance and NOT about better algorithms for elevating truth, and NOT about creating constrained but real powers of moderation, then we're making things worse. 1/n
It kills me, absolutely kills me, that after years of decentralization advocacy it's a moment like this when all the dweb projects pop up on HN and social media. The interest popped -- not when truth became inconvenient for corporate power, but when lies did.
Sep 24, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
P2P anchors around removing ops and creating a network for streaming databases
As a developer, there's a clear upside in zero ops, app interop, and easy forking. As a consumer, there's an opportunity for push-button self-hosting which isn't only a private island (but can be)
P2P is basically a counter-SaaS technology
If you want networked software that doesn't require the software-authors to maintain the servers and databases, you need to automate the stack as much as possible.
Sep 21, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Working on some developer tooling for hyper:// in @BeakerBrowser
The "files" view indicates which files are locally cached. The "cores" view includes basic info, a view of the blocks & highlights the locally-cached ones, and logs of events (peer connect/disconnect, block downloaded, etc)
Aug 21, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The search for an idea content format in beaker...
Markdown without HTML ⇢ very constrained rich-text format that renders predictably in many contexts
Markdown with HTML ⇢ very extensible format which enables users to introduce tools like transclusion and dynamic queries
meant to say ideal but idea too
coincidentally, two good band names
Pick your band name
Jul 14, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
This one might be controversial! We're adding an API to Beaker for panes to drive each other (with permission). This enables apps which extend/interact with other open pages.
(You'll have to maximize this gif to see it, if twitter screws it up I'll delete and repost)
The obvious usecase is what we do with our editor: it attaches to an active pane so that you can edit its content and have the page live-reload as you work.
What are some other possible usecases?...
Jul 12, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Yan’s argument is interesting but I think this is something we have to do. The web’s either an apps platform or it’s not. (thread)
AFAICT Google’s AMP project is an attempt to specialize more for browsing while Fugu is an attempt to specialize for apps.
Jun 28, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Okay no promises but probably @BeakerBrowser
team has been talking for a while about this, we wanted to replace the "sidebar" mechanic with something more elegant which allows userland apps. Also we're a bunch of nerds that like tiling WMs
Jun 20, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I needed a hyper:// search engine so
It stands for Where To Find, obviously
May 30, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
The last four years of neglect, stupidity, and cruelty was directed with intention at this country.
The failure to hold police accountable is the story of holding no one in power to account; it’s the story of willful hate and neglect toward each citizen, not just at a few of us.
There were so many opportunities to bring this administration into order, and each time we were told we were wrong on the details, wrong on the importance of the misconduct, or wrong to care at all.
Each time it was a message: “you do not matter to us.” This is EVERYONE’S story.
May 14, 2020 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Maf did a tweet thread about some of the tech in here, but I wanted to share a 🧵 about the performance of Hyperdrive... ⬇️
Hyperdrive is built on (signed) append-only logs, which are a data structure that I've been working with for 8 years (since starting with SSB).
Apr 23, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Trying an experiment. Iframed HTML on the beaker feed:
Security-wise...
User has to click to run.
Iframe uses the `csp` attribute to disable requests outside of its own origin, and the assets only come from the posting hyper:// drive.
Iframe uses the `sandbox` attribute to disable popups and etc
Apr 21, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Feedback on the menubar was very mixed so I moved the menu items into the hamburger.
I've got the old menubar code gated behind a boolean so I can make it configurable. If anybody still wants it, lmk, I can make it toggleable. It would be a toolbar option along with the "editor | explore files | terminal" buttons and (eventually) toolbar bookmarks
