Bitcoin Forum

Hi,

I made a site for collecting donations for all the awesome linux projects, and it is accepting Bitcoin.

EDIT: (domain changed from online-tipjar.com to propster.me)

http://www.propster.me/

Your bitcoin donations will help introduce these projects and others to Bitcoin, and improve the bitcoin ecosystem.

Boris

Great idea!

They should totally have their own bitcoin addresses published.



I see no point in having a third party in between - it just makes it more risky.

Do you see a point in eWallet ?

Presumably, you've contacted these projects to get their permission? What has been their response? Why don't they post their own addresses?

sometimes people are just stupid, and don't know what they are talking about...

GIMP, GCC, and mplayer, is NOT "linux" project, they are OPENSOURCE PROJECTS. GIMP and GCC, are gnu projects. and mplayer is independent(i think...). but they are not linux projects!

i am a huge fan of linux, gnu and opensource in general. but you are a incompetent noob, who don't understand a single thing that happens around you.

EDIT: ...and you is likely to be a scammer too, asking for donations on others behalf.

I'm all for supporting open source project by donations, but if you want people to give you money you should also give them a reason to trust you. neither you post nor your sites faq reflect this so perhaps you should work on that.

Lazy scam is lazy.

Well, I contacted Richard Stallman, and FSF approved it. Even put a link on their donation page.

https://my.fsf.org/donate/other/

has a link to:

http://www.online-tipjar.com/tipjar/free_software_foundation_1

Btw, I think FSF added Bitcoin to their donation page as a result of my communication, since I had to explain to Stallman about it. I think he passed the word on to the site admins on that too, and they added it.  It was during the same time of my communication (which was about two months long).

---

For the rest of the organization, I figured like this: The moment I get more than say, $10 in donations for an account, I will contact those people and make sure they are signed up to give it to them.  It is a much more convincing argument to get people to put a tip jar on my site, if there is already money coming into it.  I will add this bit into the FAQ.

--

What would you like to see in a Tip Jar system ?

--

What do you think about this idea: a mapping between identities and their tip jar accounts (be it Flattr, mine, Youtipit, or even Dwolla).  So you will know to go to this one site to figure out how to give a tip to someone. Something like an "Author database" for all content.  I think there are many people online that do good stuff, but don't know that they can receive money for that, so I want to give people a way to start a tip jar for them, and share with the community.

As for trust, I am willing to take as an Auditor one or two people from this community -- I will give access to the server, so they can inspect it on regular basis. Must be one of the regulars on this forum, who have shown they care about the bitcoin community.

So, Boris Reitman, you claim this is a startup company from Israel. And, according to your website, it is based completely on the idea that we trust a random person on the internet to deliver funds to organizations who are perfectly capable of asking for donations themselves? And you only re-register your site for one year at a time? And you haven't even gotten your site verified with a Class 3 certificate in order to verify your identity?

Based on the above there is a 90% chance this is a scam and a 10% chance you are some guy with good intentions who executed this poorly. I HIGHLY recommend this thread pointing to a very obvious scam be deleted and this user's account suspended... I guess this kind of thing is why the newbies forum exists. Oh wait, you are more than a newbie member. Are newbies easier targets?

I apologize if you fall under that 10% chance. If you do, there are a LOT of things that need to be done for you to be trustworthy.

BTW, cool that you went so far as to sacrifice some of your funds in order to look more legit.

If you are that 10% chance, your business model is flawed. No one can trust you. You could make yourself even more legit than you look now, be virtually legit but still take a 90% or upwards cut for personal profit...

Hi,


I don't register domain for a long time, since I may change the name of the site. It is a temporary name since I couldn't think of a better one.  Well, now I am changing the site from "Online-TipJar" to Propster.  In general, I don't register for a long time, because I don't know if the service will fly.

As for class 3 certificate, I could get it, but you said it yourself, that I could still be a scammer with a class 3 certificate. It really doesn't prove anything, unless I am a registered company. But even so, an Ltd company can declare bankrupt and have no responsibility. Finally, the govt is the biggest scammer, printing money and by that, stealing from your bank account. And they have all the certificates.

Therefore, forget about 3 class cerfiticates -- the real assurance is word of mouth, and a working product.

Why do you trust other bitcoin services such as First Pirate Savings Bank ?  or Silk Road ?

I have created a tool for the community, and the only way to gain trust, is to show that it works in action. Once money starts flowing through the system, receivers of tips will corroborate that they received everything to the penny.

I am adding a feature now to push all events onto a twitter stream. It would be possible to verify all transactions this way.

>> it is based completely on the idea that we trust a random person on the internet to deliver funds to organizations who are perfectly capable of asking for donations themselves?

Sure people can collect donations directly, and they do. But there is a reason for services like mine, Flattr, and Youtipit. And people on this forum has been asking for such a service. 

Finally, if you are so keen, a simple google search will find my resume and give you all my work history etc. :)

- Boris Reitman (aka frisco2)

I would have done this completely differently. Well, different in two major aspects:

1. Don't require people to log in to donate. For every cause post a Bitcoin address, whatever goes to this address is added to the jar.

2. Don't require organizations to sign up to your service. Whenever there is enough in the jar, donate using their regular options (converting to USD as necessary), and add a note that the funds were collected by Propster using Bitcoin. With time you will be in a better position to convince organizations to add Propster as a formal option.

If there are funds in a jar and for a long time and they don't accumulate to an amount that is worth handling, move the funds to the jar of a similar project (preferably, note for each cause what will be its fallback cause).

Meni: I will add this kind of option, thank you for your suggestion. I will post here once this is ready. 

The login was though off for the non-bitcoin users, since they can't make small donations.  But I will create instant tipjars, in the spirit of InstaWallet, and publish bitcoin address on the page. Anyone would be able to donate to this address directly and see the balance. Once the tipjar is claimed, however, the owner will have to announce it on his site, and will have an option to make the total balance in the account private. Right now, I only have one such claimed account, Free Software Foundation.

I have also changed the About Us page to include information about me.

http://www.online-tipjar.com/content/about_us.html

You will also see that my CV says that I am the creator of online-tipjar.com. This CV is cached by google as well as many recruiters and job sites that have my CV.

Hello everyone,


I have made the changes suggested by Meni.  Now you can give anonymous bitcoin donations, and I will deliver them to each project using their regular means. All the changes are documented here:

https://propster.hypervolume.com/content/news.html

Please note that the domain changed from Online-TipJar.com to Propster.hypervolume.com. It will be eventually Propster.bit.

I also addressed some concerns about trust issues. Already some time ago, I posted my resume on the About Us page. As well, I address trust concerns on the FAQ page.


Finally, about Class-1 certificate criticism.  I am working now on setting up Propster.bit domain and will get a Class-2 certificate for it.

1. Props to you for the project, it's a great idea and I hope it goes well.
2. Your "News (https://propster.hypervolume.com/content/news.html)" page shows a date from 2010 ... give a feeling of a dead, stagnating project. Should be fixed ASAP.
3. How creating a Twitter account where you'll automatically post new projects that people create? Should be easy enough to implement.
4. The list of Tip Jars should include how much BTC was donated/claimed.
5. I get that you want to use Propster.bit, but I think you should also support a normal, something.org domain. The current setup (https://propster.hypervolume.com/) feels unprofessional, or just not ready yet ...
6. I guess you're aware of this, but in any case, I got SSL warnings when browsing some of the pages ... and I needed to re-login.
7. I would add a UserVoice or other feedback widget.
8. The help tooltip for status doesn't explain the status "escrow". E.g. LiteCoin (https://propster.hypervolume.com/tipjar/0C7BINK) is in escrow status, but only "new" and "verified" are explained in the tooltip.

Hoping to see this take off, will follow on. Also, consider opening a Twitter feed where you post status updates, or a blog (as opposed to the automatic Twitter feed I suggested above).

Thanks for your feedback, many of your proposed changes are already in the works (twitter for example). I will update this thread.

sorry but your project is lame... and even if well-intentioned one has no business collecting anything on "behalf" of a third party. Please figure out a way to shut this down gracefully.

also there is already flattr

Hello Jixapori

Propster is not lame, because Flattr is not lame.  And, Flattr is not lame because people use it. I'm cloning Flattr, with perhaps extra features for Bitcoin community, and some more original ideas as they come up.

The goal is to allow people to make money *not through ads*. For example, I may have a great blog, with 1000 people who enjoy reading it every month. These people don't click on ads, and don't care about them. Even if they did, I wouldn't make much off of those ads -- 1000 people is not that much.  But, if those 1000 had an opportunity to give me 10 cents each, it would amount to $100 which is already something.  Have you read my "How it Works" page ? I have a bit about motivation and psychology there.

In the long run, my vision is that you could give props to any content on the net, even some comment in some forum.

Also, please note that I am not doing anything morally wrong. For example, say you worked in a company and decided to collect money for Katrina relief.  You would go around with a hat and collect it, then send it off in one chunk. It is true that each individual could have done it themselves, but by you being the middle man, you make it actually happen. The same essential example can be seen on a bigger scale in charity events, where a table costs 1500$.  The organizers make it actually happen.

However, the major difference between projects on Propster and charity is that the former don't need no help to survive.  But they would like to see some kind of "thank you".  What better way is there to say thank you, than with putting money where your mouth is.

BTW, something with the login system is broken. I logged in 3-4 times with Google, and it seems to have created a new account each time.

Also, I tried to create an account using "use Propster account" instead of a 3rd party login, and couldn't find where to create the account ... all I saw is the login form.

Hello Ripper,

You are right, the login was confusing -- I removed the second option, and just left the 3rd party login.

I tested it now with a brand new openid with 3rd party login, and it worked for me.  Which provider are you using ?  I use http://www.myopenid.com for testing. The first time you try to sign-in, it will tell you that it is about to create an account for you. Afterwards, it doesn't ask you that anymore, and you should end up straight in the dashboard.

Also, I added UserVoice feedback (thanks for the tip). It is at the bottom right corner, in all the pages, except the splash page.  You can use it to leave feedback, if you want.

I used Google login. It just prompts me to create an account each time.

I submitted a few items to UserVoice.

Ripper: I added two twitter streams @PropsterTeam and @PropsterBot as you suggested, and changed domain name to propster.me.

https://propster.me/content/news.html

More stuff coming.

Awesome

You should be good now. If not, I enabled a lot of logging, and I will be able to see what's the problem.

Resolved, thanks for fixing.

Now you can embed a tip jar on your website, and you will have a popup like this one.  Check out the API at: https://propster.me/content/api.html

http://cdn.propster.me/images/screenshots/tipjar_popup.png

Nice!

Perhaps you should change the name of the thread, btw, to include Propster / Propster.me ?

BTW, props I've given last month weren't converted to Bitcoin for some reason (I sent you a tweet about it a couple of days ago).

You should change your Currency setting from "USD" to Bitcoin, in your dashboard. Since you only have Bitcoin in the account, and not USD, none of your tips went out.

This experience can be improved.
Suppose I really want to give out the Bitcoin-equivalent of $1 every month. I don't want to chase exchange rates and tweak the setting every month.

Can't you just calculate what's the BTC equivalent of $1, and use this money from my account every month?

I was thinking of something simpler:  if you have only BTC in your account, but selected USD in monthly setting, I will automatically switch it to BTC. And vice versa.

The way you suggest is also possible, but I am afraid that this is going to complicate the work of the admin too much, and I am not sure how many people would find this auto-conversion feature valuable. As I see it, there are only two options. 

- User didn't choose a correct monthly currency by mistake
- Or, he is very particular about his monthly currency, and wants people to receive it. (He wants people to receive bitcoin)

Third option:
 - User is used to thinking in USD, and the amount of monthly donation he wants to make is best expressed in USD, even though the money supply he has on Propster is in BTC.

Automatic switching doesn't sound like a good idea.

Why would my suggestion complicated the admin? This can all be done automatically (find the rate via Mt. Gox API).

Ok, then, I could add this feature with a configurable "autoconvert" checkbox. Several people on the forum said that they would not want BTC to be auto-converted to USD, because they want recipients to learn to deal with Bitcoin.

You miss my point.

I don't want the funds to be converted ... I want the recipients to learn to deal with Bitcoins as well.

What I want is just to automatically calculate a BTC amount based on the USD-BTC rate.

Example:

I hate 1 BTC in my account, and I set my monthly donation to $1.
July 1st, 1 BTC = $5, so $1 = 0.2 BTC. 0.2 BTC is deducted from my balance and sent as donation, split between my props.

August 1st, 1 BTC drops to be worth $2 on GLBSE. So, $1 = 0.5 BTC. I have 0.7 in my balance, and now 0.5 BTC is removed and split between my donations.

Sep 1, 1 BTC = $100 :) So my monthly deduction now becomes only 0.01 BTC. At no point in this process is BTC actually converted to USD ... the Mt. Gox rate is just used to calculate the BTC amount.

Also, I'd like to report a bug: I changed 1 USD to 0.2 BTC in my settings today, after giving props to this cool project (I created the tipjar) (https://propster.me/tipjar/0c81fjm#.T82vxtUthKI). My dashboard says 0.2 USD instead of 0.2 BTC in the amount next to this project. This is the only project I've given props to this month.

Another bug I opened a few days ago: https://propster.uservoice.com/forums/163189-general/suggestions/2899137-fix-bug-i-don-t-claim-to-own-this-tip-jar

One last thing for now - I added this feature request (http://propster.uservoice.com/forums/163189-general/suggestions/2903558-welcome-to-propster-for-new-users) about welcome notifications, it could be super helpful to new users.

Do you get an email whenever someone posts to User Voice?
For some reason I don't emails when you reply.

That is a great idea, thank you !

I see all your comments on UserVoice. I will work on them today (the popup kept me busy over the weekend).

Cheers.

Wow, I must have not really woken up yet:

New Feature!  I added a StumbleUpon-like style of viewing any website, with a Tip Jar toolbar slapped on top.

https://propster.me/preview/0c7sve2
http://cdn.propster.me/images/screenshots/propster_toolbar.png

Good direction, but I won't use it .. takes too much screen space.
Is a Chrome extension coming soon? (You can outsource writing it if you want)

I really like the pace at which you're making progress.

I added this mode for this reason: suppose you want to share both the tipjar and what it's for. If you just share a tip jar page, then some people may not get that they have to go and visit the homepage of the subject. So you would have to email two links , the project and the tipjar. With the preview feature (toolbar) you can just send that one link.

Thank you for the compliment.

I have a Firefox extension ready to go. But I want to make it more powerful. I will post tomorrow on that.

Maybe I misunderstood.

I meant that I won't install a toolbar that adds Propster to any site I visit.
The ability to send direct links to 3rd party website, with a propster bar above is awesome though, I can see that used.

BTW, any particular reason why Propster isn't open source?

I do not see a point in open sourcing it since it is not deigned to run in multiple server installation. However, the technology upon which it is built is open sourced, and it is called Pliant. I am using the lessons learned on this project to build a skeleton boilerplate for a sample pliant application.

The other reason is that open source is not a necessary condition for software, in my mind. I do not agree with Stallman that software can not be obfuscated. OSS is a feature that is good sometimes to have. In particular, I would like to keep the ownership of Propster full code. However if someone wants to join he effort, I can discuss it. I believe a good place for OSS in Propster is plugins for talking to third party services, via JavaScript.

Of course it is not necessary, it's a nice to have property in web projects.
Is Propster a for-profit effort? I know you're not charging fees, but do you have another business model?
If it is not for-profit, I don't understand the reason for not open sourcing.

The business model is that Propster will make money
from donation in tip jar. I have a few more ideas with affiliate marketing which I may ad later -- namely, you buy a product via propster and get part of my affiliate commission as credit in your account for tipping  (propster keeps the remaining part). Finally, I am considering registering a charity component so that people could donate their old car for example and get a tax refundable receipt.

But the simple reason I don't open source it is that I don't want to spent time building out the site, and have someone else run a copy of it. the profit fact is irrelevant. For example, say github makes a copy of their site available. someone will run their own version of github under a new domain ?

Open source makes sense for products like Gcc or Drupal, not services like Wikipedia.

bad example, since MediaWiki is open source, and it's a very good thing that it is.

MediaWiki is not wikipedia, it is a wiki solution. Anyways, the point is moot, I'm not releasing the website code, for the simple reason that I don't want to.  People could write plugins against an API, here I have no problem with.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't saying you ought to release it, just inquiring why don't you.

No offence taken.

Update: I modified the tip jar preview page to look more like a preview than a full site with a toolbar.

http://cdn.propster.me/images/screenshots/new_preview.png

Otherwise it looks too much like some kind of hack and can freak people out, especially since money is involved.

Just launched a new sister site to Propster, called Booster.  It implements the idea suggested by Ripper234 -- create a bounty jar to collect money for a certain task.

https://booster.io

This is now implemented, thanks for the idea. The BTC rate is updated from MtGox "high".

In addition, there is a button to force month end.  This is useful if you don't want to wait for the whole month to split your monthly allocation and deliver the tips, but want it now. So if you want, you could always give a few tips, and go to press that button. If the button is not pressed, it is automatically "pressed" for you every beginning of the month.

Before button is pressed:
http://cdn.propster.me/screenshots/split_the_pie/before.png

After button is pressed:
http://cdn.propster.me/screenshots/split_the_pie/after.png

The four pending tips went from status "wait" to "delivered" (not shown in screenshot)

+1, good idea.

Button with a balloon on top.  https://propster.me/content/api.html (https://propster.me/content/api.html)

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/screenshot_icons.png

I wonder if there should be one button design like with Flattr/Youtipit/Facebook/G+, or many different pictures like it is setup now. I am inclined with the current setup, since a picture speaks a thousand words, and different blog writers may want to put a different kind of button. For example, I think sometimes "virtual gift" is more appropriate than a "tip jar".  And for coders & tech blogs, probably "buy me a beer" is more appropriate & funky than the other two. I am also thinking of adding a "pig" jar and a button with a bitcoin logo visible on it.

Submissions of designs are welcome.

Alright, I have received a request from Tny.im for an actual "button" button.  Here's how it looks:

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/propster_button.png

Details are on the API page.

It is already live at http://tny.im/

Looks awesome.

This (API + website) must remember me and not ask me to login every single time I connect to it.
I have multiple google accounts, maybe this is why I'm being asked to login all the time?
Or is Remember Me just not implemented yet?

BTW, consider release/maintaining a list of websites that embed your site - I'm very much interested in this list.

The Remember Me feature is not available yet, however, I have that code ready, and I just need to integrate it. Thank you for opening a ticket for it on UserVoice. I'm gonna get to all them.

If you login using different Google accounts, you essentially are seen as different users. Joining accounts is supported through direct request to me (email).

I am planning to generate such list by cataloging REFERRER headers and automatically updating info on every tip jar where it is placed. Then it would be a simple matter to show tip jar that have that data available.

Just to clarify - I don't login to Propster via different accounts, I am asked to choose between my 2 Google accounts, and I always choose the same one. I'll be patient :)

I had this idea this morning, want to run by you:

Suppose that in addition (or instead) of giving money as it is implemented now, I give vouchers. My vouchers are tagged with my name.  So I could give two frisco-vounchers to VIM, and three more to GCC. Then, you could give one ripper-voucher to VIM and two ripper-vouchers to GCC.  Now, VIM has three vouchers, two from me, and one from you. GCC has three from me, and two from you. Think of each voucher as a channel or bucket. Say I commit $5 to fund my vouchers. This means that VIM will get $2 of that, and GCC will get $3 of that.  You commit $3 dollars, thus, it is divided so that VIM will get $1, and GCC will get $2.

With me so far ? Now, there can be four classes of vouchers corresponding to how much you like a project. For example, they can be called:
[ awesome (1), game changers (2), blows my mind (3), changed my life (4)].   Now, I can give to VIM 4-level vouchers, and to GCC 1-level vouchers. Then VIM will get money from me in a corresponding proportion. The distribution is [ 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% ].  This means that if I commit $10 and I gave 1 voucher of each type, my $10 dollars will be distributed according to $1, $2, $3, and $4 into each channel.

Is there a monthly cycle ? The system could work without one. Simply when you add money it is distributed among all the vouchers. Vouchers could automatically be revoked or made inactive if a certain project receives enough money from you, say $5.  So the vouchers represent a bucket queue where you put a little bit of money.

Essentially, then, a voucher is a "Like" and a channel to put money into your Like afterwards.

Why is it possibly better than how it is now ? Because the psychology of money spending is very complex, and this creates a kind of detachment between the act of clicking Props with the act of contributing money.

Interesting.

I've been thinking for some time on how to avoid / fix the monthly cycle.
Today, if I give props to someone, they get money at the end of the month, but only once, right?
I like the idea of giving a prepetual channel of money to someone, and have it by rating (maybe you need 5 levels though ... a lot of ranking systems use 5 levels / stars).
I also wouldn't call it vouchers, perhaps just change the way props work and call this new mechanism "props".
Each prop entitles its owner to a monthly donation.

I think it's good to have a monthly cycle in some sense, it makes accounting easier ... I would just change the "one off" behavior.

Yes, right now, it is happening only once.


I want to keep both models side by side, because, Flattr shown that his model works. The Props/Vouchers/Channels will have to be an additional currency kind of thing.

Btw, I have added embed code for a button with tooltip:

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/button_with_tooltip.png

Thanks for Tny.im guy for the idea.

Request: A bookmarklet. This is a button I would add to my browser that when clicked creates a tipjar or bounty for the current site. http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2010/05/23/make-your-own-bookmarklets-with-jquery/ (http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2010/05/23/make-your-own-bookmarklets-with-jquery/)

For example here is reddit bookmarklets http://www.reddit.com/bookmarklets/

This creates the functionality of propster or booster.io inside the browser.


I would keep the money from any tips in a low interest account for them untill the time comes for them to claim it so there is even more tip there for them when they eventually do claim it.

Bitcoin.me -- I posted your idea is a ticket on propster.uservoice.com (the Feedback window that you see on the Propster website)

I will do such a bookmarklet for you.

Ok, I have been thinking more about the terminology on how to present it, and I came up with two concepts: "tokens" and "subscriptions".  With tokens, you go on different sites and leave your tokens there, on all the stuff that you like. Then the money you fund is delivered to the places where your tokens are found. This is fairly simple to explain. Then tokens also can expire when $5 were delivered on the location.

Alternatively, "subscription" is interesting as well. This is actually a whole new concept of "voluntary subscriptions". Many sites have subscription based business, others are free. This will allow people who value the free site, instead of giving a "donation" (a word I don't like because it makes the recipient look miserable), or "props" which has a 1-time feel to it, to volutarily subscribe to a website at the amount that they feel comportable with.  The whole thing could be called "Propster Subscriptions", or "Propster Voluntary Subscriptions".

Also, the websites that will have a lot of voluntary subscriptions can decide to build their own subscription interface and move over those dedicated Propster subscribers. And in this case, Propster can provide a pluggable subscription platform like UserVoice does for feedback. 

This kind of subscription thing turns the whole donation concept upside down.

What do you think ?

I need to think about it some more ... I think tokens are preferable, subscription doesn't sound right ... but both actually sound somewhat less than perfect. I'm sure there is another term that beats both of these, I just haven't thought about it yet. Try posting a thread of reddit and ask people to come up with creative names.

BTW, I tried to claim the tip jar for BTCtoX (https://propster.me/tipjar/0c8wuyh), and got an error. This is the second time I've seen such an error when claiming a tip jar.

I found one problem. Try it again, please.

Claimed it .. now waiting for confirmation.

Done, it is yours now.

I have implemented a cool feature, a Twitter setting for users.   Now, when PropsterBot announces a prop activity, your twitter username will be mentioned. Ex:

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/twitter_example.png

The twitter setting is located in the new "Preferences" screen, along with Contact Email, and all the checkboxes.

Also, added a little wiki syntax, you can now put images into comments and description just like you do on this forum.

I can't connect to propster. Not sure what the problem is exactly.

This SSL error might or might not be related:

>wget propster.me
SYSTEM_WGETRC = c:/progra~1/wget/etc/wgetrc
syswgetrc = C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32/etc/wgetrc
--2012-07-04 22:14:13--  http://propster.me/
Resolving propster.me... 173.242.119.177
Connecting to propster.me|173.242.119.177|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: https://propster.me/ [following]
--2012-07-04 22:14:13--  https://propster.me/
Connecting to propster.me|173.242.119.177|:443... connected.
ERROR: cannot verify propster.me's certificate, issued by `/C=IL/O=StartCom Ltd./OU=Secure Digital C
ertificate Signing/CN=StartCom Class 1 Primary Intermediate Server CA':
  Unable to locally verify the issuer's authority.
ERROR: certificate common name `www.booster.io' doesn't match requested host name `propster.me'.
To connect to propster.me insecurely, use `--no-check-certificate'.
Unable to establish SSL connection.

>

On the day you tried, July 4, to load the Propster site, the server was indeed down. Now it is back up.

Btw, using wget won't work since propster relies on a modern browser to send correct SNI (Server-Name Indication) header, in order to identify the correct virtual host.  In your output it shows that wget doesn't send SNI header, therefore, the server loads the booster.io certificate.

A couple of questions and suggestions.

1.) When I was going to give a prop, I was assuming I would enter the amount to give.  Only after clicking the Give Prop button did I see that this goes Flattr-style where all the props are dropped into the monthly bucket and then divided equally on my next billing cycle. If

that were explained at the top of the response page after I click "Give Props", then I as a new user would understand the action that just happened.

2.) Adjustments to "Needs Funds" props.  As I am impatient and didn't want to wait until the end of the month, I clicked "Divide the pie now".  I ended up with some showing "Needs Funds" because I had a higher pie allocation than I had a balance.

I'm left with Props with the status "Needs Funds".  I might have wanted to reduce my monthly pie amount rather than end up with unpaid props.  As now, when I do add more funds they go to pay the props that had been at "needs funds" rather than all props equally like I was thinking it would.

3.) No Unprop for "In Progress" nor "Needs Funds". Are these props permanent now?   What if I changed my mind, or Propped the wrong entry before the billing cycle executes?  Can't I unprop?

4.) No explicit amount.
I'm wasn't a fan of Flattr because I didn't really want to Flattr evenly.  I get Flattr's logic -- they determined that the subscription model was all that would work for them.  Well, that's what might work for them but the subscription model sure didn't work for me and I quit using them after just one month.

So instead of me sporadically giving some blogger $2 after or whatever after a great read -- say once every other month or so, I now instead Flattr exactly $0.00, exactly zero times -- but I do this each and every month now!

So do the math. ... $0 per month from people like me when the approach is to force a subscription, or $1 per month average if you let the individual choose how much and when to Flattr.

Ok, .. so, what I'm asking is ... must you follow the same approach as Flattr, or can you at least give me the option to do a one-time prop where I set the amount and then click "Prop Once" or something like that?

I know I can send using the anonymous Prop bitcoin transaction, but hey -- maybe I feel good about myself when seeing my name appear, or whatever, and would like this one-time prop to appear just like all my other props are shown.

Is there a way to view, on site, what tip jars were actually claimed? (Individually + aggregate)
There should be.

In the meantime, could such a report be manually produced?

Bump. Publishing such a report is vital, otherwise Propster is just a black hole for Bitcoins.

Hi,

These are all good points and I will implement your requests.

Please note that I'm travelling until end of July, and my head is in the lala-land :)  Not much work has been done this month.  My trip finishes on August 1st, so I will be able to dig in then.

Boris

I just found out that the FAQ in Booster.io is different than Propster.me, and includes a 5% fee on bounties!


This was a big surprise for me, I assumed the terms are identical.
If this stays, I will not refer any people to use Booster.io.

I would like to receive a refund on the two bounties I opened on Booster.io.

maaku expressed a desire (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=93606.msg1063502#msg1063502) to get a refund on the 2.5 BTC he deposited into this jar (https://booster.io/tipjar/0cataqj). I will be managing this bounty myself (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=93606.msg1063576#msg1063576). Can you please refund maaku's Bitcoins as well, in addition to my own donations in Booster.io?

Hi Ripper,


I will return your money today.

If I increase the no fee amount from $10 to $100, would it make a difference to your decision ?

Boris

No, it will not, sorry.

Oh, and will you return maaku's funds as well?

Hi Ripper,

I have assigned both bounty jars to you. You can withdraw funds from there and send it to any bitcoin address. You can send money to maaku yourself. Is that ok with you?

Once you login, go to Transfer Tools, then Withdraw. In the drop down select the From account, and at the bottom of the screen, click on the show bitcoin transfer form button.

Let me know if you have problems with that, and I will assist further.

--

I am open to negotiation on the Booster pricing model, however, I will not make it a free service.

There are two relevant bounties. I don't understand how to withdraw funds from them:

 - https://booster.io/tipjar/0cataqj - Ultimate Blockchain Pruning
 - https://booster.io/tipjar/0c9zmrc -  A Distributed Database Based On Blockchain Technology

I see a Claim button on both of them.

Don't get me wrong, I think this kind of service is important.

I think that a 1% fee, capped by some amount, is more decent.
Perhaps you should create a poll about this.

Also, I would like to see some reports on how Propster is doing. Were bounties awarded? I know of at least one bounty that passed the target.

As long as you don't publish the efforts and advancements you've made in distributing the funds ... you're (perceived as) just another pirate.

All the best.

The screenshots below showing how to transfer funds are for Propster, however, the same screens can be found on Booster.  In your dropdown you will see the two Bounties.

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/transfer/transfer1.png

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/transfer/transfer2.png

Disregard the appearance of the Claim button on those bounties -- I will remove it shortly (gotta backport that code change from Propster to Booster).

- Bounties under $10 are free
- First 100 bounties that collect more than $10 are free (incentive for new bounties)
- Subsequent bounties that collect more than $10, are at 1% capped at $100.

In Jan 1, 2013 I may change these numbers for new bounties.

I will publish this info today.

EDIT:  The report can be found at this google doc, publicly accessible, and will be updated over time:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmTJIckYbv-jdHJyVkY0SlhoQlB3Ry1HazdTZ2VlclE

Thanks for the fee reduction, I think the above fee structure makes sense.
I will consider Booster.io for future bounties. I will keep the funds at https://booster.io/tipjar/0c9zmrc at Booster.io.


Thanks.
You should add this to the OP, and link to it from Prospter FAQ.

One caveat - it's a shame you can' t really post proofs of the donation made, and we have to take you up on your word. But ... I don't see an easy way out of this. With small amounts like these it doesn't really matter.

I have withdrawn maaku's funds, and will deliver them to him.


BTW, is there a way to cancel a pledge? I pledged to this tip jar, but currently have no funds, and the tip jar should be closed anyway - https://booster.io/tipjar/0cataqj
I see some pledges to dollar amounts from my account, I never intended to pledge dollar amounts.
I think that regardless of the pledged currency, if the pledge is greater than your current balance, you should alert the user that he needs to deposit more funds in order to meet the pledge.

You can cancel a tip/pledge that is in "wait" state, not "delivered" state.  In the Dashboard view there is a "Manage Pledges/Props" button.

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/cancel_pledge/pledges_you_gave.png

Clicking on the button takes you here:
http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/cancel_pledge/manage_pledges.png

Click the "+" button to expand, and then click the Cancel button.
http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/cancel_pledge/expand_pledge.png

The reason is probably that you had no money in your account, and end of month arrived -- the imaginary dollar (default monthly setting) was divided among the jars you gave to - and now have a bunch of waiting dollar tips. The reason I designed it this way is to allow people to click away on those pledge/props buttons and worry about the money later. I think a fix could be that if you load BTC, waiting USD are auto-converted to BTC. Did I explain it well ? What do you think?

I don't think auto-conversions are a good idea. Just follow the least-surprise principle - try not to surprise people.

Having your BTC automatically converted to USD, or the other way around, is surprising.
Donating, and finding out later that you didn't "really donate" because your account was empty, is surprising.

Just notify when the donation is made, that your account is empty.

Stephen,

I have opened two tickets related to your requests, which you may wish to track as well:

http://propster.uservoice.com/forums/163189-general/suggestions/3052358-allow-individual-tips-outside-of-the-pie-concept
http://propster.uservoice.com/forums/163189-general/suggestions/3052364-giving-props-process

You can now found the list of Claimed tip jars on this page, at the bottom:

https://propster.me/browse/main

I have implemented the ability of giving an explicit amount, rather than doing it Flattr style. 

On a tip jar of interest, click "Give Props",

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/give_props/give_props1.png

A window opens, with tip type "Automatic" as default (means Flattr style).

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/give_props/give_props2.png

Select "Amount" in a dropdown,

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/give_props/give_props3.png

Type amount that you want, and currency that you want:

http://objective.hypervolume.com/propster/screenshots/give_props/give_props4.png

If you have money in your account, the tip will be transferred immediately. Otherwise, it will be in wait state until you add enough money. Then it will be transferred until end of cycle happens, or you click "Divide the Pie" now (even though it is not coming from the pie, all the transfers are triggered then).

Had an idea, and opened a new thread for it:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99202.msg1085528#msg1085528

I will continue above thread here, since it is becoming a Propster feauture. I'm experimenting with the term "bitcookie".  It will be hosted here:

https://propster.me/bitcookie

I hope that google scans this forum and will pickup on the link.  I want it to come up first in google search.

If you like the idea, and have the ability to link to this page, that would be good and you will be thanked with a small tip, as described in this booster bounty, setup for this purpose:

https://booster.io/tipjar/0cbek5s

I'm presuming this is a single-use (first to claim) code?

Also, why does the recipient need to enter the URL?  How does it help, especially since the issuer knows where the code was displayed at?

Here's a slides presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1etTNRHiUHjRmOlpJoCRvqisG_GHJPXK5F1VtqCxmBfk&start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000#slide=id.p

Btw, I'm almost done with the implementation, and expect it live by Monday next week.

The code is not single use. That is the beauty of it. The same cookie can be given out many times.  The only reason to have more than one cookie per tipper is to allow the tipper to have different identities to remain unassociated on forums where he posts. For example, I'm frisco2 here, but on hacker news I'm boris007. If I don't want people to know that frisco2 = boris007, so I will use different cookie codes on these forums.

Also, the cookie code is not "first to claim", since it will approved only if claimed by the right person. Every re-claim must be re-approved on the same conditions.  For example, if I give a cookie to Bob for helping me, I will have to approve it when he claims it. If he wants to claim again, I will just not approve it (because it makes no sense).

The recipient must enter the url because I will require the recipient to post a thank you message there, and I'm gonna take a screenshot. You are right, it could be done the other way around, by requiring the tipper to get a new cookie for every url, but that is annoying. This way the tipper can just remember his 4 digit cookie code, and post whenever he feels an impulse to say thank you.

I hope I make myself clear. Just wait a bit until you can give the system a work out yourself.

I am happy to announce that the Bitcookie feature is implemented.

https://propster.me/static/tutorial/bitcookie/

Note that I have created a dummy forum where we can experiment with the feature, and flesh out the usability:

http://testing2718.freeforums.org/test-forum-1-f2.html

Tip: You can create dummy propster accounts by creating OpenIds at myopenid.com, and using them to log it to Propster.

I just searched google for "bitcookie" and Propster's bitcookie page is first match!  Still, if you like this feature, for SEO please link to "https://propster.me/bitcookie" with anchor tag "bitcookie".  The Google search engine must continue to identify this page as the one where bitcookies are redeemed.

Bitcookies for IRC:

Now you can thank someone for helping you on IRC:

https://propster.me/content/tutorial/bitcookie/irc.html

The bots are on Freenode and OFTC.

Boris

GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix!", now people are confusing it with linux(which is also not unix).

@Frisco2, you might want to consider updating the first post of this thread.  The thread started under a different title, before there was a Propster, and the links to the old site in that first post are no longer functional.

(Additionally, the FSF's page still shows the old URL, so perhaps you want to let them know about the Propster URL as the replacement.)

Thanks to whomever contributed anonymously on 2013-03-02! I just picked my account up again by vanity searching my handle.

-.0005 fee when I withdrew BTC0.05 around the time of opening the account (fair, considering the dust it swept up) https://www.biteasy.com/blockchain/transactions/8e5613b33c58060e7ab6cd01119fdfd2b58605653514c363c764bd5f9b3d0865
-.001 fee when I withdrew BTC0.125 just now (WTF? the 0.001 was taken by propster, didn't go to miners, and it was high enough priority for the free TX it was anyway) https://www.biteasy.com/blockchain/transactions/b9508ebdfa69f6fec80f079718731557ca1c7bda59064cf27f9de58172535bfc

https://propster.me/content/faq.html
"We don't have any fees"