Bitcoin Forum

Hey everyone, in preparation for my talk at KPMG (https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=8147.0) on Wednesday I've created a 3D globe showing Bitcoin nodes.

Link:

To view, you need a WebGL (http://learningwebgl.com/blog/?p=11) compatible browser. That is Firefox 4 or Chrome 9+ I think. Also your drivers etc all have to be in order. So for a lot of you this won't work. For the rest:

LAUNCH 3D GLOBE (http://www.weusecoins.com/globe-bitcoin/)


Credits:

• Idea: Mike Hearn
• Data: dump.bitcoin.it (http://dump.bitcoin.it/) (thanks to.. MagicalTux, I think?)
  
• Globe: Google (http://www.chromeexperiments.com/globe)
  
• Texture: Planet Earth Texture Map (http://planetpixelemporium.com/earth.html)
  

Screenshot (click to enlarge):

http://www.weusecoins.com/globe-bitcoin/screenshot_tb.jpg (http://www.weusecoins.com/globe-bitcoin/screenshot.jpg)


The globe shows the Bitcoin nodes by city. The height and color of the bars denotes the number of nodes from that city.

Source code (the part that I wrote) will be posted shortly.

Enjoy.  :)

i don't get it.  when i click on the link i just get taken to ur website and don't see any changes to it.
would be nice if the globe would spin.

The correct link is: http://www.weusecoins.com/globe-bitcoin/
And you can spin it manually by clicking and dragging.

we can't zoom in?

Not via scroll wheel.

Up and Down arrows work, but it's basic. No detail enhancement.

*Edit* Put the wrong keys lol

Doesn't work for me in Chrome 11. (Globe doesn't show up at all).

This is awesome!
Is there a way to make it spin slowly and continuously for background ambience?

Shows for me on Chrome 11.0.696.68
Also, the scroll wheel does zoom in Chrome... doesn't seem to work in Firefox 4, though it could be due to an addon.

That's exactly the version of Chrome I have.

Most of the page loads, just not the globe... how long should it take?

Loads near instantly for me.

Only loads in FF4 and Chrome 11.
IE9 and Opera 11.11 aren't displaying it for me. Not sure how much HTML5 support they have though :-/

I'm just a FF whore (mainly due to the addons I've become accustom to.)

Loads almost instantly for me.  Chrome 11.0.696.68, Ubuntu 11.04.  Scroll wheels work.  Really cool project.

really nice work!

Okay, don't know then... I left the page open for 15 minutes and it's a really nice looking page, but no globe :)

Chrome 11.0.696.68, Windows Version 5.1 (Build 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647 : Service Pack 3)

Edit: Nevermind, I forgot I didn't have Direct X installed since I re-installed Windows recently... downloading it now :)

oh, thats insanely funny -)

Ah yea zooming works, but not as smooth and detailed as http://maps.google.com/maps?q=https://smsz.net/btcStats/bitcoin.kml
do both display the same data basically?

Link fixed!


Yep. I just made this as a flashier version that I can show after my talk as a little gimmick.

Just found this, it's very cool.

Great work!

None in Antarctica yet ;)

OMG it's hypnotizing... I've been staring at it for 20 mins. 

Does anyone know - when transactions occur, is the node from which they originate known? Basically, would there be a way to visualize when a coin is "sent" from one location on the globe to another?

This Webgl globe has realtime data, so at least that part of it is possible:

http://mozillademos.org/demos/globetweeter/demo.html

As for getting the location of senders/receivers, Dan Kaminsky created a tool, blitcoin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=34383.0), that can find the IP address of transaction senders/recipients, but this is a privacy concern and solutions are being sought to prevent this from being possible.

I like!  Pretty sure I see my indicator :)

Here OP
http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2346.0

Can you scrape Google Maps satelite photos and adjust the detail level automaticly with zoom?

can you get it to zoom down on my desktop? :D

Whoah, this is awesome!  Who's got the big ass node in the middle of the US?

this is very cool :D

if you look like your avatar i'm sure he'd be happy to reveal his identity!

It is sad how little the world wide web has advanced over the past 15 years. With all the complaints about not being able to zoom, I was wondering why you weren't using VRML (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML).

Awesome!

What's that huge spike in the middle of the US?  A secret bitcoiner enclave in the Kansas City?

fort meade's tor exit

Isn't it for IPs that are in a range that doesn't has a location specified to anything more precise than country?

Yep, that's what I assumed.  It also explains the spikes in the middle of nowhere in Russia, in the Amazon in Brazil, in the frozen wasteland of Canada, etc.

I'm in Canada and I can see my dot!!!  Finally I'm famous!  Yay!

and no...I'm not the big one... sigh...

excellent work!

Does anyone have the skill/expertise to set up a time series of this data and visualization? How awesome would it be to record this map every 12 hours over the course of 3-6 months? Would be great footage.

And if the historical data is stored somewhere, then a video can be created of the entire history of Bitcoin network, right?

Anyone know how to make this happen?

Is this map actually realtime ?, or does it get updated on a regular basis ?

Load this in google earth, make sure you aren't mining, it will crash your sys driver.

Could it be all the nodes on sprint wireless connections? I have seen my sprint card shows me as Kansas City no matter where I am.

Can I expect to see the source behind this posted anytime soon?

@Stefan Thomas: You rock! That's just amazing. :)

Is this globe project dead? I can't seem to load it! I really loved it!

any similar projects, maps or something ?

Very nice. More of this please!

http://www.weusecoins.com/globe-bitcoin/

It works here.

its viewable. but infact is dead. the json data it grabs i think ended in october..

but if you want a better more accurate uptodate version

http://blockchain.info/nodes-globe (http://blockchain.info/nodes-globe)

enjoy

That is how i see it
http://sadpanda.us/images/1384489-ANS1HDS.jpg

dunno, i doubt all this black/white is fine.

No, that's exactly how it's supposed to be.

At least it has always been this way for me.

Does anyone know what the different colors mean on the map?

black lines means mega amount of nodes in one spot (probably supernodes/exchanges)
orange lines a bit less
green lines less then orange
blue lines even less..

the height of the lines gives it away.

the blackline in the centre of USA.. the location of the line is in the Kansas area near the Missouri boarder which many Dox'ers know as the locations of inaba data centre/pool and BFL

it has brought up many theories.
BFL's mining hotspot(although when clicking the mining option it reduces to a orange line)..
Inaba's old job the data centre which many users host their bitcoin projects
Inaba's old job the data centre which hosts his mining pool lots of people connect to.
or a tor exit node many users get routed to. 

the one in UK. thats blockchain.info or intersango, exit nodes again more theories

the one in Ukraine, most probably BTC-E.com exchange or a few other theories

it doesnt give you all the answers to who or why there's alot of action there. but atleast the info is updated regularly. and as a brit its nice to see 2 big black lines in england. one near london and one in north england.

i guess the UK is starting to wake up to bitcoin and taking over like a storm to have high frequency of nodes in a small area.