Development update and SlingRoad release:

     We are pleased to announce that SlingRoad is now built and has been fully integrated into the updated wallet, which can be found here:
 
Windows – https://mega.co.nz/#!tQEGmYiQ!_r1gPW7Sk_coM6KS2Cf-cfUmWouej3Tp7Lx4yhpJlQQ
Linux – https://mega.co.nz/#!RBMSGRYC!_cuJ-hg18y3YUUmPG3w7mOB7q4vRxnGbYbpf5kxEd4k

     As I mentioned before, this is all new code and to silence the critics, this is not a clone of Bitmarket’s marketplace. A clone of their marketplace would not be possible currently for Windows, as it only compatible for OSx for the time being. I reviewed their code and for inspiration and insight for the flow systems. We are very excited to deliver the first true decentralized market, and we will continue to develop new features for the marketplace, and invite the community to give their suggestions and feedback so we can continue to adapt and improve the technology. As long as the Sling community continues to show support for the project, I believe that we can develop this into something truly innovative and unique, and provide services and features that are both useful, and user friendly.  

     I have provided brief overview / summary on how to use SlingRoad:

     Right now the market is empty, but categories will dynamically appear based on the listings. When a seller accepts a buy request, they create a multisig address and fund it with a security deposit equal to the item price. The buyer escrow locks and also funds it with the item price, then the seller can request payment and the buyer can pay, which creates a transaction that spends the multisig funds to the seller.
 
     There are a number of developments for Sling that I have in mind to implement, and take the project a step further, but I also want the community’s thoughts, and wishes for what they would like to see implemented into the project. We believe that working with the community, and keeping an active line of communication will be the most effective way of guaranteeing we develop something unique and generally useful.




     As a treat I have to post this .gif for some self-satisfaction, as it feels appropriate given the circumstances today! We will post an updated roadmap for what we will be releasing next SOON!!!

 

After some rest I should be able to sort this out, meaning ETA today.

Appologies for delay in getting SlingRoad ready for public consumption.

I've been doing end to end scenario tests and when I got to paying the vendor it kept crashing.

What 's been happening is when you make a buy request the vendor clicks accept and it creates a 2-of-2 multisig address on the vendors side. Then the vendor sends the security deposit to it, then, that gets sent to the buyer and the buyer locks the escrow by sending the funds to that address. That part is all working great!!

Next step, after the vendor ships the item, the buyer clicks request payment which creates a transaction that spends the funds from the multisig address and sends the entire amount (vendor's security deposit + buyer's security deposit) to the vendor...It sends that raw transaction string to the buyer for them to sign and then they can click Pay/Release Escrow, and it will sign it and broadcast the tx to the network and the vendor gets paid.

The problem I'm getting right now is, I created an item listing and ran through it, and when I click pay it crashes and the log says TX Decode Failed.  But if I paste the raw tx string into the rpc console and do decoderawtransaction, it decodes it correctly. Multi-sig stuff is complicated and the fact that the escrow locks successfully and the ui buttons enable/disable correctly is a big accomplishment.

After spending a long time trying to work out why the error return keeps happening I kind of know what the problem is at last. ... I'm pretty sure this bug is because I was passing a string instead of an array into the decoder. I also thought it might be to do with checking the escrow lock before the tx's had chance to confirm but even after confirmation it's still saying TX decode failed.

Once I crack this last bug so it's working smoothly for finalizing transactions, in all scenarios, it's good to go!

I've been up working on this for the second 24 hour in a row now so I'll probably need to get some rest soon and get back on it with a refreshed mind.

Will keep everyone updated.

Yes. Just want to make sure absolutely sure it's all working flawlessly.

Was about to release the market when I spotted one or two more things that could be improved.

Little screenshot so you can see it's real.

Very very close now.

Hi everyone. Thank you for being patient.

The marketplace has been tested and everything is working perfectly fine.

I am wrapping up the marketplace right now. It will be released in a few hours.

Update:

Finishing up on SlingRoad, right now I am implementing something to improve security so that all the listing messages are cryptographically signed.

This way, any node on the network can validate that an accept or cancel message etc. is from the seller that made the listing.

SlingRoad is on schedule for release tomorrow the 7th May.

Update:

OSX / MAC wallet now available.

https://mega.co.nz/#!VdgwWaqa!TlUNRrtzb1NYEkEpmEavb5GY6cfmTkCjVCd8jVpIqqo

Yes after market drop.

Update:

Testing will soon begin for SlingRoad and here is a little bit of extra info about it.

Because the main part of the work for decentralized markets is already out there I had a good knowledge base to start with.. i.e it made my job a lot easier.

I've borrowed from bitmarkets overall "design" or order flow, but it is all new code.

There are some extra features that I built in for v.1 such as support for 2 image links, which bitmarket doesn't do, when you drill into an item.

SlingRoad allows for external urls, dynamically loaded into a qwidget so no webkit requirement. Users will have an option not to load images should they choose.

Bitmaket is only available for OSX : SlingRoad is first of it's kind with full windows compatibility.

Everything being done can be evolved and upgraded as we like but very soon, on or before 7th May SlingRoad will be fully functional and launched.

Below is a screenshot / teaser I'm currently still finishing off the v.1 UI:

OP updated with link to website

SlingRoad will feature a 2 party escrow function that will lock up x amount of (security) funds between the buyer and seller.

The funds are only released once both parties are satisfied with the transaction.

Still looking for an OSX dev.

It appears everything is running normal for Sling masternodes, they are (like all coins running masternodes) forked from darkcoin / dash.

However, the algorithm isn't a truly random distribution/guarantee its a strange setup that was originally created by Evan, it calculates the distance of a hash from another hash.

It's possible to completely re-engineer them to provide a more consistent rate of return but for now I think I have to prioritise in putting SlingRoad together.

Bounty:

0.2 btc or Sling equivalent for Mac wallet (two mac devs have tried and so far failed to compile).

Some help would be appreciated.

I will set some time aside in the next 24 hours to investigate.

The plan is to drop SlingRoad as soon as it's ready.

We can always tweak / repair after release if needed.

I'm setting up a new repo on bitbucket for Sling and will publish the latest source code as soon as I get round to it.

Will be available in approx 1 or 2 hours and the link will be posted here and in the OP.