[This is an easy guide to getting started with nxt on a mac. I will re-post what Nxt is about and post how to get started on a mac right after and how you can get free nxt (give aways up to 500 a). and oh Nxt is scheduled for launch by 03/Jan/2014, thats less than a month away. Word is software is already good to go, the core devs are just waiting to distribute coins. So the time is now if you want to get involved big time and for free (give aways)]

This is an easy guide to getting started with nxt on a mac. I will re-post what Nxt is about and post how to get started on a mac right after and how you can get free nxt (give aways up to 500 a). and oh Nxt is scheduled for launch by 03/Jan/2014, thats less than a month away. Word is software is already good to go, the core devs are just waiting to distribute coins. So the time is now if you want to get involved big time and for free (give aways)


What is NXT?

Nxt is considered a 2nd generation crypto currency.  With all the alt coins coming out that only change things such as hashing mechanism, time between blocks, starting difficulty, and so on, Nxt brings much much more to the table and was designated this way for a number of reasons:

1.  It is not an "alt coin" like coins such as litecoin, peercoin, and others who have their code based on Bitcoin's source code.  It is brand new from scratch with its own code.

2. It provides built in support for planned extra features such as a decentralized peer-peer exchange, colored coins, messaging/chat, decentralized DNS, and options for instant transactions.  We will describe these advanced features later in this article.

3. It is a 100% proof of stake versus the proof of work mechanism the vast majority of other coins are based on.  This effectively removes a large security risk inherent in most other coins, as now the issue of a 51% attack or other vulnerabilities inherent to PoW coins are now gone.  The biggest plus here is how green this protocol is (not a reference to colored coins) in power consumption, since PoS doesn’t require massive amounts of hashing power

4. It was announced weeks in advance, unlike mere hours like most coins.  The 71 stakeholders are responsible for distributing the 1 billion Nxt coins that were ejected from the genesis block via an injection of bitcoin (donated by them, 21 BTC total) into the genesis block.  This is a requirement for this PoS system to work and this distribution is now in progress.  Nxt is listed on http://coinmarketcap.com/ and people are trading on a 1on1 basis in the forums as well as on a temporary (centralized) exchange http://www.dgex.com.

Let's get into the first planned feature, a decentralized exchange.  How do we currently trade coins now?  Well you have to sign up for an account on a centralized platform such as Cryptsy/BTC-E/Bter/etc, transfer them your coins and pay them for transactions. This brings in a large concern that I personally have yet to be seen brought to light, in that it’s possible that the exchange could just bail with everyone's deposits.  This has actually already happened when the Sheep Marketplace did just that with 96,000 bitcoins, ending up as the largest theft in history.  The developers of NxT (BCNxt and his crew) are developing a peer-peer exchange into the software to allow for decentralized trading which will eliminate this trust point.  It will also eliminate trading fees!  Obviously this is all still completely secure and anonymous as are current bitcoin transactions.

But let’s not stop there.  If you can have a decentralized exchange based on the peer-peer model then what else is possible?  Well, quite a bit as it turns out; the developers are also building in a decentralized DNS system to compete with namecoin.  Also in the future we can expect messaging and chat systems that, like the p2p exchange, will also be completely secure and anonymous.  Think of what this will allow:  Completely anonymous websites, AND anonymous payments, to go with an anonymous support system in the chat/messaging feature, all 100% secure, encrypted, and irreversible.

Nxt (pun intended) is one of the more curious services: colored coins.  To understand the concept of colored coins requires a fairly deep view into bitcoin transactions that most people aren’t aware of.  With bitcoin, each transaction's output hashed address is based on a previous receiving address that originally received that coin.  So with the blockchain, a set of bitcoin transactions can be traced.  Not to a person mind you, but what is meant is that an individual coin or pieces of that coin can be traced back on a transaction by transaction basis.  Since this is a case, then if it was possible to expand the protocol to allow a person to designate or "color" a particular coin, then we can build a bridge from the virtual crypto currency world to the physical world.  In effect that coin can then be used to represent some physical entity here on earth.  Property, stocks/bonds, commodites, or really any concept that can be concretely identified could be used.  This protocol expansion is exactly what is being built into Nxt’s unique code to allow for the use of colored coins.

Let’s talk about Proof of Stake and green energy.  Everyone knows how bitcoin is based on Proof of Work.  That is there are thousands of miners around the world crunching away at hashes and gobbling up TONS of power.  Now, PoS doesn’t really involve ‘mining’ per se; it’s important to realize that unlike bitcoin, all Nxt that will ever exist already exists, so client wallets now ‘mine’ for transaction fees.  A growing trend is to refer to this as ‘forging’ instead of ‘mining’.  Since this can be done on a client wallet loaded on a PC (CPU mining), it is MUCH more environmentally friendly and power efficient.

Now, on to the nuts and bolts of Nxt’s implementation of PoS.  Its elegantly simple: transaction fees are distributed out proportionally to all users based on the amount of Nxt a client has. (assuming that client is running and unlocked).  So if a client has 1 million Nxt, then they have 1/1000 of a chance of receiving the transaction fee for any transaction.  The math here is 1 million (amount the client has) divided by 1 billion (total Nxt in existence) is 1000, so that is 1/1000 of a chance.

comprehensive information:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345773.msg3832234#msg3832234  Updates recent events
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345619.0   ---Main thread



Now that you have that information going, lets dive right in.

Windows Users:
For windows users you can find a full guide with pictures here:   http://nextcoin.org/index.php/topic,4.msg5.html?PHPSESSID=5usfjjc28r361de89j8h8fllu6#msg5

or

watch this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF0XspFMq_4


Mac / OSX Users comprehensive guide

Getting started on a Mac (OSX)

NXT currently supports Mac OS X. Here's the instructions(test in OS X 10.9):

1) Download Java Client from http://nextcoin.org/index.php/topic,100.msg730.html#msg730  (please keep your client updated)

2) Unzip the client file you will be using the folder a little later

3) Go to application/Utilities  and Open Terminal,  



4) Check your java version in the terminal by typing "java -version", if it shows anything below 1.7 like (java version is 1.6), got to step 5, otherwise go to step 7. NXT  is dependent on jdk 1.7. so make sure you download an updated download jdk1.7 from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk7-downloads-1880260.html and install it.
 
5) download jdk1.7 from: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk7-downloads-1880260.html you have to accept the terms before you download.




6) Once you have download click to install, your system will prompt you for your password in other for it to make changes. Enter your password if you have one and like that, Your Java is updated. You can make sure by typing  type "java -version" in your terminal

7) In terminal and type:
 "export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home"


note that this change is temporary, you can make the java update permanent add this to the end off the previous command by typing this instead:  echo "JAVA_HOME=/Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home" >> ~/.bash_profile


9) Now change directory to wherever your nxt folder is.. the one you unzipped in step 2.
for example if you unzipped the next folder in the into the downloads folder, you should have a folder called nxt in downloads. So in the terminal type: "cd ./downloads", then type "cd ./nxt". You should now be in the nxt folder.

10) Now enter this command into the terminal: "java -jar start.jar" you should see the server startup as shown below:



first stage done:

11) Now Open https://localhost:7875/ ("https" not "http") in your browser and you should see the NXT website. (you have to repeat steps 10 and 11 each time you need to access you account)

12)  Enter a passphrase remember to make it hard to be able to be guess, yet simple enough for you to remember. keep it in a safe place. You will need to follow steps 10 through the end and use this passphrase each time you access your next account. (this is the only thing between you and your nxt..be safe)

**VERY IMPORTANT**
--Nxt is a brain wallet, a very long and secure passphrase MUST be used to generate your account. You much use more than 30 uppercase, lowercase and special characters for your password to be safe from brute force attacks. YOU CANNOT, CANNOT CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD. Please be careful.


14) At the top left corner…19-20 digit number this is your Nxt Id…this is how anybody will be able to send you some nxt.. to the top right corner is an arrow, this is how you send next



How to send money

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303898.msg3314850#msg3314850

1]  Go to http://88.198.210.245:7875/
2]  Click the orange lock to unlock an account
3]  Enter any digit into SECRET PHRASE field, for example "1" (the genesis block contains only 10 addresses with 100 mil coins on each)
4]  Click the purple arrow in the top right corner
5]  Fill the form, amount must be not greater than 10,000 and fee not greater than 100 (limited for testing)
6]  Deadline (in hours) can be less than 1, enter 0.1 to set it to 6 minutes
7]  See the balance adjusted and the transaction appearing in the unconfirmed transactions list

Now I'm working on the most interesting part -- the mining.  Stay tuned.

If a transaction is not included into a block (it's not because mining is in development yet) then after the deadline is reached it will be removed.  We tested that transactions are correctly propagated over the network (sent some from one peer and watched them appearing on another).


Free Giveaway and Bounties To be updated Daily/ Weekly

a i) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=347927.0  (Free Giveaway )

   There is also a giveaway thread to be started soon which will give users NXT for just showing up. I will keep you updated.



b i) https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345773.0  (bounties)




If you have any problems, reply below and you will get help.




Btc donation:  1AGRXxkMZpqNXbzFpmW2gyh9f6YkKpphre


Client updates

Version 0.4.7e  :  This is an experimental version, use it only if u want to help

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=345619.msg4136243#msg4136243

or
http://files.nxtbase.com/nrs-0.4.7e.zip

[Crowdfunding page: https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/202]

Crowdfunding page: https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/202
See video overview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtcT_2xJtYQ

Coinsigner is scalable application that employs paid mediators to act as  third parties in multi-signature transactions. What is unique and novel about this idea is that massive numbers of bitcoin trades can be facilitated, privately, without limit and safely using multi signature transactions. The other unique property abut the application is that there is a collusion resistant system build into the platform. This application builds on top of multi-signature transactions to make it fool proof from possible negative characteristics of human nature.

I am also working on a plan to develop and market integrable coinsigner branded POS systems for local businesses with high traffic in nyc. There are two benefits to this strategy. The first benefit is to the bitcoin ecosystem in general. The more stores that accept bitcoin will result in more people using bitcoin. The second benefit is for coinsigner. The business will consider coinsigner as an exchange venue considering the effect of the very prominent  cosigner branding.

there are several rewards for backing the project:

thank you listing on a special backers' page
Mastercoins
You  will have access to be a mediator before all other signups--(advanced,expert,master)
Free trades 12 months/lifetime
voting power
online board meeting
tea-shirt and founder labeling
Board of director candidates
An invite to a special private party event in NYC meeting the potential cofounders, special speakers and some entertainment.
   lifetime invites annually
   car service to hotel/airport/ party
   airline travel voucher to nyc for annual party /yearly
   hotel accommodation

Some Images








if you think this project does more good to bitcoin…..please support us here https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/202  
…remember to put your thinking hat on, review all the facts before coming to an objective conclusion.
See video overview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtcT_2xJtYQ


Project technical Info
…..
Coinsigner Integrates with the bitcoin protocol using node.js -> json rpc
Its uses only one significant feature of the bitcoin protocol: multi signature transactions. This is at the core of consigner,
however multi signature transactions are not enough to facilitate safe arbitration considering human nature. A high counterpart/collusion risk arises when transaction amounts are huge. So over the past couple of months I have spent time thinking out and planning how to implement this collusion resistant system around Mike Hearn's contracts specifically multi signature transaction. It is important to note that it is this "collusion resistant and deterrent system and method to incentivize and enable mediators to operate in scalable applications without bias"  is the intellectual property pursued as a defense mechanism to ensure survival against any potential future threats from big payment companies or patent trolls. It is important to know all intellectual property claims are a strategic hedge against future "patent trolls". I would love to collaborate and encourage more innovation in this area. Copy left and open patents options are serious consideration options. See provisional patent application info below in the patents section



Technical Info: These are some of the components to consigner:

-Multi-signature signing/spending scheme
Spending/signing a multi-sig  is an easy visually intuitive process, but it is a complicated process to explain, because there are two options which will be provided. To use the first option requires you to have access to the private key of the public key used in the multi-sig transaction to lock the coins initially. Basically this involves using a local browser app and encrypted webrtc connection to sign and transfer the transaction to the other peer(trader) to complete the transaction by signing and broadcasting. This is what I am currently working on…The second is the easiest option: It involves using a downloadable client in which you just download the transaction to be signed, specify your public key and send to peer/trader or broadcast assuming your wallet.dat file is on the same machine.

-Pseudonymously represented mediators
     -neither trader nor other mediators know who a particular mediator is
-Blind assignment of mediators to trades
       Mediators do not know or cannot find what contract they are attached prior to disputes

-evidence of contract
-This is a hash of a text agreement with terms/protocol of action that both traders agree on. Only the traders can decrypt this hash. And its in their best interest to decrypt contract hash if disputes occur. Traders get a copy and so does coinsigner. This hash is stored together with the transaction id of the 2 of 3 multi-sig transaction.


-Contract encryption / decyption tool

-Public/private key pool and real time decryption for mediators

When traders abide by rules set by the contract that both agree on, they go about business without the need for mediators. However if one of the traders raises a dispute…then:

--Traders are given a time frame to respond with all possible evidence of fulfillment of contract / protocol of action (i.e if you said you were going to send a bank wire on tuesday afternoon: you provide evidence of that and verification information…) for presiding mediator and other mediators to see…

---traders decrypt contract hash for presiding mediator and other mediators to see…


 A mediator is always assigned to every trade regardless of non-disputes and they are paid for being part of the trade, and yes mediators are scored based on how well they objectively made the right decision. Its is important to note that mediator do not know the actual trades they are assigned to until a dispute is raised. The mediator scores affect their pay rates, their ability to be part of other trades and how frequently the are assign to trades. So given these answers it would help to provide an analogy. Every mediator is governed by objectivity and is subject to be disbarred from position or case if he is found to be biased in any way.


-------------------ANALOGY----------------------------------------------------------------------

The analogy is similar to a court room where the 'mediator' is the judge, the plaintiff is the person raising the dispute and the defendant is the accused. But in this case the court room audience are other mediators who are watching the process in real time and have the ability to provide feedback to the objective performance of the mediator "judge" presiding over the case. Objectivity involves looking over the contract, examining what and how it promised to be fulfilled and commenting on, checking evidence provided by traders to see it matches the contract / protocol of action agreement. Mediators are represented pseudonymous and cannot tell who each other are. Every communication in that time frame is monitored, rated and commented on by other mediators. Feedback from other mediators is collected before and after judgement on the case is pronounced by the presiding mediator. Mediator pronounce judgement by pushing a simple button. which retrieves and decrypts the private key of the public key used as an output in the multi-sig transaction. The continuous earning of the mediators depend on their ability to objectively decide the true owner of the coins in question. The process sounds complicated but its in real time and intuitive. I hope this sheds some light on the actual process. As you can see its a rather complicated system to build...but the outcome will be that you will have a nice intuitive interface that just makes sense.

Discussing issues: Patents and mastercoin:

Patents:
…………
One of the weakness I identified is the threat in which a remittance/payment company that already has a model which is almost similar, operates  in the fiat realm only, but is considering bitcoin adoption. The company is PAYPAL.  We are well of pay pals dispute mediation which has a bad rap with merchants. I know because I was a merchant… The point is if bitcoin and dispute mediation catches on in a major way, whats to stop paypal or other companies following suite to try to establish some ground and destroy the little guys like me? So I felt it necessary to plan for long term survival by at least applying for a provisional patent. But I still follow the ideals of open patent , copyleft, encouraging more collaboration, sharing and more innovation in this field. I love open source by the way.
these are strongly considered initiatives:

http://www.google.com/patents/opnpledge/
http://www.openinventionnetwork.com/


The provisional patent application is new Un-obvious and useful improvement improvement to Mike Hearn's contracts; Specifically multi-signature transactions and I think I will be protected against threats form any payment company delving into bitcoin staking a claim in order to patent troll. This is the title:

"A method to deter or prevent collusion and enable scalable dispute resolution in large scale applications involving incentivized mediators as parties to cryptographic contracts in decentralized currencies."

There are 3 reasons why I felt that is was necessary

defensive strategy
I don't want to be left open litigation if a huge payment system like paypal or several others adopt bitcoin and decide to establish and enforce a patent

Novel
I think investors can appreciate an idea that has intellectual property bragging rights. This is the kind of ideas investors like to back.

Attribution
All I want is to be protected from threats that I could render me helpless if they become imminent. Attribution deters such threats
I mean Nikola Tesla had hundreds of patents registered in his name he didn't run off suing every company or person that used his ideas. Patents don't hurt people or innovation, patent trolls with patent hurt innovation. I consider myself honest and transparent so I would never do anything to tarnish my reputation.

what do you think now that you have some facts?…If you think this is an important project don't let narrow minded people project their fears on you.


Mastercoin:

First of all you I think mastercoin has potential. Yes I invested in mastercoin, but I was presented with the same opportunity that was presented to everybody else.

From an objective point of view, I think mastercoin is a great idea. Yeah there are some issues, but that doesn't automatically discredit it from solving some of the problems it aims to solve. The fact that the creator jr willet is bending over backwards to seek advise on the best implementation is a very good indication of good leadership and that the  project is in the right hands.

Yes, there are some debatable weaknesses that has caused a lot of backlash…but as i read the  founders responses to criticism. I believe more and more in the potential of the protocol. Jr willet is constantly promoting the mission to be a "good block chain citizen" he has also put his reputation on the line, he has a family and I am sure both his family and job aren't getting the best attention he may want to provide. The point is , he has been very transparent in every step of the way about the use of funds and the direction of development already. I think these characteristics gives the project some integrity and hope of success. In any case I invested in mastercoin and I am using this chance to give away mastercoin to those who wish they had them.

if you think this project does more good to bitcoin…..please support us here https://bitcoinstarter.com/projects/202  
See video overview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtcT_2xJtYQ

…remember to put your thinking hat on, review all the facts before coming to an objective conclusion.



----------------------------------Edit On behalf of the bitcoin community and Mike Hearn's advice-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


My whole motivation was to build a company who's decisions are affected by a multitude of people passionate about the core bitcoin ideals. The scenario of the patent belonging to someone else is a very valid point raised by Mike Hearn and its a very common scenario that I have not thought about. Case in point: the Oracle-android case which was about 3 years ago of which I am familiar with. I am very familiar because my first start-up dealt with mobile applications primarily on the android platform and everything seemed shaky back then.

I am building this application to help the very people and community whose ideals are against this IP action . It wouldn't make sense to go against the general consensus of the very community I am trying to contribute to. Also it is a provisional patent application, so it has an expiration date of 1 year. So being that the community has spoken, it only makes sense to let the application expire. If any possibility of the future threats from financial services  I described become real, then I think the prior art argument applies because this issue is very public at this point. Please provide comments and feedback, thank you all.


Thanks for taking the time to read.

hello I am ola, I have a complete trust-less decentralized exchange solution using m of n transactions (multi-signature contracts) and paid, vetted pseudonomously represented mediators. The system enabling scalability of transaction mediations and preventing collusion with mediators has been protected using patent application in the USPTO office. This will provide trust and transparency to patrons using the service.  I am using this poll as a basis of validation to decide weather to seek 3000 btc to hire a development team and a sales force. The Dev team will eventually help build the service into a decentralized service. The sales force will not only help the service gain customers (retailers), but spread the use Of bitcoin through NYC to educating retailers using https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Casascius_Bitcoin_POS_system  and  https://github.com/javgh/greenaddress-pos-tools, also telling them its benefits and how to reward customers using bitcoin. I am currently a lone wolf planning and building everything myself. I Built a solid beautiful product at my last startup. I Left my last startup after all my co-founders left due to lack of venture capital funding. The rewards for funding us will range from merchandize, to board positions, equity share, and invitation to launch party in NYC and annual stake holder/ donor party. If this receives enough positive votes I will release all the information about the project and put up everything on bitcoinstarter and here. Thanks, Let me you let me know what you think 

hello I am ola, I have a complete trust-less decentralized exchange solution using m of n transactions (multi-signature contracts) and paid, vetted pseudonomously represented mediators. The system enabling scalability of transaction mediations and preventing collusion with mediators has been protected using patent application in the USPTO office. This will provide trust and transparency to patrons using the service.  I am using this poll as a basis of validation to decide weather to seek 3000 btc to hire a development team and a sales force. The Dev team will eventually help build the service into a decentralized service. The sales force will not only help the service gain customers (retailers), but spread the use Of bitcoin through NYC to educating retailers using https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Casascius_Bitcoin_POS_system  and  https://github.com/javgh/greenaddress-pos-tools, also telling them its benefits and how to reward customers using bitcoin. I am currently a lone wolf planning and building everything myself. I Built a solid beautiful product at my last startup. I Left my last startup after all my co-founders left due to lack of venture capital funding. The rewards for funding us will range from merchandize, to board positions, equity share, and invitation to launch party in NYC and annual stake holder/ donor party. If this receives enough positive votes I will release all the information about the project and put up everything on bitcoinstarter and here. Thanks, Let me you let me know what you think