A Tribute to Len "rabbi" Sassama

[nmat]

Could anyone explain what is this/how was this done?

http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=BUB3dygQ

I know what 'strings' does. I just don't know enough about the bitcoin technology to understand what is the blk0001.dat file and how did they inject the strings there.

[1714217395]

1714217395

[Gavin Andresen]

blk0001.dat stores all of the transaction data for the block chain.

So to "inject" data into it you transmit valid transactions that are then included in blocks. Dan crafted transactions that contain the tribute message.

I think it is a neat hack. ("hack" in the sense of "clever, non-obvious way to use technology")  I wonder how much it cost in transaction fees, or if he managed to do it entirely with free transactions...

[julz]

That is just awesome.

I'm assuming this just appeared in the past day or 2?
(when I ran strings - it appears the tribute is right at the end of the file)

Where was this announced?

[nmat]

blk0001.dat stores all of the transaction data for the block chain.

So to "inject" data into it you transmit valid transactions that are then included in blocks. Dan crafted transactions that contain the tribute message.

I think it is a neat hack. ("hack" in the sense of "clever, non-obvious way to use technology")  I wonder how much it cost in transaction fees, or if he managed to do it entirely with free transactions...

Thank you for the explanation. So I assume it has something to do with this: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Script#Transaction_with_a_message ?

I found this yesterday on twitter. I don't know if it was announced anywhere. I also think this is a great hack. Kudos to Dan

[makomk]

Thank you for the explanation. So I assume it has something to do with this: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Script#Transaction_with_a_message ?

I found this yesterday on twitter. I don't know if it was announced anywhere. I also think this is a great hack. Kudos to Dan

Nope, that doesn't work anymore since it's pretty much impossible to get non-standard transactions like that included in a block. What they actually did was to create a transaction to a bunch of specially-crafted destination addresses which contained the text data where the public key hashes would normally go - that's why each line is exactly 20 characters.

(Edit: That's probably also why the message says 'LEN "rabbi" SASSAMA' when his name was Len Sassaman.)

This appears to be the transaction in question - looks like he paid 0.92 BTC to do this, 0.15 BTC of which went to fees and 0.77 BTC of which was rendered irretrievable by being sent to a bunch of addresses for which no private key exists.

[julz]

ok.. I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering this...

Given Len Sassaman was apparently right into things like tor and various privacy enhancing technologies
e.g - being on the committee of "Financial Cryptography and Data Security '09"

and given that mybitcoin seems to have been using some sort of tor system and was setup in a highly privacy oriented way...


Was Len Sassaman  actually Tom Williams of mybitcoin?


Anyone got any tidbits of information which could rule out this little piece of speculation?

[nmat]

Well, he was from Belgium. Isn't MyBitcoin american? I think you are pushing it a little too far

[julz]

Well, he was from Belgium. Isn't MyBitcoin american? I think you are pushing it a little too far

Who says it's American?
Anyway..  listen to Len here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZNebWoqnc
He sounds American to me.

Also..

Tom Williams  -  3 chars, 8 chars
Len Sassaman - 3 chars, 8 chars

Coincidence?   

[nmat]

Who says it's American?
Anyway..  listen to Len here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZNebWoqnc
He sounds American to me.

Also..

Tom Williams  -  3 chars, 8 chars
Len Sassaman - 3 chars, 8 chars

Coincidence?   

I think you should email Dan Kaminsky. He clearly knew Sassaman and he might know something about that... Here is his website: http://dankaminsky.com/

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Who says it's American?
Anyway..  listen to Len here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZNebWoqnc
He sounds American to me.

Also..

Tom Williams  -  3 chars, 8 chars
Len Sassaman - 3 chars, 8 chars

Coincidence?   

I think you should email Dan Kaminsky. He clearly knew Sassaman and he might know something about that... Here is his website: http://dankaminsky.com/

Tom Williams  -  3 chars, 8 chars
Len Sassaman - 3 chars, 8 chars
Dan Kaminsky  - 3 chars, 8 chars

[jackjack]

Who says it's American?
Anyway..  listen to Len here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqZNebWoqnc
He sounds American to me.

Also..

Tom Williams  -  3 chars, 8 chars
Len Sassaman - 3 chars, 8 chars

Coincidence?   

I think you should email Dan Kaminsky. He clearly knew Sassaman and he might know something about that... Here is his website: http://dankaminsky.com/

Tom Williams  -  3 chars, 8 chars
Len Sassaman - 3 chars, 8 chars
Dan Kaminsky  - 3 chars, 8 chars

Conspiracy, conspiracy everywhere

[geek-trader]

ok.. I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering this...

Given Len Sassaman was apparently right into things like tor and various privacy enhancing technologies
e.g - being on the committee of "Financial Cryptography and Data Security '09"

and given that mybitcoin seems to have been using some sort of tor system and was setup in a highly privacy oriented way...


Was Len Sassaman  actually Tom Williams of mybitcoin?


Anyone got any tidbits of information which could rule out this little piece of speculation?

YES.  And Aliens visited earth millions of years ago and set apes on the path to becoming modern humans.

[jackjack]

Also OP, it's Sassaman, not Sassama

[nmat]

Also OP, it's Sassaman, not Sassama

Yes, but, due to the 20 char limit, in the blockchain appears Len "rabi" Sassama so I will leave the title that way

[Chris Acheson]

The "new dependency on ascii bernanke" thing is just referring to the fact that bernanke's face is now in the blockchain, right?  Or is there something that I missed?

[nmat]

The "new dependency on ascii bernanke" thing is just referring to the fact that bernanke's face is now in the blockchain, right?  Or is there something that I missed?

Yes, I think that's it. Because all blocks created from now on depend on his ASCII face 

[fcmatt]

post edited. i forget that the -n in the strings command was not the amount of lines outputted
but the minimum length for a string to be shown.

[TraderTimm]

I've been waiting for people to 'skywrite' using bitcoinmonitor and some cleverly-timed transactions. Only problem is you have to get above the 'noise floor' of 50 BTC for it to really be visible. Perhaps a 10k BTC smiley-face? Why not, you'd just have to transfer it to another wallet you already control.

If anyone sees something like this, please point it out.

[jackjack]

I already hear the "WTF WEREZ THE [NSFW] TAG!!??!?!?,11?,??"

[TraderTimm]

Well, this thread has certainly taken an odd turn.