[announce] Namecoin - a distributed naming system based on Bitcoin

[MWD64]

FreeSpeechMe, Dot-Bit, Namecoin: Internet of future in "Quantum Vibe" graphic novel:

Prometheus Award Winner Scott Bieser put Namecoin into the future today in his Quantum Vibe graphic novel (It's online, but becomes a published collection in books every year or so.)


Full panel here:
http://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=773

Excerpt / closeup:

[benjyz]

I tried a couple of .bit's. not all that interesting at the moment. the problem seems to be DNS itself. downloading the blockchain through a plugin is not much better. its just a pain to set it up and very few people are going to do it. there is no network effect. but the potential is mind boggling. anyone in for tossing around some new ideas? there is much more than we can do than just imitate old DNS.

[cassini]

there is much more than we can do than just imitate old DNS.

NameId already works. Used for OpenID and Bitmessage. See http://nameid.org/
BitNymes are on its way, see http://pibara.github.io/bitnym/
Discussions on a few other ideas (e.g. blockchain-based voting, bonds/shares registry) have indeed stalled, unfortunately.

[benjyz]

thanks - interesting. its very early days. to bootstrap a worldwide internet DNS infrastructure is not exactly a trivial task.  the more important the Global Name System becomes, the more it is necessary. the recent design decisions of the new TLD system are so truly terrible and corrupted, that I have come to the conclusion that at some point it's going to happen, whether it will be 5 or 20 years. one can't trust ICANN or any corporate regime to evolve the free internet. the original BitDNS thread is pretty inspiring and I hope this will pick up again. a superior system could catch on if the benefits are clear.

[bitpop]

.

[MWD64]

Icann is a fucking mob scam
.bike??? Wtf

lol. Yup. ICANN is saying on their site:
"1000 new TLDs. The Internet will never be the same!"

I say:
"1000 new ICANN TLDs? That's just 1000 new comfy jail cells.
But FreeSpeechMe and Dot-Bit?: The Internet will never be the same!"

[MWD64]

thanks - interesting. its very early days. to bootstrap a worldwide internet DNS infrastructure is not exactly a trivial task. 

^ This!

You'd be amazed at the screechy demands we're getting.....All from people who haven't donated a cent to help.

It's as if they think we at the FreeSpeechMe team have a button on our computer screens marked "IMPLEMENT NEW FUNCTIONALITY NOW INTO BETA WORLDWIDE NON-DISTRIBUTED DNS SYSTEM" and we just have to type in their idea and hit that button. lol.

People have to understand that rolling out software (and adoption of that software) is a process and you have to start somewhere. It’s hard to make and test improvements, but without rolling out a beta, those improvements cannot happen.

It’s kind of like if, in the late 1800s, Alexander Graham Bell had released his telephone and people had said “We’re not interested in this unless we can carry it in our pocket, watch movies on it and type to anyone in the world. Let us know when you’ve got THAT!”

MWD

[MWD64]

Discussions on a few other ideas (e.g. blockchain-based voting, bonds/shares registry) have indeed stalled, unfortunately.

No they haven't:
http://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1593

[luv2drnkbr]

There's a ton of activity currently registering names in the u/  namespace.  Is there a new specification for what u/  is or did some squatter just now realize you can create any namespace you want..?

[domob]

There's a ton of activity currently registering names in the u/  namespace.  Is there a new specification for what u/  is or did some squatter just now realize you can create any namespace you want..?

I'm not aware of any ideas about u/.  In fact, I'm not aware of any new ideas at all (besides d/ and id/) except for things where squatting is meaningless (because the names are file hashes, for instance).  But if anyone has a better explanation, I'd also be interested.

[benjyz]

0. I wonder why so few people are working in this area? It's extraordinarily interesting and really appreciate the work that has been done. I think bitcoin as a codebase is not particularly attractive. It's one monolithic blob and seems to be unsuited for a system like this. What one would want is a much more modular structure. I wonder how far one could bring the line count if one starts from scratch. The 0.1 version was 7000 LOC, the current core is roughly 30'000 LOC.

1. the wiki moved to github and then moved back? a consistent interface would be nice. there are 3 wikis now.

http://dot-bit.org/Main_Page
https://wiki.namecoin.info/index.php?title=Welcome
https://github.com/namecoin/wiki

2. can someone give a summary of the history and newer ideas in this area? how namecoin relates to the BitDNS design?

3. I am trying to first_update a name like this. the error message is not very clear. I'm thinking about using a notary feature for my exchange project and thinking about ways how these can integrate.

namecoind name_firstupdate d/exchange 60487b42ce716xee00 {"ip":"1.1.1.1", "map": {"*": {"ip":"1.1.1.1"}}}

error: {"code":-1,"message":"name_firstupdate <name> <rand> [<tx>] <value>\nPerform a first update after a name_new reservation.\nNote that the first update will go into a block 12 blocks after the name_new, at the soonest."}

[phelix]

0. I wonder why so few people are working in this area? It's extraordinarily interesting and really appreciate the work that has been done. I think bitcoin as a codebase is not particularly attractive. It's one monolithic blob and seems to be unsuited for a system like this. What one would want is a much more modular structure. I wonder how far one could bring the line count if one starts from scratch. The 0.1 version was 7000 LOC, the current core is roughly 30'000 LOC.

1. the wiki moved to github and then moved back? a consistent interface would be nice. there are 3 wikis now.

http://dot-bit.org/Main_Page
https://wiki.namecoin.info/index.php?title=Welcome
https://github.com/namecoin/wiki

2. can someone give a summary of the history and newer ideas in this area? how namecoin relates to the BitDNS design?

3. I am trying to first_update a name like this. the error message is not very clear. I'm thinking about using a notary feature for my exchange project and thinking about ways how these can integrate.

namecoind name_firstupdate d/exchange 60487b42ce716xee00 {"ip":"1.1.1.1", "map": {"*": {"ip":"1.1.1.1"}}}

error: {"code":-1,"message":"name_firstupdate <name> <rand> [<tx>] <value>\nPerform a first update after a name_new reservation.\nNote that the first update will go into a block 12 blocks after the name_new, at the soonest."}

Start here: http://namecoin.info   use the QT Gui to register names

[cassini]

namecoind name_firstupdate d/exchange ...

use the QT Gui to register names

No matter if you use the command line (namecoind) or the GUI (Namecoin-Qt), always check if the name is available before you try any operation on that name.
"d/exchange" is not available, see

Code:

namecoind name_show d/exchange

...

"expires_in" : 31766

This means that at the current rate of around 150 blocks/day you have to wait some 200 days. If the current owner is not interested anymore by then, you may be able to reserve this name.

[GambleX]

PSA: Gamblex has added NAMECOIN to their supported coins. We will provide an exchange and a gambling section where you can trade and gamble with NMC! Check out now, how you can profit from this. Investing is open now!

Thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=498311.0

[PhoneBloks]

Hi all, as I see there is huge difficulty uptrend on namecoin, did namecoin become attractive to miners ? If yes, does someone know why ? I can buy drugs with namecoin or what


http://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/difficulty-nmc.html

[malevolent]

Hi all, as I see there is huge difficulty uptrend on namecoin, did namecoin become attractive to miners ? If yes, does someone know why ? I can buy drugs with namecoin or what


http://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/difficulty-nmc.html

Namecoin's difficulty is so high because it's merged mined with Bitcoin by many pools (currently NMC difficulty =~ 0.7 BTC difficulty)

[sudoquai]

For latest News visit Namecoin @ Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Namecoin.NMC

Support and Like !

[Portnoy]

http://meowbit.com/

Q. What is MeowBit?
A. MeowBit is Free Software for Windows that allows you to effortlessly view Dot-Bit websites. It works on your entire system: ALL browsers, plus e-mail, instant messenger, FTP, everything on your computer. MeowBit is TRUSTLESS, i.e., you don’t have to trust a third party to ensure you are going to the desired site. That’s a good thing...

[lunarboy]

What namecoin needs is a 'blockchain.info' style website that anyone can store NMC safely, and all the other possibilities a 'namechain.info' site would hold.

is there a bounty for such an idea?

[deepceleron]

I don't think that's an "idea"; that's just a statement that there is no web wallet service exclusively for Namecoin. You can send your Namecoins to several different places for holding, such as exchanges, if you feel the need to trust anonymous Internet entities with your money.