Finally tested out BITchat by @jack & team 💯 (bluetooth, proximity-based privacy messenger app) The courier, Terminal UI look largely looking like it drew inspiration from "The Matrix", a message or series of messages, warnings, and guidance that still ring true today. We have somewhat of a similar influence building @V E C T O R, our open-source, privacy messenger-based app on #Nostr. I love the inspiration behind the minimal GUI and even the intro/about us with terms like "ephemeral identity". I often think in my head of "ephemeral existence" because that is what life is and all we do as people is mimic and copy life, hence the term biomimicry. Love the artistry and creativity behind something that feels so simple, but once you start creating applications you realize how much thought goes into every single and seemingly trivial detail. Great designers know this. Everything is incredibly straightforward and intuitive for the UX, largely to removing unnecessary features and details (I'm assuming their team had to go through a long process of what to remove vs what to add :kek: ). Everything worked like a charm, other than a connectivity issue I had with one device. One device connected perfectly to the other device, but the other device couldn't detect the other. These were tested on cross-OS, iOS and Android. I think that there were permission issues for bluetooth, location services, etc. that may have caused the issue, though I tried troubleshooting and enabling features to no success. We live in a time where our freedom and privacy are tested daily. There are forces that wish to control, oppress, and exploit--whether that sounds extreme to you or not. We compromise ourselves daily online, largely to mere convenience and a lack of knowledge. I love to see experiments like this come to life and this is what we should be contributing to as a collective, projects and protocols that protect our privacy and allow for true digital freedom and self-sovereignty.

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ @V E C T O R ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ Source: ProtonVPN "Just a few minutes after the Online Safety Act went into effect last night, Proton VPN signups originating in the UK surged by more than 1,400%. Unlike previous surges, this one is sustained, and is significantly higher than when France lost access to adult content." ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ @V E C T O R ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ There has never been a greater need for privacy, especially in the digital frontier. People are finally waking up to the reality of what is happening and the power they are unrightfully and unknowingly giving away. This is exactly why we have utilized Nostr's infrastructure to build an end-to-end, no-compromise privacy messenger app to allow people to come as they are, express themselves freely, and not be monitored by malicious and nefarious entities seeking to do harm in one way or another. Protect your freedom and right to speak freely by utilizing the right digital platforms with your best interests both in mind (intention) and in practice (tech). Take up your digital swords and rise to battle, our time has come my fellow sovereign brothers and sisters! ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ @V E C T O R ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢

GM, #Nostr fam. Good week of traveling and a smooth, soft launch for @V E C T O R privacy app on Nostr. Will be doing a lot of polishes with @JSKitty and then a deeper dive into UX and feedback to improve things and see where we stand in the big picture. From our side, one of the key perspectives driving Vector is really to allow for mainstream adoption and think of app usage in a sense where your parents could and would use it daily. This is where we need the state of UX for both Nostr Network, as well as our privacy app, #Vector. It needs to feel like a regular app that people are used to, comfortable with, their friends use, except in this case their privacy and data is actually protected. This will be one of our main focuses with Vector Privacy App and contributions in the Nostr ecosystem from a broader perspective. The technology is there, but the UX and polish is not refined yet (or anywhere close to where it needs to be). The beauty of open-source software is that often people pop out of the woodwork with their unique skill and talents and find ways to collaborate and work together to build something larger than the person with the original idea could've ever dreamed of. Thanks for giving us a solid home here at Nostr with @V E C T O R and I wanted to extend myself and services out to the community at large... if there is a project you all are working on in the realms of Nostr and/or Bitcoin, feel free to DM or reach out if you're looking for some branding, UX/UI, product design, or general feedback. My doors are always open and happy to contribute to whatever projects share similar visions and goals (subjective to time/bandwidth). LET'S BUIDL. ~ YuurinBee ◤◢ F O R M L E S S . L A B S ◤◢

Can anyone confirm if this was the first message sent via #Nostr at a Castle? Via @V E C T O R Privacy App.

Nostr-based Social Media is the closest thing we have to bitcointalk.org vibes coming back in 2025.