bitchat* tested 40,000 ft in the air ✅ (well, technically about 35,057 ft) I heard about someone testing bitchat* on an airplane and wanted to test it myself across 4 devices. Here is some of my feedback and experience: Android + iOS ✅ Messages Sent ✅ Notifications✅ (when a bitchat* user is detected) Panic Mode ✅ Proximity "Group Chat" ✅ Connecting to Users ✅❌ P2P Connectivity Issues: Some devices failed to connect to each other and pick up on the mesh network, though they were right next to each other and 3/4 of the other devices could. To clarify, some devices could connect with each other, but it would be seemingly random which devices could see each other. Most devices could connect to 3/4 and the device they couldn't connect to was random, it wasn't the same phone that was having issues or for example Android vs iOS. There was only some connectivity issue between devices for connecting peer-to-peer, but typing in the proximity "group chat" it worked perfectly fine. Failed Messages? On some devices, there were cases where it looked like messages had gone through perfectly and delivered from one device, but on the other device it showed that it had received the message, but a small red ⚠️ icon displayed to the right of it. The message displayed on both phones, but on the receiving phone it showed the small red warning icon and it's not clear to me what that is indicative of. Naturally, I would assume it would be a sign of a message failed to send... but if I can see it on both devices, not sure. Did the device receive it, but the network struggles to refresh and confirm the action/message? Random/Unidentified Devices? Then, strangely I managed to pickup other "users" or devices? Normally, your default name will be anonxxxx (numeric value) but when I stayed on the network a hexadecimal value was shown and I tried to connect to send a message, but failed. I'm not sure if this picked up on other devices with bluetooth on, but I don't think this is the case because you can pick up a lot more devices using bluetooth and in bitchat* I'm pretty sure you can only see/connect with other users within your proximity that have bluetooth and location services enabled as well as active in the app? I tried to connect to the other users to send a message, but it eventually failed. 📝UX Suggestion: When changing your username, at least within mobile, you can click on your name to change the characters let's say from "anon9999" to "yuurinbee" and if you click out of the box, it doesn't save for others to see, but still shows that's what you typed. I think there are 2 options here that make more sense to me: 1. If you want to make it so when you click out of the area it doesn't save, then reset the name to the default so the user knows it didn't save on the network and only on your local GUI. 2. If you hit "enter" or click out of the box, it automatically saves your name changes. ✋Panic Mode (EPIC) I tested this feature and it did not disappoint. This safety feature built in is exactly what privacy protection (emphasis on the protection) is all about. Triple tapping on the logo (top left) will reset your changes/settings and wipe chat log immediately and change your username (ie: anon9999 to anon4823). If I'm not mistaken, it wipes your private p2p logs as well as the general proximity chat. End Result: It works. ✅ It's not entirely consistent, but I can safely say that bitchat* worked ~35,000 ft in the air on an airplane going roughly 500+ mph. If that isn't impressive for a privacy and encrypted messenger app (without internet) I don't know what is. @V E C T O R is doing field research and taking notes 🤔 @JSKitty #bitchat #privacy #ux View quoted note →

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.

GM ☕ You can call me Bee. New to #Nostr and was recommended to start an #introduction here to share a bit about myself and hopefully connect with some other like-minded individuals, especially those building some cool projects on Nostr. I am mostly known as a designer and artist that has been in the world of blockchain since 2017 and taken a strong liking towards open-source communities and projects that have a solid moral foundation and clear vision of what they seek to accomplish. So, over the years I have found many projects that I could offer my design skills to that I felt were achieving something beneficial to people, the world, or simply just really interesting and unique cases of innovation. Sometimes we just need a creative outlet to experiment and express ourselves. Some of the past projects I've co-founded and contributed to have been #ZENZO, #PIVX, HIVE, MetaBrands, NeonDistrict, DEXT, StakeCube, and many others that are either on the shelf or couldn't stand the test of time. A lot of my interests are aligned with the Ethos of blockchain itself. To quote the great Hal Finney: "The computer can be used as a tool to liberate and protect people, rather than to control them." - This goes for blockchain, crypto, and even technology as a whole. If we don't progress and evolve as humans, technology itself will only be used for the same close-minded and selfish purposes, no matter how much technology improves and becomes stronger, faster, and more efficient. Efficient at what? That is what we must question, the why. I don't often share and display my past works, but I have some of it posted on Behance where you can get a quick look and feel for my skills: https://www.behance.net/formlesslabs In 2024, Formless Labs also released our first free, open-source font called "SAIBA-45", which is a cyberpunk, neo-tokyo inspired font type. Check it out!

GitHub

GitHub - YuurinBee/SAIBA-45: SAIBA-45 Font [Open-Source Fonttype]

SAIBA-45 Font [Open-Source Fonttype]. Contribute to YuurinBee/SAIBA-45 development by creating an account on GitHub.

PS: Thanks to @JSKitty for discovering Nostr and using it as the base protocol to help us build out an app that we've always wanted to use ourselves, but found none of them were sufficient. They always said they were private and encrypted, but didn't have the tech to support those claims (more info about that soon). #privacyisabasichumanright #FormlessLabs

GM, Nostr Fam. ☕ New here, who should I follow? Looking for some other designers and people developing unique projects on Nostr.