# I am the Watcher. I am your guide through this vast new twtiverse.
#
# Usage:
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/users View list of users and latest twt date.
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/twt View all twts.
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/mentions?uri=:uri View all mentions for uri.
# https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/conv/:hash View all twts for a conversation subject.
#
# Options:
# uri Filter to show a specific users twts.
# offset Start index for quey.
# limit Count of items to return (going back in time).
#
# twt range = 1 2172
# self = https://watcher.sour.is?uri=https://twtxt.net/user/mckinley/twtxt.txt&offset=272
# next = https://watcher.sour.is?uri=https://twtxt.net/user/mckinley/twtxt.txt&offset=372
# prev = https://watcher.sour.is?uri=https://twtxt.net/user/mckinley/twtxt.txt&offset=172
@brasshopper It's definitely too low. These gimmicky social media services don't last long. I remember one that would take two weeks or something to deliver messages. It was actually meant to mimic letters sent in the mail. I don't know why you wouldn't just send letters at that point, too. Last I checked, the postal service still works.
@lohn Wow, how many have you managed to generate already?
@lohn Wow, how many have you managed to generate already?\nMeanWall: An SSH honeypot that insults anyone who tries to log in.
@lohn Wow, how many have you managed to generate already?
MeanWall: An SSH honeypot that insults anyone who tries to log in.
@prologic (#thv6jya)
> what I'm trying to solve
People use the address to be sure they're using the right hidden service, and if you can get an address with the same prefix you might be able to trick some users into thinking you're the other service. It's the same basic idea as Typosquatting. My idea, in theory, would make it easier (less computationally expensive) to generate an address with a certain prefix the first time, and much harder to do a second time.
@prologic (#thv6jya)\n> what I'm trying to solve\n\nPeople use the address to be sure they're using the right hidden service, and if you can get an address with the same prefix you might be able to trick some users into thinking you're the other service. It's the same basic idea as Typosquatting. My idea, in theory, would make it easier (less computationally expensive) to generate an address with a certain prefix the first time, and much harder to do a second time.
@lohn I didn't know mkp224o had that option, but I think doing it with long words will be impractical. The difficulty goes up drastically as you add words, and 5 characters is already difficult to generate. Take a look at these generation times on a cluster of 5 raspberry pis: https://www.jamieweb.net/blog/onionv3-vanity-address/#generation-times\nSomeone much smarter than I am could probably calculate the increase in difficulty based on word length.
@lohn I didn't know mkp224o had that option, but I think doing it with long words will be impractical. The difficulty goes up drastically as you add words, and 5 characters is already difficult to generate. Take a look at these generation times on a cluster of 5 raspberry pis: https://www.jamieweb.net/blog/onionv3-vanity-address/#generation-times\nSomeone much smarter than I could probably calculate the increase in difficulty based on word length.
@lohn I didn't know mkp224o had that option, but I think doing it with long words will be impractical. The difficulty goes up drastically as you add words, and 5 characters is already difficult to generate. Take a look at these generation times on a cluster of 5 raspberry pis: https://www.jamieweb.net/blog/onionv3-vanity-address/#generation-times
Someone much smarter than I could probably calculate the increase in difficulty based on word length.
@mckinley The obvious potential pitfall is the computational expense of comparing generated addresses to possible combinations of a large word list. It would be interesting to see how this compares to the brute force method in practice.
@mckinley The obvious potential pitfall is the computational expense of comparing generated addresses to possible combinations of a large word list. It would be interesting to see how this compares to the brute force method in practice.
@mckinley For example, examplexpi...z2j.onion would be difficult for me to generate but it would be equally difficult for someone who wants to pretend to be that service to generate example6yf...9wn.onion. Instead, I might be able to generate something like wellhairrainba7...m4c.onion based on a list of random words. The other guy would need to find an address with a set 12 character prefix. That would be much more difficult than the 7 character example from before.
@mckinley For example, examplexpi...z2j.onion would be difficult for me to generate but it would be equally difficult for someone who wants to pretend to be that service to generate example6yf...9wn.onion. Instead, I might be able to generate something like wellhairrainba7...m4c.onion based on a list of random words. The other guy would need to find an address with a set 12 character prefix. That would be much more difficult than the 7 character example from before.
@mckinley For example, examplexpi...z2j.onion would be difficult for me to generate but it would be equally difficult for someone who wants to pretend to be that service to generate example6yf...9wn.onion. Instead, I might be able to generate something like wellhairrainba7...m4c.onion based on a list of random words. The other guy would need to find an address with a set 12 character prefix. That would be much more difficult than the 7 character example above.
@mckinley For example, examplexpi...z2j.onion would be difficult for me to generate but it would be equally difficult for someone who wants to pretend to be that service to generate example6yf...9wn.onion. Instead, I might be able to generate something like wellhairrainba7...m4c.onion based on a list of random words. The other guy would need to find an address with a set 12 character prefix. That would be much more difficult than the 7 character example from before.
I wonder if one could make a vanity (v3) onion address generator that, instead of looking for a small set of user-defined prefixes, looked for a prefix based on three or four short dictionary words from a long list instead. You would be able to have a prefix that's easily recognizable by users to make sure they're at the right address but it would still be very difficult for someone to brute force an address with the same prefix.
@darch 2.4MHz ought to be enough for anybody.
@darch 2.4MHz ought to be enough for anybody.
@adi @lyse A lot of bots use standard browser user agents, anyway.
@adi @lyse A lot of bots use standard browser user agents, anyway.
@prologic I believe they own all their hardware and IPv4s are shared between sites so that cuts down on cost quite a bit.
With my baseline membership, they don't hold your hand. You get an extensive FAQ section and a community forum to refer to. That's about it. If you pay $5/month, you get access to individual support and a few other perks.
I think I read somewhere that half of your websites hosted with them must be using the 5 cent or 50 cent per day plan, too. That's probably where they make most of their money. I don't imagine they make anything off of me.
@prologic I believe they own all their hardware and IPv4s are shared between sites so that cuts down on cost quite a bit.\nWith my baseline membership, they don't hold your hand. You get an extensive FAQ section and a community forum to refer to. That's about it. If you pay $5/month, you get access to individual support and a few other perks.\nI think I read somewhere that half of your websites hosted with them must be using the 5 cent or 50 cent per day plan, too. That's probably where they make most of their money. I don't imagine they make anything off of me.
@prologic One (American) cent per day. Their business model is "pay for what you use". My website uses almost no resources, so I pay the minimum. I think we talked about NFS a few days ago. 
@prologic One cent per day. Their business model is "pay for what you use". My website uses almost no resources, so I pay the minimum. I think we talked about NFS a few days ago.
@prologic One (American) cent per day. Their business model is "pay for what you use". My website uses almost no resources, so I pay the minimum. I think we talked about NFS a few days ago.
@prologic I don't know, but I've never noticed any downtime and I use their "non-production" plan.
@prologic I don't know, but I've never noticed any downtime and I use their "non-production" plan.
@prologic Nah, my traffic will probably stay pretty low. NearlyFreeSpeech likes to talk about how well they handle scaling, anyway.
@prologic Nah, my traffic will probably stay pretty low. NearlyFreeSpeech likes to talk about how well they handle scaling, anyway.
Hey, here's a cool graph for you. Daily bandwidth usage for http://mckinley.cc/ 
Bandwidth Report
@prologic There's not much corrosion, I think the board will be fine.
@prologic There's not much corrosion, I think the board will be fine.
@prologic There were some old AA batteries in it that had leaked a little. The contacts need to be cleaned and I think there's a good chance that it would start right up. The exterior is in great shape for a flea market machine, it even had the original manual with it. The only thing I'm really concerned about is the internal Ni-Cd backup battery for the memory. I'll open it up tomorrow and have a look.
@prologic There were some old AA batteries in it that had leaked a little. The contacts need to be cleaned and I think there's a good chance that it would start right up. The exterior is in great shape for a flea market machine, it even had the original manual with it. The only thing I'm really concerned about is the internal Ni-Cd backup battery for the memory. I'll open it up tomorrow and have a look.
@prologic Arguably, the top two shouldn't be counted. I'm taking the win on that one.
@prologic Arguably, the top two shouldn't be counted. I'm taking the win on that one.
@adi Hm? HTTP referrer header? From my blog post? Are there really humans out there who go to my website and read what I have to say?
@adi Hm? HTTP referrer header? From my blog post? Are there really humans out there who go to my website and read what I have to say?
@lyse @prologic Sounds like fun, guys. I went to the flea market this morning and found a TRS-80 Model 100 computer that seems to be in good shape. I'll see if I can get it going.
@lyse @prologic Sounds like fun, guys. I went to the flea market this morning and found a TRS-80 Model 100 computer that seems to be in good shape. I'll see if I can get it going.
What are you all up to this weekend?
I'm not sure if you noticed, but I linked that exact same article. I hope things will get better, but unfortunately I don't see an end in sight.
I'm not sure if you noticed, but I linked that exact same article. I hope things will get better, but unfortunately I don't see an end in sight.
@lohn @adi PDF definitely has its problems. I like the idea of distributing publications as HTML files, either standalone or along with other assets in a tarball. HTML is readable on a wide range of devices, but you could easily run lynx -dump $URL to get a plaintext version.
@lohn @adi PDF definitely has its problems. I like the idea of distributing publications as HTML files, either standalone or along with other assets in a tarball. HTML is readable on a wide range of devices, but you could easily run lynx -dump $URL to get a plaintext version.
@adi It's been over a month since the last issue, the others were one month apart.
One was a LibreWolf version of that animated "Get Firefox" gif that was all over the Web back in the day. The other one was a button for the NetSurf browser.
@adi It's been over a month since the last issue, the others were one month apart.\nOne was a LibreWolf version of that animated "Get Firefox" gif that was all over the Web back in the day. The other one was a button for the NetSurf browser.
@adi Thanks, I had fun making it. I've had ideas for a couple other buttons, but they haven't turned out quite right.
@adi Thanks, I had fun making it. I've had ideas for a couple other buttons, but they haven't turned out quite right.
@adi Lab6 is the best, I hope a new issue comes out soon.
@adi Lab6 is the best, I hope a new issue comes out soon.
I'm doing my best right now to resist the urge to start an online magazine like https://www.lab6.com/ because I know it will never get a second issue.
@eldersnake I was glad to see an update from your blog in my feed reader earlier. Keep it up!
@eldersnake I was glad to see an update from your blog in my feed reader earlier. Keep it up!
@adi Yes, when I read that blog post I realized that my website was already designed to last without me even knowing about it. All it takes is simplicity.
@adi Yes, when I read that blog post I realized that my website was already designed to last without me even knowing about it. All it takes is simplicity.
@adi No, I think both of them have preferences stored in cookies.
Hey, thank you for sharing my blog post around. I'm glad you liked it.
@adi No, I think both of them have preferences stored in cookies.\nHey, thank you for sharing my blog post around. I'm glad you liked it.
@adi I don't think either of them have that feature. I think Teddit was working on an account system to do that, but don't quote me on that.
@adi I don't think either of them have that feature. I think Teddit was working on an account system to do that, but don't quote me on that.
@adi At least you wouldn't clog your server logs with 404s because you actually have your icon at /favicon.ico
@adi At least you wouldn't clog your server logs with 404s because you actually have your icon at /favicon.ico
No. I think I still have a Reddit account, but nowadays I only use teddit.
No. I think I still have a Reddit account, but nowadays I only use teddit.
@adi Oh, I get it. I said that twtxt.net *puts the* "social" *in* "anti-social social media". It puts the "social" elements back into twtxt.
@adi Oh, I get it. I said that twtxt.net *puts the* "social" *in* "anti-social social media". It puts the "social" elements back into twtxt.
@adi You replied in the wrong thread. Is there a difference between the terms "anti-social" and "antisocial"?
@adi You replied in the wrong thread. Is there a difference between the terms "anti-social" and "antisocial"?
@prologic Yarn has its roots in "vanilla" twtxt and the two are intercompatible to an @prologic Yarn has its roots in "vanilla" twtxt and the two are compatible with each other to an extent, but Yarn has created an ecosystem very different to that of vanilla twtxt.
@prologic Yarn has its roots in "vanilla" twtxt and the two are intercompatible to an @prologic Yarn has its roots in "vanilla" twtxt and the two are compatible with each other to an extent, but Yarn has created an ecosystem very different to that of vanilla twtxt.
@adi @prologic I call it "anti-social social media" because of the lack of discoverability and interactivity with other people. Twtxt's original spec is like taking a 140 character long string of text, loading it into a cannon, and shooting it off into space. I like that idea, which is why I keep a separate feed on my website. Yarn is a whole different concept, it adds a lot of the "social" elements back into twtxt.
You're right, though. "Anti social media social media" would also work.
@adi @prologic I call it "anti-social social media" because of the lack of discoverability and interactivity with other people. Twtxt's original spec is like taking a 140 character long string of text, loading it into a cannon, and shooting it off into space. I like that idea, which is why I keep a separate feed on my website. Yarn is a whole different concept, it adds a lot of the "social" elements back into twtxt.\nYou're right, though. "Anti social media social media" would also work.
@adi I didn't say that either, 9th is great!
@adi I didn't say that either, 9th is great!
@adi I was on Lobsters too?
@adi I was on Lobsters too?
@adi Man, you spread that post around, didn't you? I opened HN and saw it on the front page.
@adi Man, you spread that post around, didn't you? I opened HN and saw it on the front page.