News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Decentralized internet is planned for Dubai, courtesy of ... by fiatjaf on Friday December 15, 2017 @12:34PM (#15933449)
Amazing idea, it seems they're implementing Pieter Hintjens' https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/edgenet

But why a blockchain? How can you even have a blockchain if everything is asynchronous and decentralized?

Re:Decentralized internet is planned for Dubai, courtesy of ... by nine_k on Friday December 15, 2017 @12:56PM (#15933632)
You will have the blockchain slowly.

Frankly, I don't see much use in blockchains besides public verifiable high-importance transactions where a significant number of parties does not trust each other, and some may be actively subversive. That is, a public ledger.

For less public cases, mere encryption could suffice, which is much faster. Most communications are between only two parties; they can check each other's key fingerprint via phone or a third party they both trust, if they even bother.

Re:Decentralized internet is planned for Dubai, courtesy of ... by fiatjaf on Saturday December 16, 2017 @06:14PM (#15942827)
You'll have a blockchain, but the outstanding majority of blocks will be orphans and thus lost and invalid. Lots of promises will be broken.

You'll only know a transaction was confirmed after many months -- and before you get a confirmed transaction you may have to issue the same transaction hundreds of times.