Day 9 – Assignment #2 – Creating A Blockchain Wallet

Day 9 – November 12, 2013                                                                                                                               BTC = $387

This is not my wallet, but I wish it was.

When I first looked at the Blockchain site, I almost immediately closed the browser tab. It looked so simple to me, but the kind of simple that seemed to warn, “You better know what you are doing if you are going to use this site!”

It took me a couple days, and the promise of delicious BTC being transferred to me, to start my Blockchain wallet. After a fairly short drop over the weekend, the value of BTC seemed to be climbing up again.

I wanted to get my hands on some as soon as possible.

Turns out, setting up an online wallet on Blockchain was like a bazillion times easier than on Coinbase. Who knew?

Creating an Account:

Start a new wallet: They make it a little too easy here giving you two easily accessible buttons to click, both directing you to the new wallet set up. So, take the red pill or the blue pill, both the “Create My Free Wallet” and the “Start a New Wallet” button end up in the same place. How comforting.

That’s About It: Just fill in your email* and a password and capatcha — deciphering this sonofabitch can be the hardest part of all this — you get an email link to your shiny new wallet!

* If you want to stay a little anonymous, just for the mystery of it, get a “fake” BitMessageaccount and start the undercover party.

Once you log-in to your account, your BTC address is easily found (along with its lifemate, a matching QR code).

Like it says, this is your BTC address. So store it away, send it away and watch the BTC come rolling in (hopefully). Note: This is a DEMO address.

To Link Accounts or To Not Link (Bank) Accounts?

I chose to NOT link my bank account to this address — mostly in spirit of the game/experiment/just ’cause. My Coinbase account is already linked to my bank account so I don’t see the need. Personally, I’d rather just remain mysterious on Blockchain. Why? Because I can, I guess. But you can do whatever you want.

I get it, some of you are visual learners. Check out Blockchain.info’s Demo Account with working links within the site to help you get a feel for the site’s user-friendliness and look.

Day 5 – I Got Caught Cheating (or The Real BitMessage)

Day 5 – November 8, 2013

Cheaters never win. Although, I kind of feel like I did because there are some lessons you can only learn through making mistakes. I made a big mistake.

When I decided to bypass going through the resources on my first assignment, I totally fucked up. Instead of creating a secure, encrypted messaging account through BitMessage, I had actually just created a regular email account through a website. Had I been sending and/or receiving sensitive information, I could have seriously put myself or Mister B at risk.

I first had a hint that I wasn’t going to get away with my cheat when Mister B repeatedly kept asking how I was using Squirrel Mail. For the first few days I just replied with cheeky answers around being nutty on the “interwebs”. But, in each message, he kept asking. Finally, I told him I was using a website to send the messages. And that’s when he freaked out. Then I freaked out.

If I had done my homework, I would had known right away that using http://www.bitmessage.ch was a horrible move. I would have learned right away that BitMessage is actually a type of client software that you install onto your computer, not a third-party service. I would have learned right away why Mister B’s original email to me was from an address containing a “@bitmessage.ch” at the end.

But, I didn’t. So, almost a week later, here is the deal with BitMessage.

What is BitMessage?

Basically, its a anonymous messaging service based off the principles of Bitcoin.

How is it anonymous?

Regular email services like Gmail or Yahoo require you to sign up with personal details that are all stored on a central server somewhere — and all of those details are connected to your email address. It requires POP3 or STMP, etc.

BitMessage is a program that runs on your computer. There are no details required to get an account and nothing is stored on their server longer than 2.5 days.

How are the messages secret?

All of the messages sent through BitMessage are encrypted. Only the person you’ve elected to receive the message has the power to decode it. Think of it like its being sent out with one-half of those broken heart pendants. The message gets passed around to other possible recipients on the peer-to-peer network, trying to find the matching other half of the pendant, but only the intended receiver possesses the half-heart with perfectly fitting jagged edges. Therefore, only that recipient can open and decode your message. It’s true love.

What are some positives of BitMessage?

Well, besides the whole anonymous angle, one big plus is that there is no spam. None at all. You can also send out (called “broadcasting” newsletters or group emails to people across your network, blacklist and whiltelist addresses. Also, because it is a peer-to-peer network, your messages are not being stored or Big Brother’d at any point.

What are some negatives of BitMessage?

Well, one of the most obvious is that you can’t send a freaking message to anyone through it who doesn’t also have the software downloaded on their computer. That’s a real drag since it’s not a mainstream thing yet — hence why Mister B initially sent me a message through bitmessage.ch. Bitmessage.ch allows people to generate random email addresses that are similar to Bitmessage addresses and send quasi-anonymous/secure messages to people off the peer-to-peer network. However, because you are sending them over the interwebs (as I so eloquently put it earlier), they can be monitored and stored — kind of defeating the majority of the purpose. In this sense, I don’t think it’s much different than a nonsensical hotmail account.

Another annoying thing about BitMessage is how long it takes to send a message. The longer the message, the more encoding it must do before sending it. The delay can be a nail-biter for impatient people like myself.

It is also not efficient for organizing your inbox (it’s in its beginning stages, let’s cut it some slack) and there is no way to attach, well, attachments.  Wamp.

Can you really be totally anonymous with BitMessage?

No. But it’s one of the best options we’ve got at the moment. Unfortunately, the messages can be traced through IP addresses and the traveled route, so it is possible to ID the sender if really necessary. Although, I’m unclear on who has the ability to pick someone out of the line up.

Why should I use this then?

You don’t have to. But if you want to, it’s there. If you sign up, shoot me a message. I’m at: BM-2cVD8nxi31bvA2d8KEGx2mUzRNdAw3R7kS

Day 3- Assignment #1 // Confessions of Making Crypto-Contact.

Day 3 – Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

Assignment #1 – Create a BitMessage Account and Make Contact.

When I was younger, I loved to write notes in code. I had different codes with different people. Some of these codes were so elaborate that writing a simple four sentence message could take thirty minutes and end up looking like an ancient Egyptian inscription. But it was worth it. I liked the idea that I could write whatever I wanted and only the person I was sending it to could decode it. This is very similar to how BitMessage works.

In the most simplest of explanations, any message sent through BitMessage is encrypted and sent out across the entire network. In theory, everyone on the BitMessage network can see your message, but only the address you’ve sent it to has the power to decode it. To read more about BitMessage click here.

•     •     •

So, perhaps starting this project off cheating isn’t exemplifying the best of intentions (which I do actually have, I’m just…busy), but I made my decision and I am sticking to it.

My first assignment, laid out at the end of my secret message from Day 1, said this:

First assignment, if you choose to accept it, is learn about
bitmessage and contact me here.
BM-2rU8c14V1ADDRESSCHANGEDFORPOSTINGQGEcRME*

I know you can do it.

I look forward to this
experiment.

*This was a different address than from where the email was sent. The email is was sent from a similar looking BM-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx address with an “@bitmessage.ch” at the end of it.

I didn’t listen to anything. Instead, I decided to be super clever. I went to http://bitmessage.ch/, clicked “Register” in the upper left-hand corner, punched in a password and voila! made my Bitmessage account.

I signed into squirrel mail, plugged in the BM-email address in the email and reported for duty.

I was excited to be back on squirrel mail as it reminded me of the good ol’ days of 2003 when I was navigating my own website. I also felt proud to have finished my first assignment (and so cleverly!).

I’ll listen to the lessons later.

•     •     •

Update: Turns out cheating was stupid, but I did learn a valuable lesson. For a better description of what BitMessage actually is click here, and do it the right way. And remember, when you cheat you are only cheating yourself. Sigh.

Click here to read my Assignment Review Sheet for Assignment #1: BitMessage