Topic: My Bitcoin master thesis - page 3. (Read 42760 times)
Looks like a really useful - and accessible - read. Looking forward to browsing this alongside Bitcoin Magazine
great work!
Find some job, earn some money, work on some side-projects, move eventually. I should give the vanity pool website some attention, and I've also got an idea for another Bitcoin-powered website for artists (although I'll probably have to incorporate Paypal into this as well).
Brilliant master thesis, I have a feeling you'll feel more criticism from your peers here than whom marked this paper (teacher).
Not because you really got anything wrong, but damn we can be picky.
Not because you really got anything wrong, but damn we can be picky.
Yes, I knew what I was getting myself into when posting it, and well, it will allow me to write some small follow up addressing all the nitpicks to make the dissertation all that more valuable.
My supervisors weren't generally picky with it, most I got was "remove long quotes, add some basic explanation of the gist of what Bitcoin is and a chapter describing how different people view Bitcoin from their perspective". I don't think the reviewer had any problems with it either. Overall I got the highest grade for my thesis.
Congrats then! Well done on achieving that grade. Any big plans now you've got your masters?
Brilliant master thesis, I have a feeling you'll feel more criticism from your peers here than whom marked this paper (teacher).
Not because you really got anything wrong, but damn we can be picky.
Not because you really got anything wrong, but damn we can be picky.
Yes, I knew what I was getting myself into when posting it, and well, it will allow me to write some small follow up addressing all the nitpicks to make the dissertation all that more valuable.
My supervisors weren't generally picky with it, most I got was "remove long quotes, add some basic explanation of the gist of what Bitcoin is and a chapter describing how different people view Bitcoin from their perspective". I don't think the reviewer had any problems with it either. Overall I got the highest grade for my thesis.
Brilliant master thesis, I have a feeling you'll feel more criticism from your peers here than whom marked this paper (teacher).
Not because you really got anything wrong, but damn we can be picky.
Not because you really got anything wrong, but damn we can be picky.
I think you described a regular double spend attack, where is Finney attack involves pre-mined block, and it is not detectable.
Yeah, now that I reflect on it for a long while I believed that Finney attack is a double-spend attack, and that there are just two variations of it, which made things a bit confusing.
sure. but when you're explaining how Bitcoin works to an average Joe, its much simpler to say it it based on math where 2+2 always equals 4.
try explaining it using "cryptography". the discussion all of a sudden gets way more complicated to the point of the listener giving up.
try explaining it using "cryptography". the discussion all of a sudden gets way more complicated to the point of the listener giving up.
Well, it's not an article aimed at general public, but rather people that know a bit about computer science, or want to know more and are ready to look into some things they have doubts with.
This kinda reminds me of this article:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/10/19/scientists-are-from-mars-the-public-is-from-earth/
I shall be reading this
Where is the accompanying CD?
Where is the accompanying CD?
The accompanying CD is in my school's archive, and with three other printed copies of the thesis. As I said in the original post, I'll upload its contents eventually (it's mainly a lot of code in Google Go, a bit messy).
I read a part of it, I enjoyed it.
Will read further tomorrow!
Good job.
Will read further tomorrow!
Good job.
I shall be reading this
Where is the accompanying CD?
Where is the accompanying CD?
the only reason i bring up the distinction btwn cryptography and hashing is for what i believe are public perception issues.
to me, the more we can describe Bitcoin as being based on "mathematics", which more aligns with the broader concept of hashing, the better it will be perceived, as opposed to being based on "cryptography" which is not only hard to understand but possibly convey a negative perception as if we have something to hide.
my two cents.
Cryptography is mathematics.to me, the more we can describe Bitcoin as being based on "mathematics", which more aligns with the broader concept of hashing, the better it will be perceived, as opposed to being based on "cryptography" which is not only hard to understand but possibly convey a negative perception as if we have something to hide.
my two cents.
Even if "cryptography" is assumed to mean "encryption", the public should be well aware of the important role of encryption in online commerce and banking.
sure. but when you're explaining how Bitcoin works to an average Joe, its much simpler to say it it based on math where 2+2 always equals 4.
try explaining it using "cryptography". the discussion all of a sudden gets way more complicated to the point of the listener giving up.
the only reason i bring up the distinction btwn cryptography and hashing is for what i believe are public perception issues.
to me, the more we can describe Bitcoin as being based on "mathematics", which more aligns with the broader concept of hashing, the better it will be perceived, as opposed to being based on "cryptography" which is not only hard to understand but possibly convey a negative perception as if we have something to hide.
my two cents.
Cryptography is mathematics.to me, the more we can describe Bitcoin as being based on "mathematics", which more aligns with the broader concept of hashing, the better it will be perceived, as opposed to being based on "cryptography" which is not only hard to understand but possibly convey a negative perception as if we have something to hide.
my two cents.
Even if "cryptography" is assumed to mean "encryption", the public should be well aware of the important role of encryption in online commerce and banking.
the only reason i bring up the distinction btwn cryptography and hashing is for what i believe are public perception issues.
to me, the more we can describe Bitcoin as being based on "mathematics", which more aligns with the broader concept of hashing, the better it will be perceived, as opposed to being based on "cryptography" which is not only hard to understand but possibly convey a negative perception as if we have something to hide.
my two cents.
to me, the more we can describe Bitcoin as being based on "mathematics", which more aligns with the broader concept of hashing, the better it will be perceived, as opposed to being based on "cryptography" which is not only hard to understand but possibly convey a negative perception as if we have something to hide.
my two cents.
Section 5.3 Finney Attack
Suppose the attacker is generating blocks occasionally. in each block he generates, he includes a transfer from address A to address B, both of which he controls.
To cheat you, when he generates a block, he doesn't broadcast it. Instead, he runs down to your store and makes a payment to your address C with his address A. You wait a few seconds, don't hear anything, and transfer the goods. He broadcasts his block now, and his transaction will take precedence over yours.
To cheat you, when he generates a block, he doesn't broadcast it. Instead, he runs down to your store and makes a payment to your address C with his address A. You wait a few seconds, don't hear anything, and transfer the goods. He broadcasts his block now, and his transaction will take precedence over yours.
Thank you all for your comments.
As for the capitalization - I decided to capitalise every Bitcoin-related term for clarity. It works quite well in a lot of circumstances (especially when talking about Bitcoin Addresses and IP addresses in the same sentence, it should be there somewhere). As for the singular and plural, I guess I should review my uses of them.
Hmm, didn't know it wasn't too accurate, but it was used only once as a general view of the pools. Unfortunately, I haven't found any other such wide comparison.
"Cryptography" is quite a general term that encompasses a lot of thing - encryption, hashing, message signing and so forth.
Bitcon Protocol does not rely on encryption. The Standard Client uses encryption for wallet encryption and bitcoind calls (SSL/TSL). You can use Bitcoin without encryption, but they are not necessary for Bitcoin Network to work.
Check around post number 4
.
1. "Bitcoin" and "satoshi", as units of currency, should only be capitalized if at the beginning of a sentence. "Dollar" isn't capitalized either. Bitcoin as the name of a project, a protocol, a software, an ecosystem and a community is of course capitalized. Also, I'd avoid using "bitcoins" in reference to the system - e.g., instead of "(b)Bitcoins offer much lower cost of transferring money" I'd say "Bitcoin offers".
As for the capitalization - I decided to capitalise every Bitcoin-related term for clarity. It works quite well in a lot of circumstances (especially when talking about Bitcoin Addresses and IP addresses in the same sentence, it should be there somewhere). As for the singular and plural, I guess I should review my uses of them.
2. You use http://pastehtml.com/view/awb1vg03r.html as a reference for currently used mining pool reward systems, but it's badly out of date, and even for its time it was vague at best - SMPPS pools are listed as PPS, different varieties of score-based methods are lumped together in a single category, etc.
Hmm, didn't know it wasn't too accurate, but it was used only once as a general view of the pools. Unfortunately, I haven't found any other such wide comparison.
in the very first paragraph i find something i would've stated differently:
"It relies on cryptographic algorithms in order to prevent abuse of the system."
shouldn't it say "...cryptographic and hashing algorithms..."?
i'm not an academic in this particular area so correct me if i'm wrong.
"It relies on cryptographic algorithms in order to prevent abuse of the system."
shouldn't it say "...cryptographic and hashing algorithms..."?
i'm not an academic in this particular area so correct me if i'm wrong.
"Cryptography" is quite a general term that encompasses a lot of thing - encryption, hashing, message signing and so forth.
even more confusing is that in my discussions with theymos, [...] it's been said that Bitcoin does not rely on "encryption" per se.
Bitcon Protocol does not rely on encryption. The Standard Client uses encryption for wallet encryption and bitcoind calls (SSL/TSL). You can use Bitcoin without encryption, but they are not necessary for Bitcoin Network to work.
How did this thread turn into a language discussion?
Check around post number 4
.
How did this thread turn into a language discussion?
Cryptography isn't capitalized, trust me, my masters degree was in cryptography
It is when in the beginning of a sentence.I agree of course but that's not really evidence, ThePiachu's master's thesis was in Bitcoin and he still didn't properly capitalize "bitcoins".
I wonder if "bitcoinology" should be capitalized?
cryptography isn't capitalized, trust me, my masters degree was in cryptography
if you use "Cryptography" as you defined it, i would think you'd capitalize it even in the middle of a sentence.
Scientific fields aren't capitalized.even more confusing is that in my discussions with theymos, as well as has been commented here on this forum by several prominent members, it's been said that Bitcoin does not rely on "encryption" per se.
Encryption is a one-to-one transformation for which the inverse can be computed by, and only by, someone who has the proper key. It is used to conceal data from everyone but intended recipients. That isn't used anywhere in the Bitcoin protocol, but it is used in wallet encryption in the client.Hashing is a transformation that is in general not one-to-one, and which ideally cannot be inverted by anyone. The ostensibly random nature of such transformations is used in making block finding artificially difficult (and directly proportional to computational power).
in the very first paragraph i find something i would've stated differently:
"It relies on cryptographic algorithms in order to prevent abuse of the system."
shouldn't it say "...cryptographic and hashing algorithms..."?
i'm not an academic in this particular area so correct me if i'm wrong.
"Cryptography" is a general field encompassing encryption, digital signatures, hashing and more."It relies on cryptographic algorithms in order to prevent abuse of the system."
shouldn't it say "...cryptographic and hashing algorithms..."?
i'm not an academic in this particular area so correct me if i'm wrong.
my turn to nitpick. he used a small "c".
hmmm, this is confusing.
"Hash functions" can also be defined as a broad category with "cryptographic hashing functions" as a subset. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_function
if you use "Cryptography" as you defined it, i would think you'd capitalize it even in the middle of a sentence.
even more confusing is that in my discussions with theymos, as well as has been commented here on this forum by several prominent members, it's been said that Bitcoin does not rely on "encryption" per se. i always understood this to mean that the SHA-256 hashing algorithm effectively makes miners "guess" at the target solution which reduces the process down to mathematical probabilities vs. certain miners having insider information, ie, a "cryptographic key solution".
this is what makes Bitcoin "fair" to the masses that care to mine, like me, and would be analogous to the lotteries run by States. even the little guys line up around the block to buy their tickets despite knowing that larger players can buy up huge numbers of tickets for the ultimate prize. at least they have an equal chance on a ticket by ticket basis.
in the very first paragraph i find something i would've stated differently:
"It relies on cryptographic algorithms in order to prevent abuse of the system."
shouldn't it say "...cryptographic and hashing algorithms..."?
i'm not an academic in this particular area so correct me if i'm wrong.
"Cryptography" is a general field encompassing encryption, digital signatures, hashing and more."It relies on cryptographic algorithms in order to prevent abuse of the system."
shouldn't it say "...cryptographic and hashing algorithms..."?
i'm not an academic in this particular area so correct me if i'm wrong.
my turn to nitpick. he used a small "c".
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