@ The Nostr Report

Happy Sunday #Nostr ! Here’s your #NostrTechWeekly newsletter brought to you by nostr:npub19mduaf5569jx9xz555jcx3v06mvktvtpu0zgk47n4lcpjsz43zzqhj6vzk written by nostr:npub1r3fwhjpx2njy87f9qxmapjn9neutwh7aeww95e03drkfg45cey4qgl7ex2 #NostrTechWeekly is a weekly newsletter focused on the more technical happenings in the nostr-verse. Let’s dive in! ## Recent Upgrades to Nostr (AKA [NIPs](https://nostr.com/the-protocol/nips)) It’s been a while since a new NIP was merged but there's a lot of activity on some meaty proposed NIPs. Looking forward to the upgrades 💪 #### 1) (Proposed) [NIP 96: HTTP File Storage](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/547/files?short_path=b27fe23#diff-b27fe23ed5ff40d3f85bf18f65ecadaeaf905d363a6df3c20cb2dffd30f903d9) One of the challenges of Nostr is where to store files (images, videos, PDFs, etc). Storing them on relays could bloat relays and lead to more centralization. This NIP proposes a protocol to help third parties offer file hosting services to Nostr users. This NIP defines the necessary shape of the API of a third party offering file hosting services, so that these services can be easily used by Nostr clients to serve the content to users. The proposal also defines an optional way for users to specify which File Storage servers they’d like the client to upload content to. Author: [arthurfranca](https://github.com/arthurfranca), [Semisol](https://github.com/Semisol), [staab](https://github.com/staab), [v0l](https://github.com/v0l), [bndw](https://github.com/bndw), [michaelhall923](https://github.com/michaelhall923), [fishcakeday](https://github.com/fishcakeday), [quentintaranpino](https://github.com/quentintaranpino) #### 2) (Proposed) [Updates to NIP 72: Moderated Communities](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/753/files?short_path=02bdfed#diff-02bdfed052568bc5843aa40e29a9f24f5a8382d63fc6669d733a19fb952d00b9) (like Reddit) Currently NIP 72 specifies that posts to moderated communities are of kind 1 which is the default kind which is for tweet-like content. Therefore posts to moderated communities would show up in many clients without enough context. This proposal would update the default kind for moderated communities so that the content of moderated communities would not show up on the default feed for users. This paves the way for Reddit-like clients to provide an experience that’s focused on just posts to these communities. Author: [vivganes](https://github.com/vivganes) #### 3) (Proposed) [NIP 91: IoT Sensors and Intents](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/817/files?short_path=2bec931#diff-2bec931e0bf5feca5e621c6fcbe85d652f89d5e01b5e2ec170d4c369e0e768f9) Right now many “Internet of Things” devices require you to report that data from the IoT sensor to the device maker’s servers and write integrations with their ecosystem to take action based on that information. This NIP reserves a set of event kinds for IoT sensors reporting data (8000 - 8999). For example 8003 would be for thermometers to report temperature in celsius as a number, separate from 8005 which would allow reporting a location as an array of two numbers: longitude and latitude. This NIP would allow developers to offer IoT devices that report to Nostr relays which gives you more control over the data and the process of taking action based on that data. Author: nostr:npub180cvv07tjdrrgpa0j7j7tmnyl2yr6yr7l8j4s3evf6u64th6gkwsyjh6w6, [BlackCoffee](https://github.com/BlackCoffee), [arcbtc](https://github.com/arcbtc) #### 4) (Proposed) [NIP 107: Nostr Powered IoT](https://github.com/nostr-protocol/nips/pull/814/files?short_path=f4a8bec#diff-f4a8bec84d66c1c787865eb47e9f508cdbaa8b940b410f607ff624fb22b2cfc2) In conjunction with NIP 91, this NIP will enable a robust IoT ecosystem on Nostr. This NIP’s goal is to help facilitate the development of Nostr clients that are IoT controllers. That way a user and a device can essentially “DM” each other data and commands. For example a user could install an IoT device that’s a switch for a light. There would be a Nostr client where you can “register” the new device and authorize some list of Nostr users that can utilize the device Once registered any authorized device user would be able to toggle the light on and off from a Nostr client that supports IoT operations. This is entirely done via Nostr DMs, so you can do this from anywhere as long as you control the private key of a user that the device recognizes as a controller, and the data transferred and the commands are encrypted. Author: [arcbtc](https://github.com/arcbtc), [BlackCoffee](https://github.com/BlackCoffee) ## Notable Projects #### [Shopstr](https://w3.do/Z1U0WQuh) 🛒 Shopstr is a classifieds app similar to Craigslist, you can post items for sale and facilitate transactions via lightning payments or DMs. Still early but this will be a useful addition to the Nostr-verse and a circular Bitcoin economy. Author: nostr:npub16dhgpql60vmd4mnydjut87vla23a38j689jssaqlqqlzrtqtd0kqex0nkq #### [Shipyard](https://w3.do/JYEkAIUi) 🚢 https://shipyard.pub/ is a client for composing and scheduling Nostr content, it’s easy to use and pretty slick. Many big content creators rely on such tools for legacy social media (Twitter, Instagram, etc). This is a huge unlock for any big content creators that want to make the transition to Nostr but still preserve their ability to push content on a regular basis and monetize it. Author: nostr:npub1l2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqutajft #### [Nostr Design](https://nostrdesign.org) 🎨 nostr:npub1r0rs5q2gk0e3dk3nlc7gnu378ec6cnlenqp8a3cjhyzu6f8k5sgs4sq9ac has been offering resources and design help to Nostr devs for some time now via [nostrdesign.org](https://nostrdesign.org). NostrDesign.org has set out to start conversations around the unique communication challenges of Nostr (keypairs, relays, signing extensions, etc) so that we can build some common patterns to help normies get started with Nostr without too much confusion or tutorial overhead. This will become more necessary as time and adoption goes on. Good design can also make a huge difference in the success of a new product, especially if there aren’t exact analogs to draw from when building a Nostr app (like when you’re cloning an existing product). I for one am a dev that SUCKS at UX and could use some advice from a thoughtful partner that wants Nostr’s success just as much as I do. ## Latest conversations: Design and Nostr adoption There’s been some discussion lately about how necessary design is to the Nostr ecosystem, and I’ll posit that it depends on your desires for Nostr. #### Why design matters Great design does not necessitate that something be beautiful. Great design is about usability. Great design strips away unnecessary functionality and information so that only what matters remains. Great design understands the user’s desires and intent and empowers them to achieve their goals. Great design communicates how something ought to work with minimal explanation. Great design empowers the user to try something unfamiliar. Craigslist is well designed in this sense, so is HackerNews, and the Reddit of a few years ago. They aren’t beautiful but they provide immense value in a simple and intuitive way. Developers aren’t always the best at designing experiences that solve for usability and good communication to the user. The help of a good designer can be a huge help; making an app usable by a broader audience. #### Accessibility and adoption Adoption, in a very rough sense, can be thought of as a function of both how useful something is and how accessible it is. Think of accessibility as both how easy it is to use, as well as how easy it is to access (from my device, in my legal jurisdiction, for a low enough price). If something is incredibly useful but not very accessible, only some people will use it (IRC). If something is very accessible but not very useful, no one will use it (case in point: it’s hard to name any 😂). If something is very useful and very accessible, then it will get widely adopted (ChatGPT). If we want Nostr to remain a niche community (with limited impact on the world) then we can ignore how easy our ecosystem is to use. I don’t think that’s anyone’s goal. #### The 10X better app on Nostr When trying to get adoption for a new product the rule of thumb is that it needs to be 10X better than alternatives for folks to start adopting it and leave a competitor. Nostr is 10X better for folks that care about freedom tech, which is why most of us are already here. We’ve built Nostr-based clones of many of the most prominent internet offerings (Twitter, Reddit, Imgur, Bitly, Instagram, Medium, WhatsApp, Craiglist, etc) the list goes on and on but that’s not driving adoption. That’s probably because the nostr-versions are, at-best, as good in functionality but they’re only better than the original in that they’re on Nostr (and therefore freedom tech). Much to our consternation most people don’t seem to care about freedom tech as much as they should. If we’re to drive mass adoption we also have to discover applications that are uniquely possible on Nostr that are new and valuable enough to attract folks to try Nostr to try that app. At that moment we’ll also need the basics of Nostr to be accessible enough that people aren’t scared off by the new patterns (keypairs, no usernames, no email alerts, no reset-password flow, which relays do I join?, etc). If we don’t care about solving both problems we are giving a middle finger to a majority of the population of Earth. #### What era of Nostr are we in? From what I’m seeing Nostr is still in the era of experimentation and foundation building. If our goal is a freedom-oriented ecosystem of micro-apps to compete with Big Tech then we’re doing all the right work. We definitely need to provide all the same functionality folks are used to (micro blogging, blogging, group chat, moderated communities, meme sharing, monetizing content, etc). Building Nostr-based clones is helping with that. We are working on tools to help developers build on Nostr (NDK, NAK, nostr-tools, etc). We’re building general purpose browsers (Spring) to explore all corners of Nostr (current and future) We’re experimenting with offerings unique to Nostr to see what killer app drives people to try Nostr en masse (Data Vending Machines, self-sovereign Internet of Things, uncensorable private and secure group chat, etc). Good design doesn’t seem to be THE reason that adoption of Nostr isn’t exponential, but at some point it will become the bottleneck to adoption and it’s good to think ahead. The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago and all that. ## Until next time 🫡 If you want to see something highlighted, if we missed anything, or if you’re building something we didn’t post about, let us know. DMs welcome at nostr:npub19mduaf5569jx9xz555jcx3v06mvktvtpu0zgk47n4lcpjsz43zzqhj6vzk Stay Classy, Nostr.