Though I guess with NIP-38 defining statuses separate from notes, the circle can’t quite close up here.

Still, the compulsive scanning of the regularly changing statuses across your friends list was a delight. It had a very different feel than the firehouse.

Depends on the value lent. As it stands it’s already up to the courts, and varies by jurisdiction. You can’t sign a loan for a house without a notary involved somewhere along the way, for instance — no lender would take that risk. But for some reason a retailer can extend thousands of dollars in credit with not so much as a copy of drivers license.

This happened to my mother several years back (via Kohls) — and it took loads of time and money to prove otherwise. Kohls couldn’t provide a shred of documentation that she was the borrower, yet as far as the world was concerned, she was on the hook until she could prove otherwise. This required subpoenas for surveillance video, among other things. And she was very fortunate (the lead investigator was her nephew) — most people aren’t likely to get that level of attention.

I still can’t understand why the courts allow this to carry on, yet they require notarization for some of the most mundane things.

I’m not suggesting every small loan needs the added expense of a notary to be valid. But depending on value, the lender should require an increasing amount of corroboration of your identity — with receipts.

Ideally this would be clearly defined, either by code or through case law. I’m not holding my breath for the former. But with how obviously useless these pseudo-credentials have become, perhaps there’s still hope for the latter?

Structurally this seems reminiscent to how we used to view friend statuses in AOL instant messenger back in the day. Which I believe was nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m‘s original inspiration for twitter.

Now that all our SSNs have leaked, can we finally put an end to the delusion that knowing these 10 digits is somehow a reasonable proxy for proof of identity?

It’s madness that creditors are permitted to extend credit on such a shoddy basis — and have it hold up in a court of law! If a creditor chooses to use this kind of garbage, pseudo-public information as the only means of identity that should be their choose. But courts should be summarily throwing out any debt for which no evidence of an actual proof of identity can be produced.

Hello, nostr!

I’m an old data geek and former web dev. I’ve been daydreaming about these kinds of protocols and metaphors for years — or used to, once upon a time, before the web hollowed out.

I’d long ago abandoned any real hope that such an infrastructure project could take shape — built atop all the right primitives, maximally enshittification-resistant — and accumulate any real momentum!

I was wrong. Exciting times!

#introductions