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RPOW - Reusable Proofs of Work

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the interesting-projects dept.

mitd writes "Hal Finney is inviting folks to test drive his new hashcash-based server rpow.net. " The RPOW system provides for proof of work (POW) tokens to be reused. A POW token is something that takes a relatively long time to compute but which can be checked quickly." Hal's security model paper is well worth the read and his proof of concept code is available for download. "

11 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. More info on Hal can be found.... by zegebbers · · Score: 2, Funny

    There is some excellent info on Hal here , here and here.

    --
    Unpretentious Sydney reviews by unqualified Sydney reviewers
  2. Re: RPOW - Reusable Proofs of Work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hal's security model paper is well worth the read and his proof of concept code is available for download.

    "I'm sorry Dave, but I can't let you download that..."

  3. /.ed by Dibblah · · Score: 5, Funny

    Okaaay... So it's a server that's *meant* to serve computationally expensive 'tokens'. And you post it on ./ . Niiice.

  4. Proofs Of Work are few and far between by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    How about Proofs Of Not Working? Got plenty of those.

  5. Obligatory Pun by grunt107 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Given the inaccessibility of the site:
    RPOW/rMIA (break out the black flags w/web server silhouette)...

    1. Re:Obligatory Pun by trb · · Score: 3, Funny

      I was thinking, hashcrash-based server.

  6. Too bad... by HawkingMattress · · Score: 1, Funny

    I thought it was about providing my boss reusable proofs that i'm working while I'm in fact reading slashdot ;) That would be waaaaay more usefull than this stupid error 500 thing...

  7. dude, that's so excellent...who's hungry? by eufreka · · Score: 3, Funny
    Until now, I always thought that "hashcash" was only related to Repeated Puffs of Weed (RPOWs).

    And although the process of exchanging "toke'ns" was highly "cryptographic", ultimately not a lot of work got done...

    Anyway, I got confused there for a minute, but I am better now. This might help others:

    From http://www.hashcash.org/

    Hashcash is a denial-of-service counter measure tool. Its main current use is to help hashcash users avoid losing email due to content based and blacklist based anti-spam systems. A hashcash stamp constitutes a proof-of-work which takes a parameterizable amount of work to compute for the sender. The recipient can verify received hashcash stamps efficiently.
    Rock on!
  8. Re:Umm by LoudMusic · · Score: 1, Funny

    It proves that you did the work without you having to redo the work while the teacher is watching.

    So in other words we'll have a site in a couple years that has a bunch of POW tokens we can download, change the name, and turn it in as our own? (:

    --
    No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
  9. Keeping honest folks honest by vile8 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Great, I was just complaining the other day that my computer is a lazy, good for nothing document editor. Here I sit with 3ghz and a gig of ram and nothing to actually process other than ps streams.

    Since its based on working your computers resources perhaps other names could possibly be "RPOW by Jake"? Or "RPOW's of steel"?

    Seriously, what happens next year when its not computationally expensive to compute the tokens? Ew, or what if you are a clever spammer with a degree in electrical engineering and the time to make your own token generating card to sell to all the other spammers on ebay for a small fortune (or you could prove it works by spamming them with advertisements...)?

    Well, its always good to have another device to keep honest folks honest I guess.

  10. Re:Why punish the victim? by Crzysdrs · · Score: 1, Funny

    I suggest we make them calculus equations, then we can keep all the idiots off the internet. Sounds like a plan to me, although, some people might miss AOL.