As an open source alternative, have a look at the Project Serval http://www.servalproject.org/
This seems long dead, also didn't find a link to the source code.
Firechat and nearby communication
11–20 of 29 posts
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#12Is Firechat dead?
"The server at opengarden.com is taking too long to respond."
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#13Something I don't understand: can someone explain why FireChat needs an account when it doesn't require internet access?
I believe an accounts basically stores your public key on their servers, so other people can verify with FireChat who it is that sent the message. In an offline context, you'd be able to get a lot of messages and tell that it's the same person talking, but you'll have no way to see whether that really is the person or not. FireChat's public key servers allow those with access to see- according to FireChat- who is tal…
How are you supposed to verify with FireChat who sent the message when you don't have an internet connection though? Are you supposed to route your (presumably encrypted) request through other (presumably connected) phones? What's the point of requiring an account when the their entire selling point is that you can use the app in places with no internet access at all, like the wilderness?
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#14Something I don't understand: can someone explain why FireChat needs an account when it doesn't require internet access?
I believe an accounts basically stores your public key on their servers, so other people can verify with FireChat who it is that sent the message. In an offline context, you'd be able to get a lot of messages and tell that it's the same person talking, but you'll have no way to see whether that really is the person or not. FireChat's public key servers allow those with access to see- according to FireChat- who is tal…
You can impersonate other users.
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#15I'd like to see someone make an app which only works in the nearby mode and requires no registration.
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#16Anyone use the SDK ?
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe an accounts basically stores your public key on their servers, so other people can verify with FireChat who it is that sent the message. In an offline context, you'd be able to get a lot of messages and tell that it's the same person talking, but you'll have no way to see whether that really is the person or not. FireChat's public key servers allow those with access to see- according to FireChat- who is tal…
How are you supposed to verify with FireChat who sent the message when you don't have an internet connection though? Are you supposed to route your (presumably encrypted) request through other (presumably connected) phones? What's the point of requiring an account when the their entire selling point is that you can use the app in places with no internet access at all, like the wilderness?
This is easy to implement using cryptography. E.g. when firechat assigns a username, they sign your certificate for said username using their key.
Then, when sending messages, they have to be signed with your key (or outright encrypted), and the receiver verifies the key is correctly signed using firechat's key.
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#18I took a look at FireChat, but bluetooth is a bit too 'nearby' for me.
Very cool that it's off the grid, but only useful if you're basically right next to them anyways.
I wanted something like: talk to everyone nearby in a football/hockey/tri-d chess stadium, but bluetooth falls a bit short. What would be really cool is if you could set up a relay system through other devices.
I've made (i.e. works, but not polished yet) something similar: http://www.shoutium.com which has ranges of 1-100KM around your current location. It does require internet, so it probably isn't aimed at the firechat crowd anyways. Very few users unfortunately, guess I'll work on advertising after the iOS version is done -_-
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#19I took a look at FireChat, but bluetooth is a bit too 'nearby' for me. Very cool that it's off the grid, but only useful if you're basically right next to them anyways. I wanted something like: talk to everyone nearby in a football/hockey/tri-d chess stadium, but bluetooth falls a bit short. What would be really cool is if you could set up a relay system through other devices. I've made (i.e. works, but not polished…
Slight (http://slight.la) is one way of leaving messages in a location; those running the app receive a notification when new messages are left nearby.
Re: Firechat and nearby communication
#20I took a look at FireChat, but bluetooth is a bit too 'nearby' for me. Very cool that it's off the grid, but only useful if you're basically right next to them anyways. I wanted something like: talk to everyone nearby in a football/hockey/tri-d chess stadium, but bluetooth falls a bit short. What would be really cool is if you could set up a relay system through other devices. I've made (i.e. works, but not polished…
Slight ( http://slight.la ) is one way of leaving messages in a location; those running the app receive a notification when new messages are left nearby.
Ahhh, nice, I was thinking of adding this.