The Shake: Apr. 24, 2022
A publication on Handshake and the DWeb. Towards a New Internet.
Handshake, by the numbers
On Browser Adoption
When you type a domain name into a browser’s URL bar, a request is sent to a resolver to retrieve the domain’s IP address and serve you content. It’s the resolver, not the browser, that goes to find the DNS records. Run a Handshake resolver like Fingertip on your device and your browser of choice can be transformed to be Handshake-compatible.
Still, there’s friction in requiring users to run a separate resolver to access Handshake domains. Browsers can neatly package this behind a familiar interface to bring Handshake to larger audiences without introducing additional trust assumptions. This week, we saw multiple developments towards Handshake-supported browsers.
The Handshake-native Beacon browser is coming to desktop this week. While the existing iOS version of Beacon browser is Firefox-based, the upcoming desktop version is Chromium-based. Meaning, we’ve now reference implementations for Handshake and DANE supported browsers in both frameworks. The latest Chromium version is releasing just in time to serve as a reference for a related effort…
A proposal to the DWeb Foundation was made this week to integrate Handshake into Brave / Chromium by Zach Vorhies, former Google developer and whistleblower. The proposal outlines milestones from Brave’s buy-in to Handshake integration into Chromium and then Handshake integration into Brave. This week’s Beacon release will help the Chromium milestone, while active dialogue with Brendan Eich of Brave should help on the latter.
This Week in Handshake
↳ Hosting Nginx + DANE Hosting on Google VM for Handshake
↳ Beacon Browser Desktop beta scheduled for release this week
↳ DWeb Proposal Integrate Handshake into Brave/Chromium core
↳ HNS Chat New context menu and user stats
↳ Palm Reader Terminal UI plug-in for HSD with multisig support (alpha)
How DNS Works
A new zine by Julia Evans teaches how DNS works from name servers to name records with easy-to-follow comics. Then, put your knowledge to the test using Julia’s site messwithdns.net. You can support + download the zine.
Around the DWeb
↳ Optimism A new chapter for optimistic rollups.
↳ Connext What’s $NEXT for crosschain communication.
↳ Arweave 40x traffic spike in China. Arweave is offering grants to archive data.
HandyGrants
Latest micro grants from HandyOSS:
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