I tried, and that GitLab page requires logging in. I don't have an account, so I can't comment more.
perestroika
joined 1 year ago
More information can be found here: https://veilid.com/framework
I read it, haven't tested it - commentary below.
Before I go into commentary, I will summarize: my background is from I2P - I helped build bits and pieces of that network a decade ago. As far as I can tell, Veilid deals in concepts that are considerably similar to I2P. If the makers have implemented things well, it could be a capable tool for many occasions. :) My own interest in recent years has shifted towards things like Briar. With that project, there is less common ground. Veilid is when you use public infrastructure to communicate securely, with anonymity. Briar is when you bring your own infrastructure.
- Networking
Looks like I2P, but I2P is coded in Java only. Veilid seems to have newer and more diverse languages (more capability, but likely more maintenance needs in future). I2P has a lot of legacy attached by now, and is not known for achieving great performance. A superficial reading of the network protocol doesn't enable me to tell if Veilid will do better - I can only tell that they have thought of the same problems and found their own solutions. I would hope that when measured in a realistic situation, Veilid would exceed the performance of I2P. How to find out? By trying, in masses and droves...
- Cryptography
Impressive list of ciphers. Times have changed, I'm not qualified to say anything about any of them. It leaves the appearance that these people know what they are doing, and are familiar with recent developments in cryptography. They also seem to know that times will change ("Veilid has ensured that upgrading to newer cryptosystems is streamlined and minimally invasive to app developers, and handled transparently at the node level."), which is good. Keeping local storage encrypted is an improvement over I2P - last time I worked with I2P, an I2P router required external protection (e.g. Linux disk encryption) against seizing the hardware. With mobile devices ever-present everywhere, storage encryption is a reasonable addition. I notice that the BlockStore functionality is not implemented yet. If they intend to get it working, storage encryption is a must, of course.
- RPC (remote procedure calls)
Their choice of a procedure call system is unfamiliar to me, but I read about it. I didn't find anything to complain about.
- DHT (distributed hash table)
Looks somewhat like I2P.
- Private routing
Looks very much like I2P.
The source is a scientific article from 2022...
"P. Bombelli et al. Powering a microprocessor by photosynthesis. Energy & Environmental Science, 2022."
...so there is zero chance of random folks using it practically, if the information was added to the state of the art during last year. The article even hasn't made it to Sci-Hub. It can be found here however. The journal currently wants to extort 42 pounds from the reader and I'm not from a research institution so I haven't got an account to read journals, so I shall remain in the dark. :( One could always request an author's copy from one of the authors (or maybe someone here is from a place which already has an account?)...
...until then, I will use a clue they have given: the chip was ARM Cortex M0. That is the tiniest of the tiny, the most energy efficient. Not much computing can be done with them, mostly just data acquisition (sensors). They require milliwatts or microwatts of power. The chip wasn't run continously, it slept for most of time.
The article's public abstract doesn't describe the growing protocol of the algae. Most likely, the same algae in the same container cannot be grown for a year. An ecosystem needs a biodegrader (bacteria that decompose dead algae) and efficiency likely won't be great when the primary producer and biodegrader form a mixed culture (instead of nice green algae there will be bacterial films and brown goo, limiting the sunlight available to algae). So the "cell" will probably need to be emptied, cleaned and refilled - but that's just a guess.
...and that is why Chat cannot be trusted to build houses. It hallucinates:
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
One can go vertical, or one can go rammed earth. One does not go vertical with rammed earth. :) And wind turbines attached to building structure are a nuisance. An efficient turbine needs to be clear of obstacles.
Beyond that, it has done a good job. The write-up was streamlined with my cultural sensibilities, before it collided head on with my sense of engineering. :)