This is not a good idea, people who want to be anonymous don't want an I.D. so there
is no need for this.
With an I.D. there is possible profiling and a mistake could be fatal.
Hello world,
VFACE is live at https://identicons.virebent.art
The idea is simple: you pick a name, an email, and a signing key, and VFACE generates a unique visual identity tied to your cryptographic key.
Same input always produces the same identicon, so people can recognize you across posts without knowing who you are.
The point is making pseudonymous identity theft on Usenet a lot harder. Right now anyone can post as you by just copying your From header.
With VFACE your messages carry a signature that only you can produce, and a visual fingerprint that changes completely if someone tries to use your name with a different key.
If someone fakes you, it's immediately visible.
The identicon algorithm is by Ch1ffr3punk, fully compatible with yubicrypt and yubisigner.
If you already use those tools your identicon will be the same.
YubiKey users can paste their public key directly .
You can also timestamp your identity on the Bitcoin blockchain with OpenTimestamps, which gives you a provable first-claim date that nobody can backdate.
Have a look, create an identity, break things, let me know what you think.
Gabx wrote:[...]
Hello world,
VFACE is live at https://identicons.virebent.art
The idea is simple: you pick a name, an email, and a signing key,
and VFACE generates a unique visual identity tied to your
cryptographic key.
The point is making pseudonymous identity theft on Usenet a lot harder.
Right now anyone can post as you by just copying your From header.
With VFACE your messages carry a signature that only you can
produce, and a visual fingerprint that changes completely if someone
tries to use your name with a different key.
If someone fakes you, it's immediately visible.
Well done, Gabx!
Thus spake Stefan Claas <noreply@oc2mx.net>
Gabx wrote:
[...]Hello world,
VFACE is live at https://identicons.virebent.art
The idea is simple: you pick a name, an email, and a signing key,
and VFACE generates a unique visual identity tied to your
cryptographic key.
The point is making pseudonymous identity theft on Usenet a lot harder. Right now anyone can post as you by just copying your From header.
With VFACE your messages carry a signature that only you can
produce, and a visual fingerprint that changes completely if someone tries to use your name with a different key.
If someone fakes you, it's immediately visible.
Well done, Gabx!
+1
and we should make this mandatory, too. Would save me a hell of a lot of
work on Eternal-September's filters.
Ray Banana wrote:
Thus spake Stefan Claas <noreply@oc2mx.net>
Gabx wrote:[...]
Hello world,
VFACE is live at https://identicons.virebent.art
The idea is simple: you pick a name, an email, and a signing key,
and VFACE generates a unique visual identity tied to your
cryptographic key.
The point is making pseudonymous identity theft on Usenet a lot
harder. Right now anyone can post as you by just copying your
From header. With VFACE your messages carry a signature that only
you can produce, and a visual fingerprint that changes completely
if someone tries to use your name with a different key.
If someone fakes you, it's immediately visible.
Well done, Gabx!
+1
and we should make this mandatory, too. Would save me a hell of a lot
of work on Eternal-September's filters.
+1 and for example they display nicely in newsgrouper threads. ;-)
Did you ever consider that we can tell exactly who someone is simply by >their verbiage?
On 20 Mar 2026, Stefan Claas <noreply@oc2mx.net> posted some news:10pk4i0$3p7vb$1@news.tcpreset.net:
Ray Banana wrote:
Thus spake Stefan Claas <noreply@oc2mx.net>
Gabx wrote:
[...]Hello world,
VFACE is live at https://identicons.virebent.art
The idea is simple: you pick a name, an email, and a signing key,
and VFACE generates a unique visual identity tied to your cryptographic key.
The point is making pseudonymous identity theft on Usenet a lot harder. Right now anyone can post as you by just copying your
From header. With VFACE your messages carry a signature that only
you can produce, and a visual fingerprint that changes completely
if someone tries to use your name with a different key.
If someone fakes you, it's immediately visible.
Well done, Gabx!
+1
and we should make this mandatory, too. Would save me a hell of a lot
of work on Eternal-September's filters.
+1 and for example they display nicely in newsgrouper threads. ;-)
Did you ever consider that we can tell exactly who someone is simply by their verbiage? That's how one catches plagiarism, forgeries, and
specific missed abortion appointments.
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 65 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 02:05:53 |
| Calls: | 862 |
| Files: | 1,311 |
| D/L today: |
10 files (20,373K bytes) |
| Messages: | 264,321 |