Gmelius
Productivity
email tools
SHOW HN2018
How HN took it
0 positive, 1 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 7 critical, out of 8 comments about the project. Thread score -0.53.
Idea: 0 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 2 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
Objections
Blockchain adds no real benefit over existing email signatures
From 2 comments
What benefit does the anchoring give over just the signing part? Surely the signature is enough to prove that the email is from the expected sender? I feel like this is just an…
vivan on HNYes, because the killer feature missing from SPF + DKIM + DMARC is "blockchain". <rolls eyes> Every time I see some new "<reliable tech>, now with Blockchain!" announcement, it…
jlgaddis on HN
Timestamping proves existence at a time, not sending or authenticity
From 1 comment
How does that prove the email was sent, though? Couldn't one timestamp the email into the blockchain, without actually sending the email to the other party? Edit: btw, I released…
nadaviv on HN
Gmelius is a trusted third party, so the blockchain does not remove trust
From 1 comment
Well, doesn't that mean that the security model is based on you acting as trusted third party and relying on you to only write truthful data to the blockchain? In other words,…
nadaviv on HN
512-bit RSA key is far too weak
From 2 comments
Big red flag: > The hash of an email is computed using the SHA2-512 hashing algorithm and signed with our own 512-bit private RSA key. Why even bother signing it if your key is…
crote on HN"The insertion is done when we have received a response from Google servers" But GMelius is a client-side application, right? According to your whitepaper, the insertion is done…
crote on HN
Questions
Why anchor each email rather than the Merkle root
From 1 comment
Big red flag: > The hash of an email is computed using the SHA2-512 hashing algorithm and signed with our own 512-bit private RSA key. Why even bother signing it if your key is…
crote on HN
How does it prove the email was actually sent
From 2 comments
How does that prove the email was sent, though? Couldn't one timestamp the email into the blockchain, without actually sending the email to the other party? Edit: btw, I released…
nadaviv on HNSo you're acting as a trusted party to get delivery confirmations from Google? What if Google doesn't confirm delivery, but you decide to write to the blockchain anyway? Also,…
nadaviv on HN
Alternatives named
Email signing with SPF, DKIM and DMARC
From 2 comments
Yes, because the killer feature missing from SPF + DKIM + DMARC is "blockchain". <rolls eyes> Every time I see some new "<reliable tech>, now with Blockchain!" announcement, it…
jlgaddis on HNWhat benefit does the anchoring give over just the signing part? Surely the signature is enough to prove that the email is from the expected sender? I feel like this is just an…
vivan on HN
Blockchain timestamping services such as btproof
From 2 comments
How does that prove the email was sent, though? Couldn't one timestamp the email into the blockchain, without actually sending the email to the other party? Edit: btw, I released…
nadaviv on HNYou can use a blockchian to as a trusted timestamping service https://strongcoin.com/blog/using_the_blockchain_as_a_trusted_timestamping_service Wether this would hold up in…
1ba9115454 on HN
Streak CRM
From 1 comment
What benefit does the anchoring give over just the signing part? Surely the signature is enough to prove that the email is from the expected sender? I feel like this is just an…
vivan on HN