If you use SteemPeak (shoutout to @steempeak for making such a great platform!) or accessed Steemd before, you will know that each transaction on the Steem blockchain carries with it a string of numbers and letters, called a transaction id. This transaction id, a 40 digit long hexadecimal string, is unique for each transaction on the Steem blockchain. The unique aspect about hexadecimal strings is that they can be used to represent colors, which is the basis for what I am introducing. I had previously written about how art could be made with blockchains using a process called steganography. You can read over that to see the initial idea I had that led me where this project is now and what the general process is for making a steganograph from the transaction id's on the Steem blockchain. Now, on to the main event...
Introducing Steemography
Steemography is a new, unique, and revolutionary way of examining data on the Steem blockchain! Using steganography, Steemography is able to take the block id for individual blocks or the transaction id for individual users from the Steem blockchain and create an image like you see above. That image shows the very first block created on the Steem blockchain, excluding a single character that normally shows up when using this method, on March 24, 2016, at 4:05pm. @ned, @dan, and @fyrstikken, and anyone else I probably missed that would love seeing this, if you have not ever seen the first Steem block visualized like this before, I hope you like what the first block of a truly innovative idea looks like! :)
Using this technique, any block or user transaction can be viewed using Steemography. Each Steemograph will show 7 colors and a single character in the center of the color barcode. Each and every Steemograph is unique, as the underlying transaction id/block id is also unique. This means that each Steemograph is a one of a kind piece. Here is an example of what a real Steemograph looks like, this one belonging to my original post on the idea.
Uses for this technique
This technique for viewing Steem transactions has more than just decorative or novelty uses. Instead of just showing the first few characters of the transaction id like @steemd does, or not showing any reference to it like @steemit and @steampeak do, you could show a slim version of a Steemograph next to each transaction. It would provide a simple, clean, and compact way to show a reference to the id, but without having to worry about showing only part of the id due to its length. It would also, hopefully, make people more interested in the underlying workings of the Steem blockchain, as clicking on the slimmed down version of the Steemograph could show the whole version of it, and include more information from the Steem Blockchain for that transaction. In this way, it would open up a different way of looking at information the Steam blockchain, not just as data locked up in strings of hexadecimal characters, but as actual pieces of unique art. Pieces of art unique to that user and/or that block!
Explore Steemography Today!
If you want to see the idea in action, you can it out at the link below! Please note that this is still a very early alpha/proof-of-concept design. You can get the Steemograph for the most recent transaction of a user you specify, get a Steemograph for the most recent block on the Steem network, or have it show each new block as it is created every 3 seconds. Here is the link:
https://southernwolf95.github.io/Steemography/
Ideas for future development
- Add ability to search for a specific block to show the Steemograph for it
- Add ability for users to pull more than just their most recent transaction for their Steemograph
- Clean up the site to actually explain what's going on, and to make it look better
- Add ability to download the created Steemograph as an image or an SVG
- Work on making it integratabtle for use in potential future projects
Conclusion
I hope y'all like this idea I've come up with! I think it's a truly unique and beautiful way to visualize the inner-workings of the Steem blockchain. I'd love to see it added or adapted for use in other projects, and I sincerely hope that it can and will be at some point! If you would like to help contribute to this project, feel free to add your contributions, thoughts, or issues at the project's GitHub.
Thank you, and have fun viewing the beauty that is the Steem blockchain! :)